5/5 Beautiful art film...
  by Rob Lawson (Portland, ME)
Fragile Machine is a very unique film. I first heard about it on Absolute Anime ([...]).

I couldn't find much information about it online, but I took a chance on it. And I'm very glad I did! The film mixes very beautiful animation with haunting music to create a new type of film. I recommend it to anyone who likes very artistic films or intelligent anime like Ghost in the Shell.

2/5 Not really a film
  by SRFireside (Houston, TX United States)
You want to know why there are reviews that go from "wow!" to "what?" for Fragile Machine? It's because it not really a film in the conventional sense. It's more an art piece like something you present at a showing in some gallery. The focus on this work is more on subtle textures and color and less on a coherent story or plot. Sure the main theme is easy enough to figure out, but how the events are put together is a mangled mess to the conventional moviegoers eyes. Actually no harm no foul on that end because this wasn't meant to be a story driven short film. Just an art piece.

From an artist's point of view... well... it's in the eye of the beholder. Not being an art connoisseur my knowledge on such things are limited. What I do notice is there is some sort of undertone to the whole piece that I can't put my finger on or really comprehend. It's not in the story, but the imagery and how the scenes are meshed together. Maybe if you're a modern visual/computer arts type you may get what I'm missing.

Fragile Machine was created by a smart artistic group called Aoineko, and I believe the animation was mostly done by a single artist (Ben Steele). The music is also done by Aoineko (with a singer simply known as "X"). Animation-wise this production doesn't come close to any of today's standard CG movie/television productions and harkens back to the CG animation seen in the late 80's and early 90's with productions like the Mind's Eye series (though admittedly Fragile Machine is a superior production).

The pacing and scenes are sporadic with little clips of apparently unrelated (or at least off-scope) scenes cutting in at an almost constant rate. This breaks the story down to a much less coherent flow where the only thing that makes sense is what the narrative already tells you. Fragile Machine feels more like a series of five minute music videos with an overriding theme than a true film story. Like Ghost in the Shell? Hardly (and I mean the content, not just animation quality/style), but I can see how some can see the resemblance. The music is pretty good in an avantgarde atmospheric sort of way.

The DVD doesn't have much in the way of extras and the menu I found to be a bit difficult to navigate with the lack of a strong indicator on where you are on some of the menu pages. The extras are a little sparse if you are looking at production notes, commentaries or anything like that. What you do get is an artist bio, image galleries, and a login you can use to go to the Aoineko website to get free mp3 downloads of the soundtrack.

All in all this really isn't a DVD for anime/sci-fi fans in particular since it really isn't a film. Now if you are into the modern art scene in any way I am betting there is a good amount of stuff to like in this 30+ minute film, but for the rest of you I am guessing you may as well pass on this.

2/5 Mediocre Music & Animation
  by M. Trimble (Kingston, MA United States)
First off I have to say this it is a crime to compare this movie in any way to Ghost in the Shell. At some points, the animation can seem fluid and smooth. For the most part, however, it is blocky and rushed. Especially in the really important parts, with the android, the body parts are rigid and the motion choppy. The music? Eh, mediocre at best. Typical rock/electro with dreamy female vocals. Ths story has been done SO many times, it is sad. Man creates android, android questions existence, blah blah blah. The original Ghost in the Shell movie did it best.

I guess if you must see it for yourself, then go ahead. Whatever you do, DO NOT BUY IT. $20 for a 35 minute movie? If you think that's a good deal, then go ahead my friend.