031 4 I lked Pikachu's Vacation more than Mewtwo Strikes Back , i give Pikachu's Vacation * * * , while i gave Mewtwo strikes back , * 1 / 2 , the result , is * * 1 / 2 stars , Pikachu's Vacation altough it's very simply made it's well done , the only problem withit , is that there is no plot , and no subtitles to know what exactly what the characters are saying , while in Mewtwo Strikes Back , the plot is dumb , they are stone characters , the jokes almost don't work , and well it was VERY OVERMADE , perhaps if the Mewtwo Strikes Back , had a plot about a tournament , better jokes , and more things it would have been far better good . . . . if Hayao Miyazaki , or Isao Takhata would have written the story , it would be far better good .
019 4 Okay , this movie was just so bad I couldn't stand it , the music was awful ! The Japanese Version had much BETTER music ! The Plot was weaker than the Japanese Version , and they excluded the cards that they sold in the Japanese Version for this movie.I hope they dub Lugia better than this . .
022 4 When I sat in the red , damp seat to see this movie when it came out , I knew it would be a ride . And then the open theme came in . . . There is something about this that seems to generate excitement and hope , because besides seeing the look in the eyes of kids and adults alike , I felt it . It is all about being your best , never giving up and fighting for what is right . This is in the show , yes , but this scale is . . . Well , great . Buy this if you like anime , are looking for something to bost your spirit , or if you are alive . This is VERY good stuff . I am a BIG critic of anime , but this has it all . Buy it . Trust me .
069 4 This movie was the best ! Don't pay ANY attention to the reviews it got in the newspapers . It was a really good movie and teaches a good lesson . Plus , Mewtwo was a real cutie !
129 4 this dvd was pretty good but it falls short of its japanese cousin . they did hack the story up a bit but thats to be expected because the coultural diffrences meouth is a philosopher in japan but a wisecracker in usa . the extras were great and the commentary was the best ive herd before and that suprised me ! i give the japanese virsion 5 stars because of its music its so much better than m2m and blessed union of souls but other than that a great movie . pika ! pika !
130 4 I thought the movie was really cool , but the only thing I didn't like about it is that it went by fast . The movie seemed pritty short , but Mewtwo was awesome ! His voice was really weird too . Any Pokemon lover would love this movie , if you like Pokemon , BUY IT !
135 4 It was a great movie because it ties up a lot of loose ends left loose by the series . If your a Pokemon fan looking for some answers , you need to see this movie . Plus , Pikachu's Vacation was really good . Saying this from a kid's point of view , it was really good .
052 4 We saw Pokemon the First Movie on the Premearing date , even though we were expecting millions of poke-fans it was rather empty at the theater we went to . Anyway this goes to all you Mom's Dad's , This is a must movie if your childrens are fans of the Pokemania ! The movie is just perfect as it explains all of how Mewtwo was created and why it is the 150th Pokemon . P.S . Good LUck if you can find it at your local retailer because this movie will sell out as soon as its released !
087 4 This is the best of the Pokemon movies - great action , touching scenes , and important message .
105 4 THE perfict movie 4 all pokemon trainers any age 1 - 100 one of the best movies eeeeaver with extra features including m2m music video , and story of mew and mewtwo origin , and 4 non pokemon wachers alook at the pokemon story , other great features and the best picer and sound u will ever see and hear / / / /
144 4 The first of many this is the best Pokemon movie that they have made thus far . A touching story of friendship , it is an excellent story for parents and children both .
079 4 I love this movie . It's one of the best animated movies in exsitance . Those who give this movie few start and were strongly dissapointed are either very poor critics or didn't really pay attention to the film . The story is very powerful . A story about true equality in a world in which humans and animals are symbiotic with one another . Mewtwo is one of the best tragic villians ever put on screen . He is the Malcolm X of pokemon . Malcolm was extreme in his nature because the place and time demanded that he was . It's the same in this film for Mewtwo . Any self respecting human being would react in the same manner . The film takes kids , its target audience , through every emotional gamit possible . It also gives kids questions to ponder , serious life changing questions . In something so blatantly commercial as pokemon is , the filmmakers choose to point a very strong message admist all the advertisments . A very nice change of pace . Fans of pretty pictures in which stuff blows up without rhyme or reason should watch something else . This film is only for those who like substance with their anime . out alanS .
012 4 I thought that this was a great movie for anyone . The only reason I didn't give it five stars was that I thought it went straight into the plot too fast . Other than that its a movie children of all ages would enjoy .
017 4 I only saw this movie once in theaters and I still remember how it all happins . It was so exciting seeing pokemon on the big screen for the first time . I got the movie soundtrack and it was totally awsome . This movie has great action , great characters , great villians , and much more ! That's why I give this 5 stars !
038 4 Absolutely the greatest movie . I am 36 and that was by far the greatest movie I have ever seen !
060 4 This movie it's just too bad , dumb plot , stone characters , no humor , no fun , no nothing , good , not even the animation ! , the music it's the only good thing . period .
109 4 This movie is great ! It's about Mewtwo , a desendent of Mew , the rarest and most powerful Pokemon , who is very upset about how the human world is treating him . So he breaks free with his totally awsome psychic powers . Soon afterwards Mewtwo makes clones out of some Pokemon and he and Mew are battling , not to metion that the true Pokemon are battling the clones . This movie is a perfect movie for everyone who loves Pokemon , but it is legal that others watch too . Go to the movies , rent , or buy this terrific movie . I warn you , you'll be satified
116 4 The dvd came in good condition : It is very watchable . I ampleased with the purchase .
136 4 sad funny brill I love it ask anyone its great I'll do anything for a copy ( dose anyone want Zapdos and Hypno for it . )
150 4 Pokemon had a good first movie . It's animation is way better than digimon's and the characters didn't look deformed . The plot was deeper and smoother . It's a must buy .
102 4 Let's start with the whole story before , during , and after the Pokemon realese , it was announced on the first days of October , it looked preety cool , like if it was going to be one of the best anime film of all time , well , then i go too see it , and oh boy ! , what a dissapointment , the plot is horrible , horrible , Fue horrible , horrible as a mexican comedian called Eugenio Derbez says in his show , the animation regular , the humor , horrible , there was nothing of humor ! , everything was bad , except the message , it's terrible , you rather watch the cartoon , it's the kind of film that i would say , AHH ! , YA CALLATE , CALLATE QUE ME DESESPERAS ! a character called Quico , in Chespirito a mexican comedy show says .
058 4 Pokemon was and still is a nationwide phenomenon both in Japan and here in the States , and this film wonderfully captures the spirit of fun and adventure that it brought to kids everywhere . Watching this always keeps me young at heart , and is sure to bring lifelong memories to kids of all ages . Makes a GREAT gift , even for yourself !
099 4 I was a huge pokemon fan about 4 years ago when I was 10 . Now I'm 14 ( wow that was SO long ago lol ) and I was REALLY board one day so I sat down and watched this movie , and I'm still touched by it . This movie is a really great film even for former pokemon fans like myself . I SERISLY RECOMMEND THIS FILM
103 4 People say this movie was bad but that isn't true . Very good movie . The moral is sort of right there in your face but that is because it was suppose to be that way . The movie was made for the children not for the teenagers like in Japan . So if you are 10 and up you may not like this movie even is you say you love pokemon . In the US the show is edited a little becasue it is for young children just the movie is editied and chaged up . If you are looking for a ton of battles you won't get it in this movie . There is one big battle scene but non of the pokemon use their powers , but the just tackle or hit each other . If you are going to buy the movie let me just say you should have seen it in the theatre where it was a lot more fun to watch . If you like watch the show for the characters and the story line then you will like this movie . If you only watch the show because there is fighting between pokemon or because you sort of like it you won't like the movie . RENT IT FIRST is all I have to say if you aren't sure about buying it because you either like the movie or don't , that is the bottom line . Well I like the movie and i watch it occasionally . * For the children and teens who really do like pokemon and don't care what others think are the ones who will stay young at heart forever . Even when the teens and children are grown and pokemon has ended a small part of the show and all of its characters will live on in all of them . . . I know it will in me . . .
085 4 This movie isnt like the series , its rather crappy . Some of the effects are good but the storyline is dull and boring and I was very disapointed . If you must watch this movie , I highly recommend you rent this before wasting youre money on it .
112 4 the price was great , children loved it , came on time , great condition . I would buy from this seller again . Thank you for great service
133 4 Pokemon the First Movie : Mewtwo Strikes Back is the best movie I have ever seen . It is not a 1,2,3 or 4 star movie , it is a guaranteed FIVE STAR MOVIE . It has comedy , action and drama . And I can't wait to get the video .
140 4 If you are planning to buy this DVD , don't ! It's a total waste of money . This was obviously just to make more money . In fact , Pokemon the Movie is a pathetic flop . Even Mission Impossible 2 , which is also bad , would be better .
115 4 The movie dosen't freeze or skips . It's in top form and it's all perfect .
if you're someone who is not familiar or fond of the world of Pokemon , this movie will bore you to tears . . . but if you like the show , the movie pushes it to the next level . The movie opens with a 20 minute short featuring the pokemon without their human trainers . Once the short ends you get the story of Mewtwo versus Mew , which is pretty cool and features a lot of nice visuals . With a soundtrack featuring the pop-stars of the time , this movie also feels a bit more Americanized than most other Poke-features . While Lucario and the Mystery of Mew or Pokemon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea might have arguably better stories , this movie seems to zip along the quickest when you watch it .
009 4 My son has ALL of the Pokemon vidoes . So , naturally , we took him to see Pokemon : The First Movie . Unlike the cartoon series , the action is a little more intense . And the setting is very dark is some cases . But my son just loved it . It is not as cutesy as the cartoon series . But there is alot of action and most of the 150 Pokemon are in there somewhere ! The only drawback is as usual there are alot of matches between battling Pokemon . IF you have watched the series , this is not surprising . This movie is a must for any Pokemon fan ! They will love it !
It's a terrible movie . Mediocre animation , stupid songs , awful story and the most rotten moral ever : Don't fight , they say - but what else are Pokémon's good for ? The ' best ' was the episode before the feature . You have all those Pokémon sudddenly flashing over the screen , colorful backgrounds . No dialoge or story whatsoever . If you're under drugs , this might have the same effect like the lightrays-orgy at the end of ' 2001 ' had on some Hippies back in 1968 . To sum up : If you like Pokémon , you'll like this movie . If you're a grownup , you won't . It's not even much about liking or not - it's about understanding . Most people just won't get it . And that's a * good * sign !
064 4 A touching movie about 12 year old boy Ash and his pokemon pal Pikachu . The rare prehistoric pokemon Mew has been followed up by a dna pokemon mewtwo . As Mewtwo battles to save all pokemon rights Ash and Pikachu's friendship grows stronger as he risks his own life in stopping the battle . The pokemon realize that people are not bad and have not come to destroy pokemon .
Make them ? As many as you want ? That's not right . There's only one Ai .
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A year or so later , Mewtwo awoke . He learned that he was not born a Pokemon , but created . Created ? He wondered . He was told that he was a clone . An experiment . A mere scientific product . He became angry . He was angry with the scientists who created him . They created him to be only an experiment , and nothing else . How could they ? Furious at his own existence , he destroyed the lab , and everyone inside . Soon , Giovanni , the leader of the evil Team Rocket , and the man who ordered the scientists to create Mewtwo discovered him . Giovanni offered a deal . That he would train Mewtwo , and they would rule the earth together . Mewtwo ignore him . He did not need help . But the cruel Giovanni insisted that Mewtwo had no control over his powers , and he could help Mewtwo harness them . Mewtwo agreed to this .
Giovanni created Mewtwo a battle suit , and had him fight . But soon , Mewtwo discovered that Giovanni didn't care about Mewtwo . Giovanni thought that Mewtwo was worth nothing . That he was created to fight for Giovanni , and for no other
reason .
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Mewtwo : Now I fully perceive my power . But what is my purpose ?
Giovanni : To serve your master . You were created to fight for me . That is your purpose .
Mewtwo : That cannot be . You said we were partners . We stood as equals .
Giovanni : You were created by humans to obey humans . You could never be our equal .
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This made Mewtwo angry . Giovanni believed that Mewtwo was an inferior being . How dare he ? How dare he say that Mewtwo was only created to fight ? ! Furious , he left .
He went back to New Island , where the original lab had been , and created a new one . Humans , the horrible species that created him , that used him , and betrayed him . They cared nothing for clones , and he would make them pay . He would challenge the strongest trainers to come and fight , and then he would clone their Pokemon . He would have them fight , the Originals and the Clones , and see who had more worth . It was a war to see who would control the earth , clones , or originals . He would get his revenge .
And so , he formed his plan . He created a giant storm , so only the strongest would make it through . The trainers came , and the battle of the century began . Mew , the original came to New Island . Mew was a protector Pokemon , and watched over all of the Pokemon . She would not let Mewtwo destroy the planet ! And so , Mewtwo cloned the trainer's Pokemon , and had them fight .
The originals and clones fought viciously , their trainers watching horrified . Mew and Mewtwo also faced off . Ash Ketchum , a Pokemon trainer watched his Pokemon fight . He realized that it had to stop . As Mew and Mewtwo formed energy balls , and ran into the middle of the crossfire , turning him to stone .
It was at that moment the Pokemon realized what would happen as a result of this senseless fighting . And the Pokemon , clone and original cried . Mewtwo was shocked . These Pokemon crying for a human ? The species that had abused and betrayed him ?
The Pokemon tears were filled with life , and Ash was restored . Then Mewtwo realized something . That senseless war was not the answer , and that originals and clones could live together , in harmony . That everyone deserved equality . Mewtwo ceased the fighting , and took his clones to a place where they could live in peace . He wiped the memories of everyone except his clones and Mew , and everything was restored to normal .
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Mewtwo : I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant . It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are .
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This movie is very powerful , and holds a meaningful message . Please , watch this movie and experience Pokemon at its greatest . Thank you .
001 4 My review is purely from a parent's perspective :
I have twoboys , 9 and almost 11 . They love Pokemon . They loved Ninja Turtles , Power Rangers , Star Wars , etc . so you know they are prone to being led by commercialism . Pokemon encourages nurturing , caring , and ideals like honesty , acceptance , and forgiveness . The good trainers protect and care for Pokemon . The bad guys exploit them and put their own selfish motives ahead of the Pokemon . The middle-can-be-turned-around characters learn from their mistakes and are forgiven by the main characters . Even Jessie and James occasionally show remorse and are treated with compassion .
Do Pokemon battle ? Yes . Unlike Ninja Turtles , Power Rangers , and Star Wars , however , a Pokemon doesn't have to be hurt or killed to be defeated . Their weapons are inner strengths that they are born with . And no trainer worth his salt lets his Pokemon get injured . It's not hard to take the lessons from Pokemon and apply them to the reality of the child .
It's like Beanie Babies - - I know they're making a fortune leading our kids around by the nose . But it's relatively benign and I watch every video with them to make sure nothing changes . On a long trip in the truck , I let them play the two CD's - - the music is actually very enjoyable for me ( and I'm 46 ! ) and contains no bad language .
And I liked Pikachu's Vacation film much better than the actual Pokemon movie . . . but my boys loved both !
003 4 Before you turn down this movie due to the negative reviews of other people , please read my review .
This is a much more powerful and deep tale than , evil Pokemon wants to rule the world . Dr , Fuji was a scientist who wanted to bring back his dead daughter , Ai . He decided to do this , by cloning her . He decided to clone a Pokemon , and discover their life force , since the human clone could only live for four years . Thus , Mewtwo , a clone of the most rare and most powerful Pokemon ever , Mew , was born .
Even though they were in separate glass cylinders ( that kept them alive ) mew and Ai could communicate telepathically . Mewtwo began to learn about the world around him . But , as it happened , it had been four years , and Ai died . Her father , Dr . Fuji , was not worried . He had her DNA , and he could clone her again . This made Mewtwo angry . How dare he just replace her ? ! She was a living being ! Not a toy you can just replace again and again ! Mewtwo became unstable , and they had to tranquilize him .
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( Japanese Version )
Myuutsuu : Make them ? As many as you want ? That's not right . There's only one Ai .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A year or so later , Mewtwo awoke . He learned that he was not born a Pokemon , but created . Created ? He wondered . He was told that he was a clone . An experiment . A mere scientific product . He became angry . He was angry with the scientists who created him . They created him to be only an experiment , and nothing else . How could they ? Furious at his own existence , he destroyed the lab , and everyone inside . Soon , Giovanni , the leader of the evil Team Rocket , and the man who ordered the scientists to create Mewtwo discovered him . Giovanni offered a deal . That he would train Mewtwo , and they would rule the earth together . Mewtwo ignore him . He did not need help . But the cruel Giovanni insisted that Mewtwo had no control over his powers , and he could help Mewtwo harness them . Mewtwo agreed to this .
Giovanni created Mewtwo a battle suit , and had him fight . But soon , Mewtwo discovered that Giovanni didn't care about Mewtwo . Giovanni thought that Mewtwo was worth nothing . That he was created to fight for Giovanni , and for no other
reason .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Mewtwo : Now I fully perceive my power . But what is my purpose ?
Giovanni : To serve your master . You were created to fight for me . That is your purpose .
Mewtwo : That cannot be . You said we were partners . We stood as equals .
Giovanni : You were created by humans to obey humans . You could never be our equal .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
This made Mewtwo angry . Giovanni believed that Mewtwo was an inferior being . How dare he ? How dare he say that Mewtwo was only created to fight ? ! Furious , he left .
He went back to New Island , where the original lab had been , and created a new one . Humans , the horrible species that created him , that used him , and betrayed him . They cared nothing for clones , and he would make them pay . He would challenge the strongest trainers to come and fight , and then he would clone their Pokemon . He would have them fight , the Originals and the Clones , and see who had more worth . It was a war to see who would control the earth , clones , or originals . He would get his revenge .
And so , he formed his plan . He created a giant storm , so only the strongest would make it through . The trainers came , and the battle of the century began . Mew , the original came to New Island . Mew was a protector Pokemon , and watched over all of the Pokemon . She would not let Mewtwo destroy the planet ! And so , Mewtwo cloned the trainer's Pokemon , and had them fight .
The originals and clones fought viciously , their trainers watching horrified . Mew and Mewtwo also faced off . Ash Ketchum , a Pokemon trainer watched his Pokemon fight . He realized that it had to stop . As Mew and Mewtwo formed energy balls , and ran into the middle of the crossfire , turning him to stone .
It was at that moment the Pokemon realized what would happen as a result of this senseless fighting . And the Pokemon , clone and original cried . Mewtwo was shocked . These Pokemon crying for a human ? The species that had abused and betrayed him ?
The Pokemon tears were filled with life , and Ash was restored . Then Mewtwo realized something . That senseless war was not the answer , and that originals and clones could live together , in harmony . That everyone deserved equality . Mewtwo ceased the fighting , and took his clones to a place where they could live in peace . He wiped the memories of everyone except his clones and Mew , and everything was restored to normal .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Mewtwo : I see now that the circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant . It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are .
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This movie is very powerful , and holds a meaningful message . Please , watch this movie and experience Pokemon at its greatest . Thank you .
004 4 I am a devoted fan of Pokemon , despite my age ( a whopping 16 ! ) . However , although I found the TV series entertaining ( in a baffling , obsessive way ) , this feature lacks the charm , humor , and tone of the episodes and instead , seems to be just winging it , exploiting the enormous success of the pokemon phenomenon purely for corporate profit , without the care of an artist . Not only is it crudely translated and dubbed ( may I mention the some 20 minutes cut ? or the error on the pokemon names ? ) , but the emotion behind the original Japanese production is lost . And the whole fighting is bad tirade ? Come on ! Much of the effort at emotional content resulted in several mawkishly sentimental scenes . We don't need to be told ; we want to be shown . I'm aware that this film is directly mainly toward a younger audience , but I don't think any less effort should be put forth to make it a quality film . Hopefully , with the some $83 mill from this production , the second pokemon movie will be handled with more tenderness . I ( and I speak for many others ) will be waiting to applaud this summer's Pokemon Revelation Lugia .
006 4 * Sigh * When I first saw this movie , I loved it . I was obsessed with it , I had no negative comments on it whatsoever except maybe the crappy DVD / VHS box art , but now . . .
I am a Pokemon Fan . Unlike most low raters of this movie , I am not giving it a two due to being biased against it , as I am an avid Pokemon lover , but the story behind this movie is just plain sad ( sad as in sad , not pathetic )
The plot of this movie , in a nutshell , is Mewtwo , a super-powerful pokemon is resentful toward his human creators and wants to destroy them and take over the world , but then lures Pokemon trainers to an island fortress to clone their Pokemon and them pit them against the originals to prove that clones are stronger .
Do you know what the plot , in a nutshell , was in the JAPANESE version ? They cut out the long , twenty minute beginning of the movie which may have been the best part : Mewtwo as a baby talking with a girl and three other clones about life and who they are . Then , in the main movie , Mewtwo , who has been created for the sole purpose of fighting , clones trainers ' Pokemon in order to destroy all humans and allow clones to live not as the products as science . But when confronted by the trainers , Mewtwo , after having been told his sole purpose in life is to fight , pits the clones and originals against one another and they fight because they believe that their lives are not meant for anything else .
Nearly all Pokemon fans with a brain want to horribly maul the Engilsh dubbers for how they mutilated such a wonderful Japanese plot . For a long time I wondered why they changed it , until I realized , after a conversation about plot with my younger sister , the plan behind it .
Little kids don't like plot . They cant register depth , they don't comprehend theme , and meaningful plot means nothing to them . I'm stronger than you so we'll fight to see who's better , on the other hand , is what they live for , and I think it's truly sad how this good movie went to waste . Yes , it still is entertaining , and I still enjoy it , and yet . . . if only there was a way to see how the movie would have turned out if it had been dubbed directly into English , with the original splendor still intact .
007 4 At first look , I thought the movie was going to be like the cartoon , ok but with something missing from it . But I was wrong ! This movie is awesome . Even though it's not on video yet , you should pre-order it now ! I listening to the soundtrck as I write this and it's awesome too ! This is a must-see for all Pokemon fans , and even those who are not familiar with pokemon will get something out of it !
008 4 I rented this movie merely to compare it to the Japanese version , and was quite disappointed . As others have said , Mewtwo's character is very poorly portrayed in the American version . In Japan , he is merely confused and quite angry-he's trying to find a purpose to his life , and is angry at humans for how they have treated him-like a laboratory experiment , nothing more . In America , he's out to destroy the world and all the humans and Pokemon in it . He's changed from a lost , angry soul to a one-dimensional villain . Not nearly as interesting . Also , the opening scene has a narrative over it that's supposed to give newbies an introduction to the world of Pokemon , but ends up merely being annoying . The dialogue is butchered up horribly . They even added an explanation about the ' legend ' of the Pokemon tears reviving someone-as if we can't figure out what's happening at the end when they revive Ash . . . The worst thing , by far , though , was the music . The pain . . . the pain ! The Japanese themesong that I once spent a 30 minutes downloading a clip of so I could listen to it on my computer was replaced with a stupid rap version of the already barely tolerable American one ( I wanna be . . the very best . . like no one ever was . . blech ! ) . The whole Japanese soundtrack , which I would buy in a minute if I could find it for a decent price , was replaced with dumb pop music . Horror of horrors , they replaced the awesome music from the end fight scene with this slow , sad song ( Brother , My Brother , I believe it was ) . Even the resident four year old in my house thought that the music didn't go with the scene at all-and she's four , for crying out loud ! What were they thinking ? All in all , a very poor dub . See the Japanese version if you can . I found it much better , and I don't even speak a word of Japanese ! What's next . . . let's see . . . they've changed Revelation : Lugia to Pokemon : The Movie 2000 . Nice title , guys . I can hardly wait . . .
010 4 Now first of all , Ive liked Pokemon since before it became a huge craze in the US , and am older than the average Poke-fanatic . But the charm of Pokemon is the cute critters , namely Pikachu , who has more personality than ten Bambies put together . Having bought all 16 of the VHS videos put out with 3 eps a piece , I can safely say Im familiar with the anime , and the movie in comparision is a little darker and altered some from the Japanese version . For an anime movie the dub is quite excellent , and rarely gets into the annoying factor . Why so many people have complained about Pokemon and the movie , I cannot imagine . Its cute , but never in the realms of being stupid , and has enough appeal to reach people of all ages . One of the cutest parts is the pokemon all together at the beginning short , having to rely on their body movements and the various inflections in the sounds they make to interpret what's going on . The Pokemon are so full of personality that its a joy just to watch them interact with one another .
If you like Pokemon this is a no-brainer . The movie is a must-have , there are so many Pokemon in the main feature , with lots of super cute battling and even that classic shot of Pikachu with tears dribbling down his cheeks . The story plays out very much like one of the 3 part episodes with a lot of cuteness to fill out the rest of the time . For anyone that is skeptical about all this Pokemon stuff , I assure you that Disney has not done anything this cute or intriguing since some of their animated flicks in the 60s - 70s .
014 4 Now I saw some of the reviews on the site and some are bad and some go way far into the plot . Now as an adult I'm going to rate this .
Pokemon is first of all a show that follows Ash Ketchum aboy who begins an adventure to catch and train pokemon-creatures that inhabit his world . It is pretty much a childrens show but the movie really has a strong theme .
It begins with a scientist funded by Giovonni , a corupt mad man in charge of a lethal organization . Now the scientists recovered a fossil that is said to be remains of the legendary pokemon Mew , also the first one in existence .
The cloning process was successful but Mewtwo soon discovered that the humans care nothign for him and rebelled against his creators . Once Giovonni betrayed him Mewtwo was adamant to destroy humanity thining humans are all the same . Doing that he brings forth the greatest trainers on the planet and clones their pokemon .
The movie teaches the greatest lesson that can be learned - We are all different but if you can look past the differences and focus on what we have in common then perhaps we can be so much more .
A good lesson hidden inside the chaoticly famous series .
015 4 Ok I bought this for my six and seven year old kids ( who seem to know what all of these odd little creatures are called and what they do ) and yes Ok I watch the Tv series now and again but nothing prepared me for this .
This is really good ! It is like the Tv series has really grown up and can now compete with the likes of Mulan and The Lion King ! A great message , some very interesting ( weird ) characters and a nice little twist . Add to this humour , danger and cute little Pikachu . What more could you want ?
This is the story of a human created advanced pokemon called Mewtwo and his quest for purpose . It involves attracting all the best pokemon and their trainers for a fight to the death . Typical man creates beast , beast supercedes man , beast learns humanity stuff . But on the way you learn how powerful Mewtwo really is , what his creators were really up to , the dangers of genetic cloning and how really loving your pokemon helps them become the very best . There is actually real emotion when the pokemon and their clones are fighting eachother and Pikachu refuses to fight . I had to pass my son my tissue ( I had something in my eye of course ) .
The usual characters are there ( I cannot believe I can remember them ) , Ash , Missy , Brock , Squirtle , Bulbasaur , Team Rocket and of course Pikachu along with the original Mew ( comes a close second on the cutes stakes ) .
Loads of extras include the very funny Pikachu's vacation , pictures , a music video and some download stuff and of course a look at the next Pokemon movie !
So , stop being cynical go watch it with your kids and enjoy . And hey , I am sure that the voice of Mewtwo is the same as that of Brain in Pinky and the Brain !
016 4 I loved the movie ! I can watch it over and over again ! To the parents that think their kids are too obsessed with Pokemon , I'm happy that the children who like the show and movie can learn that fighting is wrong and you shouldn't judge people by the way they look at such a young age , and be tought that by something they love so much ! If your child loves Pokemon , this is a movie you don't want to miss !
018 4 First , I'll confess that I'm a 35 year-old Pikachu addict - - I can't explain it , and I've stopped bothering to try . If you like Pokemon at all , you'll love this film - - it has all the familiar characters and has a very powerful storyline .
However : The Japanese version of this movie was considerably longer , and much of it was cut for the U.S . , including and explanation of Pokemon and Trainers , scenes with other Mewtwos dying because of failures by the scientists , and a better explanation of what the heck Mew is doing .
Still , very good . If you don't know Pokemon , try the first in the video series , Pikachu , I Choose You ! and find out for yourself what an adult can possibly like about it !
020 4 This is a great movie . Well technically , two movies .
Pikachu's Vacation : This is a cute short movie . It is about Pikachu , Togepi , and all of the other Pokemon who's Trainers are the main characters , going on a one day vacation to a Pokemon playground called Pokemon Land . After everyone settles down , Togepi misses Misty and cries . After Bulbasaur calms it down , a group of 4 Pokemon Cubone , Raichu , and two newly discovered Pokemon - Marrill , and Snubble walk by talking loudly . In fear that Togepi may awake , Pikachu's party of Bulbasaur , Suirtle , and Himself ask the crowd to please quiet down . But they get angered . And thats where it all starts . From then on , Pikachu's party face off against the other party , but an emergency will stop the competition , and have team work save the victim of the emergency - Charizard . It is a very cute little short movie aimed for the younger Pokemon fans .
Mewtwo Strikes Back : This is a story about a Pokemon named Mewtwo . He is the clone of the legendary Pokemon Mew . When Mewtwo awakens , He is confused , but when he learns that his whole life is an experiment , and that He was artificialy made just for an experiment for Science , He grows sad , depressed , unloved , and enraged . He kills all the Scientists in the lab including Dr . Smith-the head Scientist of the Mewtwo project . Mewtwo then meets a promising Man . His name is Giovanni . He is the leader of Team Rocket . Mewtwo hates Humans because of why they created Him , and lusts for world domination over them . Giovanni promises Him world domination , as His partner . Mewtwo excepts . Mewtwo is placed in armor restraining His powers in case He were to grow angry and attack Giovanni . In Team Rocket HQ and the Viridian Gym , Giovanni decieves Mewtwo , and uses Him to test His skills , beat Trainers and hurt them and their Pokemon , and to catch rare Pokemon for Team Rocket . Mewtwo realizes how He is being used though and destroys Team Rocket HQ , and flys off . He lands in the rubble of the lab He was created in , and takes of the armor that didn't already break off when he flew off . Mewtwo then declares that He will dominate the world , and will show the Human race His revenge , and show - The Wrath of Mewtwo . Mewtwo's rage is shown then through His eyes . Then , when the prologue is over , we are shown our hero Ash . He battles a Pirate wannabe , and Bulbasaur , Squirtle , and Pikachu lead Him to a win . But a Fearow His recorded that with a camera on it's neck , whom is flying over Ash and Friends . Mewtwo watches Ash . A mysterious beautiful lady , whom is Mewtwo's servant , asks if She should send out a invitation to Him . A invitation to what though ? Something Mewtwo is behind . . . Ash and Friends recieve the invitation from a Dragonite that works for Mewtwo ! The invitation Has the beautiful lady whom is Mewtwos's servant . She asks if the person who recieved the letter would please attend Her masters party . The directions are then shown . She then asks to please R.S.V.P . by checking off the Yes or No blocks . All She says about Her master is he is a powerful trainer looking for a challenge . They check off the Yes box . Team Rocket stops Dragonite from taking off - by Jessie stopping it with a frying pan . The letter is dropped and Team Rocket views the hologram invitation card too . They decide to leave for the island which is named New Island also . And from on that point a incredible , dramatic , dark , beautiful , funny , sad , happy epic adventure takes place that even talked about the essence of life itself , and the wrong of war , and fighting in general . MSB is aimed for the older viewers of Pokemon .
All in all , PV is a cute little adventure , that You will love , and MSB is a beautiful story that will have You cry , as it did to Me . However MSB has death , cloning , drama , essences of life and war , and deep drama , but is the better movie , and I DONT distraught the younger fans from seeing it-just the immature bratty ones .
Beautiful . 5 Stars
Review written by , Ash Ketchum 2
021 4 I have seen the English version once . I have seen the Japanese version over eight times . I find no fault in the Japanese version , but when compared , the English version falls short . Why are we Americans so restricting ?
I let my younger cousins watch the Japanese version , and they have never seen the English version . ( I had made sure to watch the movie before hand incase it needed screening , which it didn't . ) I find it disgusting the way editors hack apart a foreign film , taking out all emotion , and anything worth watching .
The dubbing was horrid , the Proffessor's voice was grating on the ears . The soundtract for the English version was so out of place . Yes , the music is okay as a stand-alone , but when combined with the movie , it just ruind the overall mood .
Many of the Pokémon names were confused and just plain messed up . The new composed music that replaced the nifty-spiffy creepy pipe organ music ( Mewtwo's theme ) was so depressing that i wanted to throw up .
Yes , Shogakukan digitized some sections for the US release , and that was rather neat , but to hack apart a wonderful entertaining movie was just wrong .
The kids will rave , but older Pokémon fans like myself will find it frustrating and rather dull . If you want to see the English version , that's fine . ( I'm getting it just for the card , and to use as a compare-and-contrast with my Japanese version . ) But , if you want to see a better , well put-together story of creation , betrayal and the value of life , then seek out and find the Japanese version . You will not be dissapointed .
And Pikachu's Vacation is just scary . . . * Shiver *
027 4 Having 2 children at the ages of 2 and 4 1 / 2 , I've grown to love Pokemon . Being a fan of Pokemon , I tought that Pokemon the First Movie was pretty boring . I've seen it dozens of times , and each time I see it , I always think how boring it is . It seems dark and isn't as humorous as the TV series . It also lacks excitement , fun and the story line wasn't that great . It will keep a childs attention throughout the whole movie though ! Mewtwo is a genetically designed Pokemon that is suppose to be the most powerful of all . Mewtwo decides that he wants to conquer the world . So he manipulates Pokemon Masters onto going to the island , where he can clone their Pokemons . Then he battles them . Then your fearless heroes come to save the day , Ash , Brock and Misty . The movie had it's usual supporting cast ; such as the villains Jesse , James and Meowth . The one thing that the movie didn't have was a variety of Pokemon ! It had the usual , like Pikachu , Charizard , Bulbasaur , but where were some of my favorites like Hitmon Chan , Diglet and others ? I don't even remember seeing Wheezing of Arbok in it ! I even expected to see Ash's rival , Gary Oak , in the movie , but he only had a very small cameo in it .
The movie also included the short film , Pikachu's Vacation . This 20 minute cartoon was far better then the actual movie itself . It is the main reason why I rated this movie 3 stars instead of 1 . I thought it was great ! It was funny , exciting and the music accompanied the different scenes . It introduced new Pokemon , and had a variety of the old ones . The features on the DVD wasn't that bad also . It had little shorts like Ash's Journey . It also has the Director's commentary and a teaser of Pokemon 2000 .
028 4 Well , besides the dubbing , there were other changes to this movie . The script was re-written in a way to make it more dramatic and was given several morals . I thought this was okay , but I think that the original script shouldn't be tampered with . I also thought that the re-composition of the background music was pretty good too , although I don't know why 4Kids would waste their time doing it . There were cuts in Mewtwo's Origin and Pikachu's Vacation , but that's really no big deal . I think that Mewtwo's voice sounded a bit odd compared to the Japanese , for in Japanese , he sounded like he had a robotic voice , which really made him feel creepy . There were also some Pokémon mistakes . There was a Pidgeot called Pidgeotto , a Scyther called Alakazam and a Sandslash called Sandshrew . I honestly think that 4Kids should have taken a better look at this .
If you take away all of those problems , this movie was great . The added CGI effects really made this movie look neat in theatres , and it still does here . I still think that the puns that Team Rocket pull are hilarious . . . except for the one James pulled at the start . Great music , good plot , I think you should buy it .
029 4 Mewtwo Strikes Back is , in my opinion , one of the best movies in existence , and not just because it has Pokemon in it . The plot , dialogue and especially the art were all very interesting . This movie has received a lot of hostility from people , but it's usually for the following reasons :
1 . They dislike Pokemon , anime , or something along those lines .
2 . They take cartoon violence way too seriously .
3 . They just don't like the English version , because it is apparently evil and horrible and wrong for the English-speaking scriptwriters to write what they WANT , instead of conforming to the original script .
The movie is in fact , like I said , really , really , really , really good . The plot involves a team of scientists making a clone of Mew , the rarest and most powerful Pokemon to have ever existed , after finding its eyelash ( I think ) in the Amazon . However , they attempt to make the clone much more powerful than its genetic ancestor . After developing in a gargantuan test tube for quite some time , Mewtwo is born .
Unlike most Pokemon , Mewtwo can actually speak human speech instead of just saying its name ( this is most likely because the movie would be rather confusing otherwise ) . Mewtwo quickly realises he is being used by the scientists , and so he blows up the lab . It is at this point that the dastardly boss of Team Rocket , Giovanni , shows up and wheedles Mewtwo into a partnership with him .
However , after some time , Giovanni informs Mewtwo he isn't actually his equal and was created solely to obey humans . Mewtwo is of course upset about this , so he blows up Giovanni's hideout and goes on his own .
Sometime later , Ash , Misty , and Brock are lured into a trap , along with some other trainers , via an invitation to battle the world's greatest Pokemon master . Mew , somehow sensing that it is needed , also goes to Mewtwo's hideout .
Mewtwo ends up cloning their Pokemon , rather like the scientists who created him , and a great battle ensues between the normal Pokemon and the super-clones , not to mention between Mewtwo and Mew .
In short , this movie is in fact really good , despite the bad reviews it tends to get . I'm not sure I'd recommend it for especially young or sensitive children , though , because there are certain amounts of violence in it , but no one dies or anything .
Well , actually , Ash gets turned to stone , but he comes back to life after a few minutes , being the main character and all , and it's supposed to tie in with something someone said earlier on in the movie .
032 4 Most of you parents out there don't understand what Pokemon is all about . And so , just because you don't understand it , doesn't mean you have to say that this Pokemon thing is bad or pointless . To me , as a young adult who watches this cartoon , this movie is absolutely incredible . Some of you would think so too if you understand what its all about . And also remember that this movie was meant for young people so you would have to see it from their point of view . You would be surprise on how many older people actually watch and now understand this Pokemon thing . If you have watch an episode before and still don't understand , keep watching and finally you'll see what its all about . Watching one episode will not make you understand it , so don't dismiss and stereotype it . You'll see that there is more than just creatures battling against each other . And this movie shows just that .
Adults who don't get it , read this review above . And for those who says that they liked the japanese one better , buy the dvd version then .
033 4 Kinda cheeesy . Mewtwo's voice bugged the heck out of me . I onlywish I saw it in it's original form ( with subs of course ! ) .
034 4 Why exactly did they make cuts to the movie ? I am baffled to this move , but compared to the Japanese version of the movie , which had real emotions attached to the storyline , this one falls flat . The entire pre-story isn't told .
If you or your kids are into Pokémon , obviously this is a must buy . But , if you're an adult Pokémon fan or you want your kids to see a much more intelligent version of the movie , buy the subtitled import . So it's not in English ; you'll enjoy the story so much more . I would easily grant the original Japanese version 4 , maybe 5 stars . This disgusting oversimplification can only be granted a 2 .
035 4 I really , really like Pokemon . And I also tryed to like this movie . That didn't work . Don't get me wrong ; I understood everything in the movie , its just that it lacks being any fun to watch . The bonus film , Pikachu's Vacation , is not what I would call entertaining ; you see Pikachu , Bulbasuar , Squrtile , Psyduck , and Togepi running around a Pokemon amusment park , getting themselves , and a rival Pokemon gang , out of troublesome perdicaments ( including getting Pikachu and Raichu loose of each other , getting Charizard's head out of a pipe , and becoming friends ) . It isn't dramatized or for that matter , anything ! The actual movie has Ash and some other trainers going to Mewtwo's Island and then after a little rambling this big ( but stupid ) Pokemon battle rages out ! All and all , it's not that cool of a movie . Be smart : Save your cash for Pokemon : The movie 2000 .
036 4 When I went to see it in the movies I thought it would be so cool ! But it turns out it sucked ! So don't waste your money folks ! Rent it ! Don't waste your money !
037 4 Normally , I don't give animated movies one star . But this movie is just so worst case scenario that I can't help but utterly destroy it . I know I'm going to get lynched by Pokemon fans for this , but let's face it . This movie stinks ! No , I'm not the kind of person who thinks Pokemon are creations of the devil or whatever nonsense they're saying these days . I like the cartoon . I find it charming . Unfortunately , some things should just stay as a cartoon series . The animation style of the series is so wretched that it couldn't possibly look good in a full blown movie . Pikachu's Vacation is cute , but it's incomprehensible and horridly strange . The main movie itself is slow , boring , and inane . It also rudely jackhammers its message into your poor brain . The soundtrack ? Dumb . More excuses to show off pop sensations . All in all , I really don't care if this movie is entertaining to Pokemon fans . That's not enough for me or for those who aren't . As a movie , this is one of the worst . It just shows such a complete lack of any creative thought one would expect from proper storytelling . Get far away from this monster and don't look back .
039 4 Why didn't they include a Japanese language track on the DVD release ? I saw the Japanese version and it was a lot better than the English one . The Japanese songs were quite decent and Mew Two's Japanese voice sounded much more dark and evil than his English one . I would only reccomend this English DVD to young kids who enjoy the American version .
041 4 I loved the movie ! I can watch it over and over again ! To the parents that think their kids are too obsessed with Pokemon , I'm happy that the children who like the show and movie can learn that fighting is wrong and you shouldn't judge people by the way they look at such a young age , and be tought that by something they love so much ! If your child loves Pokemon , this is a movie you don't want to miss !
042 4 The DVD's got a cute little menu screen , and it looks pretty good on the computer screen . However , if you don't have surround , MewTwo's telepathy will sound a bit . . odd to the ears . But you'll adjust to it . BTW , the directors viewing of the movie is a nice touch . : ) I haven't seen anything like that since the Lion King CAV Deluxe Laserdisc where the directors and producers did the same thing .
I haven't seen the Japanese version , but I know there were subtle script differences . How could there not be ? With the lip flap at all .
A good buy , all-in-all . With all the bonuses , this makes a very good DVD package .
043 4 This was a great Pokémon movie ! The music , the plot , the voices , everything . There's a difference with the plot in the English dub rather than the original Japanese , and people are really upset about it . But 4Kids didn't dub this for the teens , they did it for the kids , and they're cautious about what they do to the movie . So be happy that we North Americans are acutally lucky to see the movie ! Stop the complaining already ! 5 Stars out of 5 !
If you are a Pokémon fan who hasn't seen the movie yet , you may want to rent it , because there are some people who won't like it . But if you are a die-hard Pokémon fan who hasn't seen the movie yet , just grab it , make it an impulse purchase ~ _ ^ .
045 4 I bought the movie because I am a Pokemon addict . I love the show ! The movie had a strong plot and was gave very good background on the origins of Mewtwo ( remember that invincible Pokemon that beat Gary in Viridian City ? ) . The plot was powerful and engaging and it brought to near tears on several occasions . The dialog is a bit sappy though , however thats the norm for Pokemon : - )
046 4 When I took my children ( 4 7 ) to see this movie last year I had my qualms about it . However , I learned something interesting about Pokemon : There is an ethical lesson in every Pokemon episode , and one that was especially strong in the movie . While the tv episodes do not feature stong messages ( more the working together and acceptance of others ) , the movie sent several strong messages about our civilization . First was the general message that we should all work together to make things happen . Ash , Misty and Brock have all learned to do this , and they spend a bit of time helping others learn as well . As Ash , Misty and Brock travel and meet new people , they learn to overcome problems by working together and learning from each other . This is not to say that they do this easily . There is a certain amount of arguing and frustration as they learn . Second , we should learn to accept people for what they are ; that they may have valuable things to teach us . Ash , Misty and Brock have learned that they all have different views and personalities , yet they are true friends who accept , gain strength from , and are always there for each other . Third , that violence is a bad thing . . . we should not fight each other out of malice , hatred or mistrust . This is what MewTwo is doing . . . he doesn't trust the people who created him . He borders on hatred of them because he doesn't feel he has purpose . He learns in the course of the movie that there is more to life than fighting , and that he must find his own purpose , just as we all must . MewTwo also learns that not everyone is the same , that while he mistrusts and even hates those who created him , there are those he can learn to trust and believe . Ash showed him a different side to people when he sacrificed himeslf for Pikachu . Ash did what he felt was right , not for himself , but for everyone . He did this to save them all . Okay . . . so the Pokemon battle . This is part of the Pokemon way , and is not the same as people fighting people simply because of hatred and mistrust . Pokemon battles are like Boxing , Wrestling , or even Martial Arts . . . they are a sport for which the participants train and prepare . Many people in the Pokemon world do not battle their Pokemon . . . they raise them or they study them . Maybe it's just as an adult that I am seeing these messages in this movie . I came out of the theater feeling stunned at the strength of what was said about teamwork , friendship , giving , trust , faith and even the environment . When I asked my children about what they saw in the movie , I heard about how scared they were for Ash , how they were surprised at Mew's strength , how MewTwo was ruthless ( but learned at the end to be good ) . The ethical messages , however , are there , and our children are listening to them , learning from them . Many of the lessons are valuable and worthwile .
047 4 I love this movie because I love Pikachu because i like to get electrocuted .
048 4 I thought this movie was wonderful for children - - a little difficult to live through for adults - - especially Pikachu's Vacation . But all in all the movie sets forth good morals in loving and caring for all people - - no matter what their difference - - destroying one another is not an answer . I really liked that .
049 4 This was awsome and nothing was wrong about it . I hope you make a mewto strikes back again ! This is your biggest fan !
050 4 I can't belive someone actually criticized this movie for having a childish plot . First and foremost this is a kids movie not grownup Japanamation . Well now , with that out of my system I guess I can review this now .
I took my niece , nephew , brother , sister , and their friends to see this movie and they all really enjoyed it . The animation is nice and the plot , however rather simple , is laid out well . The sound and voice-overs are well done and the gratutious violence one usally is subgugated to in Japanese cartoons is far removed from this film .
Overall this is a good film and even though it is geared for kids , it can be enjoyed by adults as well who want to take an interest in what their kids are proably playing with right now .
051 4 The very First of 3 Pokemon movies . In this movies we finally get to see Mewtwo , and Mew . i thought this was a great film for the Pokemon series . A little darker than the T.V . show though . Basically Mewtwo is created , and he summons the best trainers aroudn to come and battle at his island . The story unfolds there . This video also includes the short film Pikachu's Vaction . It's all about how Pokemon act when humans aren't around
053 4 This is an O.K movie . I give it a 3.5 . It starts out with the origin of Mewtwo , as using DNA from the legendary Pokemon Mew's eyebrow fossil to create a clone , Mewtwo . Soon , Team Rocket leader Giovanni tries to control Mewtwo after he destroys the lab from which he was born in , but Mewtwo has other plans , thinking his purpose is not to serve humans . So he invites the most powerful Pokemon trainers to the New Island to see who can stand up to him . But things get outta control when Mewtwo steals all the Pokemon in black Pokeballs and creates artificial Super-Clones to prove that clones are the strongest in the universe . But he didn't count on Ash , a young Pokemon Trainer . Ash destroys the cloning machine , thus bringing Mew to the scene and saving the captured Pokemon . Who'll win ? The superclones or the originals ? Mew or Mewtwo ? You've got to see it to beleive it !
054 4 This was the singular most poorly made movie I have ever seen in my entire life . My younger brother wanted to go see it , and so I brought one of my friends who likes Pokemon to come and check it out with the rest of us . Before the actual movie there is a shorter one , Pikachu's Vacation , and that was alright . It did rather drag on , though , and even my friend got bored half-way through , and he's not one to have a short attention span . The actual movie , when it started , was the most sacrany , goody-goody , we-should-all-love-each-other children's flick I've ever had the misfortune to encounter . All children's movies have an undertone of such , but to come right out and preach a sermon about it as this movie did made me want to leave the theater , and I probably would have if my friend hadn't been there to make fun of it's stupidity . It does have it's audiance , which is kids up to about the age of ten , but anybody over that age will not enjoy this movie at all .
055 4 I loved this movie , It was much better than the show and the anamation was so awesome . I would definetly reccomend buying it .
056 4 I saw this movie in theaters , it was great . And as awesome as Pokemon is , the people who give it low stars for an actual reason ( unlike the people who hate Pokemon , think that it is games based off a show , etc . In other words , know nothing about Pokemon ; won't even try the games , despite that Red Version , Gold Version , and HeartGold Version are gaming masterpieces . ( alright , I can understand not liking the show and cards and etc . , but the games are amazing RPGs ) who rate it low simply because ; not on the basis on anything , but on spite ) that it wasn't very good , are true . As far as movies go , it's pretty bad . Unless you really pay attention , you probably won't see a plot . But , nostalgia makes me like it . I still enjoy it , even if it is a bad movie . Probably the only people who will enjoy it are Pokemon fans ; even if your older . ( unless , of course , you still haven't gotten over the whole but I'm a big kid now , everything I liked as a child is dumb ! phase . ) If you're not a parent of a Pokemon fan , or a parent of one , why would you be watching this ?
059 4 To me , this was not a good movie . The movie is basically about a genetically engineered Pokemon named Mewtwo who feels thet humans want to control him and he sets out to control the world with his Pokemon clones .
Mewtwo seemed kind of forced . He didn't have much emotion . ( Which is understandable , ) but he just seemed like a cardboard cut out . He wasn't a very good viillan . He didn't seem that dangerous .
For once , I would like to see the villans triumph . Make a movie worth watching .
061 4 . . . uh , now focus goes to Mewtwo , a clone of the super-rare Pokemon Mew , and he wants to take over the world . And our heroes have to stop him . Pokemon the Movie 2000 hopefully has to be better than this stuff , but who wants to catch them all , anyway ?
062 4 Kids love this stuff , but where Pokemon : The First Movie really succeeds is as a hilarious-in-an-MST3K-kinda-way party movie . I actually first saw it at a party with a bunch of my friends , and right from the very beginning we couldn't stop laughing and making sick jokes about it . Our personal favorites were the weird bits of psychedelic Pokemon dancing footage that appear occasionally throughout Pikachu's Vacation ( imagine watching them if you were high ! ) and the completely ridiculous , somewhat horrifying scene towards the end of the feature where all the Pokemon are slapping each other to death to that awful Brother my Brother song . This scene exemplifies what's so hilarious about Pokemon in the first place - - that the whole system is basically a Japanese anime / Game Boy version of cockfighting . Think about it , especially during this last particular sequence , where the two Pikachus slap each other and cry and where everybody keeps saying , Pokemon aren't supposed to fight like this ! This just shows that fighting is wrong ! Come on , guys , if they're not supposed to fight , why do you keep them in little Pokeballs and then only let them out just to fight other Pokemon ? Utterly hilarous . As for the DVD , the image quality in Pikachu's Vacation and the other little mini-movies is much better than in the feature itself , which has tons of tiny flecks of dust in some scenes . But what baffles me is the inclusion of a commentary track ; it's too complicated for kids to understand , and no one over the age of ten would even care . ( If you're going to give us a commentary track , why not give us a widescreen version as well ? ) The only sequences of this movie that actually succeed the way they were meant to work are those involving Mew ; he actually is really cute , and his theme music is pretty cool too . But otherwise , check it out with a pizza and some friends , and you might be pleasantly surprised ( my face hurt from laughing so much ) .
065 4 I'm a big pokemon fan , and what better way to see this movie but in Japanese . Granted , this movie is in English , and at times the translation makes no sense whatsoever . Like I said , I saw this movie in Japanese , and the script didn't make much sense either . I think that the translators did a pretty decent job in trying to translate the complex plot of this movie . So , if you're a fan of pokemon , and you enjoy the cartoon , great , but don't expect something huge .
066 4 I disliked this movie to extremes , I am a loyal Pokemon fan , even though I'm afraid to admit it I thought this was a terrible movie , when I bought it on DVD I thought it would be awsome , because I love Pokemon I envited all my friends over to see it , and when the movie was over we just sat there watching the TV , saying : Is that it ? I do not recomend this movie to anyone . And to all Pokemon fans out there : Buy the other movies , not this one !
067 4 I really liked the movie itself , but the short movie Pikachu's vacation was kind of cheesy . I first saw it the day it came out . people say that i am to old for poke'mon , but i know a couple of college kids who took the day off to see it ! if you are just getting into poke'mon , rent or buy the movie , you will really enjoy it and your kids will to !
070 4 This DVD is simply the best you can buy . It has sparkling picture quality in a convienient full-screen format . All the visual effects 4Kids added to the movie all look so incredibly real in this DVD . From the clouds , to the 3D doors , to the rippling shadow of Ash as he comes through a barrage of smoke , they all look so strikingly realistic . And the extras are to die for , every second of this movie that was cut from the movie comes as an extra , so there's no fuss about what you're missing . It also comes with a sneak preview of Pokemon The Movie 2000 , the trailer of the first movie ( also in outstanding clarity ) , commentary by the english adaption directors , and the sparcely seen M2M music video . The movie is great , the ending is guaranteed to bring tears to your eyes . And Pikachu's Vacation isn't terribly bad , but still . . . . So in other words , at LEAST rent this DVD to see how this DVD outshines all DVDs .
071 4 I believe that Pokemon the First Movie : Mewtwo Strikes Back is a great film for Pokemon fans and opens up a doorway for those fans to explain how it all works to their parents . ( ha ha ) I caught this movie on the big screen and was sure that it would be part of my collection when it made it to the small one . I laughed , I cried , it was better than Cats ( but then again , what isn't beter than Cats ? ) While the movie and the bonus material ( especially the cute and endearing Pikachu's Vacation ) are great , my major complaint is , Why is their no widescreen version on the DVD ? I have discovered the five most dreaded words in home entertainment are formatted to fit your screen . I realize that they will probably release some sort of widescreen collector's edition , but come on . . . really ! All in all , a great film for fanatic and first-timer alike : )
072 4 Being a Poke'mon fan and trainer myself , I had to see this movie . It's just plain fun ! Great Animation , a kickin ' soundtrack ( which you'll find yourself singing along to ) and oozes cuteness that reaches out to all ages .
Don't tell your kids this but , this movie has a really good message , and teaches a very valuable lesson I think we can ALL benefit from .
073 4 I enjoyed the movie in the theatre ( except Pikachu's Vacation which was just weird ) . So I bought the DVD . Now , MOST DVDs are either letterboxed or both , but this movie was JUST Pan ' n scan . : - ( Other than that , it was very good . ( It ain't just for kids . )
074 4 I saw this movie in the theater with my kids . They loved it . I was so bored I could barely stand it . Although I was impressed by the message that the movie was trying to convey to kids .
We just got the DVD . My kids still love watching it , but now I don't have to ! Fact is , if your into Pokemon you will enjoy this movie even with some of the flaws that others have mentioned . I was not the intended audience so it's no wonder it did not impress me .
I am a DVD collector however , and did enjoy clicking on the many features . The menu is kinda neat with the different Pokemon popping up . The video quality is fine too but am extremely disappointed that it is not widescreen as was shown in the theater . It also comes in those cheapo paper DVD cases .
077 4 Pokemon , The First movie , was somewhat stranger then the show . I think the movie was way too short , and the Pikachus vacation thingy put me to sleep . I am a constant watcher of the show and I actually got kinda confused during the middle . Though it was a good movie , I expected better .
078 4 I only saw this movie once in theaters , I thought it was awsome . It was the first time I ever saw a japan animated movie in theaters . After that , started to like japan animated movies , I will get this movie when it comes out on video . If anyone is reading this , see the pokemon movie ! It's cool !
081 4 My brother has this movie , and at first I liked it . But soon after , I got sick of it . I mean , it's like any other movie : Something or someone trying to have world domination just because some Pokemon thinks that the human race is evil . Puh-lease ! The only thing I like about it is Mew , but the Pokemon don't even use their powers when their fighting like they do in Pokemon battles . And they don't even know why they're fighting ! It's like being racist . And they're trying to teach kids a valuable lesson , don't fight . We hear that from everyone quite enough . Besides , Pokemon are a bad influence on kids . Some kids are so desperate they STEAL Pokemon cards . The movie's trying to get you to spend your money on some movie . It's just a movie . You're bound to see it some other time . And if you don't , don't spend your money on some dumb movie .
082 4 At first I wasn't a pokemon fan , but , I saw MSB and I think that this movie was the bomb . It was a little more mature than the show , It's the first time humans have ever died ( when Mewtwo kills the Team Rocket Scientists at the beginning of the movie ) . If the next movie is as good as MSB , I'm going to take my niece to see it when it come out .
086 4 I just saw this movie on Cartoon Network and was reminded how much I hated watching this movie in theaters .
Although I am a huge Pokemon fan , I was disgusted by this translation . I say translation because I have seen the Japanese version of this movie ; it is much different , more entertaining ( and coherent ) , and not embarrassing to watch . I'd say it is at least three times better than this WB produced garbage .
If you've only seen the English translation , you've been duped . The Japanese original version has surprising depth , a striking soundtrack , and decent voice overs , all of which the English translation does not have .
See it , believe it .
088 4 In all my years of anime viewing and reviewing , I don't think I've ever seen a movie get torn to bits like this . ( accept The New Adventures of Kimba and Digimon the movie ) PEOPLE , IGNORE THE DUB ! ! The Japanese version is almost an entirely different movie . It's just a shame 4Kids Entertainment will do anything to keep you from seeing it . Although the main characters don't really evolve in character ( what to you expect from a movie based on an anime that's been running for almost 10 years ) the characters show their emotions more than they do in the T.V . show . If there is one thing positive about this trash of a dub it's that the new music isn't all that bad . However there was nothing wrong with the original music . It sounded just as good , it wasn't so overdramatic , and there also wasn't a million pop songs that had nothing to do with the movie playing in the backround . There's also another important difference between the English and Japanese cut . The most recent Japanese cut that was released before this version was about 12 minutes longer . Some of it can be seen on the American videos . One of the scenes cut plays after Pikachu's Vacation and another can be found in the Extras section of Mewtwo Returns . Anyway , do yourself a favor and try to ignore the hippie , tree hugging , cracked out English diolgue as much as possibe because other than that the movie is very good . I give the Japanese version 4.5 out of 5 .
089 4 the original movie was much better , longer , lacked stupid songs and was chopped to bits . I was disappointed because usually 4 kids did better dubbing job . I didn't like the added computer effects
090 4 I rated this dubbed movie 4 stars because the Japanese was better . They cut off 20 minutes from this version and the topic of this one was totally different from the actual ! Other than those , it was a great movie ! It has Revelation Lugia , and Pikachu's Exploration.I just hope they don't cut off the part when I , Ash , get a kiss .
091 4 Wow ! If you don't know what Pokemon is , you've probably been stuck in a cave for the past year or so with your fingers in your ears . Just kidding . Well , we all have grown to love ( or hate ) Pokemon for our own reasons . Anyway , down to the movie .
The movie itself was done pretty well . It is just like the cartoon you can watch on your television set , but with a clearer picture quality and better soundtrack ( it really is pretty good ) . No story spoilers , but it is a pretty basic story . Good vs . Evil . The Pikachu's Vacation short is really cute and will appeal to kids who don't like violence all the way to kids who want to see action ( there's competitions ) . As for the movie , I wouldn't recommend it for kids who don't like the fighting aspect of Pokemon , but rather one particular pokemon ( such as Pikachu or Psyduck ) . The story can get quite violent and my godbrother and godsister ( about age 12 and under ) really did not enjoy the violence in the film ( violence = evil deeds from the evil side of the team ) .
However , if you can bypass that whole violence part of Pokemon , then it's a pretty good movie . Though simple in story , it does a pretty good job capturing the essence of the television show and video game . You get to see new pokemon from gold and silver AND . . . you get a free promo card ! Well , I did anyway . So if you've never seen this movie yet , worth a rental . If you're a poke-maniac , buy it asap . If you don't like pokemon whatsoever . . . then . . . er . . . don't even consider it . It won't change your opinion ( however , the show and games might ) .
092 4 The English version of the first Pokemon movie is horrible . The Japanese version is MUCH better . Oh , and Origin of Mewtwo isn't the same as Birth of Mewtwo
093 4 I saw this movie when it was in the theatres when I liked Pokemon . I think this is what put me off . The first part , Pikachu's vacation dragged on and I couldn't wait untill the actual thing . It was even worse . I was going to leave half-way through , but I decided not to because I wanted to see if Mew or Mewtwo won . It was a draw . That was a huge disapointment . They also ran out of the special cards you were meant to get . I used to be a Pokemon Fanatic , but now it's my worst nightmare , especially the TV Show , but the game is ok untill you beat it .
094 4 I wasn ` t sure what to expect when I saw this . This feature is actually made up of two movies - the short Pikachu ` s Vacation and the slightly longer Mewtwo Strikes Back . In Pikachu ` s Vacation Ash and the gang take their Pokemon for a holiday on an island . Its cute but strange , made up almost entirely of the Pokemon speaking their own special language .
The premier feature Mewtwo Strikes Back is very different . I thought this was far darker and more emotional than usual , and it freaked some people out who were expecting a kids ` cartoon . The story is that Mewtwo - a new breed of Pokemon ( created from the DNA of an extremely rare Pokemon called Mew ) , and designed by a group of scientists to be the most powerful fighter the world has ever seen , breaks away from his human masters and opts for world domination , creating a race of genetically engineered Super Pokemon . Needless to say - Ash and the others come to try to beat Mewtwo and save the world .
While this wasn ` t the worst movie I ` ve ever seen , it could have been better . The American dubbing is crude and Mewtwo ` s character is awful . In the original Japanese version , Mewtwo acted the way he did because he was lost and confused - in America his character is a simple villain who is evil just for the sake of being evil . The soundtrack also stinks - the excellent music of the TV show is replaced with god-awful chart pop which has nothing to do with the movie .
Overall this movie was not bad , but not great . I hope the English writers do a better job with Pokemon The Movie 2000 .
095 4 This was a rather good Pokémon Movie that I found enjoyable . Apparently the original version was longer , and I don't understand why there were cuts .
The movie was great , a good plot , but there were some mistakes during the dubbed . I found two Pokémon errors . There was a Pidgeot called Pidgeotto , and a Scyther that was called I think an Alakazam or Kadabra .
But in conclusion I think you should see this movie for yourselves to see if you like it or not . The only disappointing part of it were the cuts ( I haven't seen the original version yet ) .
096 4 Pokemon : The First Movie ( Kunihiko Yuyama , 1999 )
I'm not sure why it took me eight years to get round to finally seeing Mewtwo Strikes Back ( the proper name of this movie ) in its entirety . I've seen snatches of it over the years , but never actually sat down to watch the full movie until now . Odd . I remember when it came out that at least one critic called it the worst movie of the year and said it was nothing more than an extended commercial for the game . I always found that rather amusing , given that many animated movies are commercials for something or other . The critics loved Brother Bear , didn't they ? ( Well , except me . ) It's an extended PETA commercial .
That said , there are a lot of reasons not to like this movie , though it seems the main reason ( the long , completely unsubtle fighting is evil sequence towards the end ) exists only in its American version . It's annoying , but not really much more so than any of the godawful the moral of the story is . . . bits in Pokemon TV episodes .
Which is my chief complaint ( though I can't really call it a reason not to like the movie ) about Mewtwo Strikes Back ; it's an extended episode of the show . Thus , if you like the show , you'll probably like the movie , and if you don't , you probably won't . This , however , begs the question : if you don't like the Pokemon TV show , why are you watching the movie ? Just curious .
It could have been better , but it certainly could have been worse . It's not even in the bottom five of the movies I watched this weekend . * * ½
097 4 I have seen this movie several times and I must say that its one of the best Poke'mon movies made . The poke'mon are drawn well in this movie and the characters voice acting are done quite well .
Overall I give this movie like a 3.5 rounded to four !
098 4 I havn't seen this movie for two years and i just watched it again for the first time . I'm looking at all the other pokemon movies that have come out since 1999 , and this one is way better than all the others !
First of all , great story ! It kept me interested till the end . Also , this is the first and last movie were the graphics behind the charectors isn't to advanced for the actual charectors . Ya know , for example , in Pokemon : 4ever , the big Celebi wood thing at the end was too 3 - d . It looked like something from pixar . That's whats good about pokemon the first .
Also , it has a great moral to it too . All the other movies are pretty much the same : if you want something bad enough and you try , you get it , or : don't be afraid , or : try your best . This movie's is : it doesn't matter how u were born ( in this movie , cloned or born , but in real life , what u look like ) , but how you look at life and how you decide to live it is what really matters .
The only thing that could be better in it is the ' violence ' . It's not really violent like blood or killing or anything like that , it's more like ' fighting to the point of death ' sort of thing . But that brings me back to the moral of the story , which is the reason they were fighting in the first place . Also , this movie is sort of sad . I mean , for a while , the main charector actually dies ! Then his best friend , Pikachu , is all sad and then he is trying as hard as he can to bring him back to life . . . . . . . . . . . well you know the rest .
Anyway , all in all , this movie is one of my favorite cartoon movies and the very best Pokemon movie ! This is a must-have for anyone who is at least interested in Pokemon ! ! ! ! !
100 4 The story line was good . Usually you have a human play the bad guy , but Mewtwo makes a better bad guy ! I think Pikachu's Vacation should be after the movie . I was so excited to see Mewtwo Strikes Back that I didn't pay much attencion to Pikachu's Vacation . When I re-watch Pikachu's Vacation , I thought it was so cool ! At the end of the movie , it kind of leaves you in suspence because I noticed that Giovanni's memory wasn't erased and leads to the sequel , Mewtwo Returns . A lot of people hate this movie and I have something to say to those people . . . give pokemon a break ! Geez ! People hate the movie just because of Pikachu's Vacation and that Mewtwo and Mew tied at the end of their battle . Overall , this is a movie worth buying !
101 4 Easily my favorite of the 3 movies , this first animated movie was much darker and brooding than the light-hearted television show . Mewtwo was by far the most menacing villain in any of the 3 movies . The plot was excellent as was the animation . It was a welcome sight to see the Pokemon ( especially my favorite , Vulpix ! ) on the big screen . The story did get a bit heavy at times - even main character Ash temporarily dies , but is brought back to life through the combined mystical powers of the Pokemon , which , in turn , teaches villainous Mewtwo a valuable lesson that life is a gift , not to be squandered . Good life lesson , great animation , great story , great Pokemon !
The short before the movie , Pikachu's Vacation , maybe should have been shown after the feature ( I think the Pokemon needed another vacation after that ! ) , but it was cute . Those who do not follow Pokemon will probably be lost , as the Pokemon speak their own language ( variations on their names ) . But again , for me , it was great to see Vulpix on the big screen so much !
My only complaint about the DVD version is that it is not in the widescreen format , thus cutting off quite a bit of the original picture . This was especially upsetting to me since Vulpix was in the corner of the screen a lot , and tended to get cut off more in the DVD version . Oh , well . . . maybe someday they'll make a special deluxe edition in widescreen . Until then , if you like Pokemon , get this DVD !
106 4 All in all , I was quite pleased with this film . Pokémon's first showing on the big screen seems to have passed the quality checks of most US and UK fans , and its success in other countries has undoubtedly been similar . However , I was quite disappointed by the English dub ( by now a very common point of criticism ) . The dialog , compared with the original Japanese , has been butchered , which I find very annoying . A prime example of this is actually from the second Pokémon movie , Pokémon The Movie 2000 , where , in the Japanese version , a character says this is serious . . . and in the English dub says I wish I had some pants . . . !
The Americanisation of anime is something that has irritated true fans of Pokémon , and although the producers and writers at Kids WB and 4Kids seem to think it necessary , I can assure you , it isn't ! What the fans would like to see is the original anime , without the retouching done by US corporations . Thankfully , we still get to see the original anime , due to the efforts of The Pikachu Projectand Fans 4 Fans , and because of the fact that neither Kids WB , 4 Kids or Nintendo of America hold the Japanese copyrights on Pokémon . . .
One thing in the movie's favour is that the animation has been greatly enhanced , so that the 3D rendering of objects such as the double doors leading into Mewtwo's castle and The Flight of Dragonite at the beginning of the movie .
So , overall : this film has whetted my appetite with regards to Pokémon-based movies , but in the future , more adherance to the original script would be appreciated .
107 4 I am an obsessive ( in a tiny sense ) Pokemon fan , before I even saw this movie I knew I'd like it , and I was right , it was wonderful . The ending seem was a defienent heart-tugger ( for all you emotional , Pokemon obsessives out there ) . And I really enjoyed how the tears of the Pokemon scene was choregraphed ( if you can call it that . . . maybe I should say . . . um , drawn . ) I'd say it's better than any other animated movie I have seen this year and I am eagerly awaiting the release of Pokemon The Movie 2000 . I'd recommend this to anyone who loves Pokemon .
108 4 I wish I could give this zero stars . Lots of Pokemon making strange noises and making life terrible for those poor souls forced to watch it.The dancing pokemon keep me up nights , wondering if they'll get in the house.Brrr . The Main Attraction-Mewtwo apparantley has deep and serious issues.Finding out he is a clone , he blows his creators away , teams up with the Pokemon Mafia , and invites unsuspecting children [ who's WATCHING these kids ? ] to fight him , so he can clone their Pokemon.Of course , Ash gets angry , Mewtwo zaps him , and so on.If you consider this movie the final perfectin of the filmaking art , you can't be helped.Pikachu cries , what dy'e know , Ash comes to life.Everybody says fighting is bad [ although that's the whole point of the Pokemon marketing scheme ] and Mewtwo flies away to somewhere where he won't be bothered . A horrific movie . BAD , BAD , BAD . It is basically a long Pokemon merchandise plug.Don't buy it , or Pikachu will creep into your house at night and . . . . . AIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !
110 4 I presonaly loved this movie ( Except for Pikachu's Vacation ) . It had a good plot , good charictor's , and very nice animation ( Except for Machchamp , who looked like his arm's got put together with conect them yourself toys ) . The Japan version had a thin plot , Mewtwo just wanted to destroy because he wanted to destroy . Then when they stopped fighting , there was no reason to , they just . . . stopped . The English is much better .
111 4 This movie is AWESOME ! ! !
I love this movie , because I love Pokemon .
Pokemon is no longer just for kids , Pokemon can still be fun for kids , but Pokemon can be fun for some older people too .
I loved Pokemon since when I was little kid , and I still Pokemon .
I got the DVD of this Pokemon movie for a birthday present when I was a teenager , and I still have the DVD of Pokemon the First Movie .
I recommend this movie to folks that love Pokemon .
Here are some reasons why I love this movie :
- This movie is based on this cartoon series Pokemon .
( This movie was made after they aired the original series of Pokemon )
- Ash's voice sounded great in this in Pokemon the First Movie as in the original series of Pokemon
- Misty was still traveling with Ash , when this Pokemon movie was made .
I would also recommend this Pokemon movie to some folks that say Misty is good-looking .
Remember Misty has a crush on Ash .
I miss seeing Misty in Pokemon .
Ash and Misty had great adventures together . Ash and Misty are a great couple .
If you love Pokemon , buy this Pokemon movie on DVD .
If you love Pokemon and If you don't have a copy of this movie , buy it if you want it ! ! !
Pokemon Rocks ! ! ! ! ! I give Pokemon the First Movie 10 / 10 .
Pokemon the First Movie is fun for Pokemon fans .
113 4 It's not nearly as good as the japanese version , not by a long shot .
I'm not trying to sound mean or anything , but 4kids really sapped the awesomeness out of it .
They took out the prologue , and made Mewtwo seem like a villian . He was just mad because he was created by humans , and not by god .
It's also full of aesops , cultural references , and they got certain things wrong , like Pokemon names .
However , it's still a classic Pokemon movie .
114 4 This review is from :
Pokemon the First Movie - Mewtwo vs . Mew ( DVD )
The movie dosen't freeze or skips . It's in top form and it's all perfect .
117 4 This DVD includes Pokemon The First Movie , as well as the short Pikachu's Vacation .
Pikachu's Vacation tells the story of Ash , Misty , and Brock's Pokemon going to a vacation spot specifically for Pokemon . Over the duration of the 20 - minute short , they have a run-in with border-ruffian Pokemon , and hilarity ensues .
The film itself tells the story of Mewtwo , a Pokemon created from DNA of Mew ( a Legendary Pokemon ) . After feeling betrayed by humans , Mewtwo creates a group of cloned Pokemon , which Mewtwo intends to use to eradicate humans and their Pokemon . He then would repopulate the world with his clone Pokemon . It's up to Ash and friends to save the day .
The DVD contains a few bonus features . First , there's one labeled Behind-the-Scenes , which is just twelve pages of text that explain the origins of Pokemon in Japan and the United States , as well as explains the concept behind Pokemon .
There is also a version of the film on the DVD that contains commentary form Michael Haigney ( the director ) and Norman J . Grossfield ( the producer ) .
The music video for M2M's Don't Say You Love Me is also a bonus feature ( this was promoted as a single from the soundtrack for Pokemon The First Movie ) . You can also see the theatrical trailer for Pokemon The First Movie , as well as a preview of Pokemon The Movie 2000 . There's also a piece labeled Ash's Journey , which is narrated by Brock and lasts about a minute-and-a-half .
I would highly recommend Pokemon The First Movie be in the DVD collection of any Pokemon fan .
120 4 This review is from :
Pokemon the First Movie - Mewtwo vs . Mew ( DVD )
I don't get Pokemon ; in fact , I think it's pretty dumb . However , my son LOVES Pokemon . He has video games and books ; I can credit the books and the role playing games on the Gameboy with helping him along with his reading . As a present , I bought him this movie , and he has watched it many , many times and loves it . If you have a child that likes Pokemon , then this is a good gift .
121 4 I don't get Pokemon ; in fact , I think it's pretty dumb . However , my son LOVES Pokemon . He has video games and books ; I can credit the books and the role playing games on the Gameboy with helping him along with his reading . As a present , I bought him this movie , and he has watched it many , many times and loves it . If you have a child that likes Pokemon , then this is a good gift .
122 4 Well , I have to say when I was younger I didn't understand it that much but when I watched it again it pretty much gave me the big picture of the movie . First off parents might find it a bit violent but trust me theres a big lesson in it ! Which I'm not gonna give away cause we all have different poit of views .
I normally don't do this but this movie sorta brought a tear to my eye because it gets kinda sad . But overall it's a good movie . The art is beautiful although it could have better music .
125 4 Pokemon the First Movie on DVD is very cool . All the extra stuff you find out about by watching the features is neat . I do know alot more about Mew and Mewtwo than I originally did , which is cool . I liked the commentary on the movie and all the stuff you learn from it , like all the stuff they considered for the movie . I've heard the Japanese verson was better , but I still like this movie quite a bit .
126 4 I just saw this smorgesborg of a film feast , and let me tell you , I was blown away . The animation was great , the cast was great ( my favorite was Mew ) , darn-tootin everything was great . I've been an avid pokemon fan from the beginning , and it seems to be getting only better . Although the sound quality with which the recording was made was very poor , it was still great to look at all the funny pokemon . My only complaints were the appearance of pokemon , in that not all of them were in the movie , and that the ending was kind of corny and directed toward feuding children . But I can't wait for Pokemon 2000 . I'm going to see it and love it and even write a review on it . Agricola signing out . Over .
127 4 I had to go see this because it was my grade 7 break-up . This was a depressing movie . Very silly . For the first bit their is no talking , just squeaks . And near the end they try to make it sad by making the main guy die . Don't see it . See something with action and / or a sensible plot .
128 4 This is a good movie , but has a bad ending . Mewtwo and Mew basically fight , then all the other Pokemon join in . But then everyone forgets everything that happened , and no one learns anything . So like I said , good movie , bad ending .
131 4 All right I would give it 3 3 / 4 stars . The movie plot was ok . . . poor but the animation was great not dull and shaky as the Pokemon episodes.The movie even indreduses Donavin a new elaphant pokemon . But Mewtwo's character is . . . well silly . . . For an example he speaks English and is one of those Kill Kill Kill no matter what guys . But in a terrible sentimentil mushy part he figures out the wrong in his life . . . sends all the trainers home they say good bye . . blah blah blah blah . . . . . . I am buying this DVD but that doesn't mean you have to . . . . because i'm a Pokemaniac . By th way 15 bucks for a DVD plus all the freebie thingds that come in the DVD it's a GREAT deal .
Thanks Amazon.com !
132 4 I thought that the movie was great.Even if Pickachu's Vacation deserved a C - . If it wasn't for that I would've given it 5 stars .
134 4 I am a devoted fan of Pokemon , despite my age ( Wow ! An amazing 16 ! ) . However , although I find the episodes entertaining ( in a baffling obsessive way ) , the movie lacked the charm , humor , and tone of the TV series and appeared to simply be winging it , taking advantage of the enormous success of the pokemon phenomenon solely for corporate profit without an artistic touch . Not only is the dialogue poorly translated and dubbed ( may I mention the 20 minutes cut ? ) , but there were several errors regarding the pokemon names . And the attempt at emotional substance . . . Come on ! That fighting is bad tirade ? We don't need to told ; we want to be shown . All in all , although I'm aware that this film is aimed mainly at a younger audience , I believe that no less effort should be put forth . Hopefully , with the some $83 mill from this release , 4Kids will handle the second movie with much more delicacy . I ( and I'm speaking for many others ) will be waiting to applaud this year's Pokemon Revelation Lugia .
139 4 I gotta tell you . . . The Japanese version is much better . . . Now , don't start judging my review because I said the word Japanese . It really is better . What was an originally dark and suspenseful movie has become over-emotional and darn right goofy movie . It makes me mad that the WB was totally cheap in the production . They wouldn't pay the bit extra for the better Japanese music , which is now replaced with very inappropriate music . For example , the final battle ( in the Japanese ) had exciting battle music , but it was replaced in the dub by the horribly unfitting , brother my brother song . . It was a totally different mood ! And it was worse . . . Secondly , the dialogue . The whole Mewtwo hating humans was wrong . In the original , he didn't hate humans , he was just misguided . They really over-emphasized that fighting is wrong part as well . Corny dialogue such as A fight to Death ! A fight that can never be won ! was inserted . Lastly , they cut out a lot of stuff from the original . About 15 or so minutes ! One semi-good thing I can say about the movie is that the animation was toned up every so slightly . In conclusion , I'd like to say that it's the little things that butched this movie from the original . Why create a new script for a movie that already has a script written for ? Why compose music for a movie that has a complete CD devoted to the backgroud music ? ( The original sounded very much like Gunadm Wing music which is awesome ) And haven't you noticed that Pokemon has deteriorated ever since WB got their hands on it ? This is a prime example of how the WB mistreated Pokemon . Watch the Japanese version subtitled in English ! !
141 4 Im a little too old to watch this Japanese Animation but I love a great laugh and the cute pokemon , but I hated this movie . I've seen it in japanese with english subtitles before the movie came to the states , and It was better since they didn't edit anything out . But I'd wish It had more of a story line and funnies .
143 4 Good movie , great for the new into Pokemon fans . Also and emotional ending to help children learn about not being biased or unkind to those that are different .
I like the beginning of the movies ' most , the battle scenes and seeing them besides on the games . I still get teary eyed at the end of this movie .
145 4 This Movie Is Way Cool . It's The One Movie That Started It All .
I Used To Own It . And I Was Just Blown Away By It . My Favorite Part In The Movie Was In Pikachu's Vaction When Charizard Got It's Head Stuck In A Pipe . And Pikachu And The Others ( Onyx , Geodude , Psyduck , And A Whole Host Of Others ) Tried To Get Charizard Out Of The Pipe . Then They Got It Out . And They Were Happy . Oh And At The Very End Of The Movie You Will See Mew Flying To An Icey Mountain . So I Would Like Everyone To Buy This Movie . It's A Must Have For Anyone Who Like's Pokemon .
146 4 This movie just wasn't very much like the Pok'emon series . The first time I saw it , I didn't care for it at all . Good music , and some exciting parts , but that's pretty much it . To make a good movie , it has to be like the original series , and I've found that most Pok'emon movies aren't .
147 4 I saw this movie when it came out . It wasn't a big deal till I saw it again now that I'm older . I saw this on cratoonetwork out of boredom and I began to understand The big picture of the movie . In the show it has lessons about working together . This movie has many lessons .
1 . working together
2 . accepting others . All people are different .
3 . violence dosen't solve anything . We shoulden't use violece to solve our hatered toward others . Thats what mewtwo learns in the movie .
Critics said the movie was awful which is why my parents really didn't want to see this . well , they mustive cared more about how violent it was than the lessons . This movie gives kids alot to learn .
yeah , can you belive 4 kids entertainment did this ? yep the worst dubbers ever ! I think they did a pretty good job FOR ONCE ! I think . . . .
Problems : Now 1 the music ! ugh ! no one wants to hear stupid pop music thats has nothing to do with anything ! The brother my brother song was pointless !
2 . This ? this is a G rated movie ? ? ? ? ? lol ! their jokeing right ? atleast the gave the digimon movie ( which I enjoyed and I like digimon better than pokemon ) the right rateing ! PG ! which is what this movie should be rated ! Some violence in this movie went a little to the extremes . so yeah . Also watch mewtwo returns ( even though it wasan't that great ) It has extras in it which was cut out . ( typical of 4 kids ) so yeah .
out of all this was a pretty good movie . Oh by the way I LOVE MEW ! ! !
148 4 I saw this movie when it came out . It wasn't a big deal till I saw it again now that I'm older . I saw this on cratoonetwork out of boredom and I began to understand The big picture of the movie . In the show it has lessons about working together . This movie has many lessons .
1 . working together
2 . accepting others . All people are different .
3 . violence dosen't solve anything . We shoulden't use violece to solve our hatered toward others . Thats what mewtwo learns in the movie .
Critics said the movie was awful which is why my parents really didn't want to see this . well , they mustive cared more about how violent it was than the lessons . This movie gives kids alot to learn .
yeah , can you belive 4 kids ebtertainment did this ? yep the worst dubbers ever ! I think they did a pretty good job FOR ONCE !
149 4 When this movie came out on Dvd and Video I brought it the first day it came out . It's the best movie thats out there . A mini Masterpiece in my view . I also like it cause my favorite pokemon Mew is in it . And it's the only way to see Mew in Anime . People that don't know nothing about pokemon may be lost . So you should watch the first episode of pokemon to understand it better . It's a must see for pokemon fans .
Super Mario Bros . But I digress . When I found out it would be a cartoon , I was a little disappointed but not discouraged . And when it finally came out , I was the first in line to see .
I can still remember seeing it in theaters with my brother and my Dad . At the time , my Dad was very overweight and suffered from sleep apnoea , so as soon as the previews were over , he fell asleep in the crowded theater and began snoring loudly . He did this three quarters of the movie , until he woke up and watched the rest of it with a mild disgust . I also remember when the opening titles rolled , the word NINTENDO came up , and somebody yelled Hey , that's our favorite thing ! And then it was followed by te word POKEMON , to which the same guy yelled And that's our second-favorite thing ! But I think what I remember most was that the first time I saw the movie , I absolutely hated it . I thought it was shallow and lacked any sort of coherent plot . I was eleven years old , walking out of the theater , grumbling over what ' a bad movie it was . ' But now , looking back on it , I realise that it was the end of an era , the end of the best years of my life , the end of the 90s . After that movie , everything in my life slowly became more and more ' grown-up . ' Soon it was ten years later , and I've become a man , and will never again know the carefree state of mind that is childhood . I think what I'm getting at here is that in the end , if you were a parent taking your kids to see this movie , and you hated the movie , just know that Pokemon , or whatever , brought us lots of fun and made us happy . My eyes still grow damp with nostalgia to remember times when my biggest worry was missing the new episode of Pokemon . Now that's all over , but every time I see this movie on TV , I'm reminded - - the world isn't all that bad , and in the end it's pretty cool through the eyes of a kid . Pokemon The First Movie , was followed by two theatrical sequels , Pokemon 2000 and Pokemon 3 , both of which I saw in theaters . I'm one of the few people who stuck with the fad all the way to 2001 and saw all three theatrical movies in theaters . Pokemon is still popular to this day , but not nearly as strong or bright as it was back in the day . But it will always stand as a reminder to the millennials who grew up in that joyous time called the 90s .
That's a very long review , it has nothing to do with the movie , but I think it can help some people understand the whole obsession we had for Ash , Misty , Brock and Pikachu back then . Nowadays , times have gotten rough , with the war in the Middle East and the economic recession . New technologies bring new fear into our hearts . It's hard to be a carefree kid these days , with all the access to horrible information about the constant killings in the war and the fact that congress pretty much threw the Millennial generation's future away by bailing out a couple of small businesses and giving them all our money for no good reason . But there's always one human emotion that makes its stand : hope . I hope that the world will one day again feel like the 90s did . It's funny , I remember a lot of people saying I just don't get Pokemon . People like that have truly forgotten their inner-child .
~ C . Rob Merritt On Pokemon , written February 20 , 2009
002 4 This movie is exellent ! I loved it at the theaters . It was so cool watching Mewtwo and Mew fight it out . Another thing that was cool is Pikachu Vacation mini movie . I got some real laughs over there though their really was just only pokemon . The best part is when Raichu and Pikachu battle it out in a race . It also showed some pokemon from Gold and Silver . But even if you saw it at the theaters . . . STILL BUY IT . Chances are that you didn't get a card but when you buy the VHS or DVD you get the Mewtwo Promo card ( I think it's a promo card . If not just know that it is a Mewtwo , and it has the same attacks of the promo Mewtwo . ) with a different picture . You also get both Mewtwo Strikes Back and Pikachu's Vacation and a bonus . . . . . A PREVIEW OF THE SECOND MOVIE !
005 4 First off , let me say that the Japanese version of Mewtwo Strikes Back is , IMO , the best the pokemon world had to offer , and my personal favorite . The American version , is well , really bad .
I have seen both versions , and most notably , they change absolutely everything in the American version . And I do mean absolutely everything .
The plot is not the same as in the original Japanese version . In the original , the basic plot is a confused Mewtwo resenting the fact that he was created by humans , not God , and thinks his life has no meaning . Throughout the movie , Mewtwo tries to get revenge on those who made him and tried to enslave him , and more importantly , to prove his worth as a living being by beating his original , Mew .
The American version simply has Mewtwo trying to take over the world and destroying everything .
The original has an introduction that depicts Mewtwo as somewhat of a confused child , not knowing who he is , what he is , or why he is there , a theme that is emphasized throughout the movie . He is told that he was made by humans and is a clone , which upset him , to say the least . Mewtwo only teams up with Giovanni because the crime boss offers to give some value to Mewtwo's life .
In the American version , It starts off with a really bad speech about the meaning of life , then a short little bit of the scientists explaining to Mewtwo that he was a experiment , Mewtwo getting ticked , and blowing up the place . Giovanni comes along , and they agree to destroy stuff together .
I won't go into all that much detail about the rest of the movie , but I will point out some major changes .
First , the intro song is different , of course , and is in fact , worse .
A lot of the dialogue is different , aside from the everyday stuff , like Ash saying , I said I was too tired to work , not battle ! as opposed to Just one or two battles before lunch ! For example , every single line Team Rocket says is different . I am not kidding . The scene about Jessie holding up a frying pan is originally about them having no food to cook , as opposed to Jessie's horrible cooking . Also , not once in the original did Team Rocket make a bad pun . In the American version , that was the only thing they did .
The pier master in the original says that one can tell what the conditions are in the ocean by asking the seagulls , while in the American version , she speaks of a legend of magical tears that can revive living things . ( Gotta explain the ending to us dumb Americans )
Also , the American version says nothing about the fossilized eyelash of Mew that was created to form Mewtwo . Heck , the entire computer speech was different . In the original , it was a third , unnamed , person who spoke , not the scientist .
The speech Mewtwo gives to the trainers when they first meet him is completely different , as well . In the original , Mewtwo says that humans are weak and cruel , and the world will fall into ruin because they control it . He also says that Pokemon are no better off , since they choose to associate with humans . Not once did he say anything about taking over the world , but it is vaguely suggested . Also , it is Mewtwo who says that they should battle pokemon to see who is the strongest , the clones verses the originals .
In the American Version , Mewtwo basically says he'll destroy all humans and take over the world .
This is a key change in the movie : In the original when Mew appears , it says that originals will never be defeated by their copies when they fight without special powers . Thus , Mew is partially responsible for the big battle that follows . The battle itself is about pokemon fighting for the meaning of their lives , since , ( as Mewtwo sees it ) clones have no value , and whomever wins will be the ' real ' one , not the worthless clone .
In the American , Mew is free of all sin , and says that pokemon's greatest strength is their heart , or some corny thing like that , and the battle is basically the clones trying to destroy the originals for no reason .
I'd also like to point out that the original had a pretty good music score in this scene , while the American version had a really bad teeny bopper song playing inappropriately in the background .
Also , the original have the humans who are watching says a whole heck of a lot more about how Mewtwo and all the clones are living beings with value , while in the American , that was touched on briefly , followed by people crying out how bad it is that everyone's fighting .
And as little other thing , when the two Nayasus meet , in the original , the copy says that Nayasu is not fair because he is not fighting with him , and also they talk about philosophy and the moon , and how tasteful it is to be talking about the moon at a time like this . The American version simply has Meowth saying that fighting is bad .
The ending is different by quite a bit too , naturally . In both the original and American version , it appears that the humans forgive Mewtwo for what he has done . This is * much * more implied in the original as opposed to the American version . Also , in the original , Mewtwo states that it does not matter who is more powerful , that the clones and originals both have value , and nothing else about the matter . He also says that it would be best if no one knew about what happened . The American version tacks on some stuff about how he realizes fighting is wrong , and that he shouldn't have made things just to destroy them , and other forced moralisms . When Mewtwo flies off in the end in the original , he says that he will find a place where clones can live in peace , while the American version goes on trying to shove morals in a movie that originally did not have one .
I guess to put it bluntly , WB seriously dumbed down the movie and simplified it . In the original , Mewtwo is battling for revenge , but more importantly to add meaning to his life . That is why he wants to prove he is the most powerful pokemon , so that he can prove to the world , and most importantly to himself , that he is in fact a living being with value , since he relates power with value . Mewtwo is not evil in this film , just confused , misguided , and really ticked off .
The American version takes that element out , and portrays Mewtwo as an evil pokemon who wants to destroy the world . That is why I got sick when seeing the American version . ( Did I mention that the voice acting in the American version was really bad also ? )
024 4 In the first theatrical release of the Pokemon series , we are given secondary stories to follow - stories that might lead to interesting classroom discussions . This is not only a movie children will enjoy , but a movie that adults will find has story elements worth following up on .
If you're unfamiliar with the basics , Pokemon ( short for POcKEt MONsters ) are creatures a little like those from this world , but with strange and unusual powers and abilities that they use for their masters - masters that can be either good or evil . Ash and his friends train their Pokemon to fight battles with their enemies . They travel all over the planet to collect new and unusual types of Pokemon . They trap Pokemon in Poke Balls - a small device that hangs from a belt . When Ash's enemies release their Pokemon to do their work , Ash and his friends release their Pokemon , and they have a big battle .
In the main story , Giovanni , the leader of the evil Team Rocket , uses cells from a prehistoric Pokemon named Mew to create a whole new creature . But MewTwo is not a true clone - he is manufactured to be better than his ' parent ' . Giovanni wants to control MewTwo for himself , but MewTwo revolts against this , breaks free from his creator and begins a campaign of revenge . It's up to Ash and his friends to stop MewTwo before he kills everyone on Earth with his scientifically enhanced psychic powers . MewTwo begins his reign of terror by cloning other Pokemon to be better than their predecessors .
It is MewTwo's revolt and its results that can start interesting classroom discussions . Questions for discussion include : Is Cloning Wrong ? If we do clone , do we want to try to alter the original ? And , the most interesting dilemmas of all - Is this all I am ? Why am I here ? Where do I go from here ? These are dilemmas everyone must deal with .
I won't spoil the ending - it has to be seen . Even the original Mew shows up to add to the fun . The ending caused hours of talk between my daughter and myself . I gained a whole new respect for Pokemon thru this movie , and I'm sure you will too . The story's twin messages - one about cloning and its effects and one about Is This All I Am ? are not preachy and the art is Japanamation at close to its best .
There's also a short Pikachu cartoon that younger Pokemon fans will enjoy . Fans of the TV show will love this extra .
The story makes this movie well worth adding to your home video library .
025 4 IGNORE THE * OTHER * REVEIWERS WHO SAYS THAT THIS MOVIE SUCKS . THEY'RE WRONG ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
This is a beautiful , suspenseful movie that brought tears to my eyes and made me cry . The action kept me on the edge of my seat . And , there were surprises !
This is the best Pokemon movie ever , regardless of what the other reviwers say . Though , I don't know why they released this one and the second movie in theaters , instead of the rest .
Buy this movie , you won't regret it !
Unlike most viewers you say , Pokemon sucks , The Pokemon craze is over , Pokemon is getting old , YOU'RE WRONG ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
026 4 I have two small boys , and I regularly watch the TV episodes with them . I even like them . ( The episodes , that is . I love my boys - for this reason , we saw the movie in the theater . )
The feature portion of this movie is too long - the plot would have been fine in a shorter episode . As it was , it was padded out and I just kept wishing it was over . Plus , Ash gets turned to stone ( and comes back to life . ) This didn't seem to traumatize my kids - but watch out for anybody that takes this too seriously .
The cartoon short at the beginning is entertaining assuming you can tolerate the lack of dialog . Several times the short is padded with images of dancing pokemon - my kids loved this , I found it nearly pointless . Still , if you like silent films , this might be for you . I liked it better than the feature .
If you haven't taken your kids to see this already , you dodged the bullet - don't bother getting your own copy - I'm sure they can watch it at their neighbor's house .
030 4 Out of all the Pokemon movies released in America , this is the one that bugs me a little . 4Kids Entertainment have watered down Mewtwo's personality , and the irony of it all is that out of ALL the Pokemon anime characters , Mewtwo is the most human , even though he's a Pokemon . That is , in the Japanese version . The first [ thing ] that 4Kids did to Mewtwo Strikes Back was changing the beautiful and haunting orchestral score that was in the Japanese version . Instead , they added in their own little MIDI track , which isn't SO bad compared to their later work on future projects , but that's not saying much .
The next thing they did wrong was altering Mewtwo's personality somewhat . Instead of the soul-searching , philosophical Mewtwo that pondered it's existence in the Japanese version , we now get a I am the most powerful Pokemon ever ! Fear me and my great power ! Mewtwo in the English version . Plus , the English voice actor that does Mewtwo's voice doesn't sound quite as threatening or frightening as he did in the japanese version , but at least he did OKAY .
The only thing 4Kids did right was paying the japanese Pokemon animation studio , Shogakukan , to re-animate a few scenes to make them look better .
Anyway , on this DVD we get a bit of extras , including the never before seen ' World of Pokemon ' segment which introduces people to , what else ? Pokemon .
We also get to see the short film , Pikachu's Vacation , which is VERY silly and Loony Tunes-esque ( Heck , 4Kids redid the music to make it sound JUST like a Bugs Bunny cartoon ! ) . 4Kids made some changes , but they weren't as major as the ones they did to the main film .
There's also a ' Origin of Mewtwo ' segment which is quite lacking , considering that we only get to see LESS THAN A HALF of the whole thing ! ( Luckily they released the ' uncut ' version on the Mewtwo Returns DVD )
There's some other stuff on this DVD too , like a directors commentary that isn't very informative , a music video of M2M ( which , along with the song that's in the movie , has nothing REMOTELY close in common with this movie ) , and a trailer for the 2nd Pokemon movie .
But one question left is : Why didn't they put the japanese version on here ? Hmm . . .
If you aren't a Pokemon fan , this movie probably won't change your mind about the franchise , but then again . . . IF they would put the original version on here for once , maybe it would .
040 4 The picture is bright and crystal clear , the colors are vibrant . . . but it's not in widescreen . The sound is great , the music is good , and it has some nice special features . . . but it's not in widescreen . It comes in a crummy cardboard snap-case , and IT'S NOT IN WIDESCREEN . As far as the content of the disc goes , Pikachu's Vacation is just weird , and Mewtwo Strikes Back plays like an hour-long episode of the TV show , but with some strange sci-fi touches that seem out of place . Mewtwo is some kind of a super-psychic kangaroo who can , for some unknown reason , control the weather all over the world . Ergo , he is determined to destroy the world just because he can . And then we get into cloning and the meaning of life and what not . Ultimately , the Pokemon creatures we all know and love are forced , against their will , to fight with their clones - but without using their special powers . This , we are told , is WRONG . I don't get it . I though Pokemon were _ supposed _ to fight . They're even fighting during Pikachu's Vacation . But the message here is that traditional Pokemon fights are okay because they fight willingly ( and for recreation ) , and use magical powers - not fists and claws . I guess I am too old to understand . Still , I'll give Pokemon the First Movie 3 stars for beautiful animation and likable characters ( except for Mewtwo himself , who sounds like a Darth Vader wannabe ) . But I really prefer the TV show to the movie . . . and Warner Brothers must not think too much of the movie either , since they didn't put it in widescreen .
044 4 I'm a Pokemon fan , and like all Pokemon fans I went to go see the movie . I was expecting an OK movie . Boy was I wrong ! This movie totally blew me away . This is the best movie I've ever seen in my entire life ! Even most people who think Pokemon is dumb will love this movie .
The storyplot is basically about this Pokemon named Mewtwo who decides all humans are evil after some expieriences with some people who wanted to control him and study him . He calls our heroes to the greatest battle of their life and soon Ash , Misty , Brock , Pikachu , and some other trainers are the only ones who can stop Mewtwo's plans for world domination .
Unlike the TV show , this has a much more dramatic and action packed plot . I reccomend it to any person who likes a good movie .
057 4 Like many young millennials , circa 1997 - 99 , I followed what probably was the biggest fad the world has ever known , called Pokemon . I was one of the first kids to have Pokemon Red & Blue when it came out in America - - and my brother and I would get up at 6 - AM every Saturday morning to watch the anime on KidsWB . It was also around this time that I began using the internet , reading forums and finding out all about movies in production . When I found out they were making a movie out of Pokemon , my first initial thought was it was going to be live action , kind of like another one of my favorite game to movie adaptations : Super Mario Bros . But I digress . When I found out it would be a cartoon , I was a little disappointed but not discouraged . And when it finally came out , I was the first in line to see .
I can still remember seeing it in theaters with my brother and my Dad . At the time , my Dad was very overweight and suffered from sleep apnoea , so as soon as the previews were over , he fell asleep in the crowded theater and began snoring loudly . He did this three quarters of the movie , until he woke up and watched the rest of it with a mild disgust . I also remember when the opening titles rolled , the word NINTENDO came up , and somebody yelled Hey , that's our favorite thing ! And then it was followed by te word POKEMON , to which the same guy yelled And that's our second-favorite thing ! But I think what I remember most was that the first time I saw the movie , I absolutely hated it . I thought it was shallow and lacked any sort of coherent plot . I was eleven years old , walking out of the theater , grumbling over what ' a bad movie it was . ' But now , looking back on it , I realise that it was the end of an era , the end of the best years of my life , the end of the 90s . After that movie , everything in my life slowly became more and more ' grown-up . ' Soon it was ten years later , and I've become a man , and will never again know the carefree state of mind that is childhood . I think what I'm getting at here is that in the end , if you were a parent taking your kids to see this movie , and you hated the movie , just know that Pokemon , or whatever , brought us lots of fun and made us happy . My eyes still grow damp with nostalgia to remember times when my biggest worry was missing the new episode of Pokemon . Now that's all over , but every time I see this movie on TV , I'm reminded - - the world isn't all that bad , and in the end it's pretty cool through the eyes of a kid . Pokemon The First Movie , was followed by two theatrical sequels , Pokemon 2000 and Pokemon 3 , both of which I saw in theaters . I'm one of the few people who stuck with the fad all the way to 2001 and saw all three theatrical movies in theaters . Pokemon is still popular to this day , but not nearly as strong or bright as it was back in the day . But it will always stand as a reminder to the millennials who grew up in that joyous time called the 90s .
That's a very long review , it has nothing to do with the movie , but I think it can help some people understand the whole obsession we had for Ash , Misty , Brock and Pikachu back then . Nowadays , times have gotten rough , with the war in the Middle East and the economic recession . New technologies bring new fear into our hearts . It's hard to be a carefree kid these days , with all the access to horrible information about the constant killings in the war and the fact that congress pretty much threw the Millennial generation's future away by bailing out a couple of small businesses and giving them all our money for no good reason . But there's always one human emotion that makes its stand : hope . I hope that the world will one day again feel like the 90s did . It's funny , I remember a lot of people saying I just don't get Pokemon . People like that have truly forgotten their inner-child .
~ C . Rob Merritt On Pokemon , written February 20 , 2009
063 4 ok , i admit it , i used to hate pokemon . then i was babysitting some kids and they dragged me to go see pokemon the first movie . suprisingly , the movie was really good . It's made me like pokemon a lot more ( a miracle ) . The movie has a decent plot , is pretty cute , and is just overall much better than the TV series.it also has some very positive messages . so stop criticizing your kids for watching it , and go see it yourself !
068 4 The movie is OK , but I'm sure to a lot of kids , this is the best movie in the world . Violence ? Where ? I grew up watching more violent shows , but I never turned into a violent person . Come on , it's your kids ' time to have fun . Buy the movie , on DVD , it has good sound . Team Rocket Rules ! The cat is my favorite Meoww rocks !
075 4 I saw it the first day it came out in theaters , and it wassuper kool ! I think people who like Pokemon ( and haven't seen it yet ) would luuuuuv this movie ! It's a SUPER , DUPER KOOL POKEMON MOVIE !
080 4 I don't see how any filmmaker or animater could honestly repect this film . The plot is boring , and it teaches kids mindless and unitelligent cartoon fighting with no real point ( I've seen how some kids react to this , and it's scary . ) This movie looks like it was made in one week . It's sad that a movie like this makes 50 million in one weekend when something as good as The Iron Giant bombs at the box office .
The animation is horrendous . Mouths moving consits of 2 frames repeated over and over ( one with the mouth open , one with it closed ) , that is a blatent example of lazyness on the animators part . Plus the sound is never in sync .
I have nothing against anime . If anything this IS THE MOVIE that gives anime a bad name in America . People pay money to see this , they deserve something good .
This is terrible , stay away from it . And if you are a parent , letting your kids see this will damage them .
084 4 ATTENTION POKEMON FANS ! IF YOU LIKE POKEMON , YOU'LL LOVE THIS MOVIE ! ( exept for 1 sad part , but that's it . )
124 4 Though not graphic in its violence , POKEMON : MEWTWO STRIKES BACK teaches the moral ( there are six other morals blended in also ) that fighting is the RIGHT way to solve issues ? What is up with that ?
As in the TV shows , a Pokemon trainer , Ash and his other friends , also Pokemon trianers , are heading off to the big Pokemon tournament to be the greatest Pokemon master . Meanwhile , a mean , mutated Pokemon is cloned out of the angelic Mew , called Mewtwo , wants revenge and closes off the tournament by creating a bad storm .
But Ash and his friends manage to get to the tournament , and Mewtwo decides to clone all the Pokemon and send them fighting against each other and rule the world . Ash , in order to save the Pokemon and his world , has to fight Mewtwo .
The movie is a promising , though short at 1 hour and 9 minutes , cutesy anime flick . The animation is bright and colorful , a fine vocal cast and comic humor is aplenty . But , in spite of the promising things , P : MSB has a flimsy plot and the moral sticking out is that fighting is the right way to settle issues ?
I give it a full * * * * * stars , but I subtract 1 for the flimsy plot and another for the the fighting moral . If the writers for the U.S . release had though better , they might have rewritten a moral in there that is better than the . . . one that is implied in this otherwise delightful animated movie .
The First Movie in the theaters so my first time seeing it was on DVD . I love the show and I loved the movie . It's darker and more dramatic than the show . I have to say though that those who are unfamiliar with Pokemon , might not like this movie . Pikachu's Vacation was brighter and bubbly . It's kind of kiddy , too . The DVD features are cool , too . The sound is great and it also features Ash's Journey , M2M's music video , and stuff about Anime . If you get the DVD , you've gotta watch it with the Director's Commentary . It's really interesting and funny . One thing though : the reviews say that the movie is only 55 minutes long , but my counter read 1 : 15 at the end , and that wasn't including Pikachu's Vacation .
083 4 I am 14 and I am a pokemaniac and I must say it was a great movie but there wasn't enough action and from the short preview of pokemon the movie 2000 it looks alot faster pasted with more action.I am just wishing that they will also bring over the 3rd pokemon movie from japan so then we can have them all .
137 4 All in all , a great movie , although there are a few flaws . I will first name the few drawbacks that kept this movie from a five star rating : Shallow plot in the most part , little dialogue , and childish theme . However , for those true pokefanatics out there , the many pokemon battles are astounding and exciting . If I were Siskel or Ebert , I would certainly give this movie 2 thumbs up !
138 4 I've heard a lot of complaining about how this movie is different from the Japanese version . I have not seen the Japanese and I probably won't get to see it . The best way to look at them each separately . I didn't get to see Pokemon : The First Movie in the theaters so my first time seeing it was on DVD . I love the show and I loved the movie . It's darker and more dramatic than the show . I have to say though that those who are unfamiliar with Pokemon , might not like this movie . Pikachu's Vacation was brighter and bubbly . It's kind of kiddy , too . The DVD features are cool , too . The sound is great and it also features Ash's Journey , M2M's music video , and stuff about Anime . If you get the DVD , you've gotta watch it with the Director's Commentary . It's really interesting and funny . One thing though : the reviews say that the movie is only 55 minutes long , but my counter read 1 : 15 at the end , and that wasn't including Pikachu's Vacation .
