Black Jack
by Osamu Dezaki
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DVD details
Actor: Hiroshi Fujioka, Julie Maddalena, Kirk Thornton, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Michael SorichDirector: Osamu Dezaki
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Japanese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled)
Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-04-24
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Palm Pictures
DVD Reviews of Black Jack
DVD Review: Very beautifuly done
Summary: 5 Stars
I found this movie to be medically accurate, with some really well done anatomical drawings. The concept is plausable, and the mystery and strangeness of "black Jack" is intreging. If you are looking for a action packed Anime, this will not due for you. However if you are looking for a psycological story this is a phenominal watch... it does not have a lot of re-watchablilty, but it is a must see once. That and a surgeon blessed with the hands of God just sounds cool. DVD Review: The title name is not original but the movie is great
Summary: 5 Stars
When I first saw the preview of this anime on my Macross 2 movie, I gotta say if it was good enough for me to get, and yes it was. But after buying it on DVD. I really say it's the best anime to see, and it was created by Osamu Tezuka, the godfather of anime. I know that this was one of his greatest masterpiece since "Astro Boy and Kimba: The White Lion". I do like the animation in this film, and Kirk Thornton playing the voice of Black Jack. Some scenes are too bloody and scary for kids.DVD Review: Interesting idea, not sure about the execution
Summary: 3 Stars
The idea that there is a disease that gives people super-human ability only to end their lives short is a superb idea, but come on guys, look into it more. For one, a doctor named Black Jack?? hmmmmm... someone was high when naming their child. but it had so much potential as a story. might be some peoples cup of tea though, as i say i didn't HATE it, just wasn't as good as i had hoped.DVD Review: So-so Film Adaptaion of Japanese Popular Manga Series
Summary: 3 Stars
Japanese manga genius Osamu Tezuka, still loved by many fans after his too early death in 1989, left many memorable characters to us, which became something like the cultural icons in Japan. Famous "Astro Boy" is just one of them, and some of them clearly influenced the artists outside japan, like 'Kimba' the Great Lion did -- so some say -- to be the inspiration of 'The Lion King.'
Now, "Black Jack" is one of Tezuka's most popular manga comic series, and it features the mysteries and adventures of one surgeon Kuroo Hazama, usually called 'Black Jack.' His stories have been made into TV series (more than three times, as far as I remember), and even today, at the time of writing this review, Japanese Yomiuri TV is televising animation series of his episodes, which are highly popular now. But, sorry, none of them has surpassed the joy of reading original comic books.
And here you have the 1996 animation version of theatrically released film (in Japan) featuring Black Jack again. The story has the same principal characters -- Black Jack and Pinoko -- and it is about the 'superhumans' and one deadly disease. Receiving a call from a mysterious lady wearing sunglasses, Black Jack is forced to uncover the truths behind the epidemic.
As you can easily guess, the film shows many operation scenes. (Tezuka went to a medical school, and had a lisence though never practiced.) Though shot in animation, some of the operation scenes are pretty shocking and graphic. The disease itself, howvever, is so incredible, and the 'cure' is laughable. Actually, though Tezuka was no longer with us when the film was in production, his own comic was full of such far-fetched episodes that the unbelievable story was no surprise to me.
But the problem with the film is how to present this interesting character Black Jack, anti-hero, lonely, cynical and unlisenced surgeon whose medical skills are one of the best in the world. He usually demands exorbitant amount of money from his patients, but often refuses to receive anything when he thinks it appropriate. The filmed version fails to make good use of his dark side especially in the latter half, where the director Osamu Dezaki is too busy to follow the story. And when it comes close to the ending, the disturbing (and intriguing) elements seen at the start have already disappeared.
[ONE UNIQUE STYLE] One unique visual style is employed at the key moments of the story, and that is what we call 'Gekiga-style' in which things get stop/slow motion, and the character(s) are drawn with exagerated facial expressions, This style can be often seen employed in Japanese manga comic, but Osamu Dezaki's idea of bringing it into the world of anime film looks, I am afraid, out of place.
The strength of Tezuka manga lies in its characters, and those characters are best expressed in his original manga comics. As a feature film, 'Black Jack' is so-so. But not everyone loves the world of original Black Jack -- Tezuka's comparatively darker works -- and whether or not you like this animated film is after all the matter of acquired taste. Perhaps you might prefer less dark animation 'Metropolis,' another film based on Tezuka's works.
Truly trivial things. Black Jack's real name is Hazama Kuroo, which, when written in Chinese letters and read in another way, can be read 'Makkuroo' which means (roughly) 'Pitch Black.' It is one of Tezuka's jokes in his comics. Anyway, you know, you should read the comics first, and then watch this film.
DVD Review: Not much of a plot, but a great movie
Summary: 4 Stars
Black Jack is a specially skilled secret surgeon who can save anyone in surgery. The movie is good, and the series is even better. To watch Black Jack subtitled TV episodes, go to www.froth-bite.com
Description of Black Jack
Black Jack is a master surgeon who possesses impeccable skills, enabling him to perform operations that are impossible for even the finest surgeons. He now is faced with his most difficult task to date and must challenge the limits of medical science...before it's too late.! An extraordinary number of intellectual and athletic "Superhumans" have the world in awe. These "Superhumans" far exceed the framework of common sense and possess the ability to outperform all of their rivals...but how did they get this way? Little does anyone know about the hideous conspiracy lurking behind this strange genetic phenomenon. Black Jack discovers the truth behind this unusual occurrence and uncovers the dark secret of a super-drug, which causes a lethal virus, that is about to endanger the existence al all mankind.This baroque melodrama is based on a manga by Osamu Tezuka that ran in various magazines from 1973 to 1983. With his facial scar, cape, and mop of black and white hair, Kuro Hazama, a.k.a. Black Jack, resembles a cross between Cruella DeVil and Captain Harlock. He's an unlicensed doctor of staggering abilities and even more staggering fees. Black Jack is called in to develop a cure for a mysterious disease that's ravaging "Super Humans"--people of no discernible ability who suddenly burst onto the scene as stars in sports or the arts. The key to the emergence of the Super Humans and the disease is pharmaceutical heiress and surgeon Jo Carol. Sometimes as allies, sometimes as enemies, Black Jack and Jo Carol uncover the nature of the disease--and the program of human experimentation that produced it. Although Tezuka's many fans will want this adventure, it doesn't represent his best work. The script is needlessly talky, and Black Jack is saved not by his abilities, but by the deus ex machina of a tribe of desert nomads. In an era of revelations about government-sanctioned medical experiments, Tezuka's story takes on a disturbing resonance, but director Osamu Dezaki squanders much of the material's potential impact. Unrated ("parental discretion advised"); suitable for ages 16 and up for violence and often grotesque medical imagery. --Charles Solomon
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