This.
People are so spoiled these days, you honestly wanted them to show as much as the anime did? That would take like 6 movies for the Golden Age Arc alone...
From what I've read, they have very limited funding so they have to cut a lot of material that may be considered "filler" and yes, some material that isn't filler, there is no other way they can possibly do the entire manga in movies.
This is an ambitious task they are undertaking, and I am hoping the first three movies raise enough revenue in theater screenings and dvd sales enough to encourage them to continue the rest of the Berserk series, because lets face it, there is a very low chance for Berserk to get another anime, or for the one that was dropped after Golden Age Arc to continue.
But what the heck would be the point of reanimating all the filler? We've seen it. This adaptation is clearly for the fans - people who already know the story
Precisely, even if some of the cut material isn't filler. Some cuts must be made in order for them to be able to continue without their budget collapsing on top of them.
And yes, this is clearly for the established fans of the Berserk series, obviously it will attempt to attract new fans, something I think it will be able to do despite the slightly hard to follow plot in the first movie.
They've redone the bits that DESPERATELY NEEDED BETTER ANIMATION. The anime is still there. The manga is still there. Those of us who want to read/listen to the deeper parts of the dialogue and philosophy still have access to it.
This is all the kick-ass bits that felt dodgy in the anime done as well as the budget, time and talent on the project would allow. Bits of it were utterly breathtaking, something I can't say in good faith about the anime. (Manga always looked great, but it doesn't exactly move.)
I agree, while I loved the anime to death, the action scenes in this movie blow the anime out of the water. There is just no comparison, the adrenaline rush that I get from watching the action scenes is almost intoxicating.
From the beggining battle scene, the movie captures me, birds flying overhead, waiting to feast on the dead flesh of the fallen, fireballs being catapulted flying by. The charge and roar of the mercenary crowd attempting to take the castle. Ladders, unique battering rams, and those tall personel carriers(not sure what they are called) all utilized, making the battle feel very realistic.
Next the mercenaries make it into the castel, Bazuso appears for the first time, killing three mercs in as many seconds. Followed by the fearful unwillingness of the mercenaries to continue fighting. You can literally feel the fear in the crowd, as opposed to the anime, which made the scene feel like comic relief.
Bazuso insults the mercs for having no balls, and then we see Guts make his way slowly through the crowd to face Bazuso. As an audience we can feel the task he is undertaking, this isn't a game, he could get his head chopped off, and he is the only one with the balls to take on Bazuso.
The movie does an excellent job showcasing Guts' "all or nothing" or rather "Berserker" fighting style, he holds nothing back, and you can feel it in every swing, until the inevitable killing of Bazuso, in brutal fashion. Followed by the mercs and soldiers reactions of awe and fear of Guts.
The next action scene of Corkus and company attempting to rob Guts was also well done, possibly even more so than the initial battle.
Guts sees them coming, six mounted mercs coming straight at him, he reacts casually by calmly dropping his bag, putting on his helmet and drawing his sword. He proceeds to kill the first victim, in a single slash, we are then shown just how truly huge Guts' sword is from Corkus' perspective, while Guts calmly asseses the situation and sees he is being charged at from opposite sides, he block Corkus' attack and chops of the other rider's arm clean off.
The soundtrack during this action sequence is amazing seems like its the Guts theme. Just before Guts is about to kill Corkus, Casca intervines, shooting a bolt into Guts' shoulder.
The way Guts gets Casca off the horse is much better and brutally done in the movie, he chops off her horse's rear legs.
The soundtrack quites down for a brief period, allowing you to feel Casca's fear as she realizes she has lost her mounted advantage. She then proceeds to launch and assault on Guts, Casca being the second best swordsman in The Band of The Hawk, feels confident in her ability.
After blocking a few of her attacks, Guts launches his own brutal counter-offensive, the very first hit causes Casca to back up as we see her struggling to hold on to her sword due to the immense power of Guts' blows. You can feel what Griffith means when he tells Guts "The way you fight to me seems, like you are trying to test whether you are truly alive, you purposely push yourself within an inch of your life, only to come back fighting tooth and nail, that is the feeling I get." And that is the feeling we get as Guts swings his massive sword at Casca. A few more strikes and she is on the ground, the Griffith interferes and we know the rest.
The Midland vs Tudor battle was well done, despite being kind of short, but hey, it was short in the anime as well. Guts charging into enemy ranks was well done in climactic fashion.
The Zodd scene was amazing, my only gripe with it is the initial exchanges between Guts and Zodd are done during a voice over. Other than that, Zodd was amazing, his transformation gave me goosebumps.
The assasination of Count Julius was great too, better even than the anime because we get to see an amazing adaptation of Guts' escape from the castle. Adonis' murder was done a little differently, Guts didn't see him before killing him as to help the audience sympathize with Guts, Adonis' death held just as much impact as the anime, it was brutal, it was tragic, fighting back tears sort of scene.
Those are the main action sequences, and I believe they were all done to near perfection. The non action scenes were good too, not as well developed as the anime, but hey, can't have everything right? Griffith recruiting Guts, the Casca/Guts scenes, the post Zodd staircase scene between Guts and Griffith, the "dreams" speech by Griffith at Charlotte's ball.
Also the very last scene was different and better than the anime in my opinion, Charlotte's servant breaks the news that Julius and Adonis were killed. Casca says "We'd better prepare, if Tudor was behind this... Guts?"
Guts walks off slowly and Casca notices the blood on his cape, and it hits, her, Guts was the one who was the assassin, very very good stuff.
Remember, this new version ISN'T REPLACING ANYTHING. It's just another part of the experience that is Berserk.
Nor should it, if someone wants a pure Berserk experience, they can read the manga, meanwhile, these movies are an EXCELLENT adaptation of the story, and I'm holding my breath in wait to see the second movie.
The second movie looks epic, with the hundred man slaying, and the battle for Doldrey, Casca/Guts scenes, The Ball, and it will be 110 minutes as opposed to 70 like the first movie, so I think there will be much more room for character development.
Anyway those are my thoughts on the matter. :)
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