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(More customer reviews)Captain Harlock is perhaps the greatest creation of anime legend Leiji Matsumoto's , the creative mind behind classics like Space Battleship Yamato (known as Star Blazers in the U.S.). Harlock is really to me the quintessential anime hero (anti-hero?). He's stoic. He's cold and aloof. When challenged to a duel, he doesn't even blink. But deep in his soul the fires of his lost love and eternal courage burn deep. This character has been duplicated numerous times (check out captain Nemo in Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water or Alex Row from Last Exile). The original series that put that character on the map is still unavailable on dvd unless you want to pay high prices for Japanese dvds with no subtitles. All is not lost however, as the spectacular story of the origins of Captain Harlock is told in this exquisite movie.
The film starts with one man's fight against the elements and ends with one man's journey across the sea of stars flying under his own flag. Arcadia is a place of Viking legend, and references are made to it through the movie. The reason hinted at is that Harlock is a man out of his time, and comes from a long line of men out of their time. Harlock is one-time soldier of a planet now defeated and enslaved. When his true love puts up the only resistance to the misery and hatred spread all around, it stirs something deep inside of him. He soon finds himself allied with the scientist Tochiro and the space trader Emeraldas. Despite betrayal by his own race and government, Harlock and his new friends decide to use a ship that Tochiro has built in a desperate attempt to save a planet from destruction by the hand of the same race that have enslaved the earth.
That's putting it in simple terms. This is a complex movie with visuals that range from good to breath-taking (thanks in no small part to a marvelous restoration for the DVD, but marred somewhat by a lack of widescreen), a soundtrack that is downright haunting in its beauty, and themes of tragic loss, remembered innocence, and eternal hope that will always ring true. In fact, if this film has a flaw, it's that it may be TOO heavy for some, TOO melodramatic. Personally, I don't think so (: I'm just warning those who like fast, fun, popcorn flicks :) Of course, there are some people who will find some of the film rediculous (Tochiro having a spaceship on hand, and life-energy pull of the Stanley Witch of Space come to mind). I love these very same elements. They aren't supposed to be realistic, and the whole story has the air of a legend which grew and exaggerated through time like the ancient legends the film keeps making reference to. If you like your stories to take on mythic proportions, you may find yourself agreeing.
If you want to see something really GOOD that Leiji Matsumoto made, if you're just dying to know how Harlock lost his eye and got his ship, who Harlock's first true love was, how Emeraldas got her scar, and in general the COOL stuff about the origins of Matsumoto's greatest characters... this movie is for you.
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