Sabre_Wolf I watched this and wondered if it was as good as the classic series 'Escaflowne' and to say this was a disappointment for me would be one HELL of an understatement because really they changed the characters too much.Frankly I barely recognised any of the characters in terms of their personalities I loved Hitomi in the series but I really didn't care much for the Hitomi of this movie.I also despised the Allen Schezar in this movie they turned him into an arrogant, egotistical prick who within minutes of his introduction I really wished he would get killed.All in all the characters were changed and NOT for the best in fact they were changed in a very annoying way and the plot failed to interest me.All in all a dreadful movie version of a classic anime series!

kiku_756 While the film remains beautiful in its own right through its musical score and its visual artistry, the plot fails to deliver all that the series of Tenkuu no Escaflowne did. I highly recommend watching the series first if you are particularly keen to watch this film as it will help your understanding of the plot greatly. However, I recommend even more that you just watch the series, to be honest: the film is poor in comparison. Where the series takes time to introduce characters, develop how they interact and form relationships with one another, as well as develop the plot around them, the film rushes all this and hopes to cover this with pretty visuals and music. Admittedly, the series being 26 episodes long, the was far more time available for all these important details to be included where the film is more restricted but this a poor excuse. I, personally find the film to be a blemish on the 'Escaflowne' franchise. The series is awesome and the film is rubbish. End of.

noblerebeller I saw this film for the first time two years ago, and my general opinion of it wasn't cemented until I watched it again. It really is a beautiful work; the animation quality is very enriched, and the narrative, both simple as a groundwork is able to create a sense of many layers under its surface. I have never seen the series in it's entirety, but the movie alone works well as a fantastic adventure, if not an often violent one, and the heart of the work; the maturing love between Hitomi and Van touched me the most. The last scene made me cry.I will often value a movie great when it stands out on several levels, and in this case the strongest feeling I came away with was a sincere empathy for the characters. Really great movies will do that, and I think this is one.

usualday I've just finished watching the entire series of Escaflowne and then the movie, and I must say that it was a let down (though not unexpected).On the one hand you have a quality movie - great animation, more violence and adult themes than the series would allow and already complex characters (as they were taken from the series' in their totality, rather than their presentation at the beginning). On its own this movie had every potential to be great - decent story world and concept, the problem is that it fell into the limbo of relying on the series too much and too little.The first half of the movie is truly a great watch - you see old faces and nods to secondary characters (the cats in the nightclub are a nice touch). The problem is that in the second half it sort of falls apart - it seems to lose focus and rely on clichés and poor on screen chemistry for the lovers.The reason for this is that the first hour or so pretty much relies on the first few episodes of the series - girl meets boy but is afraid, the world itself is introduced and so forth, but in the last hour they try to cram the remaining 24 episodes of plot into the movie. While they negate a large amount of the less relevant details in the series, the fact that they try to throw a love that only develops at the end of 24 episodes of questioning (Between Hitomi and Van) into about 30 minutes, and it just seems forced.So in the end the movie would've been better had it not relied on the overreaching plot of the series and made its own way in the world. (or maybe do the opposite and be set at the end of the series like the Evangelin movies).At any rate, I did feel a little cheated by the apparent lack of mech fights and 'brother battle' at the end. 3/5