Evangelion 1.0

Is this the series where they are condensing the episodes down into blocks, and changing more and more as it goes along? I'm not totally sure.

EDIT: Anyone know anything about a theatrical run of any kind?

EDITT: Okay, got the info on the theatrical run, but it seems almost totally focused in Canada, with only a couple American cities. Nothing even remotely close to GA. Guess I'll have to wait on Blu-ray details.

The first film is basically the first 6 episodes condensed into one film, with all new animation, some based on the original storyboards. But things are a little different. 2.0 just released in Japan and apparently pretty much everything is different in that one. Four films in total are planned.

I'm a huge Eva nerd.

No idea. From what I've been told 2.0 added elements into it that changed the story from the original. Now things are exciting once again since what you known before from the series and movies may very well no longer matter.

Not bad considering that they decided to re-write the story for the second movie pretty much on the fly after the first movie went out.

Would be nice to see something new, but man, I fucking love EVA and I think the ending is ballsy and awesome, and the End of Evangelion is simply stunning.

Sounds like different voice actors, sadly. I've seen the series so many times that I cannot picture these characters with different voices, it's just unsettling.

Would love to catch this on a big screen.

Yeah, 1.0 is pretty great.

I'm impressed with the first of the new films. The animation quality is a huge upgrade from the TV series (and in a theatrical aspect ratio, of course). There were some great, jaw-dropping moments.

As for the truncated story, they did a pretty good job of condensing it. I imagine I would feel a little rushed into the story if I was a first-time viewer, but they really had a lot of territory to cover. Short of completely re-writing it, they didn't have much choice. Of course, there are lots of interesting details missing from this version, but nothing critical. A lot of major questions are left unanswered (again, I might feel a bit short-changed if I was new to the series), but there are still three films left to answer them.

At first the story and animation seemed to follow the original so closely (for instance, during the first angel fight) that I wondered if it was simply an edited-down version of the TV show. But as the film progressed, I noticed more and more additions. Just a lot of little moments at first, and then some pretty big changes to the final angel battle. Even though I had seen this battle plenty of times on the TV version, this new one managed to keep me in suspense. I loved it.

If they can keep this level of quality going for the rest of the TV-based material, I'll be thrilled. The only thing they'll have a hard time topping is End of Evangelion, which I consider a superb piece of cinematic art.

I heard FUNimation is planning a US DVD release this fall, followed by blu-ray in spring 2010 (which puts it nearly 3 years after the Japanese theatrical release...honestly, what the hell?).

All new ending.

Shinji and Misato are the same, I can't speak for any of the other characters.

End Of Evangelion is a truly great film, anime or otherwise. It's in a class of it's own far as I'm concerned... no other movie has hit me exactly the way it has.

I'm one of the (few) fans of the english dub (as retarded as it is sometimes) even though I usually watch it subbed now. Yeah, only Misato and Shinji's VA's are returning from the TV dub. I really don't know about the new Gendo, I loved the actor in the series but this guy seems like a lame imitation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbe_ZB918fU

As for the movie itself, loved it. The finale, while riffing on a battle from the series, is completely original and jaw-dropping. Well worth the price of admission.

I'm usually pretty even tempered when it comes to Anime. I'm not to big on any series, but Eva struck some kind of chord with me. I don't know exactly what it is because every time some fan says 'oh you like Eva? Then you'll love this' I'm left unimpressed. I'm really excited about these new movies, but part of me wants to wait to watch them all in a row. That'll be 4 years or something, won't it?

Also, what ever happened to the live action movie Weta was prepping for years? I always thought it'd make a great live action spectacle if they could only find some way to crack the script into one or two movies.

The Weta film has been "big news coming soon!" since the moment is was announced. That it hasn't been green lit actually gives me hope that they're trying to do it right. In the wake of Michael Bay's film, it would be easy to sell the new version as "Unofficial Transformers 2", which would of course be inappropriate. That they haven't gone that route makes me think they're sticking to their guns, insisting on things a studio at balk at (which, in Eva, are legion).

The original series was a commentary on anime and it's fans. For this American production, it would be cool to make the Weta film a commentary on Transformers and summer blockbusters themselves. Sam Witwicky is like some mainstream version of Shinji Ikari. To make an intellectual, contemplative giant robot film contrasted against Bay's "KABOOOOOOOM!" sensibilities would be quite a statement.

I can't wait to be able to enjoy this series again! EVA is what got me into anime in the first place, I had to borrow like all 20 VHS tapes from a buddy. Of course I get to explain to my wife why I need this series since I already have it on DVD.

The last news about the live action movie was that they were choosing the casts via public vote and all the names I've seen are all Japanese so it's likely to be a largely Japanese funded production as a result.
Granted this news comes via a blog with no links regarding to the source of the news, so it could very well be just rumours made up by some over-enthusiastic fan.

As for EVA 1.0 on the big screen, I know that it had showed up at some festivals in the US and around the world. I've heard from a friend that the movie was shown in a Japanese film festival in Sydney, Australia for example. Though that was the subbed version.
I've already seen it on DVD, though I question the need to get the 1.0 version since 1.1 was released recently in Japan. Not too sure if that'll ever be brought over yet though.
Btw, 1.1 = 1.0 + more CGi work and reworked animation.
Man, Gainax really knows how to keep milking things for all it's worth....

Apparently, the DVD that Funimation is releasing this year is the 1.0 version. with 1.1 coming to Blu-ray next year.

It's pretty convoluted, actually...

1.0=Theatrical version that hasn't been released on video at all.

1.01=First DVD release with minor tweaks here and there (just a few shots and improvements). People complained that the transfer was too dark, though.

1.11=Blu-Ray release that fixed the darkness issues and added three minutes of new scenes towards the beginning of the film.

Funimation seems to be releasing 1.01 first. I hope they resolve the darkness problem at least.