Music DVD Review
Publisher: Virgin
Mon, 15 November 2004
by: Fazz
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A groundbreaking project, “Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem� is the result of a collaboration between popular French house band Daft Punk, and legendary “Japanimation� director Leiji Matsumoto. It’s the world’s first (to my knowledge) “house musical�, a story set to the soundtrack of Daft Punk’s “Discovery�. For fans of Daft Punk and/or Leiji Matsumoto, this is the Bee’s Knees! It is, simply, one of the greatest ideas ever come to fruition. The music, the action, the story and the characters all come together to create an amazing and new visual/aural experience unlike anything else.
Naturally, you can’t expect a terribly deep storyline or rich characterization from a movie which has no dialogue. Despite being based entirely on the strengths of “Discovery�, “Interstella 5555� has a passable storyline with loveable characters. It’s no deeper than Jamie’s toilet. It’s probably best to just sit back and enjoy the show.
Basically, this is the gist of it: an alien band (nameless in the opening sequence), is kidnapped by an evil manager who turns them into humans and markets them as “The Crescendolls�, the Earth’s newest and greatest pop act. They’ve had their memories wiped, and their alien wardrobes made redundant and their skin changed. Shep, a pilot with a spaceship shaped like a massive guitar, recieves the distress call from the band’s home planet and cruises off for Earth. What follows is a edge-of-your-seat chase, a heroic rescue scene, an untimely death, a gigantic battle and a hero’s return
In fact, the brilliantly effective characterization in “Interstella 5555� is a big part of this film’s appeal. The hero, Shep, is a brilliantly simple character. He goes to the rescue because he’s a huge fan of the band and begins to fall in love with the band’s female guitarist (this scene is realized in a beautifully animated dream-sequence). Basically, most people can identify; we’re cheering for Shep because we can relate to his position. Considering this is, in essence, an hour-long music video that’s quite a feat!
The visuals are absolutely cutting-edge. Created with what was obviously a reasonably large budget (would we expect any less from Daft Punk?), Leiji Matsumoto’s retro-classic characters are brought to life. Visually, this film is awesome. There’s barely a spot of dodgy animation, and the coloring is rich and vibrant. Aurally, if you’re a Daft Punk fan, you’ll love it. What happens on screen so perfectly fits the “Discovery� album, you’ll swear the album and film were written, recorded and animated in one cohesive stage. Daft Punk is widely considered to be “the best House band on the planet�, and rightfully so. What they’ve created here is a fun, enjoyable album that is perfectly blended with another art form.
If you’re a fan of either the band or the director, you won’t need to be told to run out and snap up a copy of this DVD. “Interstella 5555� is wonderfully animated, fun to watch and easy to get into. Anime, while it is quickly becoming “cool�, has never entered the realm of “hip�, which is something completely different. “Interstella 5555� brings anime into the world of celebrities, designer clothes and limousines, and it seems a perfect mix. This film seems to belong somewhere right outside the regular definition of “anime�, it transcends the clichés, but owes a great deal of its success to what came before it.
Video:
This DVD has a flawless visual feel, relatively free of compression artifacts and other associated digital glitches. The Menu System is imaginatively animated displaying various scenes from the film. For an anime film which has been animated using new technology, it retains an innocence and vague familiarity with such classic 80’s Japanese animation as “Astroboy� and “Battle of the Planets�. A visual feast if ever I saw one.
Audio:
Daft Punk. Brilliant. While not being a huge fan of “Dance� music in general, and House in particular, I found this DVD to be one of the more enjoyable anime films I’ve seen in recent years. The soundtrack, as I stated earlier, blends perfectly with the amazing visual landscape that is created.
This DVD features a DTS 5.1 soundtrack, a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and a Dolby Digital Digital 2.0 soundtrack.
Special Features:
This DVD has a host of special features including the French and English versions of the film, interactive play, wallpapers, production featurettes and wonderful biographies of both Leiji Matsumoto and Daft Punk. This disk also boasts an impressive array of multiple angles featured in the various video clips and scenes.
Final Verdict:
Utterly awesome! As an idea kicked around by myself in my band days, and, I’m sure, countless others without the finance to realize it, it’s so amazing to see something like this done in such a perfect way. I highly suggest purchasing this DVD. It’s a fresh and worthy addition to any DVD collection.
by: Fazz
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