Rating: R (graphic violence and brief nudity)
Length: 124 minutes

Widescreen 1.78:1 Color (Anamorphic)

ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
JAPANESE: Dolby Digital 2.0

English

A member of a motorcycle gang in rebuilt Tokyo is abducted by the government after he comes in contact with a strange boy; only one of three strange children he will bump into. His friends try to get him back while he becomes a test rat for the government run laboratory playing with powers they shouldn't mess with.

You have to start with the animation itself; it's simply stunning. The colors (all 327 of them) are sharp and vibrant and the backdrops, especially of the city itself, is very detailed. Add to that a story that includes biker gangs, corrupt politicians, "mysterious powers", an out-of-control military, tons of action/speed and lots of violence. How can you go wrong?

One problem with this film, I had to watch it twice before I was able to truly piece it together and I still don't get the ending; I do not believe I would understand the ending regardless of how many times I watched it.

• Akira Production Report
• Akira Sound Clip by Geinoh Yamashiro Gummi
• Interview of Director Katsuhiro Otomo
• Over 4,500 Stills of Production Materials
• Over 100 Still of Akira Glossary
• Original Teasers and Trailers
• Interviews of Restoration Staff

Even if you're not a fan of animation or have never watched one before you should give this a look. A coworker loaned this to me when I mentioned that I had a few animations in my collection but not this one; I'm glad he did. You won't find this sitting on any of your store shelves but they can still be acquired on the Internet. I'm hoping now that the high-def war is over that someone will have the decency to do what it takes to get this released on Blu-Ray. I will stand in line for that.

Yôsuke Akimoto - Harukiya Bartender (voice)

Tarô Arakawa - Eiichi Watanabe / Council G / Army (voice)

Yuriko Fuchizaki - Kaori (voice)

Tesshô Genda - Ryûsaku (voice)

[Ghost in the Shell]

Masato Hirano - Yûji Takeyama / Spy / Council F (voice)

Michihiro Ikemizu - Inspector / Council I (voice)

Mitsuo Iwata - Shôtarô Kaneda (voice)

Masayuki Katô - Engineer Sakiyama / Council D (voice)

Kôichi Kitamura - Priestess Miyako / Council A (voice)

Mami Koyama - Kei (voice)

Takeshi Kusao - Kai (voice)

Masaaki Ôkura - Yamagata (voice)

Hiroshi Ôtake - Nezu (voice)

Nozomu Sasaki - Tetsuo Shima (voice)

Kazumi Tanaka - Army (voice)