Astro Boy 720p + Bonus - (2009 Lang: English)

Если честно даже не планировала просмотр этого фильма. «Ничего особенного» — подумала я прочитав афишу. Но посмотрев, я однозначно не пожалела о потраченных девяносто четырех минутах, возвращающих в детство и погружающих в мир приключений…

Действительно хороший и качественный продукт. Такой добрый, красочный, светлый и яркий мультик для всей семьи. Местами смешно… Местами грустно…

В самом начале смерть очаровательного мальчика — Тобби! Думала заплачу… Но впоследствии сюжет проясняется… Драки, испытания, приключения и все такое… Впечатляет однако..

Ну в общем «Астробой» в очередной раз доказывает нам что в схватке добра и зла всегда побеждаем добро!

Да, да, именно так. Мультик прекрасный. Красиво нарисован, и даже с моралью, что сейчас в мультиках встречается редко. Музыка подобрана потрясающе, а главное-озвучка. Она действительно хорошая. И 13-ти летний мальчик говорит голосом не 20-ти летнего парня, а таким, каким должен говорить мальчик 13-ти лет. И это здорово, тупые голоса не режут тебе уши 1,5 часа.

В общем, мне очень понравилось. Если будете искать, чем бы скоротать время субботним вечером — посмотрите Астробоя.

I just came from an advance screening of Astroboy where I dutifully took my kids at 10 am to watch "this" thinking that if I was lucky I would be able to doze off for a few minutes during the movie. Boy, I couldn't! The story was captivating from the beginning. Yes, it was very directed at kids, you know, the far off humour and such, but when I saw Toby, the genius' "kid", I felt that the movie was after all NOT just a Pinocchio rip-off where an old man made a robot-boy because he was bored or lonely... the reasons behind the creation of Astroboy were tragic and even mature.

Of course, if you are a manga aficionado, you may be thinking "duh! that's how's supposed to be", but I am NOT. I barely watched a show now and then when I was a kid (I'm 36 years old... too young for Astroboy), so I wasn't really aware of the story. So I thought, well, this development has to be a fluke inherited from the original story, from then on it should go downhill... but it did NOT.

The story is full of tragedy, though decisions that if you think them through you can even understand (like a father understanding that memories cannot truly replace his son), and redemption that may be obvious to superheroes experts, but are very well exposed to a new generation of kids that will witness a clear fight between good and evil (positive and negative forces) adorned with an excellent and adequate portion of comedy. Not just a kid's movie, but a movie that I will surely watch again when my kids "force" me to buy it and to watch it with them dozens of times. Go, Astro!

Astro Boy is a 2009 Hong Kong-American computer-animated science fiction action comedy-drama superhero film loosely based on the manga series of the same name by the Japanese writer and illustrator Osamu Tezuka. It was produced by Imagi Animation Studios, and directed by David Bowers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Timothy Harris. Freddie Highmore provides the voice of Astro Boy in the film alongside the voices of Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane, Eugene Levy, Matt Lucas, Bill Nighy, Donald Sutherland, Charlize Theron and Nicolas Cage.

The film was released first in Hong Kong on October 8, 2009 and in the United States on October 23, 2009. It received mixed reviews from film critics and was a box office bomb, earning $41 million worldwide on a $65 million budget.

Toby Tenma is a teenager who lives in the futuristic city-state Metro City, which floats above the polluted "Surface". Toby's father, Dr. Tenma, is a famous roboticist and head of the Ministry of Science, but has a distant relationship with his son. Dr. Tenma meets the city's obstructive leader President Stone to demonstrate a new defensive robot called the Peacekeeper. To power it, Tenma's friend Dr. Elefun unveils the Blue and Red Core, two energy spheres which have opposing positive and negative energy. Stone has the destructive Red Core placed into the Peacekeeper, causing it to go berserk, leading to Toby being disintegrated after sneaking into the room.

A distraught Tenma secretly constructs a robotic replica of Toby, complete with his memories, but has built-in defenses to protect him and is powered by the Blue Core. Toby's replica is awakened, believing nothing has happened. While he has Toby's mind, his personality is different in Tenma's eyes, when in actuality it is quite similar. Toby discovers his robotic capabilities including rocket-powered flight and the ability to understand other robots. Toby flies home but learns from Tenma of his origins and is rejected by him, flying away much to the sadness of Dr. Elefun. Stone, desperate to win a re-election, has Toby pursued by his guards but the battle leads to Toby tumbling off the city edge onto the Surface. Tenma and Elefun are arrested.

Toby awakens in an enormous junkyard, created from the redundant robots dumped by Metro City. He is found by a group of human children, illiterate but smart Zane, twins Sludge and Widget, and the oldest Cora who has a grudge against Metro City. They accompanied by a dog-like waste disposal robot named Trashcan. Toby also meets the members of the Robot Revolutionary Front (RRF), Sparx, Robotsky, and Mike the Fridge, who wish to free robots from mankind's control but are very inept and bound by the Laws of Robotics. However, they give Toby a new name, calling him "Astro". Astro departs with the kids, finding people still live on the Surface. He is taken in by robot repairman Hamegg, who also runs a robot fighting ring. The next day, Astro comes across an offline construction robot Zog, whom he revives with the Blue Core's energy. Hamegg accidentally scans Astro, realizing he is a robot, and paralyzes him the next day to participate in the fighting ring.

Astro defeats Hamegg's fighters until Zog is deployed, but the two robots refuse to fight one another. Hamegg assaults them with an electrical blaster, only for Zog to attempt to harm him, immune from the Laws of Robotics, but Astro saves Hamegg. President Stone's flagship arrives and Astro is taken back to Metro City. Reuniting with Tenma and Elefun, Astro agrees to be shut down, apologizing to his father for not being Toby. Realizing Astro is still his son, Dr. Tenma reactivates him and lets him escape. Stone loads the Red Core into the Peacekeeper, only for it to absorb him and take on his personality. The Peacekeeper absorbs weapons and buildings, growing in size until it's the height of skyscrapers. It then goes on a rampage across Metro City, prompting Astro to battle it. During the fight, Metro City's systems shut down, causing it to tumble to the ground. Astro uses his superhuman strength to help it land safely.

The Peacekeeper grabs Astro, but the connection of their cores causes them both pain. Dr. Tenma finds Astro and informs him that if the two cores reunite, they will be destroyed. When Astro's friends are captured, he flies into the Red Core, destroying himself and the Peacekeeper. Stone survives but is arrested for his crimes. Dr. Elefun and the children find Astro's body, discovering the Blue Core is dead. Zog appears and revives Astro using the Blue Core energy given to him. Astro reunites with his loved ones, making peace with his father. A cycloptic extraterrestrial attacks the city, Astro leaping into action as the film ends.

Before going to see Astro Boy I decided to read some of the comments that were posted here. I read reviews by some who liked the movie as well as by some who did not like the movie. With an average score of 6.4 I went to see the movie with relatively low expectations although I got the feeling that those who did not like the movie were mostly upset about the movie not being "true" to the original TV series and were having some issues with certain characters reminding them of other characters such as Pinocchio. Well, I did not see the original TV series so I did not care whether or not the movie and the TV series were similar enough. I also did not mind that some of the side kicks may have had some resemblance to characters from other movies. The bottom line is that my 5.5 year old and I loved Astro Boy!

Excellent movie for kids and adults - Charming story and visuals, give it a try.