Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy

Creator/Studio: Shoji Kawamori/Satelight

Company: Bandai

Running Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes

Summary: This is the story of Hitomi Hoshino, a 16-year-old schoolgirl who has been having strange dreams. She is whisked away to a parallel world called Gaia, where she may be the key to unlocking the power of the mystical armor called Escaflowne.

The Good: Very nice visuals and music from Yoko Kanno. Also, it's only slightly connected to the TV series (and manga), so you don't have to worry about that. Hitomi is an easy character to sympathize with because she feels she doesn't belong here.

The Bad: Needs more character development.

Offensive Material: the violence is somewhat graphic. A few bad words. Like all fantasy, there's also some magic.

Overall: This is a pretty decent movie. It's certainly gotten me interested in the series. If you like epic fantasy sagas like Record of Lodoss War, Lord of the Rings, or Dragonheart, this is a great movie to watch.

Comments: This is inspired by the Escaflowne series. Shoji Kawamori's credits include Arjuna and The Daichis. Satelight also animated Arjuna, Geneshaft,and Heat Guy J. Yoko Kanno did the music for Cowboy Bebop, Please Save My Earth, Wolf's Rain, and Ghost in the Shell: Stand-alone Complex. Tokyopop publishes the manga based on the TV series.