Robot Carnival (1987)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Awesome Movie

Absolutely Brilliant!

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

A man from my old film days recommended this film to me. I took chance on it, and the recommendation delivered. What we have here is a poetic expression of tales woven together to form a tapestry about an extension of ourselves; the robot.The robot is brought to us through a visual feast of respectable animation that shows us worlds and times beyond our imagination, and how those arenas and their players might play out.Each one is touching in its own way, and delivers a nice message that can be appreciated by all. Whether you like action, some youthful romance, the tale of years, comedy, or just plain adventure, this film is for you.Reminder, this is an anthology, so the pacing is going to be a little slow. But the showcase revealed to the curious minded audience that has a hankerin for good "Japanimation" will be very pleased.Me, I happen upon the film a year or two after it was released. I then bought a VHS in the mid to late 90s, and happened upon a special edition DVD from Japan when the film was first reissued. The DVD gives a magnificent picture and overall rendering of this incredibly beautiful film.I'm not certain I would call it family friendly, but kids over a certain age (pre-teens) and maybe just a little bit younger, might appreciate it. There is some mild violence and just some plain wacky and bizarre situations that might spook really young viewers, so guidance is suggested here. But, boys and girls and parents alike should find this an interesting watch.Me, I like it on its own merits. I think it's an intimate look at how people might interface with technology in a variety of settings. This is anime before anime became an international sensation; i.e. during the time when the US, Canada and the UK were the primary export markets for Japanese films.Please watch and enjoy this film. You won't regret it.

Originally saw this back in the early nineties as a part of Sci-Fi's Saturday Anime. To this day, through all of the anime films/series I've seen, this still reigns as the greatest. No anime fan will be disappointed with this film, even those who aren't fans of the genre should enjoy this flick. It is sad that this film didn't get very much exposure in the States, as it easily could have been subject to awards. A great example of a film students interperetive dream; Trying to develop a correlation between all of the shorts (outside of their all contain robots), pulling some greater meaning from the movie. Yea, it's one of those types of movie, that appears to be on a higher philosophical level than just your average entertainment.

This remains one of the best Anime feature films I've ever seen, and, in a stroke of great luck, was also the first Anime feature film I ever saw. While a little (well, a lot) on the artsy side at times, Robot Carnival is a great example of the reckless imagination and superb craftsmanship that Japanese animation at its best is known for. Unfortunately, it's also an example of a kind of film that is becoming very rare in the anime world today. Robot Carnival mops the floor with the ever spreading hordes of Dating Game adaptations/Merchandizing tie-ins that are never the less dominating the industry. Robot Carnival ought to be one of the most well known Anime in the world, not the obscure relic of hardcore geeks that it seems in danger of becoming. If you see a copy of this, buy it on the spot and see what animated film making ought to be.

ROBOT CARNIVAL is a breath of fresh air from the bloated, overdone, exploitative sagas Anime is known for and presents us instead with a series of short films which have nothing to do with each other except that they all star robots. I especially like the intro with the mechanized carnival running over the village...heh heh heh. Very nice, well-animated and leaves a lasting impression on the veiwer. A must-have for anyone who likes Japanese animation or the very curious.