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Reviews
In the Aftermath (1988)
Interesting in its own right but pales in comparison to the original
In 1988, New World Pictures released "In the Aftermath: Angels Never Sleep", a film which uses footage from the Mamoru Oshii anime film "Angel's Egg". New World bought the rights to the film. This film's producer, Tom Dugan, felt that it, "was an incomprehensible Japanese animation" and that they could add live-action to the animation to make sense of what Dugan felt was a confusing film. This was done in an effort to make it more acceptable to an American audience. The result is something that is hit and miss.
The animation from "Angel's Egg" is re-purposed with a story about survivors of a post-apocalyptic nuclear world that a small angel, (the girl from Angel's Egg), must save by giving them an egg that will change everything. Easily the best part of the film is the animation sequences with the rewritten story, while the newly shot live-action footage which carries the rest of the film is pretty poorly conceived.
Admittedly, I think it would have been more interesting if New World hired an 'actual' animation studio to do new animation for the film instead of shooting their alternate version with live-action that doesn't fit whatsoever. "In the Aftermath" is a curiosity to those who love the cult anime film "Angel's Egg". Unfortunately, If one wishes to see the original source of this film, then they would have to buy "Angel's Egg" from Japan on Blu-ray.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
A flawed masterpiece
Many have been rather unkind to George Lucas's prequel trilogy to Star Wars over the years. This film is proof even as late as 2005, that he could still muster up something great. Anakin portrayed by Hayden Christensen, while somewhat wooden, can still deliver a performance of a fallen Jedi. The story is far more fleshed out than either episodes I and II. It seems as though there was much more of a story to tell this time. Unfortunately, Episodes I and II have overshadowed Episode III, leaving many to regard this film to be just as disappointing as those were. Recommended for those who truly love Star Wars.
Project A-Ko 2: Daitokuji zaibatsu no inbô (1987)
Nowhere near as good as the original, but still worth it
Project A-Ko 2 has a zany plot that feels right at home with this series. The aliens from the original film need money to repair their ship and B-Ko's father uses a mech he built from her blue prints to penetrate the alien ship hanging over Graviton City in order to steal their alien tech. As this film was a theatrical animated film (often misunderstood to be an OVA), the animation is some of the best that was being produced in Japan during the late 80's/early 90's. Recommended for Project A-Ko fans.
Project A-Ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody (1988)
Not as good as Project A-Ko 2
This doesn't feel like it should ever have been a Project A-Ko film. It's a love triangle comedy and completely forgets to follow in the path of what came before it. The original Project A-Ko was a sci-fi super hero comedy that was a satire of classic anime. A-ko 3 only begins to feel like an A-Ko film towards the end. On a more positive note, all of these films have good animation, so it's worth seeing them just for that.