With its rather dodgy 80’s style main theme song and its obviously low production costs the first impressions of the trailer were very low. Thus my amazement was quite high when as the movie developed its characters and plot it became apparent that this was a well-woven tapestry of intrigue, treatury, hatred, murder, loyalty and revenge. It is a true monument to my strong belief that the script makes 80% of a good movie. ‘The Legend of Crystania’ takes its beginnings from the highly successful ‘Record of the Lodus Wars’ series while with alot less quality in the animation. Despite this, having never witnessed either the Lodus Wars or Crystania TV series I entered into the Crystania motion picture not knowing what I was in for. The heavily stereotypical fantasy era of the medieval influence is the main setting here with the basic formula of magic, monarchy, swordplay and monsters, a formula that has worked well at the box office with movies such as Willow, Baron Munchausen and Dragonheart, but is a formula we have seldom seen. Hopefully this will come back into play with the upcoming ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy but while the Crystania movie was hardly released theatrically outside Japan it backs up the testament of fantasy’s success.

Apparently a war amongst the gods in ancient times caused some of them to flee, those gods came to create the island of Crystania where they sealed themselves in the form of separate animals. Each beast god ruled its separate territories, in relative harmony until the day King Ashram seeking to find a home for his people was tricked into selling his soul in exchange for entrance into the sacred land. 300 years later, as Ashram awakens from his slumber possessed by the insane god Barbus, a civil war breaks out between himself and the rest of creation as in his new body he has become ‘The Gods King’, untouchable to the other gods. The elf Pirotesse who has stayed loyal to her king for the 300 years, battles with the rebels in the hope of freeing her lord. Meanwhile beckoned by Barbas the hate-filled young prince Redon is lured into the land of the Gods searching for the power to destroy those you killed his parents. Thrown into this weird world he meets Pirotesse and discovers an existence outside his own. Will he succumb to Barbas’s growing power or will he free his and Ashram’s soul? Featuring an exciting cast of a sorcerer, priestess, warrior, and spiritualist as Redon's allies from the outside world, a hailstorm of magic and blood-soaked battles are sure to be the end result. So if you like your pure fantasy, be sure to check it.

Its defiantly a good movie and has inspired me enough to start tracking down the series, so look out for more 'Crystania' and 'Record of the Loduss Wars' reviews in the future!

DVD Extras

Regular Presentation.(4:3 enhanced)

I am uncertain as to whether the movie was originally presented at the regular TV size or if it was enhanced after video release to fit.

Character Biographies

A introductory look at what drives each key player of the movie. Their history, motives, and relationships with each other to help out those who find it alittle hard to follow the events of the movie and for those who are not familiar with the Crystania universe before the motion picture.

Original Movie/Series Trailers.

The original Japanese movie and series trailer are nice to have to compare with one another. They both look of the same standard though the series seem to have alot more twists to the plot obviously due to its longer running time. Even after seeing this well-plotted movie I think the theme song and editing of the trailers leave alot to be desired.

Slide Show

A nice selection of still images picked from throughout the movie.

12 ADV future anime release previews

Its nice to have a selection of previews for upcoming releases like they used to do with VHS before the start of a movie. Its an enjoyable part of a movie that has been nearly completely obliterated since the release of DVD. It lets you see what else is out there and help you decide what you’ll be looking for the next time your out to get a movie.

Language Options: English, Japanese

Subtitle Options: English, Spanish

Feature Length: 85 minutes

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