Escaflowne is another anime that stays faithful and true to its fans of the genre. Nothing has been done that would compromise any of the standards you would expect from an anime. Escaflowne is a reflective fable, while maintaining visually articulate animation, with many colorful characters and powerful brooding conflict. The rivalry between Van and Folken, though never truly finalized, is so intense, that it could have dominated the film at will had it needed to.A band of renegades, sworn to destroy an evil empire after their own lands were annihilated, find the legendary Dragon Armor, Escaflowne, and a young girl inside. The girl herself, from our own world, was somehow brought to the world of Gaea and seeks answers while befriending the one sworn to protect her.Somehow I'd like to figure out how Dilandau's fate ended the way it was. The key part to Escaflowne is that of the relationship between Van and Hatomi. The fable of how loneliness and its effect on yourself and others captures your attention and somewhat brings the film into focus. The screenplay otherwise would concentrate on its endless imagination of the world of Gaea and the characters that exist within it. Fans of anime would assuredly enjoy Escaflowne for all it represents. Non-fans may need a friendly guide to help explain what's going on from the beginning, as the first 30 minutes brings more questions than answers!

When I first watched this Anime I didn't know anything about it, but it turned out to be the best Anime I've ever seen!! I love the drama and the romance, and the whole epic feeling (The musical score is just great). I love the darkness mood of the movie too, and for those who love dramatic stories, and dark stories, I really advise you to see this, you'll really enjoy it very much, it's really well made and with feelings, much of the anime out there don't have them, I like movies with feelings and great stories, it's essential.. Well, the drawings are amazing too and the characters have rich personalities. This Anime lies in my heart, and if you let yourself in, you too will enjoy it!!

I first watched the series "The Vision of Escaflowne" and was impressed with the deep storyline and characters. Now understandably, it is difficult to take a 26 episode series and convert it into a 2 hour movie.The movie's storyline does not make much sense. Like the series, it is about a girl named Hitomi, who hates her life and wants to escape from everything. Her wish comes true and she is magically to the world of Gaea.In the series, an empire called Zaibach was trying to harness the power of Atlantis so everyone's dreams can come true. In the movie, Zaibach is replaced with the Black Dragon clan, and the Black Dragon Clan is trying to destroy the world so everyone's sorrow can be lifted. The Emperor of Zaibach, Dornkirk is absent from the movie, replacing him with Folken who was also in the series. Folken, my favorite character from the series, is turned from a man who believes he is doing the right thing but isn't, into a stereotypical villain who simply wants to destroy the world.Out of nowhere towards the beginning of third act of the movie, suddenly the dragon armor (Guymelefs in the series) Escaflowne has the power to destroy the world. Whether or not it destroys the world, rests in the wish of Hitomi, who is believed to be the legendary Wing Goddess.Everything is solved so quickly by the end. The end fight scene is unexciting and by that time, I just didn't care about the rest of the movie.Its hard to say whats exactly wrong with the movie. I guess its a combination of a weak story, weak characters, poor voice-overs, and bad pacing. The animation is cool in some of the fight scenes. Note I said "some" of the fight scenes.Watch the series, though it has its problems, its far better than this so called "re-telling."

I have to say as far as the animation goes the movie was well done, great art work, but the plot itself was poorly thought off. The movie might resemble the series with the characters and the setting but the plot itself was not the same. So if you guys are expecting to be like the series, is not, I found it to be a waste of time, and for those who think that the movie was good, it was just a knockoff of the series just to make money of you.