Tweekums Set fifty years after a devastating war which saw the Eastern Federation defeat Europa civilisation is still in ruins. Rebels are still fighting and the world is heavily polluted. Dr Azuma announces that he has found a way to regenerate any human organ using 'neo-cells'. While his research goes ahead his son is killed fighting in the army. Something goes wrong when lightning strikes the laboratory; it creates entire people; so called Neo-Sapiens. Those who escape kidnap Dr Azuma's wife and flee to the mountains. Meanwhile Dr Azuma uses his research to bring his son Tetsuya back to life. He is no longer an ordinary person though; he now has superhuman strength. It isn't long before the Neo Sapiens have built a robot army and are trying to wipe out humanity and Tetsuya is leading the fight to stop them.It must be said that this film looks great; it has a CGI-steampunk aesthetic and frequently looks like a pop video might be like if it had been directed by Fritz Lang. Unfortunately it is also a bit of a mess plot wise; at time it felt as if the makers thought up something that would look great without necessarily being able to explain why it was happening. The basic story is solid but the way it was told frequently left me a little confused about what was going on. I can't say how it compares to the original anime as I've not seen it; only 'Casshern Sins' that was made after this and is quite different. I'd recommend this to fans of the genre but wouldn't call it a must see.These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.

huh_oh_i_c Casshern is an overwhelming visual spectacle, which didn't get as many awards as it deserved. But don't get fooled by all the visuals and the violence. Casshern most definitely has something profound to say about life, the universe, people and everything. And why it all seems so effed up.It tells the classic tale of a family in a war situation: Azuma, a war scientist, his wife Midori, their son Tetsuya, his fiancé Luna and her father, a colleague of Azuma. One war, between the Eastern Federation (thinly disguised Japan) and Eurasia has ended, ("1984", anyone?) and another is about to begin, this time with some Frankensteinian monsters, created by Azuma. (Which, oh which real-life country also participates in this pattern of perpetual war?) Tetsuya has decided to go to war, even against the wishes of his parents and his fiancé. And then .....Casshern is very clearly an anti-war movie, which is not shy about graphically showing war-crimes, committed by the supposedly good guy. It clearly invokes images of US soldiers in Iraq, although the set decoration and cinematography is clearly inspired by the interbellum years, like in movies like "Richard III".It's also an homage to comic books and graphic novels of all ages.The acting is superb, and the casting has been outstanding, but most of all the music, the score approaches Morricone levels of flawless integration. Sublime!The Melancholic Alcoholic.

kingderella the history of film is full of entries that have more style than substance, but rarely has the divide between the visuals and the content been this wide. casshern is a unique, dazzling visual spectacle, but otherwise its deeply flawed.lets talk about those flaws first. casshern makes the classic sci-fi nerd mistake of wrapping an undercooked idea in an overcooked plot. the resulting story is boringly simplistic and incomprehensibly convoluted at once. at its core, casshern is an anti-war movie, but not only does it have nothing interesting to say other than "war is eeeevil", but it contradicts itself by fetishizing violence, and clutters its main message further with a vague anti-bio-engineering stance that seems completely unfounded. add some outrageously dated gender roles, a sluggish pace, unclear character motivations, lots of heavy-handed melodrama, and a plot so byzantine its all but incomprehensible on first viewing, and you have... a hot mess.however, for those who are patient and bring some good-will, some of those problems become less pronounced on second viewing. once the plot more or less clicks, the story shows a little more depth than it initially seemed.but the one thing that makes this movie worth watching - and make no mistake, it IS worth watching - is its visuals. words can not describe what a gorgeous steam-punk sci-fi animé masterpiece this is. every minute is brimming with dazzling pictures, from the eye-popping landscapes, to the head-spinning battle scenes, to the terrifying flashes of war-memories. really, I'm not gonna go further into this, because whats the point? just go and see it. you will probably find the story acceptable at best, terribly boring at worst, but the visuals will make sure that you wont regret a single second of it.

janchatko-1 While I watched several good animes, this movie has all of the bad features of the genre. First of all, the story told makes no sense whatsoever; it is full of holes and flaws and different pieces are much more eager to run away in all directions than come together. This could perhaps be mitigated by nice graphics- if we lived ten years ago. However impressive the pictures might be, they are no art and not worth watching on their own.What really put me off was prolonged, pointless monologues (or pseudo-dialogs, pseudo as the speakers never listen to each other and just say whatever they want) explaining the most obvious feelings of the characters to the viewer in the most cheesy, pompous way possible. It was also terribly painful to listen to endless tirades that repeated over and over again, claiming truisms like 'war is bad' or 'love is nice'.I definitely did not gain anything by watching this movie, apart from a potential excuse from watching an anime next time.