4/5 It was good
  by William J. Shepherd
It had a good recap of the season. And it had a good teaser for the final movie.

2/5 Warning: not optimized for 16x9!!!!!!!!!
  by Y-Loc (Lalaland)
I've had this set for a few years - so before the 16x9 came along it never bothered me -

but beware - there are new ones coming, so DON'T BUY THIS - they're not optimized for 16x9, and the transfer is quite poor.

I hope they'll come out with Blu Ray versions along with the new movies.

5/5 Death Rebirth
  by Melinda Johnson (Camden, MI)
Unless you are an Evangelion Completest, then dont purchase this film. All it is, is an hour long re-cap of Episodes 1-24 of the TV show, and the First Half of the First part of End of Evangelion (up to where Asuka is about to battle the MPEs).

The real draw to this film is the fixed animation that was featured in the film, such as Rei smiling.

1/5 Incomprehensible!!
  by ohmysohopeless (Nowhere to Go)
It is really not fair for me to review this DVD at the moment, since I learned that this one is meant to be a digest and the sequel of a popular Japanese TV anime series, which must be watched beforehand. But who knew? I paid for it and didn't get the money's worth, so at the moment I still have to warn potential viewers. Without knowing how the work is meant to be appreciated, I must say the story is totally incomprehensible. I picked the DVD up solely based on the reputation and curiosity, when I had time to finally watch it. Only after reading Wikipedia, I learned how to appreciate this movie.

I only wish that point is made very clear on the DVD package!!

I hope to come back to this DVD, once I have chance to watch the original TV series hopefully in Japanese; that really seems to be the only way to enjoy this one. Before doing that, those who are "just curious" should stay away; don't make the same mistake as I did --- it is just a waste of time. I have heard that it is a thought-provoking story, and am looking forward to rewrite the review once equipped with better appreciation of what once was a cultural phenomenon in Japan back in late 90s.



4/5 Excellent
  by Steven White (Redmond, WA USA)
One theme among the low-scoring reviewers (apart from bad spelling) is that you can see a lot of this material elsewhere. That seems like an odd premise to base a low score on.

But another theme (its incomprehensibility) I agree with. I feel that there are serious and inexcusable problems with much of the opening of this movie. Anyone who hasn't seen the TV series is going to have a tough time following it and that's a real shame and a waste of media. Most of the movie is short bits of the TV series cut up and pasted together in apparently random order with slightly different dialog and unhelpful captions. Imagine trying to watch any digest of a large body of work under those conditions. However, even for that fault, it is incredibly entertaining. And then there's the Rebirth section which is just excellent.

So, this piece of art is probably not worth 4 stars but the point of personal reviews is to express one's opinion. For me, this deeply flawed splinter of genius is 4 stars' worth of goodness. And I never once said 'your' when I meant 'you're'. How many stars do I get for that?

And by the way if you like this movie and you haven't seen the TV series then try and erase your memory of this and go watch the TV series (with the original episodes or the director's cuts, it doesn't make much difference). It's put together in a very sane way. The Platinum box set is a good bet.