New movie reviews, DVD reviews, interviews, and all things film.

Follow Me

• The Innkeepers ***1/2
• The Woman in Black ***
• The Grey ***
• Man on a Ledge ***
• Underworld Awakening **
• Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos ***
• Haywire ***
• Beauty and the Beast ****
• Contraband ***
• The Divide *
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ****
• The Devil Inside **
• The Iron Lady **
• A Separation ***
• Pariah ***1/2
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close ***
• The Darkest Hour **
• War Horse **1/2
• In the Land of Blood and Honey **
• The Adventures of Tintin ***1/2
• More

• Adaptation
• Dream House
• Drive
• Frida
• The Magnificent Ambersons
• Malcolm X
• The Mill and the Cross
• The Moment of Truth
• Outrage
• The Piano
• The Thing
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• 2011: The Year's Best DVDs and Blu-Rays
• More

• 2011: The Year's Best Films
• Year's Best DVDs and Blu-Rays
• San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards
• Interview: Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender
• Interview: Simon Curtis
• Interview: Werner Herzog
• Interview: John Cho
• Interview: Roland Emmerich
• Interview: Stephen Bishop on Moneyball
• Interview: Nick Swardson
• Interview: Lynn Hershman Leeson
• Interview: Lone Scherfig
• Interview: Jesse Eisenberg & Aziz Ansari
• Interview: Wayne Wang
• Interview: Andre Ovredal on 'Trollhunter'
• Interview: Ewan McGregor & Mike Mills
• Interview: Kelly Reichardt (Examiner link)
• The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival - 2011 Coverage
• Interview: Emma Roberts
• Rainn Wilson & James Gunn (Examiner link)
• Interview: Tom McCarthy
• Interview: Abigail Breslin (Examiner link)
• 2010: The Year's Best Films
• 2010: The Year's Best DVDs & Blu-Rays
• Interview: Sofia Coppola
• Interview: George A. Romero
• The Decade's Ten Best Films: 2000-2009
• My Top 100 Films [Updated]
• My Top 60 Directors [Updated]
• Christmas Movies
• Essential Halloween & Horror Movies
• Cult Movies
• Actress Interview Gallery
• More Features and Interviews

• Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, by Alonso Duralde
• Not Quite a Memoir: Of Films, Books, the World, by Judy Stone
• James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee
• Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis
• More Books

• Home
• Reviews A-C
• Reviews D-F
• Reviews G-J
• Reviews K-M
• Reviews N-Q
• Reviews R-T
• Reviews U-Z

The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

SEARCH MOVIES / CELEB

Akira (1988)

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Apocalypse Pow

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Akira on DVD

Not necessarily the first nor the best anime, but certainly the one that introduced most Americans to the genre. Like many others, it begins a post-apocalyptic vision of Tokyo with various street gangs running wild. One such gang, led by Kaneda, loses one of their number when he gets kidnapped and experimented on by an all-powerful scientific-military agency. He escapes, but his newfound powers grow out of control and threaten to unleash Akira on Japan once again. The plot can be a bit much, but the film is never less than breathtaking or exhilarating.

DVD Details: Pioneer's new two DVD set is a standout as well. Viewers can choose between English and Japanese tracks, plus making-of documentaries, trailers, and tons of other stuff.

Starring: (voices) Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama
Written by: Izô Hashimoto, Katsuhiro Ôtomo
Directed by: Katsuhiro Ôtomo
MPAA Rating: R for graphic violence and brief nudity
Language: Japanese with English subtitles
Running Time: 124 minutes
Date: August 9, 2001