Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom
Title: GTOYear: 1998
Length: 569 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: Japanese: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: Chinese, English, Other
My Thoughts:
A fine example of a well-done live action adaption of a manga. Even though a lot of things have changed, it helps to transfer it to a more believable live action TV series. The actors are well-chosen, especially Onizuka.
A lot of the story changes even made it into the anime which otherwise follows the manga story-line more closely.
I like it, when they make adjustment to fit the story better in the frame of the current media but stay close to the spirit of the source material.
This way, even though you know the source material, you can find new stuff to enjoy, but are not put off by it, when they try to stay compulsively close to the source material.
For example, I enjoy the GTO live action series more than the anime. The same goes for Death Note, where I prefer the live action movies to the anime (the manga of course is still better). But in the case of Death Note I think, that someone who doesn't know the manga, will prefer the anime, because there they get more of the taste of the full story. I on the other hand know, what things they have changed and prefer the manga version in those cases. This is why I enjoy the live action version, because there they had the guts to make some drastic changes, which help in their own way to tell the same story in a smaller time-frame.
Here the in my opinion great opening theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdpIijQF6voRating:
(From Tom's Random Reviews on October 13th, 2008)
Users: 0
May 18, 2024, 03:59:09 AM
). But IFC was showing it in its original aspect ratio as opposed to the pan and scan VHS tape I had rented from Blockbuster, and this time it sucked me in. I bought it on DVD and every time I watch it, my wife groans. This time around, I decided to pay more attention to the actual Gilbert & Sullivan theatrical pieces that are performed during the film, as I usually fast forward through those segments. Now I can understand the line of dialog from Arthur Sullivan where he states that ''I have been continually keeping down the music in order that not one syllable should be lost." Gilbert's penchant for rhyming triplets becomes extremely tiresome after a while and makes one wonder why English audiences didn't sour on them even sooner than they did. I guess if you're a fan of their music, these theatrical interludes are pleasant little diversions to the main story, but for me, a bit more editing would have made the story breeze by. The strength of this film lies in viewing the creative process which showcases all the difficulties associated with theatrical enterprises.
