Evangelion: 3.33 [DVD] [Region 1] [NTSC] [US Import]

The home release of the third of the Evangelion Rebuild films - 3.33 You can (Not) Redo - has been delayed and delayed for so long but now after all the wait it has finally been released from limbo and into the public. The delay is regarded to be due to issues with Studio Khara and Funimation and the quality of the latter's English dubbing efforts.But about the release; this version is the BD+DVD Collector's edition. It comes (As can be seen in the attached images) the blu-ray and DVD discs in a single standard blu-ray case along with the guidebook included with this version of the release all contained in a cardboard sleeve/slip. The 52-page guidebook contains character, environment and prop art such as the pilots, EVAs and angels as well as containing information about the "Rebuild of Evangelion 3.33" which is an edited version of the films scenes only using pre-production imagery and work such as rough animation or animatics (this is included on the discs themselves).The film itself can be watched in the new re-worked English dub as well as Japanese with two options of English subtitles: Home Video and Theatrical. Both are Dolby 5.1.Special features on the discs include the aforementioned Q: Rebuild of Evangelion 3.33, trailers, teasers and TV spots for the movie. A disappointment to me is that, unlike Funimation's two previous Evangelion film releases, there is no audio commentary featuring the producers at Funi*, dubbing staff or voice actors.The reason I picked this version as opposed to the singular Blu-ray release came down to two factors: I'm a sucker for special edition releases of anything and the pricepoint at the time of ordering was so close it made the decision easy - at only a couple pounds difference between the BD and BD+DVD versions, I may aswell go for this one, right?Overall, if you just want to own the movie and don't care too much about the guidebook or cover then you may as well opt for one of the other two, either the DVD or Blu-ray. I wouldn't say there's anything so worth the extra money in this 'Collector's Edition' that you would be missing out if you didn't grab it.

From the opening to the mid-point this one keeps things moving apace.Doesn't fall too far into the philosophy-word-salad that usually mars this franchise, the action is good, the random ship outa nowhere does it's job and the voice acting and exposition is handled better here than is typical (for this series), add in a reasonable runtime and this one is ALMOST (but not quite) watchable by non-fans as long as they are ok with simply watching for the pretty explosion's and silliness.Best part for me is that the pilots actually felt like they knew what they were doing for a change and were living up to years of experience instead of getting deus-ex seagull-fooded for the shock value (if you know, you know).Still, it has it's downer moments, primarily the emotional instability of the much-abused shinji (and the VA working his as off to sell the stress and emotional breaking-points). Kid can't catch a break.

The promo for this says that this is where the story veers into entirely new territory and it's right. In many ways, the Rebuild of Evangelion feels like the work of people who have lived with a story that they never really got to tell properly in the past. I loved the original series, but the ending is one that veers heavily from what they had planned to do before their budget was slashed. Also, the original series and the End of Evangelion movies in many ways are from a very dark place. There is no question of a happy ending in those. Rebuild seems like it might give us a glimmer of a happy ending.So, the big shock in this comes right at the start. There is a big status quo change that pushes us so far past the original that we find ourselves in a whole new world. Relationships have changed. Eva tech has changed. Nerv is explicitly the bad guys. A lot of the backstory is explained in ways it was only hinted at in the other versions of the story.The story is still analogous to part of the original series, but we get to see Asuka in action, the new pilot in action, big time Eva on Eva fighting and Eva on Angel fighting. Shinji meanwhile gets taken on an emotional rollercoaster (as ever!). The more pro-active, slightly happier Shinji of this series is pushed right to the edge in this film, and it ends on another cliffhanger.I loved it breathlessly. The animation is amazing. Truly gorgeous.The terrible thing is thinking about how long it might take for us to get the final film!

Im not going to review the movie as thats the job of movie critics im just here to say what I think about the product.The collector's edition comes with a small coloured glossy art book which has some really nice concept arts/different views of the characters and angels. This version also includes both a DVD copy and Blu-ray copy of the film, for those people who may not have a Blu-ray player or possibly a gift for a friend.Both copies of the film come with the dubbed english version as well as the original japanese (which i personally prefer) along with other content like special features, trailers and scene selection.The only fault I had with this and it's a very picky fault and may not even be worth noting down and that is the box art. Unlike the first two movies the box art on this one is just a plane background with the movie title, disappointing considering the first two had nice vibrant photo art :(