Not the most faithful adaptation in the world, though it keeps the general spirit of the novel, which is really more important. The lead actress carries the film extremely well for how old she was at the time, and the supporting characters are equally strong (with the possible exception of the actor who played Colin). Dame Maggie Smith is a particular stand out, unsurprisingly.
But man, the thing about this film that has always stuck with me is that it's just pretty. Every set piece in the film is full of character and atmosphere, and the surrounding English moors are filmed beautifully. It's really just lovely to watch.
A fantastic cyberpunk action/thriller with a decent mystery. Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett (particularly Angela Bassett) are amazing in it. Even Juliette Lewis, despite not being the best actress in the world, is perfect for her role.
Also, the best New Year's movie ever, and a fine chaser to Christmas's Die Hard marathon. Make a new tradition today!
This is one of the better live-action adaptations I've seen. The rewriting of the first arc works very well, and the casting, especially for Kenshin himself, is fantastic. The fight scenes are well choreographed, and, while much the slapstick is gone, the touches of light-hearted humor remain. It's also very pretty.
However, the film feels kind of disjointed, and you can clearly see where they were combining multiple storylines into one. It sometimes seems to jump randomly from one thing to the next. Also, I'm not sure how well the character's relationships would come across without prior knowledge of the anime or the manga.
Episodes that focus on members of The Five are really fun and enjoyable, but I end up fast-forwarding through half the episodes that don't.
