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| Voices Of A Distant Star [2002] | ![Voices Of A Distant Star [2002]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FRM84QNGL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Makoto Shinkai
Actors: Makoto Shinkai, Mika Shinohara, Adam Conlon, Cynthia Martinez
Studio: Adv Films
Category: DVD
List Price: £15.99
Buy New: £7.98
You Save: £8.01 (50%)
New (11) from £6.97
Avg. Customer Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 13988
Format: Animated, Colour, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Pal
Languages: Japanese (Original Language), English (Original Language)
Rating: Parental Guidance
Running Time: 30 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 1
UPC: 702727038624
EAN: 0702727038624
ASIN: B00008G8QC
Theatrical Release Date: 2002
Release Date: November 17, 2003
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Nothing special July 5, 2008
The animation is OK, the music standard fare, the story just silly. Too many anime cliches and logic-holes.
That's all I have to say.
 What light through yonder window breaks? June 14, 2008
At only half an hour long, this short film manages to be more poignant and emotional than many films three times this length.
The film explores a (very, and increasingly) long distance relationship between two childhood sweethearts. Communicating only through text message whilst the girl (Mikako) begins a career in the military fighting an alien race called the Tarsians, the length it takes for her messages to reach her boyfriend Noboru increases exponentially as the distance between them becomes greater.
Before long the messages are taking over 8 years to reach their target, and our Romeo and Juliet are trying to deal with moving on with their lives but simply can't. Their attention lays focussed with their mobile phones, never knowing when another message might arrive - that after years it could throw them into emotional disarray. The angst at waiting for the next message, never knowing if there will ever be any more is painful to watch. You can't help but feel for the pair. Mikako longs for simple moments - to eat ice-cream with Noboru in the bus shelter whilst it rains, and Noboru tortures himself with desperate anticipation of another message.
In a nutshell: Sci-Fi has never been so lovelorn. I mentioned Romeo and Juliet just a moment ago, and if Shakespeare were with us today then this is the sort of stuff he'd be producing. Brilliantly unbearable and beautiful. Although this is a short film, you feel totally immersed. And though the sci-fi may seem distanced from real life, the scenes back home are realistic. After this film finished I still thought about the pair and hoped that they would be reunited. A masterpiece.
A disappointing lack of any additional features, but that doesn't take away from a fantastic piece of work.
Beautiful January 9, 2008
The animation is lovely, the music is amazing, the story is touching, the characters are sympathetic and the whole thing is perfectly timed and scripted to produce an enigmatic and beautiful piece of art. So what that it's only half an hour long? It's perfect.
Almost a classic June 18, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was a little put-off by the fact the actual film is 25 mintutes long, but I'm glad I took the time to watch it: it actually seemed a lot longer than it was, and the story is very sweet and simple, and didn't really need to be a long film. The only problem I had with the plot was the ending: everything seemed to get a little too emotional and left a lot of questions un-answered (eg. why the alien morph into her?). The CG sequences are very slick and looked great, but some of the character animation at the beginning was a little bit basic, but that's the only thing I can critise about it. The soundtrack was very good. But the best thing about the disc was the animated short 'She and her cat', which I found better than the main feature. I was just seemed much more
'complete'. A single interview, trailers, originally voiced cut and THREE versions of 'She and her cat' justifys the price of the disc, and I would recommend this title for any anime collection.
Astounding. June 10, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I usually consider myself to be fairly impervious to the effect of film on my emotions. From the ending of Titanic to the gore of Elfen Lied, nothing has ever really moved me. Until, that is, I watched this.
Voices of a Distant Star was a film I picked up on a whim. I had read good things about it but it had never been at the top of my list of things to watch. If that is you, go buy it now!
In case you need a little more explaining, this is one of the best films ever. Yes, it's only half an hour long, but it'll stick with you forever. The story is about Mikako, a girl who joins the UN army to fight a race of aliens known as Tarsians which have attacked Earth, and the boy Noboru who she leaves behind. As they move further apart, so the time it takes to send messages to one another increases. The scripting is flawless, and the scene moves from intimate and emotional to epic battles effortlessly.
A lot of CG is used in the battle scenes, but don't let that put you off if you're an anime purist. The hand drawn sections are also beautiful, with the skies being a real focus point. This was in effect made by just one man, so the roughness of the characters in places is forgivable.
Music-wise the film is sound (no pun intended), with a great ending theme. Even the DVD menu has a great song on it. However, the English dub sounds a little too unemotional in places- watch the Japanese first.
One of the things that confused me at first was that Noboru seems to get older while Mikako doesn't. The box even says "while she barely grows older in the timelessness of space, Noboru ages". In fact I don't think this is a) correct or b) possible- in fact, the film flips between different time periods, so the scenes with Mikako are taken from the "present" whilst some scenes with Noboru are from the "future". You'll see my reasoning for this in the ending speech too.
The extras on this are also worth mentioning. There are loads- in fact, altogether they are twice as long as the main feature! Okay, so one is the same film with an altered script, and some are just bog-standard trailers, but you also get an interview with the director, and his first film, She and Her Cat, in three versions. This is also a brilliant film, which isn't worth it's own DVD (it's 5 minutes long), but is as inspiring and thought-provoking as Voices.
I would also like to point out that the original title translates literally as "Voices of a Star", which in my opinion makes more sense. But whatever it's called, this is one of the best films in years, and an essential purchase for any fan of anime or film in general.
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