Berserk: The Golden Age Arc I - The Egg of the King (2012)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Sick Product of a Sick System

Great Film overall

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

This is the same story as in the original series but shorted down to fit the big screen.The main problem is not the story or the anything like that, but the total lack of control in this project, the CG used for this film is by far the most horrible i have seen in some time. It takes all the visual joy out of this film. I don't know if this has to do whit the meltdown in the anime industry as a whole but the lack of talented staff and a budget mad this the most disappointing film of 2012 for me.But if the visual's don't matter to you as the viewer the i still say that you get more out of the original series.If this is a indication of things to come we are in serous danger of loosing out on some potential awesomeness to come.

Sorry but I don't think this was nearly as good as it could of been. Basically if your new to Berserk watch the old series otherwise you will have no idea what in the hell is going on. The main appeal and the best part of Berserk is the characters, the story and the awesome dialogue they have between them. Well in this movie series, they've pretty much left that out, no character development, weak dialogue they've changed it in some instances so the characters (such as the King of Midland) seems to have a totally different persona. What happened to the Queen scene amongst others? One of my fav scenes was when Guts meets Zodd the Immortal. Zodd is impressed by Guts' swordsmanship, Guts realises whilst their skill is not equal, at least the strength of their blades are. So Guts places his life on the strength of his blade, Zodd realises this and accepts his challenge. But in the movie, no duel acceptance, guts just says to himself 'at least our swordsmanship is on par,' basically changing the scene and made it a terrible let down on top of not making sense. Just ruined one of the most epic scenes in Berserk. Then when Guts fights General Boscone and his blade is broken because of the previous battle (100 men fight) Zodd, who is just awesome watching from afar, tenses his demon muscles and throws him his sword. Well in the movie, Guts just throws up a flag and cuts him with his beaten and blunt blade. Ruined another great scene. And I really felt for Corkus, all the characters felt like real people, in this movie, they've just left out the story basically, which is the main point of a series, film or book/manga, to tell a 'STORY.' I noticed there were more a lot more tit and ass shots in this movie version which annoyed me, hell why not have a full on sex scene whilst were at it, oh wait there is. And yes I realise what happens at the end, but that's in context, not just mindlessly flashing a bit of tit/ass to keep people interested, and whether its a game, movie or TV series, when they need more ass to keep you interested, you know its making up for something its lacking. I don't know if there just fast-forwarding through the series to get to where the last original series ended, if that really is the case, then I take back what I say, but judging from the changes they've made, I don't think that's going to be the case.The animation work is great, but its like graphics in games, if the content is crap, no matter how good it looks, it won't actually be that good fun. Like covering a turd in glitter if you will, albeit that's a bit harsh. Nah actually, it wasn't very good. Sorry I really love Berserk it is one of my fav animes if not my fav but I just felt this was a real let down. Anyone else feel the same?

After several months of anticipation I just got to watch Berserk - The Golden Age Arc Chapter I - The Egg of the King, and as a fan of both the Manga Comic and the animated TV series, I was not the least disappointed. This movie kicks ass! I was perhaps most amazed of the battles, which come off as extremely vivid and original.Many will compare this movie to the animated series, and yes, some things have changed, as this format is much more time-limited. The exclusion of some scenes and moments to the benefit of other, might make the movie feel as a summary of the series. The much loved musical themes of the series have also been changed, something I expected, yet hoped would stay the same as I really liked them. On the other hand, we get to see Guts and Griffith swinging their swords in a much more vivid graphical universe, which I think the story deserves! As the above mentioned mainly comes down to a matter of taste, the main problem with this movie is that it doesn't focus as much on character development as the original comic and animated series did. This will create some moments which new viewers couldn't possibly make full sense of. However, for any passionate Berserk-fan, this should not be a deal-breaker, as it is still a great movie, true to the original story.

So I watched the first new Berserk movie subtitled last night, and on the whole I was impressed with not only the visual similarities to the manga, but also the overall flow and feel of the movie. I have read every chapter of Berserk manga so far and it is my favorite series ever. Action /fighting scenes are very well done, and really does a great job in immersing you into the story. And of course, plenty of violence. I enjoyed how the writers incorporated many plot points from the manga that were missing from the '97 anime series, including the whole 'Gatts being raped as a kid thing', and from the looks of the intro for the movie, which features characters from later on in the manga, the writers don't seem to be taking out too much of the original story. And now for the bad parts about this movie. The CGI effects, which are ubiquitous throughout this film, seem extremely inconsistent. Some scenes it's great and looks really well done, and some scenes look like a bad Playstation 1 game cutscene. It's really strange and kind of ruins the movie a little bit. Also, I felt character developed was hashed out and streamlined, I thought that viewers who were new to the series wouldn't quite grasp the relationship between Gutts, Griffith, and the rest of the band of the hawk. Ancillary characters in the manga such as Pippin, Judeau, Rickert, even Corkus had little to no lines in the movie. I feel as though this doesn't allow you to become fully invested in the characters and their lives. Overall, this one is definitely worth the watch, but it will leave you craving the second and third movies, and just made me want to watch the anime series over again.