DVD Reviews:  Last Exile 01: First Move

I've had to have a think about this review a bit more than usual when reviewing a DVD. What do you do when a DVD is so good that you know that you must get the next one to find out more, yet are not provided enough information to reach a conclusion with just the one disc? That's the problem I am faced with and thus the score on the side.

I based the review on this disc by itself and if we are lucky enough to go through the whole series, I will then give a score for the whole tale. Now on with the review.

Last Exile is the superb tale of a retro futuristic world caught up in a war. There are three main groups fighting in the sky in huge armadas of sky ships. Whilst we don't get to know too much about them in this disc, they tie into the overall plot. That's the problem with this first edition though, there are so many loose ends as they attempt to introduce all the elements of the storyline into the first disc.

This is one of the first times that I've wanted to score what is an incomplete feature so highly. Why? Last Exile is intriguing to say the least with a gorgeous animation style to kill for. We just aren't really told anything, just quickly shown people and events. We do get to meet our two main characters (I think) Claus and Lavie, two fifteen year old couriers who seem to unwittingly get caught up in something much larger than them.

There are four episodes on this disc and this is where the confusion really kicked in as the first two introduced us to Claus and Lavie and the battle that was taking place in the sky, then the third all of a sudden takes up to a race that they are flying in. Then in the last they are protecting a young girl who needs to be escorted on a seven star mission (the most dangerous type of mission at all - they are rated by stars, one being the easiest and so on). Just when you think that they've lost you again, one of the captains of the battling armadas shows up, thereby tying in the first episode but leaving you on such a cliffhanger that you will kick yourself that you don't have the second disc to put in immediately.

Are you still with me on this? Good as I highly recommend this disc once you get the chance to buy the second installment at the same time as it's too much of a tease otherwise. For those who are curious to know, my first impulse was to score this disc between 9/10 - 9.5/10. It will be interesting to see what happens in other installments, however based on this first DVD, I did have to take a breath and realise that as a single disc, it's not the strongest storytelling experience, however as a whole series, it promises to be something very special.

Putting it simply; I can't wait to review the next disc in the series.

The disc is shown in 16:9 and looks absolutely beautiful with no errors on the disc and all colours being sharp and vibrant. It appears that Team Gonzo mixed computer animation with traditional work to great effect.