ClassyWas
Excellent, smart action film.
Matrixiole
Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.
Brennan Camacho
Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.
Irishchatter
I wouldn't call this the best movie I've ever seen but it was enjoyable and interesting at the same time. The graphics and the drawings of the background were beautiful. It looked as if it was very real! I would say Bravo to the animators or drawers who were involved doing the movie!Anna Paquin did a mighty job playing as James Ray Steam aka Steamboy. You wouldn't think it was actually a young girl voicing the character. It's not that I'm sexist but I'm just surprised that she did a good job acting as a young boy. I suppose Steamboy looked so teen-aged so I suppose they decided to pick any girl in playing the character in order to no hear a rather deep voice. I suppose it would be a good idea too if they tried that out in the first place but there ya go! I would say this movie is good,it's just not a favorite of mine!
asim_burney
Click here for the podcast: http://bit.ly/at2vLS Is the Steamboy the much awaited follow up to Akira a worthy predecessor? One of the most expensive anime's made in it's time, but does it deliver the goods? Where was the money spent and was it well spent? How does it compare with Akira and what are the other similarities? Listen to the discussion of a movie team built up of European Film Snob, a popcorn muncher and a omnivore. In the weekly podcast of small ticket entertainment. The Upodcast reviews this anime classic in their weekly show in detail with a spoilerific in depth revisit. the team also wonders why Two and a Half men is still on TV, we speak about shape shifting sports cars and the drug fueled orgies of a Rabbi.
Tweekums
I'd heard good things about this film but was somewhat disappointed as soon as I put the disc in and found it didn't include the original Japanese language sound track as I prefer to watch my anime subbed rather than dubbed. When the film started I soon put that out of my mind and settled down to enjoy the story.The Steam family live up to their name by inventing a variety of steam powered devices, the most impressive of which is the steam-ball a metal ball the size of a football that can contain enough compressed steam to power huge machines for a long period of time. After an accident at a research centre in Alaska Lloyd and his son Eddie have a falling out and Lloyd sends the ball to his grandson James Ray Steam. Soon after the package arrives in Manchester members of the sinister O'Hara Foundation turn up claiming that it was meant to be sent to them so it could feature in the Great Exhibition in London. James flees on an exotic looking single wheel vehicle and is chased by thugs on a large traction engine... this exciting chase goes on for a while and includes trains and a Zeppelin. Ray is caught and taken to London along with the steam ball, he is shocked to discover that his father, who he believed was dead, is working for the O'Hara Foundation. Eddie explains how grandfather Lloyd went a bit mad and stole the ball, at this point Ray doesn't know who to believe.It turns out that the steam ball is one of three required to power a huge steam castle where the Foundation is hoping to sell their various steam powered weapons to anybody who has the money to but them. When word gets out and the authorities seek to search the castle the foundation deploys a wide range of steam powered weapons against them including steam-armour, tanks and even aircraft, finally the castle itself takes off leaving a swathe of destruction through London. Ray, his grandfather and the O'Hara's daughter Scarlett must stop them before London is destroyed.I thought the story was pretty good and the animation was pretty stunning throughout. I really liked the vast array of imaginative steam powered devices that appeared. The dub wasn't bad and I wouldn't have guessed that Ray was being voiced by a woman if I hadn't read it here first. The accents did seem to be the sort only had by the generic Northerners who feature in period dramas, I was half expecting somebody to say, "Ay oop, there's trouble up t' mill". If you insist on watching anime in Japanese get the directors cut, if it isn't essential this English version is still enjoyable.
arthera09
Not a great movie, but it looked fantastic. That would be the saving grace of this movie. In terms of story it is not what I am used to when it comes to my Japanese Anime. I think they did a pretty good job keeping the technology pretty centered and not totally out of the question. That must sound stupid but as I was watching it I believed the world was real. The characters dynamic was not the greatest and no one really seemed to grow at all during the movie. Relationships were not given any background so I never really cared what happened between the characters. The big fight at the end was really cool and the flying machine gave rise to some of the best animation sequences of the movie. It terms of the look of the movie it was flawless, but the story and characters were lacking so it just was not a great movie. I am probably jaded when it comes to my Anime and expect great things. After watching movies like Paprika and Mind Game I expect more craziness or more beauty like any of Miyazaki's films.
