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20th Century Boys (2 Discs & 24 Page Book) [2008] [DVD]
 
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20th Century Boys (2 Discs & 24 Page Book) [2008] [DVD]

Toshiaki Karasawa (Actor), Etsushi Toyokawa (Actor) | Rated: Suitable for 15 years and over | Format: DVD
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
RRP: £19.99
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20th Century Boys (2 Discs & 24 Page Book) [2008] [DVD] + The Good, The Bad And The Weird [DVD] [2008]
Price For Both: £13.96

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Product details

  • Actors: Toshiaki Karasawa, Etsushi Toyokawa, Takako Tokiwa
  • Format: Box set, PAL
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 2
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: 4Digital Asia
  • DVD Release Date: 4 May 2009
  • Run Time: 140 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B001L5JLT4
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 37,185 in DVD (See Top 100 in DVD)

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Reviews

Product Description

THE FIRST INSTALMENT OF THE EPIC LIVE-ACTION TRILOGY

20th Century Boys seems to have been inspired in parts of the story by the works of Stephen King, containing allusions to It and The Stand. However, the story draws allusions mostly from rock and roll, with its title based on T. Rex s famous song, 20th Century Boy . In 1969, Kenji, an elementary school kid and his friends built a secret base during their summer holidays. They fantasized that they had to fight villains who were out to conquer the world and wrote them in the Book of Prophecies .

Years later in 1997, Kenji becomes a convenience store manager and leads a regular life after giving up his dreams to become a rock star. His boring life is suddenly turned upside down when his old classmate dies mysteriously and an entire family in the neighbourhood disappears. At the same time, a religious cult and its mysterious leader, Friend emerges and a strange chain of events duplicating exactly the events described in the Book of Prophecies follow. Is this the beginning of the end of the world? Who is Friend ?

SPECIAL FEATURES

24 Page Book

Japan Premiere Documentary

Paris Premiere Featurette

Cast Interviews

UK Trailer

Japanese Trailers

Synopsis

Based on Naoki Urasawa's popular science-fiction Manga of the same name, 20TH CENTURY BOYS tells the story of Kenji, a convenience store manager, and the strange events that occur around him... strange events which seem to have roots in his own childhood. Decades previously Kenji, then an aspiring rock star, and his school friends would come together at their secret base, to fantasize about a world of evil villains--casting themselves as the vanquishing heroes. All their stories were recorded in their 'Book Of Prophecies', and life moved on. Fast forward to 1997, and following a mysterious death and disappearance in his neighbourhood, Kenji recognises events from the Book unfolding before his eyes. With the end of the world seemingly just over the horizon, who is this enigmatic 'Friend' character that seems to know so much about the chaos?

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Epic and awesome., 1 July 2009
By Annalisa Moretti (Kalamazoo, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: 20th Century Boys (2 Discs & 24 Page Book) [2008] [DVD] (DVD)
I'm a US resident but I ordered this from the UK because I didn't want to wait for the US release. It definitely was worth the money. The movie is fantastic, really high quality, and overall pretty good acting -- there's some overacting but it's in kind of a silly, manga-esque style. It's great to hear T. Rex in the movie, and I love the scene where Kenji plays it on his guitar. I'm reading the manga as well and I think the movie struck a great balance between being faithful to the source and simplifying the story -- the only scene I felt really shouldn't have been cut was the rest of the story of how the police chief tracked down Friend's identity.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars 20th Century Boys is a truly faithful representation of the Manga original., 11 Feb 2009
This review is from: 20th Century Boys (2 Discs & 24 Page Book) [2008] [DVD] (DVD)
Literature to live-action feature film is always a tricky transition. Writers and artists are bound only by their imagination when it comes to creating fantastic worlds and larger than life characters. When it comes to making a film, constraints are plentiful, and when it comes to making, not just a film, but a trilogy based on one of the most popular Manga titles in Japan, the margin of error is pretty vast. Thankfully, with the original writer on board, along with a director with a clear passion for the source material, a stellar cast (not to mention a few billion Yen), the first instalment of 20th Century Boys shows that not only can it be done, it can be done superbly well.
This synopsis is epic on a literally global scale. A group of young friends in 1969 Japan meet in their secret hideout to listen to rock music and fantasize about saving the world from villain's hell bent on mankind's destruction, adventures which they record in their `Book of Prophecies.' Flash forward to 1997 and the group have gone their separate ways. The main protagonist, Kenji, has abandoned his dream of being a rock star and works in a dead-end convenience store job, looking after his sister's baby daughter, who she left with Kenji before vanishing. The friends are brought together again by the sudden death of an old friend, and the mysterious disappearance of the entire family of another. Meanwhile, a cult lead by a bizarre masked man known as `Friend' is growing in popularity, and the events prophesised in the book of fantasy written by the group when they were children start to happen across the globe. On investigation, Kenji discovers that the cult is planning to fulfil a doomsday prophecy on the eve of the millennium. The world is plagued by terrorism and fear, and the friends unite to battle the evil cult, coming
If that hasn't convinced you that this is the best movie ever, then I don't know what will...20th Century Boys is a truly faithful representation of the Manga original. The acting and shot composition was designed to make this a living incarnation of Naoki Urasawa's work, and that is the end result. The sometimes-convoluted plot could have made for difficult viewing, but there is enough humour, action and just plain good acting to make it thoroughly enjoyable throughout. The soundtrack is amazing, with a great mix of classic rock (including the eponymous T-Rex song), J-Rock and a score inspired by 70s prog rock, truly encapsulates the spirit inherent in Urasawa's story. If you thought the recent `Death Note' films worked well as manga-movie translations, you ain't seen nothing yet! Chapter 2 is scheduled for release in Japan around now, with the third and final chapter due at the end of the year. Also, the 24-volume original is also (finally) being translated to English, due for release in America in 2009. I personally can't wait. The world of 20th Century Boys is one you will want to be immersed in, and the end of the first chapter will leave you wanting so much more. A must see! Review by 20framespersecond

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4.0 out of 5 stars It's time to play., 19 Aug 2010
By Hollie (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: 20th Century Boys (2 Discs & 24 Page Book) [2008] [DVD] (DVD)
20th Century Boys has been on my 'to read' list for a good while now, but there is just so much Manga out there and I haven't gotten around to it yet. But when it comes to adapting graphic novels Japan tends to remain faithful to the source material, as such I thought I'd take a chance of seeing the films before I read the comics.

This has been called an epic undertaking but this film is not an epic all on it's own. It is quite long (almost 2 hours and 20 minutes) but it passes pretty quickly and leaves you salivating for more at the end. The story itself centres around Kenji and his childhood friends. A strange man known only as 'Friend' as been inducting people into his religious cult. This cult seems largely responsible for a series of events that were written down by Kenji and his friends when they were children.

This is an aquired taste. If you are not used to the Japanese film making style then you may find yourself a little confused by this. The subtitles are not great, there's a bit of dodgy translation here and there, but it's mostly just daft little things like misuse of past and/or present tense. The subtitles also run a little fast sometimes but none of the dialogue is mumbled and it's generally easy enough to keep up with.

The acting is generally very good but there is a bit of over acting here and there. It's very well directed and is edited in a manner that creates a quirky top coating to a very dark story. The music is also very well used and there are some great songs in there (T-Rex, Bob Dylan, need I say more?).

As I have not read the comics I'm not going to recommend it to fans of the books, but I will say that watching this has caused me to bump 20th Century Boys right to the top of my 'to read' list.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeps you on the edge of your seat!
A bunch of school kids write a comic strip called The Book of Prophesies in which an evil villain sets out to destroy the world only to have them heroically defend it which years... Read more
Published 24 days ago by David Hampson

3.0 out of 5 stars not much of a tale
bought this for my niece but watched it first. perhaps she appreciated it more but for me it was an uninteresting plot used in better class movies such as IT by King.
Published 4 months ago by Raymond R. Bullock

5.0 out of 5 stars If you enjoy Heroes on TV you should like this.
I stumbled upon this film purely by chance and bought it simply based on the video trailor and positive reviews. I had not read or even really heard of the Manga background. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Graham Brockway

5.0 out of 5 stars Bob Lennon
Just ordered this DVD after having read the entire 20th CB manga, and the movie was absolutely extraordinary!!! Read more
Published 13 months ago by Kimberly Reynolds

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