/anime/6675/redline
*In the far future,
when cars are giving up wheels in their changeover to air-cars,
There still exists fools,
who carry a vanishing spirit for racing*.
Redline is an overwhelming dose of everything that makes for a bombastic film. I have said this in the past, but the amount of dedication that went into making this film is a sin to ignore. For nearly 7 years, with over 100,000 hand-drawn frames, Redline is one of the best animated films you'll ever have a pleasure to see. I remember watching this film for the first time, and instantly knew that I have to watch it again, just to catch those extra details the film has. The film always has something on the screen to stick your eyes to, that even when you're following the story, you can't help trying to notice all other small details, while the Anime quickly takes you to the next scene. The story, however, is not as creative as its presentation. Redline is an underdog story about how a guy with old fashioned ideologies about racing, won an intergalactic race. The characters are stereotypical too, there isn't anything particularly interesting going on with them, but here's a question.
Based on your first impression, between these 4 characters, who do you think is important to the story?
The answer?
Spoiler, click to view
None! The characters you saw doesn't long for more than 2-3 minutes, but they are just too colorful and cool to ignore.
The Anime uses its plain story and characters as an advantage to boost everything else and add subtle details to make everything seem vivid and special. What enhances this visual experience even more is the bop of the techno soundtrack, for which I'll put this here, which speaks louder than my words:
▶
Here's something to blast on big speakers
Redline is an audiovisual blast to watch but what saddens me about this film is that it's actually a failure. Redline is a failure. Despite the tremendous effort, years of dedication and production issues, despite being an exhilarating & exploding fun,
Redline lost the commercial race. This film completely changed MADHOUSE studio, and not in the better way (Some people would even say that it destroyed the studio). While now it gained a cult following for being ahead of its time interms of animation, the fact that it was such a commercial bomb kinda made me sad. But now, after rewatching it, I've newfound respect which, I think, SuperEyePatchWolf summed up better in his review video, in one line.
Spectacular failures have far more value than mediocre success.
Conclusion
REDLINE is up there, as one of the most glorious examples of, "Lost the race, but won the Hearts".If you got a 1.5 hrs to spare, watch this movie in the 1080p resolution and loudspeakers, which it deserves.
