Product Description

In the future, our planet will be transformed into a strange new world where human life struggles on an Earth without rain or oceans - only vast, parched deserts where two youths fight for survival and find hope. The sea, sky and the land had been completely polluted by mankind when mysterious objects fall from the heavens. These titanic vessels smash into the planet and suck up the air, water, and most living creatures into their womb, stealing away the very essence of Earth's nature. The few remaining inhabitants struggle for survival against a hostile environment and an oppressive ruling race known as the Rodo. One young, hot-blooded human named Ran, fights against the Rodo and a world in which rain is only a legend.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78876 in DVD
• Released on: 1998-04-07
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Original language: English, Japanese
• Subtitled in: English
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 142 minutes

Amazon.com
Originally released in 1992, this three-episode OAV mixes ecological themes with some very odd theology. In the not-too-distant future, when the Earth is choking in pollution, the alien Rodo strikes, sequestering virtually all the planet's water and vegetation in guarded enclaves. The remaining humans eke out a wretched existence in the vast deserts, under the control of Rodoist soldiers. After witnessing the soldiers' brutality, Ran, a hotheaded adolescent, sets out to join the rebels of the Hazard. During the course of his adventures, he meets Aira, a mysterious girl whose silvery hair marks her as a member of a powerful group needed by the alien Holy Mother to destroy the human race. Needless to say, Ran manages to rescue her (and humankind) in the nick of time. The animation in Ran is a cut above most anime, and the designs of the sand-ships that carry the rebels through the deserts recall the Jawa craft in Star Wars. But the discussions of an evil alien as the "Holy Mother" may disturb some religious viewers. The DVD release of Ran is the complete, 141-minute original; the 120-minute version previously available had been edited to remove profanity and a brief nude scene. (Ages 12 and older for violence and occasional profanity) --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Green Legend Ran
Overall, Green Legend Ran was a good movie. Originally released as a 3 episode OAV series, it was compiled into a shorter length movie that edited out some nude scenes. This DVD contains the full, uncut OAV episodes. The story focuses around a boy who is going through adolesence. Also, it expands something that is somewhat common in anime: the use of oragnized religion as a means to brainwash and control the populace. Religious viewers might be offended, but that is part of the purpose of the film.

Another Apocalypse Anime
Truthfully, you'd think this would get old, the post-apocalyptic settings. Almost every major anime has such a setting (Evangelion, Akira, Vampire Hunter D, just to name a few), and in all of these this setting plays an integral role to the story. Green Legend Ran is just another in a continuing line of dramatic anime dealing with this as its central conflict.

To be more specific, Green Legend Ran takes place on an Earth that has been sucked dry by strange alien statues. Now, humanity struggles to survive in small villages scattered throughout the world, and ruling the remainder of these humans is a religious cult known as the Rodoists. Using water as their means for dominance, they have cemented their place as the leaders of the planet. But a formidable foe has appeared in the form of a resistance group known as Hazzard, who's out to destroy the Rodoists and reclaim the world in the hopes that they can nurture life back into it. It's a boy named Ran who gets in the middle of both of these factions, and in truth his main goal is to get revenge against the man who killed his mother. Early in his quest, he joins Hazzard and meets a girl named Ira, with whom he falls in love with and chooses to protect at all costs. It's his love for this strange, silver-haired girl that continues to drive him, and eventually, he's thrown deep into the next struggle to prevent a new apocalypse, and one sure to wipe out the remainder of mankind.

The story itself reminds me a lot of Now and Then, Here and There and Princess Mononoke. The setting and the animation style (down to the character design it seems) is very similar to Now and Then, while the idea of not having a true bad guy is reminiscent of Mononoke. What this movie does have that is somewhat unique is an animation style that doesn't match the content. By this I mean the animation looks somewhat childish, like what you'd expect from early Ghibli Films, yet Green Legend Ran is filled with bloody violence and nudity. Every time something like that comes around you can't help but feel, "Why is this here?" For me, this was a good surprise, though for some it may be jarring.

Still, though this movie has some good things going for it, very little in it is unique. Yes, Green Legend Ran is older, but not that old, and most of the films I mentioned were made before or around the same time. So really there is no excuse for the fact that nothing in this anime adds to the genre. If you enjoyed the superior Now and Then, Here and There, you might not like this movie. If you haven't yet seen Now and Then, then check this out first, and if it interests you then by all means move on to Now and Then, Here and There. I'd also recommend this movie to true anime fans and historians, as it is one of the earlier anime to make it's way to DVD.

Great action movie
This was one of the better Japanimations that I own. It is about a young boy named Ran who is bent on avenging his mother's death. While battling Hazzard, a rebel group whose leader was the murderer of Ran's mom, he meets a pretty silver haired girl known as Ira. Ira turns out to have mysterious powers and is a direct decedant of Rodo, an alien creature that came down from space many years ago. Ira has been summoned by the Holy Mother for unknown reasons, and Ira has no choice to obey. Now, Ran must try to save Ira from the Holy Mother as well as Hazzard, and the fight becomes a battle for the planet as well. END