Vexille - Movie | 
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| Director: Fumihiko Sori
Actors: Toshiyuki Morikawa, Romi Park, Shosuke Tanihara, Akio Otsuka, Meisa Kuroki
Studio: Funimation
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.98
Buy New: $11.99
You Save: $17.99 (60%)
New (36) Used (9) from $10.99
Rating:  66 reviews
Sales Rank: 3473
Format: Color, Ntsc, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: Japanese (Original Language), English (Original Language)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 109
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 0
UPC: 704400095900
EAN: 0704400095900
ASIN: B0012Z5UM0
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: May 20, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Vexille (2007, subtitled 2077 Nippon Sakoku: "2077 Isolation of Japan") is a CG/motion capture film that apes the popular Appleseed series. In 2077, 10 years after Japan withdrew into a sort of neo-Tokugawa isolation to pursue illegal cyborg technology, most of the population has been turned into androids by the evil Daiwa Heavy Industries. Vexille, a tough-as-press-on-nails mecha pilot in theDeunan Knute mode, joins in a raid on the remains of Tokyo to learn about the threat this technology poses. An unremarkable series of chases, mecha battles and Morris-the-Explainer-scenes ensues as Vexille, her beau Leon, and the few Japanese who still cling to their humanity destroy Daiwa's fortified island headquarters. Most of the story elements are borrowed other films, including Appleseed Ex Machina, Dune and the two Ghost in the Shell features. Vexille was clearly a low-budget production: the poorly rendered figures ressemble wax puppets and their shadows shrink and grow like stains on their clothing. (Rated PG-13: violence, violence against women, tobacco use) --Charles Solomon
Product Description
In the near future Japan's scientists have perfected the merging of biotechnology and robotics its benefits extending the lifespans of all humans. However the United Nations deem the advanced technology a dangerous threat and begins strict surveillance on Japan.Refusing to abide by the UN's demands to halt research the rogue nation isolates itself from the world. Enter Vexille a young female operative of S.W.O.R.D. a specialized military unit charged with policing the potential misuse of robotic technology sent to infiltrate the neo-isolationist Japan to prevent a potential biotechnological nightmare!Format: DVD Genre: INDEPENDENT/INTERNATIONAL UPC: 704400095900 Manufacturer No: 0
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| Customer Reviews: Read 61 more reviews...
 Two Thumbs Up July 16, 2008
This is a very good futuristic, woman in trouble story with some very serious bad guys, both machine and android. It's 2077, Japan has been ostracized by the world because they refuse to stop robotic research. In fact, Daiwa, an evil take over the world kind of Japanese corporate monster has come up with a way to turn humans into androids, thus making people better in their opinion. Of course, the humans might have a different point of view.
Vexile, the star of the show, is a member of an elite commando group called SWORD and they've been charged with sneaking into Japan and finding out once and for all what Daiwa is up to. However, the group is ambushed, but Vexile escapes with her life, her companions, save for one other, are all killed.
Vexile is taken in by Maria, who is the head of a group of Japanese who want to bring down Daiwa. Maria tells Vexile that Daiwa plans on turning all the people on the planet into androids. Maria has a daring plan to stop them and Vexile joins her.
So there you have the basics of what I thought was a very good movie. The animation was very life like, the shadows and reflections looked real. The sound effects were first rate and the people, though obviously animated, started to seem pretty darned real to me as the movie progressed. I can just imagine what they'll be turning out in a few years. Anyway, two thumbs up from me.
A Super SciFi Story July 16, 2008
It is 2077 and ten years prior Japan has withdrawn from the U.N. and the world community and built an electromagnetic field called RACE around their country, because the UN passed a resolution outlawing bio-robotic research and technology.
SWORD a very high-tech unit of commandos is sent into Japan, because the world finds out they've violated the UN resolution and they want proof, but the unit is ambushed and everybody is killed except Vexile and her pal Leon, who is taken prisoner. Vexile gets away by jumping into the sea. She wakes later in Maria's home and nothing is like she expected it would be.
Tokyo has been reduced to a primitive village, all the skyscrapers are gone. It's as if Japan has returned to the past. Vexile is confused, but not for long. Maria is the leader of a group of revolutionaries who wants to overthrow the Daiwa, the corperation that is running the country. Daiwa are also the manufacture of androids which are indistinguishable from humans. Daiwa's grip on the country seems unshakable.
Leon has been captured by Daiwa and Vexile must save him, but that's the least of her problems. Daiwa has come up with a scheme to turn all the humans in the world into androids and Vexile and her new gal pal Maria have to stop them. To do this they have to battle not only machine and android, but huge metallic worm like monsters as well. Can she do it? What do you think?
This movie held me captivated, but then I've always been a bit of a scifi buff. The animation is very good, the soundtrack is too, but the best animation and sound in the world doesn't a movie make. It's the story that counts and this story is aces, a woman in serious trouble, tough bad guys, an insurmountable problem, stories don't get any better than this.
 Vexing agents July 16, 2008
It doesn't come as a huge surprise that "Vexille" is from the people who brought the world "Appleseed" and its even better sequel "Appleseed Ex Machina."
The CGI look, the cyberpunk flavor, the big mecha, and the futuristic world full of political and technological conflict are all firmly in place, along with some pretty slam-bang action sequences and a darker, grittier feeling. While it lacks some character development and feels rather bleak at times, it's still a pretty entertaining story -- if only it fleshed out the main cast a little more.
About seventy years in the future, the American tech police known as SWORD are sent into Japan to find out if the isolated country has been doing illegal robotics research. They aren't, and the movie ends there. No, seriously, they are, and all the SWORD agents are killed except for Vexille and her boyfriend.
Moreover, Vexille finds that the once-proud Japan is ruled over by the evil Daiwa Corporation, which wanted to experiment with robotics, biotech and so forth. Now it is barely more than a mass slum. Even worse, a nanotech "vaccine" has reduced its inhabitants to mindless husks. Vexille's only hope of saving herself -- and her lover Leon -- is to join forces with a small band of rebels.
Those hoping for another "Appleseed" will probably be quite disappointed with "Vexille" -- the colorful, sparkling "utopias" of those two movies are not to be found in this one. Instead "Vexille" seems to be aiming at a darker, grimier aesthetic, with a more complex plot full of political machinations and some fairly hefty moral questions as well.
It's a pretty amazing spectacle -- action-packed fights, nanotech leviathans, and a small-scale apocalyptic finale, rendered in detailed, fast-moving CGI animation. And there's a certain element of horror when we see the devastated Japan, and what its inhabitants have been turned into by the nanotech. Call it a warning about how far you take technology, much as in the recent "Appleseed Ex Machina."
And the animation is pretty astounding. While it has an oddly rotoscoped look, it's still detailed and gloriously vivid. And that includes details like snowflakes being individually swept from a windshield, or the inner glow of a gem -- or even a smooth-skinned, nimble mecha exploding into a building. This glorious look almost makes up for the stretches of relatively action-free plot.
Perhaps its biggest weakness is in the characterization. It feels like they put a lot of effort into creating lifelike-looking characters. But despite some moments of spunkiness from Vexille, with her bubblegum and her gritty determination, the characters never quite come alive. The best-rounded character is probably Maria, the tragic rebel leader who also provides a little romantic tension for our elf-faced heroine.
"Vexille" is a flawed little semiprecious gem -- it's not the best "lifelike" anime movie, but its plot and artwork have enough style and substance to be worth the watch.
A string of pearls, stretched too thin... July 15, 2008
VEXILLE is an odd film. There's much to like, but there's a lot that's puzzling. The film has several strong scenes, sequences and set pieces, yet never seems to string them together into a total coherent work. It ends up as an enjoyable enough experience, although not one that will go down as a classic of the genre.
The movie is set in 2077 A.D. Humanity is becoming more technologically dependent, but the United Nations has decided to outlaw the most advanced applications in the field of robotics. Ten years before the film's opening, Japan has cut itself off from the rest of the world. While some trading vessels still sail into Japanese waters, physical and electronic barriers prevent all outsiders from knowing what has taken place over the past ten years.
Enter Vexille and the rest of her team. Vexille works for the United States Air Force and their mission is to infiltrate and disable the forced communications blackout. Naturally, the changes within Japan have been dramatic, and the mission is far more dangerous and important than any of the planners have realized.
There is a lot to like about VEXILLE and I would like to be able to say that it's a great piece of work. However, the whole never manages to completely hold together. There are long stretches where the pacing slows to a crawl. The genuinely impressive sequences tend to be followed by uninspired scenes which really hurt the flow of the movie.
For a perfect example of this feeling of frustration I felt, let me go over the entire fifteen minute pre-credit sequence. During these scenes we see an action-packed fight sequence, showcasing the computer generated animated effects at their finest. The pacing is great, the direction is exciting. But there's one problem: we have no context in which to place this action. We have no idea who the good guys are, who the bad guys are. We don't know their motivations. We don't know why they are fighting. We don't know what the benefit would be to the winner or the peril that would be faced by the loser. Everything looks great; it's just hard to care.
There are many plainly interesting science-fiction ideas in the film. Looking back over the movie, there are a lot of great moments and concepts which -- unfortunately -- aren't given a fantastic movie in which to grow. That is probably the most frustrating thing about VEXILLE. One suspects that even something as simple as stronger and more aggressive editing could have resulted in a much more impressive and powerful movie.
Super Movie, Super Animation, Super Bad Guys, Super Monsters too July 14, 2008
The time is seventy years in the future and the Japanese have taken robotic technology to a whole nother level, combining robotics with biology. When the Japanese first started going down this road, the UN passed a resolution which forbade this kind of android technology, so caused Japan to withdrew from the world community, hiding their country under an electronic shield which kept everyone and everything, including satellite images out.
The book opens with a meeting held by Daiwa Industiries, everybody at the meeting dies just before SWORD, a high tech, super trained commando unit raids the meeting. It seems the Japanese have gone ahead and created the most dangerous kind of android. SWORD must infiltrate into Japan and get to the bottom of it all.
Vexile is a tough and determined female soldier who was on that raid and she is a member of the unit that sneaks into Japan. The unit is ambushed, everybody is killed save Vexile who gets away and her pal Leon who gets captured. Now Vexile must save Leon, but that's not her only problem. It seems like Tokyo just isn't there anymore, the Japanese people, those who are left, are something less than human and the whole world is in danger and Vexile must save it along with Leon.
This is a good story with great animation and super sound. There is plenty of tension, great bad guys and super monsters who seem very much like sandworms right out of the pages of DUNE. I really enjoyed this movie.
Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
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