Samurai Jack - The Premiere Movie

Starring:Mako, Jennifer Hale, Rob Paulsen, Sab Shimono, Lauren Tom, Jeff Bennett
Director: Robert Renzetti, Randy Myers, Robert Alvarez (II), Genndy Tartakovsky
Studio: Turner Home Ent
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

The graphically inventive feature that introduced the Cartoon Network series owes as much to the cartoons of UPA and Chuck Jones as it does to anime. The title character is a prince whose family has fought the evil demon Aku for control of their fanciful Asian kingdom for ages. During an intense battle, Jack is hurled into a future city ruled by Aku and his henchmen-robots. After aiding some talking dogs, Jack vows to continue his struggle against Aku and return to own time. The angular, minimal visuals are effective and eclectic: Aku's face is modeled on Sri Lankan demon masks, and the characters move in ways that fit their stylized designs. Unfortunately, the writing falls short of the visuals--the talking dogs would feel more at home in a "Ren and Stimpy" cartoon than in this imaginative adventure. Unrated. Suitable for ages 8 and older: cartoon violence. --Charles Solomon

Description

In ancient Japan, a samurai warrior embarks on a mission to defeat the evil wizard Aku. Before completing his task, he is jetisoned thousands of years into the future. Suddenly, he discovers he is in a world where Aku now enjoys complete power over every living thing. Taking on the name Jack, he sets out on a quest to free the future from Aku's grasp and to find a way back to his own time so he can destroy the evil for good.

Customer Reviews:

Still great.......2007-03-29

I recently had the urge to watch this again. It was in heavy rotation for me a few years ago, and now I think it's high time it returned! Seeing how the series progressed, and remembering the first few episodes struck me, it's no mystery why SJ impressed me!

The art style is unlike anything else I've ever seen in animation from any country. Amazing backgrounds, fun dialogue, and action-action-action!

The DVD's inclusion of a bonus episode from the show is odd, in light of having the complete sets of seasons, but welcome. The sketches and interviews are good.

My favorite part of the movie would be the rush through his youth, a tour of the world, and kind of a preview of his entire life, as he tours the world again during the seasons to fight Aku. Watch it again!

Great show - but beware.......2007-01-16

My son and I both love Samuarai Jack. I bought him the complete first three seasons for Christmas, but I also bought the premier movie. Now, I realize I should have caught on with the title, "Premier" Movie, but I thought it was just the first full length movie of Jack, not what it actually is - the premier episode that was an hour long. There could be worse things than having two copies of the same episode, right?

Jack's like, word!.......2006-06-09

Cartoon Network shows tend to be very, very cool -- at the very least, fascinatingly weird. But their most "righteous" show has to be "Samurai Jack," a dryly hilarious show with a righteous hero, his magic sword, and a truly loathsome villain.

"Samurai Jack: the Movie" is nothing new, merely the first few episodes of the series. Nevertheless, it's a good introduction to anyone who is just checking out this clever little series.

The evil Aku (Japanese for... "evil") has risen again, and lays waste to Japan. But the empress manages to smuggle away the young prince, and over the years he becomes a brave warrior. He returns, frees the enslaved people, and goes off to kill Aku with a magic sword forged by the gods.

But during the battle with Aku, the young samurai is flung thousands of years into the future (think a grimier "Jetsons"). Aku rules the future with an iron fist, and the world is full of volatile aliens, speeding aircars, and talking dogs. Now the samurai -- known as "Jack" -- must free the enslaved dogs from Aku's rule, and find a way back to his own time so this future will never happen.

Of course, he won't find it right away, because otherwise there wouldn't be a story. There's a bonus episode in the extras menu: Jack walks over a miles-long bridge, and encounters a psychotic Scotsman who ends up getting handcuffed to him. Will they escape backwater bounty hunters together, or strangle each other first?

Certainly "Samurai Jack" isn't like anything you've seen before, with its simplistic drawing style and clever scripting. The animation style is reminiscent of classical Japanese artwork, and their movies get a nod in the quiet, relatively slow pacing of the episodes.

And as it entertains you with evil robots and shapeshifting demons, it also throws in a subtle message about honor, kindness, and "righteousness." For a series with no character development, its hero is a pretty lovable guy. He's morally upright, righteous and kind, but somehow it isn't annoying.

And it's fairly cool to see him training with Vikings, Olympic wrestlers, Cossacks, Zen monks, and even with Robin Hood. And when he gets to the future, we get to see him deal with all sorts of bizarro things. (Robot alligators with machine guns?) And surprisingly, Jack adjusts very quickly to his surreal new surroundings.

Though it has nothing that people with the other "Samurai Jack" DVDs won't have, "Samurai Jack: the Premiere Movie" is a good intro for people who are just getting introduced to this clever series.

Good Origin.......2005-09-01

Samurai Jack - The Premiere Movie focuses mainly on the origin of our favorite Samurai and while it was enjoyable it did feel just a little slow. Overall if you just want to see if you might like Samurai Jack pick it up. I'm sure it will hook you.

Intro to the Story.......2005-05-05

This is the story of the beginings of Samurai Jack (also on the 1st season DVD). I like the episodes of young Jack, however I think the best intro to the cartoon would be a later episode. These early episodes have an early timing, animation and story telling style that is not yet up to the level of the other episodes of the 1st season. You can really tell this when Jack first goes to the future and fights the robotic bugs. More importantly though I didn't see these episodes untill after I was a fan from later ones. I found that discovering the Samurai's past after I knew the character was presumably more exciting than the other way around. The DVD has some Cartoon Network online extras if that interests you. I have both this DVD and the 1st season, but there really isn't a need for this DVD unless you don't want the entire 1st season or if you just want this for the completeness of your collection.

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