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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7830 in DVD
• Brand: VEXILLE MOVIE (DVD)
• Released on: 2008-05-20
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: Japanese, English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 109 minutes

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

Studio description
From the creators of Appleseed with an original score by Paul Oakenfold

2067: ISOLATION
Japan seals herself off from the eyes of the world in the face of unilateral international policy setting strict limits on the use of robotic technology. The island nation exists only behind the veil of seclusion. No sour shall enter. No soul shall leave.

2077: REVELATION
The veil is breached. Japan is infiltrated by agents of the organization S.W.O.R.D., a fighting force operating outside of the protection of the United States and her allies. Their mission: Determine if the Japanese are developing banned robotic bio-technology, forbidden due to its threat to humankind.

In the battle between machine and man, humanity stands to suffer most.

Stills from Vexille (click for larger image)

Review
"Balls-To-The-Wall-Action" --Geek Magazine

Customer Reviews

EVERYTHING JUST WORKS
The plot of Vexille is complex and sophisticated and so is its animation/CGI/motion-capture, along with the depth of the ethical problems its plot revolves around. Good dramatic writing, coherent action and well-defined characters complete the package.

In the end it's the rebels versus big business/government/evil guys with a mad dash to smash everything before civilization falls, etc. Even though that's a trite premise, it's still so well done that one doesn't mind. That action isn't meaningless and baffling is one clear reason why Vexille stands above so many other animes. Maybe the word is maturity. It's a see and re-see movie. If the drama doesn't get you, the painterly art
will; see it and you'll see.

cool anime sci-fi
***1/2

It's 2067 and Japan has become a nation completely cut off from the rest of the world because it refuses to adhere to a U.N. mandate banning the development and manufacturing of human-like androids. The nation has also set up a sophisticated magnetic force field that effectively bars all outsiders from entering its borders. S.W.O.R.D. is a secret U.S. special forces team sent in to find out what diabolical activities are occurring on the inside. The main character, Vexille, is a feisty female member of this special ops force.

"Vexille" is a stylish and energetic dystopian fantasy, marked by imaginative storytelling, exciting action sequences, and animation that is a canny mixture of art deco, Soviet-era agitprop - with its heavy emphasis on facial shadowing - and technology-based futurism. Nicely done.

Vexing "Vexille"
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."

And in "Vexille," 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 -- now if only it had fleshed out the main cast a little more.

About seventy years in the future, the world is worried about the advancement of robotics technology. So the UN orders them restricted, and Japan decides to cut itself off from the rest of the world.

But ten years later, a biomechanical leg shows the UN just what has been going on in Japan. So the American tech police known as SWORD are sent into Japan to find out if the isolated country has been doing illegal robotics research, which no other country allows. They aren't, and the movie ends there. Seriously, the Daiwa Corporation has decided to guide mankind's evolution through machinery, and the the SWORD agents are met with a very warm, nasty welcome.

After being rescued by the rebel Maria, Vexille finds that the biorobotics Daiwa Corporation has reduced the once-proud Japan to a vast, barren slum devoid of truly human life. Even worse, a nanotech "vaccine" transforms the Japanese into mindless machines. Vexille's only hope of saving herself -- and her lover Leon -- is to join forces with a small band of rebels before Japan is completely destroyed by Daiwa.

"Vexille" is a very different animal from the "Appleseed" movies. While it has the nimble shiny mecha and exploding buildings, the focus is on political machinations and evil corporations whose morality makes your hair stand on end. There's no utopia here for our tough heroine -- it's more like one of the outer circles of Dante's Hell.

The scenes in Vexille's home are colourful and streamlined, set in a futuristic city. But things get darker soon, taking us to the sickly yellow light and shabby shanty town of Japan, and things don't lighten up. And that devastated Japan is a pretty brilliant creation, both in its decayed misery and in the bleak future that its few remaining "fragments of humanity" have. The big flaw: the characters spend loooooong stretches of the movie just grimly talking to each other, with too little action.

Fortunately when there IS action, the fight scenes are top-notch in quality -- it has exploding buildings, missiles, battling mecha and chases through a marketplace. The fight scenes grow in intensity as Vexille and Maria reach the climactic confrontation with the Big Bad Guy. And the semi-apocalyptic finale is both shocking and inevitable -- as well as a helluva way to end a movie.

And then there's the jags, which are also quite cool -- giant wormlike masses of technology and metal that devour anything they come across. Not only are they wonderfully freaky, but they come across as a sort of cyber-sandworm from "Dune." Lovely.

And the animation is pretty astounding, though it has an oddly rotoscoped look in some action scenes. It's detailed and gloriously vivid, despite its grimy, shadowy look. And that includes exquisite details like snowflakes being individually swept from a windshield, or a reflection in a transparent helmet -- or even a smooth-skinned, nimble mecha exploding into a building with almost stunning speed. 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 the spunky Vexille and some touching moments from the Japanese cyborgs, the characters never quite come alive. Call it the "Final Fantasy: Spirits Within" effect. 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 -- brilliant animation, a tough heroine and mildly horrific Japan. Flawed, but has plenty of chills and explosions.