1/5 awful
  by Alejandro J. Rodriguez (FL, USA)
I would consider myself the type of anime fan who easily likes anime, but this is the first anime movie I've ever been disappointed with. Here we have a cool swordsman who just stands there, a mage who never gets a chance to cast any spells, and a little girl who's tossed in for no apparent reason. There's virtually no character development. The movie focuses too much on the mysterious city these travelers enter. It was ok to watch for the first time, but there's zero re-watch value. I was so disappointed that I sold this DVD on eBay after viewing, and I had a difficult time doing so since it seemed no one wanted it. If you still insist on viewing this movie - RENT IT.

4/5 A Pleased Viewer
  by E. L. Hobbins (Laurel, MD USA)
Well, yes, the movie was too short for my liking, but the animation was definately good. The characters weren't given a proper introduction. The reason behind it is simple and understandable though. It was made as an insert to a manga series. I haven't read the manga series, but I'd like to. Tieh's spells were awesome to watch being preformed, Bois and Lakeshi's fighting scenes were cool, and learning about Lakeshi's past and disturbing(for her) memories was interesting. Although the movie was short, it wasn't completely non-understandable. Another review said that you finally understand it about 50mins in and 2secs later it's over. Well, it's true, but it didn't take away from anything. It's better if you don't try to think about what you'd like to know during the movie(save it for when it's over) and focus on just what's in the story. Focus on the story they give you about Azec Sistra.
In short, this was an interesting and thought-provoking anime movie. For some more information, you can view this site.
http://www.phenixsol.com/Miko/WC/index.html
Enjoy the movie!

1/5 silly and boring
  by Stephen Kozle (Brighton, MI USA)
The story of this Anime is so contrived that you are just beginning to try and figure it out around the 50 minute mark. The only problem is - it's over 2 seconds later!!!

Save yourself the (almost) hour, and skip this boring excuse for a movie.

2/5 Too Short and Overpriced
  by
O.k. I gotta admit, I stupidly bought this from another company without comparing details first at Amazon, if I'd done so I would've saved myself {money}... this movie was listed as 125 minutes and not the correct 60 minutes as listed here. Secondly, this DVD is overpriced for what you get. There's been a trend by anime distributors in the U.S. of late to try and release titles with less and less content, one example being Utena. This practice should be discouraged by boycotting. I wont buy anything that runs for less than 100 minutes unless its of top quality (ie. Steel Angel Kurumi). Anyway down to business. The actual title runs for 54 minutes and 40 seconds, not the 60 minutes listed on the cover. Extras are almost non existent, you get:
The original Japanese trailer (45 seconds)
The original Japanese closing (3 minutes)
Trailers for 4 Media Blasters titles: 12 Kingdoms (this looks great!), Samurai Deeper Kyo, YS 2 and Iria.
The actual DVD cover is one of the best I've seen, that's what made me buy it after reading the advertising blurb.
The transfer is of average quality with quite a bit of grain. Not too bad considering its age I guess. The brightness is set wayyyyyy too high, I had to set my setting to 12 out of 100 on my Sony TV. The story itself is quite interesting but way too short, 3 adventurers, a warrior, priest and rogue, become trapped in Azec Sistra, the City of the Dead on the island of Atlantis. Those who enter are cursed never to return. Maybe this was meant to be a pilot movie at one stage ? The original copyright is listed as 1992. The dubbed English closing has some sort of Celtic music while the longer Japanese ending has a woman singing to Japanese (?) music, and speaking of which, I loved the music, very atmospheric. Anyway, 2 stars for being too short, overpriced, minimum extras and an average transfer.
If you like anime with fantasy settings (or AD&D like) I'd recommend: The Complete Shamanic Princess, Castle in the Sky, Magic Knight Rayearth, Princess Mononoke, Rune Soldier or (though not true anime) Fire and Ice, and Scourge of Worlds.