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4/10
Disappointing, except from the visuals and design
19 January 2008
As a huge fan of the games which i see as the best 3rd person action game series released since Resident Evil i was anticipating an action packed anime, but sadly this wasn't the case.

First of all the series takes place in 12 episodes and is a visually fine anime along with some great enemy character design, that somewhat lives up to the games. But besides this, the main story that takes place is somewhat non existent as the first 6-8 episodes are pretty much stand alone chapters with minimal linking to the main plot and sees Dante taking "devil-hunter" jobs. The last 2-3 episodes are the only ones with a somewhat main plot and by the the viewer wont seem to care about the story anymore as its been so lose as it has to this point, it feels like the writers didn't really knew what to make of the series except from using the brand.

What i found the worst about the series though was that the characters are so extremely one sided and lacks depth, to be honest i always thought the Dante character would be more interesting but hes always presented to superior and u never get the feeling like he would lose a battle, the same goes for the 2 other female fighter sidekicks that are in most of the episodes, all the characters in the series never seem to get beyond putting up one-liners against each other which really leaves them shallow and unlikeable. The same goes for the 2 other characters that are regulars in most episodes and are usually hanging out in Dante's office, the little girl Patty and his "jobagent" Harrison, both are stripped for depth and seem to only have the same role for every episode.

As the trademark for the video games are the battles and also what made me look forward to this, it came as a major disappointment to the fighting scenes in this as they like the story are reduced to a single or two scenes in every episode, with most of them lasting a mere 10 seconds or so, even the last battle is highly disappointing and adds to how Dante and the other 2 main fighters on the good side are represented so superior, and u throughout the series never really get the feeling that they might lose and therefore might create some unseen twist in the span of the series.

I will only really recommend this the hardcore fans of the game, as there's nothing new to see here as you will be forgetting this as soon as its over, if you want the real Dante play the games! 4/10
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Ninja ryûkenden (1991 Video)
6/10
clichéd, but still catches the video game series paced fun
5 November 2007
This OVA is based on the original Ninja Gaiden video game that got released on the NES ( 8-bit Nintendo console ) back in the early 90's and later spawned a trilogy, not to be confused by the new Ninja Gaiden games that has been released on the latest Xbox and PS3 console.

The story itself isn't really based on the game itself but used as a background, where the first games main enemy "Jaquio" is mentioned. Besides that the story mainly focuses on human Genetic experiments and you see Ryu mostly fighting enhanced lab animals and some double bladed masked characters that are somewhat reminiscent of the dog like creatures from the game itself.

Considering i saw this for the first time in 2007, i must say it still quite holds up well although i am rather new to the anime community. Its very pacey which is one of the trademarks of the game itself and has a somewhat dark atmosphere and some solid fun in the 45 minutes it takes.

Its definitely worth a watch if you're into anime and video games, since the Ninja Gaiden series were one of the biggest NES games, and was the first game to include cinematic dialogue between the levels.

Off-topic: Personally i wouldn't recommend the game for its game-play, since its among one of the hardest games ever to a point where its very unforgiving and frustrating, but the controls seems pretty solid to make u somewhat forgive these flaws to a point, but the thing that makes me remember the series for is its amazing soundtrack, which till today is still ranks among the best game soundtracks ever, and all 3 games on the NES boasts with classical upbeat melancholic tunes which among with the Mega Man and the Castlevania series is the best music u can get in the NES library. I highly recommend the music from the games to any1 who is a fan of gaming soundtracks.
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Saw III (2006)
2/10
i got what i expected = Punishment!
14 January 2007
Just saw this in the cinemas today, while its the most grotesque in the trilogy, it can also crown itself as the worst. It reminded me more of a 2 hour music video rather than intelligent storytelling. It also had the worst acting as well whereas the first movie had some semi known actors and the 2nd had some actors from sitcoms/series, this has none of the above. Jigsaw reminds me more of a low budget Christopher Walken, and the main characters like the female doctor and Jeff doesn't create some kind of attachment or compassion for the viewer. If u have seen Tobe Hoopers "Texas Chainsaw.." classic, and remember it had a blonde female character that screams a lot in approximately 30 minutes somewhere in the movie, then just imagine seeing that in a 2 hour cocktail like Saw 3. Thats what u get, people that keeps screaming, cameras that switch around nearly every second and a story flow that never captivates you. The first movie was a blast and the 2nd was at least enjoyable, but the 3rd is a blend of frustration and loud noises. It certainly destroyed my view on the Saw series as a whole.
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8/10
Robin Williams does it again
12 January 2007
I just watched this movie and i can say that its been a long time since i was so locked up in a movie, not the occasional looking at my watch to see what time it or so. No this movie was so suspenseful, had an choking atmosphere and amazingly acted with robin williams up par as in "insomnia" and "one hour photo". The other actors did a fantastic job too even though I've never liked colette, she played well against williams. This is really one of those rare films that creates intense scenes and horror-movie like atmosphere that u wouldn't even find in 90% of todays horror movies. Don't be fooled by its current score, this movie has amazing acting and a frightening feel similar to movies like "The pledge" and "eyes wide shut", don't cheat yourself from this experience highly recommended.
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