Fuente:

http://www.basugasubakuhatsu.com/blog/2007/05/19/highlander-the-search-for-vengeance-anime-dvd-review/

Información:

Highlander: The Search for Vengeance - Anime DVD Review

Published on May 19, 2007 in Anime, DVD and Review.

To be honest, I don’t have much experience watching Highlander stuff. I think I may have seen part of a movie, and maybe an episode of the TV show. The OP totally rocked! Anyway, I just got this anime version in the mail so I figured I’d pop it in my DVD player and check it out.

Story:
Highlander: The Search for Vengeance follows the story of Colin MacLeod and his never ending search for… you guessed it: vengeance! Apparently Marcus Octavius was an immortal, and he killed Colin’s wife and destroyed his town in the name of Rome!

Colin has been following Marcus around ever since, trying to get his revenge. After 2000 years, Colin still hasn’t gotten the best of Marcus! Now in the present, (it’s like the 22nd century), Marcus has taken over New York City! Can Colin finally get his revenge? I’d sure hope so by now…

Analysis:
This anime tries really hard to be cool. In some cases it succeeds, and in others, it ends up being really funny. There’s a funny anime-esque scene where Colin is fighting another immortal. He does one of those slashes that’s so fast, that his opponent laughs at him, then a few seconds later his head slides off! While I admit that’s kinda neat, it’s also very cliche and I sorta saw it coming from a mile away.

Right after that scene, we see Marcus wailing on a guitar hard. It’s almost like an excerpt from Robert Hamburger’s Real Ultimate Power. You know, with the ninjas vs pirates? The sense I get is that the writers are exactly like the fictional Mr. Hamburger. They’re writing this stuff thinking it’s totally badass, when really it’s roll-on-the-floor funny! Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

In fact, I quite enjoyed watching this anime. I decided it was one of those times that I should just shut down my brain and enjoy. Still, there were a few things that kept nagging at me. For instance, right before Colin’s wife dies, she asks him to promise that he won’t try and get revenge, saying that it’ll totally ruin his life. Colin replies, “I promise…” Then his wife dies and he continues “…that I’ll get my revenge!!!” It’s really funny and unintentionally so. But funny nonetheless.

Also, I love how Colin finds out that his wife’s spirit has really been living on in other women. Then he finds out that his wife is currently a prostitute… Umm… well at least she lives on… Later there’s a totally uncomfortable sex scene with nipples and all. I’m sure quite a few people will be watching this anime with their “non anime friends” and once this scene pops up, instant awkwardness!

Character Designs and Art:
The Highlander concept is American, but apparently the director (Kawajiri Yoshiaki) is Japanese and animation studio (Imagi) is from Hong Kong. The character designs are more towards the “realistic” side. They’re alright, I guess.

The animation is OVA quality. I guess this could be considered an OVA, after all. There’s quite a bit of CG used, but it’s mostly in good taste.

The Actual DVD:
I realized that Highlander wasn’t an original Japanese anime creation when I went to the audio menu of the DVD to change the language, as I pretty much do automatically now. That’s okay though, the voice acting was actually pretty good. There were a few times where Colin totally sounded like he was trying to be Snake from Metal Gear Solid. That got a bit annoying.

There were a few extras on the production of the anime that were interesting, including an interview with the director, Kawajiri Yoshiaki. It has some nice background if you’re trying to figure out if the DVD is really anime or not.

Conclusion:
The Highlander anime is an interesting project. There’s people of all sorts of nationalities working behind it. I think the result can still be called anime, even if it was created for American audiences. It’s a pretty enjoyable movie, both for the intended coolness and the unintended hilarity. Sure, it’s kinda cheesy, but in the end, it’s enjoyable cheese.

Many thanks to Manga Entertainment for sending me a review copy of Highlander: The Search for Vengeance.

Responses to “Highlander: The Search for Vengeance - Anime DVD Review”

Feed for this Entry

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• Skane

  May 19, 2007 at 10:32 am

  “In the END, there can be… ONLY ONE!”

  *cue Queen’s song, “Princes of the Universe”*

  Y^_^Y
• Hung

  May 19, 2007 at 10:33 am

  Yeah! That’s the OP I was talking about!
• Totali

  May 19, 2007 at 11:48 am

  I remember seeing this in Newtype USA, but the art didn’t apeal to me. You make it sound like the show I was expecting it to be. xD
• Martin

  May 19, 2007 at 2:08 pm

  I found the film to be enjoyable cheese too - like you I don’t remember much about the original movies beyond the fact that they were entertaining and that McLeod is a badass.

  The action’s great though - Kawajiri brings a lot of the slick animation techniques and gore from his experiences with Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, which is no bad thing. Still, there were moments where it was laugh-out-loud funny: for instance there was a scene in which several clearly Scottish characters were gathered together over an on-screen caption that stated they were in ‘Northern England’. You’re only a couple of hundred miles out, guys…

  Definitely fun to watch but I don’t know if I can be bothered to go out of my way to see it again. THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!
• Hazel

  May 19, 2007 at 2:34 pm

  Oh Colin! I’ve seen trees with more brains…it was soooo funny, but never again, unless to torture scottish friends.
• Hao

  May 19, 2007 at 3:28 pm

  Thanks for the review, I’ve been waiting for this. Love the original movie, which is classic.
• Adam

  May 26, 2007 at 7:05 pm

  This movie is so bad that it actually puts Highlander 2 to shame.

Debates en Libertad: La decadencia de Europa -23/05/09

Una visión liberal, y por desgracia descorazonadora, de la realidad europea y el negro futuro que le espera, tanto si hace las cosas bien como si hace las cosas mal.

Y es que al final esta fiesta la van a pagar nuestros hijos...

Vídeo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh1BDldn4Pc

Pathfinder ya en preventa

Fuente:

http://sandmanreturn.wordpress.com/2009/05/24/pathfinder-ya-en-preventa/

Información:

Pathfinder ya en preventa

El esperadísimo juego de rol Pathfinder ya se puede comrpar en preventa por unos 49,99 $.

http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/p/paizoPublishingLLC/pathfinder/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8255

Esto es lo que comentan:

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The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is a 576-page full-color hardcover.

Fuente:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091203/trivia

Información:

Trivia for
Highlander (1986) More at IMDbPro »

• Clancy Brown nearly turned down the role of Kurgan, concerned that his allergy to makeup would prevent him from wearing the prosthetics required late in the film.
  
  
• Christopher Lambert spent time with a dialogue coach, developing an accent which sounded non-specifically foreign.
  
  
• Eight minutes of footage was removed from the original American theatrical release. The original version of the film was not released in America until 1996, with the "10th Anniversary Director's Cut" DVD. All subsequent DVD releases have included the director's cut. Among the footage removed: The opening flashbacks to Scotland as Connor sits in the stadium, Fasil doing back flips in the parking garage, Connor's first wife saying goodbye to him as he rides off into battle, Connor lying on the ground in agony after being stabbed by the Kurgan, and a flashback to World War II with Connor rescuing a young Rachel. In addition, the scene in which Connor is driven away from his village was trimmed, removing the head butts and the more violent punches and kicks.
  
  
• Unused footage includes a sequence with Kurgan fighting an immortal security guard named Yung Dol Kim in an office building. Kim, tiring of his immortal life, yields to Kurgan, who takes his head.
  
  
• Christopher Lambert had just barely learned to speak English when he took this role. The only other English-speaking film he had been in at that point was Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984), in which he spoke only a few words.
  
  
• The brief snippet of "New York, New York" performed by Queen during the movie has never been released officially on an album or single by the group. It wasn't included on the official soundtrack either. The soundtrack was released and then deleted, and re-released in 2003 as a numbered limited edition.
  
  
• In the scenes following Connor taking the Kurgan's head, director Russell Mulcahy had originally envisioned an animated dragon with the Kurgan's skull battle helmet emerging from the Kurgan's decapitated body and challenging Connor again. Only after Connor had defeated this Ghost-Dragon would he have received the final quickening and subsequent Prize. This idea was eventually cut due to budget restraints.
  
  
• The final fight scene that takes place at the Silvercup studios (the sign is used in a few shots) used to be a bakery for the Silvercup bread company that had gone out of business a few years earlier.
  
  
• During the final fight sequence between McLeod and Kurgan on the roof of the Silvercup Studios building, cables can be seen in the foreground pulling the studio's neon sign down. After filming had been completed, the production discovered that they had done so much damage to both the set and the actual roof of the Silvercup studios building as to make re-takes impossible.
  
  
• Sean Connery and Christopher Lambert got along so well during filming that they called each other by their characters' names even when they were not filming and it was at Lambert's insistence that Connery and his character returned for the sequel.
  
  
• According to the scene where a computer compares the signatures on the deeds to MacLeod's house, his previous aliases before Nash were Adrien Montagu, Jacques Lefebert, Alfred Nicholson, and Rupert Wallingford.
  
  
• Among the many ancient artifacts in MacLeod's storeroom is Ramirez's vest and hat.
  
  
• According to the director's commentary, the animated lightning on Connor's shoulders when he receives The Prize was actually supposed to disguise the wires -- ironically, this may have just drawn more attention to them.
  
  
• The quickening is a term for when a baby in the womb shows its first sign of life, its first noticeable movement within the womb.
  
  
• Queen originally intended to record only one song for the film, but after viewing footage from the movie, they were inspired to write more. The band members each had a favorite scene and composed songs specifically for them. Brian May wrote "Who Wants To Live Forever" during the cab ride home after seeing the film, and Roger Taylor used the line "It's a kind of magic" as the basis for the end title song.
  
  
• The Queen song "One Year Of Love" (which can be heard in the background in the scene where Brenda meets Connor in the bar) was never released as a single in Europe or the US, but was a hit in Japan. The 7" single was released as part of the Highlander marketing wave, and its label said it was from the forthcoming soundtrack album (which never surfaced). It was, however, featured on the "It's a Kind of Magic" album.
  
  
• The scene in the alley where the Kurgan (Clancy Brown) beheads Kastagir (Hugh Quarshie) and then stabs the gun nut, followed by the explosion, was filmed in an alley in England even though it was set in New York. The director was reluctant to set off the explosion in the alley because the windows were full of Victorian glass, but he was given permission to do so because that particular site was going to be destroyed in a few months anyway.
  
  
• The church scene involving Kurgan (Clancy Brown) was filmed at night time with the permission of the priests in charge. Still, Brown's lines were ad-libbed and were reportedly considered so sacrilegious that the priests off-camera were making the sign of the cross as he said them.
  
  
• All of Sean Connery's scenes had to be filmed in a week due to Connery's schedule. He had a bet with director Russell Mulcahy that they would not finish in seven days, but Mulcahy won the bet.
  
  
• The priest in the church scene was actually an orthodox rabbi.
  
  
• The brandy scene with Macleod and Brenda was inspired by Russell Mulcahy's dinner with Jim Steinman who, as a wine bottle from 1949 was being opened, sniffed the air between the cork and the bottle and told Mulcahy that he just sniffed air from 1949.
  
  
• During the film scene at Eilean Donan castle, the car park by the castle had to be covered up with tons of peat to disguise it, the house located by the bridge out to the Castle was boxed in with hardboard and painted over so that it looked just like real stone even when you stood right beside it. Extras were paid £25 a day with a £10 bonus if they took their own horse. A lot of the locals took days off work to do it.
  
  
• Virginia Madsen auditioned for the role of Heather. She later appeared as Connor's love interest in the second film.
  
  
• The low flying aircraft in the final scene was a Sepecat Jaguar T2 belonging to 226 Operational Conversion Unit based at R.A.F. Lossiemouth. This unit is incorrectly listed in the final credits as the "Jaguar Fighter Wing, R.A.F. Lossiemouth." The Jaguar is actually a ground attack aircraft and not a fighter. 226 O.C.U. was a training unit used to train pilots to fly the Jaguar.
  
  
• According to Roxanne Hart, Brooke Adams was initially considered for the part of Brenda J Wyatt.
  
  
• Mickey Rourke was considered for the role of Connor Macleod.
  
  
• The wrestling match in the beginning of the movie involves the tag team "The Fabulous Freebirds".
  
  
• According to the DVD commentary, the film's climax was originally intended to take place on top of the Statue of Liberty. This was then changed to an amusement park, and finally changed to the rooftop of the Silvercup Studios building.
  
  
• Director Cameo: [Russell Mulcahy] The first person hit by the Kurgan's car when he's driving on the sidewalk.
  
  
• The swords sparking while clashing was accomplished by attaching a wire to each sword that led down the arms of the actors to a car battery. One was connected to the positive terminal and the other to the negative terminal, so when the swords touched there was an arc.
  
  
• The producers tested dozens of actors for the role of Garfield, the cop who berates MacLeod in the police station. The actors were Americans living in England, and the producers decided not to cast any of them because they had developed English accents after living in England for several years.
  
  
• The opening shot sweeping through the stadium was accomplished using a computerized system that held the camera on four wires. The system was invented by the inventor of the Steadicam stabilizing camera system, Garrett Brown.
  
  
• The opening scene was intended to take place during an NHL hockey match, but the NHL refused to allow the crew to film there because, by the crew's own admission, they were intending to emphasize the violence of the hockey match.
  
  
• The sword fight between MacLeod and Fasil was filmed in a London fruit market made to look like a parking garage. The producers had scheduled to film in England but couldn't film in a parking garage there because they had lower ceilings than American parking garages and could not convincingly be made to look like Madison Square Garden's garage.
  
  
• The opening voice over by Sean Connery has an echo effect because it was recorded in a bathroom. It was played for the producers over the phone, and they approved of it because they could not discern the quality of the recording that way.
  
  
• The opening credits, with red text on a black background, were only intended to be temporary, place-holding credits, but the producers liked the look of them so much that they were kept for the final cut of the film.
  
  
• Kurgan's pseudonym, Victor Krueger, is actually an inside joke. Victor, of course, means winner. Krueger might falsely been seen as a variation on the German word, Krieger, which means warrior. So, Victor Krueger would mean, Winning Warrior. The actual meaning of Krueger is "someone who produces jugs/jars/pitchers/mugs"

Dao 刀 (Sable)

Fuente:

http://www.taijiquan.info/dao.htm

Información:

Dao 刀 (Sable)

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inicio | contenido | iniciación al Tai Chi [ algo más que una danza ] anexos Wushu | Qigong | Neijia [ Taijiquan ] [ Técnica ] Historia | Conceptos operativos Programa | Las trece técnicas | Secuencia | Tui Shous [ Armas ] Quan | Jian [ Dao ] Shan | Qiang

Se dice "la espada para la corte y el sable para la guerra". El sable (debería decir 'los sables') fué efectivamente el arma más empleada en las guerras por la infanteria. El sable era un arma con la que el soldado sin mucho tiempo de instrucción podia ser efectivo mediante la fuerza de sus brazos.

En China hay más de 40 tipos de sables entre los cuales están los 'cuchillos mariposa' uno de los más efectivos. Emplear únicamente una palabra - sable - para referirse a este tipo de armas genera confusión. Con este nombre tambien se agrupan armas más largas similares a alabardas. Entre los sables cortos hay dos tipos, el utilizado por la caballeria y el utilizado por la infanteria.

La familia Yang ha practicado con dos tipos de sable: el tradicional con la hoja muy ancha en la punta y uno similar al de la caballeria europea (ver foto) que habría empleado Yang Chengfu en sus últimos años (ver un sable occidental)

El sable es un arma pesada de apróximadamente 2 Kg de peso que hay que manejar con la ferocidad de un tigre. El manejo del sable exije la coordinación de todas las partes del cuerpo y en especial la coordinación de la hoja con la otra mano. El empleo del sable ayuda a desarrollar la energía dentro de la calma, gobernada por un espíritu apacible pues como se indica en los clásicos "cuando tu mente está calmada y tranquila el Chi (Qi), está bajo tu control" y sin control no se puede hacer nada.

En el uso del sable de Taiji de la escuela Yang la energía es proyectada a través de los brazos, desde los pies y gobernada por la cintura. Los cortes se realizan de fuera hacia adentro en círculos amplios que desarrollan mayor potencia. En la forma de utilizar el sable del arte marcial Taiji se aplican los mismos principios y se realizan formas similares a las de mano vacía (quan). Se aprovecha el peso del arma para cortar más que para dar tajos. Se evita el contacto con la hoja enemiga y si acaso se produce se la conduce, se la acompaña en lugar de interceptarla. El sable, a diferencia de la espada tiene un solo filo, en algunas técnicas se aprovecha esta característica para apoyar la acción del arma. También hay técnicas pensadas para el arma a la que se enfrenta el sable, la lanza.

El uso real del sable implica fluir con el arma, con su inercia y tener la sensibilidad de aprovechar el momento de fuerza de cada técnica. El sable tiene el espíritu del dragón. El sable es Yang por la potencia que requiere su empleo, sin embargo su símbolo es el Tigre. El Tigre es un animal Yin. La práctica del sable desarrolla el Yin, características como el espíritu marcial (shen). Esto se explica por el aspecto de transformación del Taiji (Ying Yang Zhuan Hua)

Su renombre en la familia Yang se remonta a Yang Chien Hou quien habría enseñado una forma más compleja que la que practica en la actualidad la familia Yang y que se atribuye a Fu Zhongwen. De la secuencia de sable solo existe un poema de trece versos y en realidad la secuencia consta de unas treinta y seis formas. Hay variaciones en diferentes maestros de estilo Yang. En general las formas de armas son una adaptación de las acciones con el arma a los principios y formas del estilo marcial y a las características del arma en concreto empleada por el artista.

Para el aprendizaje del sable, en grupo, es obligado utilizar un arma de madera. Hay movimientos en los que se expresa fajin y el arma tiene punta. Por otro lado considero imprescindible empezar a practicar en un entorno seguro con un modelo metálico que posea una masa suficiente para sentir la inercia del arma, es decir que sea pesada pero que esté equilibrada.

El sable permite avanzar en conceptos como el recorrido espiral de la potencia para expresarla de forma explosiva (fajin). Si se practica con relajación y con la intención adecuada es decir intención sin intención - como gustan decir los chinos - y a partir de Tantien, el cuerpo se mueve como una sola unidad y las diferentes extremidades se comportan de forma sincronizada dirigiéndose cada una al lugar adecuado.

Es conveniente sujetar el sable con la mano muy próxima a la guarda. Los defectos más básicos en la práctica del sable son agachar la cabeza o torcer el cuello cuando el arma surge de la espalda, despegar el sable del cuerpo en los movimientos que requieren su apoyo, mover las extremidades descoordinadas, ...

El manejo del modelo elegido por Yang Cheng Fu al final de su vida es mucho más sutil y no lo considero recomendable para empezar a practicar porque no ayuda a desarrollar las habilidades que he mencionado sino a refinarlas.

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La secuencia consta de trece esquemas con varias formas. Fué documentada por primmera vez por Li I Yu en sus manuales y representada mediante dibujos por Chen Yan Ling. La canción del manual de Li se corresponde con la forma representada por Chen y es la que se ha transmitido hasta la actualidad.

Al igual que con la espada se citan trece técnicas y existe una forma de dos hombres.

A través de linaje de Yang Pan Hou se transmite una forma de cuatro movimientos que se repiten de forma cíclica y una secuencia de dos hombres, similar al San Shou, con 52 formas.


Las trece técnicas

1) Tajo (horizontal) Hack (Kan)
2) Cortar Chop (Duo)
3) Arañar Scratch (Hua)
4) Rozar Scrape (Gua)
5) Alzar Hold Up (Liao)
6) Sujetar Bind (Zha)
7) Desviar Draw Back Diagonally (Lu)
8) Partir (Tajo vertical) Split (Pi)
9) Enroscar (Tajo circular) Coil (Chan)
10) Incitar Incite (Shan)
11) Bloquear (con la hoja) Obstruct (Lan)
12) Interceptar (con el filo) Intercept (Jie)
13) Resbalar Slip (Hua)

El sable tiene también cuatro técnicas para la práctica de dos

1) Cortar por dentro
2) Cortar por fuera
3) Cortar hacia abajo
4) Cortar hacia arriba

Canción

杨式太极刀（13刀） 01、七星跨虎交刀势 02、腾挪闪展意气扬 03、左顾右盼两分张 04、白鹤亮翅五行掌 05、风卷荷花叶里藏 06、玉女穿梭八方势 07、三星开合自主张 08、二起脚来打虎势 09、披身斜挂鸳鸯脚 10、顺水推舟鞭作篙 11、下势三合自由招 12、左右分水龙门跳 13、卞和携石凤还巢 http://asp.7i24.com/xufuguo/tjq/tj012.htm

1 qi1 xing1 kua4 hu3 jiao1 dao1 shi4 2 teng2 nuo2 shan3 zhan3 yi4 qi4 yang2 3 zuo3 gu4 you4 pan4 liang3 fen1 zhang1 4 bai2 he4 liang4 chi4 wu3 xing2 zhang3 5 feng1 juan3/4 he2 hua1 ye4 li3 cang2 6 yü4 nü3 chuan1 suo1 ba1 fang1 shi4 7 san1 xing1 kai1 he2 zi4 zhu3 zhang1 8 er4 qi3 jiao3 lai2 da3 hu3 shi4 9 pi1 shen1 xie2 gua4 yuan1 yang0 jiao3 10 shun4 shui3 tui1 zhou1 bian1 zuo4 gao1 11 xia4 shi4 san1 he2 zi4 you2 zhao1 12 zuo3 you4 fen1 shui3 long2 men2 tiao4 13 bian4 He2 xie2 shi2 feng4 huan2 chao2 http://www.yangfamilytaichi.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000010.html

1 - Puño de las Siete Estrellas, Cabalgar el tigre y empuñar el sable.
2 - Retroceder, alzarse, esquivar y elevárse con gran espíritu y fuerza de voluntad.
3 - Observar a la izquierda, estar atento a la derecha y separar el sable y la mano.
4 - La Blanca Grulla despliega sus alas y Palma de los cinco elementos .
5 - La brisa sopla sobre las flores del loto y las oculta entre las hojas.
6 - La Bella Dama teje con la lanzadera en las ocho direcciones - Nordeste - Este - Noroeste - Suroeste - Oeste - Sureste - Noreste - Este
7 - Las Tres estrellas se abren y se cierran desplegándose a su voluntad.
8 - Doble patada, palmada al pie y Golpear al Tigre.
9 - Cubrir el cuerpo, caer inclinado y lanzar una patada como un pato mandarin.
10 - Empujar la barca a favor de la corriente usando el látigo como una pértiga de bambú.
11 - Empujar hacia abajo con tres formas libres Movimientos horizontales coordinados de cuerpo, brazos y piernas
12 - Separar las aguas y saltar sobre la puerta del dragón.
13 - El viejo Bian-He encuentra su joya y el ave Fénix regresa a su nido.

Fotografías de algunas formas del sable de Tai Chi de estilo Yang
( según la enseñanza de la Asociación Catalana de Tai Chi Chuan que preside el maestro Sebastián González)

http://thomaschen.freewebspace.com/photo5.html

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http://www.taijiquan.info - Tai Chi y Chi Kung en Barcelona