Redline (Takeshi Koike)

[Stay Puft]

REDLINE
Director: Takeshi Koike

IMDb page (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1483797/)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZqchFcRKgtY/TkYxSGQquII/AAAAAAAAB2Y/mBoMtil_ums/s1600/redline2.jpg

[Stay Puft]

I don't think I made a post about this move yet but I saw it at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival last year and here's my reaction in short:

Best piece of animation I've seen in years.

Aesthetically, it's a triumph. The shapes, the color, the sound, the music, the sheer unrelenting kineticism of it all... my jaw spent the better part of the film on the floor. It gets my recommendation on this basis.

However, two reservations: 1. The story amounts to a juvenile male-oriented fantasy, which tempers my enthusiasm; 2. The film never really tops the opening ten minutes, and just ends up being convoluted when trying to up the ante during the climax. Should have kept it simple, tight and focused like in beginning.

As it is, the Yellow Line qualifying race sequence that opens the film, on its own, is the best piece of narrative filmmaking I saw last year.

[Qrazy]

Yeah, the animation was tops. Story was weak. It was released a long time ago though pretty sure.

[Stay Puft]

It was released a long time ago though pretty sure.

It opened commercially last week in New York. I generally use Mike D'Angelo's website as a reference guide though of course it's not perfect.

And case in point it looks like Redline had a qualifying run last month in LA. So, 2011 or 2012... not sure how we want to play this one now.

[Qrazy]

It opened commercially last week in New York. I generally use Mike D'Angelo's website as a reference guide though of course it's not perfect.

And case in point it looks like Redline had a qualifying run last month in LA. So, 2011 or 2012... not sure how we want to play this one now.

Doesn't matter to me, just felt like I saw it quite a long time ago.

[EyesWideOpen]

This comes out on dvd/blu-ray next week in the US so I doubt it counts as a 2012 release.

[Kurosawa Fan]

If we're going by the same system we use for the film consensus threads, this would technically be a 2011 film, as it was released in L.A. in December of last year.

[Stay Puft]

Yeah, I pointed that out already.

But as I said, I made the thread because Mike D'Angelo has it down as a 2012 commercial release on his master list, which is what I usually refer to and I know others have used it as a reference guide in E's previous yearly threads. So I dunno. I think the same thing happened last year with Summer Wars and E kept it updated in 2011.

We can do whatever we want with this thread, I guess, but I'll leave it to somebody else (Raiders?) to make an executive decision if we feel that's necessary.

[Stay Puft]

And in the end... it was IMDb who failed!

Redline did not have a qualifying run in LA last month, it was actually screening at an animation film festival. Redline did not open commercially in North America until January 6th 2012. Aren't you glad I sorted this out?

Redline is also available on DVD and Blu-ray as of last week, so what's your excuse, Match Cut? Essential viewing, especially for animations fans (but really for everybody). And since the film is poll-eligible for 2012, I expect you all to nominate it for Best Original Score at next year's Match Cut Awards.

[EyesWideOpen]

I had the same problem with Redline as I did with Tintin. Yes it's visually amazing but that keeps my attention for 15 minutes and then you have to provide me with something else to hang on to and Redline doesn't provide that. The film which is the most direct comparison to Redline is Speed Racer and that film while also visually amazing had a good story and interesting characters and is a better film in every way.

Edit: Let me clarify this is far more of a meh then a nay but I can't yay a film solely for visuals and character designs.

[Qrazy]

Redline manages to have a more pronounced sense of gravity and physical reality as a cartoon than Speed Racer does as live action. Also the stories suck in both but at least the ambience is tolerable in Redline.

[Winston*]

The narrative in this manages to strike some weird middle ground between the generic and incoherent lunacy. Found myself losing a bit of patience during the hour or so between the first and final race. The style of the thing is seriously impressive though, and enough to bring me down on the positive side.

Agree with Stay Puft that the first 10 minutes were the best.

[Winston*]

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[Stay Puft]

I still listen to the soundtrack on a regular basis, it's amazing.

Good lord that English dub sounds awful, though.

[Thirdmango]

I loved this, being a big fan of Wacky Races it reminded me a lot of that, just crazy racers doing crazy things.

[The Bad Guy]

I'm inclined to count this as a 2012 movie as well, due to the fact that it didn't get a limited U.S. theatrical release and only got an obscure DVD release in 2012. It's definitely borderline, but I'm going to be watching it and judging it as '12 personally.