Vampire Hunter D

Name: Vampire Hunter D
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller
Released: September 21, 2001
Duration: 103 min
Rating: 62

2001

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 43 Ratings

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7.7

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7.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 43 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Urban Vision Entertainment | Release Date: September 21, 2001

Summary: Anime horror film follows the exploits of a half-human, half-vampire in a distant future.

Director: Jack Fletcher and Tai Kit Mak and Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Mystery, Thriller, Fantasy, Romance, Animation

Runtime: 103 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

David Chute

Kawajiri's doom-laden action epic is a heady brew indeed. Read full review

Lisa Alspector

Dark fantasy triumphs in this gorgeously animated surrealist adventure. Read full review

Steven Rea

A genre pastiche that's fun to watch, although it's also frustrating. Read full review

Kim Morgan

Exciting, gory, funny and, like much of anime, a bit cheesy. Read full review

Loren King

Confusing storytelling and bad dialogue. Read full review

Dave Kehr

Handsome, well-executed film that nonetheless feels a bit long at 111 minutes. Those who are already anime fans will certainly find it stimulating; but this may not be the one to convert the uninitiated. Read full review

Chris Kaltenbach

Fans of anime probably will find Vampire Hunter D plenty thrilling. Non-fans, or those not familiar with the genre, will enjoy the film's gothic atmosphere, but may wonder what all the fuss is about.

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User Reviews

kev_i_n

May 28, 2014

Summary
+Great Visual
+Good sense of action and suspense +Fantastic story ? Mixed feelings about characters ? Mixed opinions about the dialogue -Poor levels of explanation I cannot comment on how well the film depicts the books it is based on. In short watch the movie, I mean I am notSummary
+Great Visual
+Good sense of action and suspense
+Fantastic story
? Mixed feelings about characters
? Mixed opinions about the dialogue
-Poor levels of explanation
I cannot comment on how well the film depicts the books it is based on. In short watch the movie, I mean I am not a huge fan of anime but I loved it, because the film feels more like art than a simple movie.

Full review
The first thing that really struck me about vampire hunter d bloodlust, was the visual style of the film. The animation were fantastic on par if not better than the finest work made by Pixar, because it is quite literally out of this world, with each character having an interesting look to them. In particularly my favourite aspects of the animation is how the unique visual style in combination with the good camera work, going from panning shots to close ups in a smooth fashion, help to create this element of mystery within the world of ‘d’ (the main character), and world where anything can happen. It is quite refreshing actually to watch a film that feels so right in going all out, and not being contempt with making short cuts, because honestly nearly every sense looked fantastic.

The next aspect of the film I appreciated with the action scenes within the film. While I will admit that some of them feel rushed in particular the fight scene Mashira; nevertheless most of the action scenes feel fresh and well thought out. This is particularly the case with the scene that introduces the Marcus brothers (vampire hunters) and when they fight a horde of zombie like vampires, with each of the brothers having a unique fighting style. However one thing you will notice I that the fight scene all feel unique in particular the fights with the Mutant Barbarois (a group of warriors hired to guard a vampire) with each of the Barbarois having different power. The fight scene also do not over-power the rest of the film, which is rather refreshing because I find a lot of films seen to put all effort into the action scenes while ignoring the rest of the film. Vampire D doesn’t do this, as the action scene work in conjunction with the rest of the film to enhance the film overall.

The final major positive I have about the film is the story, which I found to be really interesting. In brief it is the story of how D and the Marcus Brothers are both hired to track down Meier Link, a vampire who ‘kidnapped’ Charlotte (human female). However as the story progress it become apparent Charlotte volunteered to go due to her love for Meier. While it may seem like a dull love story that we have all seen, I found it to be really interesting as the constant confliction between the D and the Marcus Brothers help to make the story more interesting. Furthermore the introduction of new aspects throughout the whole film (such as the build-up of the friendship between D and Leila) helps to undermine the boring nature of a standard love story. However the one major thing I while criticise the story for is how there is virtually no in depth explanation for aspects of the story, for the most part you are supposed to just accept the nature of the film. While I found it ok, some of my friends found it to be a bit frustrating having such elements of the film thrown at you with little explanation. However if you just relax and don’t challenge the film it will be enjoyable.

Now we get to the major mixed bags of the film. The first is that of character development, which is ok for some characters but not for all. This can be seen by how characters like D, Leila, and to some extent Meier feel well development, as each have their own backgrounds and scene of honour, while at the same tie not being fully exposed, meaning they still maintain a sense of mystery. In particular Meier has this great conflict within him as he fights his instinct to drink Charlotte’s blood. However the other characters feel under-developed. This can be seen with the Marcus Brothers because despite there are 4 male Marcus’ only Borgoff feels developed enough. It links back to the lack of explanation within the film, because such lack of explanation leads to such characters that could be interesting to be undermined.

The second mixed bag is that of how the dialogue is really hit or miss. I personally found it to be good, because while it was not as strong as other films, it was simplistic enough to make the film relaxing to watch, and the simple nature of the dialogue work well within the whole film. However the nature of the simplistic dialogue further limits the levels of how well the character are developed.… Expand

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Deanomite

Jan 28, 2020

very high quality animation, maybe in the top 5. Considering a relatively muted color palette that's impressive. With Yoshiaki Kawajiri directing, after making my favorite anime (Ninja Scroll) with Madhouse studios, it's no wonder this is impressive. Sadly, the script does not match the visuals.

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