NEON GENESIS EVANGELION - DEATH & REBIRTH

VOICES OF: Spike Spencer, Amanda Winn Lee, Tiffany Grant, Allison Keith, Tristan McAvery

1997, 107 Minutes, Directed by: Tsurumaki Kazuya, Masayuki

Description: Year 2015. Japan. Due to a recent revival in the economy, those who managed to escape the last cataclysm struggle for survival in the new militarized town of Tokyo -3. But just as the city is on the road to recovery, it begins to suffer from regular, unexplained attacks from huge monsters known as Angels. In an attempt to counter them, the government calls upon a secret organization, NERV, and its giant biomechanical robots controlled by children: the Evangelions. This film brings together Episodes 1 to 24 of the cult series Neon Genesis Evangelion and takes you beyond the death of the 27th Evangelion. Action-packed with impressive fighting scenes and a score of philosophical questions to answer – these are the main ingredients of this final act in the cult Hideaki Anno series.  — Amazon.com

Neon Genesis Evangelion - Death and Rebirth deals with a bunch of flawed teenaged “heroes” that pilot giant robots (it is after all, a Japanese TV show); they differ from your standard anime heroes though in that they suffer from anything from suicidal depression, existential loneliness and sexual guilt. Watching Evangelion - Death and Rebirth is like watching an episode of Robotech directed by Ingmar Bergman!

The first 60 minutes of this movie is basically a clip show that sums up episodes 1 to 24 of this cult anime series while the remainder of the 107 running time takes the story further.

As you might guess, cramming the events of so many TV episodes into sixty minutes is an impossible task and will leave viewers new to the show simply bewildered. This movie was produced when it was found that fans were unhappy with the original TV series’ ending. The ending supplied here is however unlikely to please fans either as it is quite inconclusive as well as feels as if more should follow. There doesn’t.

Great soundtrack that includes classical pieces by the likes of Beethoven, Pachelbel and Bach.

Recommended for die-hard fans of the show, but newbies should rather check out the whole TV show DVD box set beforehand.