Category: (DVD)
12 new, starting at $14.89
22 used, starting at $4.55
Visually stunning, masterfully told, viscerally thrilling: Broken Saints is finally on DVD! This controversial and critically acclaimed graphic-novel saga fuses anime style, comic-book text, cinematic effects and music into a revolution in modern storytelling! Originally created by a small team of independent artists, this hypnotic and surreal fantasy/horror epic is now presented as a 12-hour, 4-Disc set with the celebrated voice talents of William B. Davis (The X-Files), Scott McNeil (X-Men: Evolution) and more, plus an entire universe of mind-blowing special features!
In the quiet corners of the globe, four strangers receive a series of chilling apocalyptic visions. Simultaneously drawn to a dark city in the West, their fates – and the fate of the world – are somehow tied to a global satellite network, a massive conspiracy … and a mysterious orphan girl with a terrifying secret. What will they give to save us all? What will they give to know the truth?
A remarkable achievement and thoroughly engrossing, Broken Saints: The Animated Comic Special is the complete 12-hour adventure series (in 24 chapters) originally posted online between 2001 and 2003. A combination of comic book graphics and Flash animation, Broken Saints features characters that don't move (as in a comic book) but exist in scenes that suggest flowing action simply by introducing additional images or shifting a background (thanks to Flash). Dialogue is rendered via conventional speech balloons, but for this DVD set, actors (including William B. Davis, the "Cigarette Smoking Man" from The X-Files) have been cast to provide voices for the characters, giving the story greater immediacy. Also new is a music score, featuring some muscular rock as well as Mozart. Loads of special features are included, too.
Created by Brooke Burgess, Ian Kirby, and Andrew West, Broken Saints is the complex tale of an unlikely alliance between four individuals from very different walks of life. Shandala is a mysterious, 18-year-old woman from an uncharted Fijian island, altruistic and innocent yet possessed of terrifying powers. Raimi is a young, Canadian developer of security software who encounters a powerful force online and believes something big is about to take place on the planet. Oran is a Muslim from Baghdad who goes temporarily mad while guarding a bunker alone. Kamimura is an elderly, Shinto mystic from Japan estranged from his former Buddhist order. The quartet is connected through common visions of dark forces about to be unleashed, though they also learn quite a bit about themselves and each other during their perilous mission. Watching this series from beginning to end is a special and unique experience. As the story progresses, the makers of Broken Saints get better and better at their mixed-media technology, and the results are often beautiful and profound. --Tom Keogh
Good graphics, boring storyline...Reviewed by Jennifer Rushing, 2009-12-28
I myself don't care very much for apocalyptic stories, save for a few. But, my parents got this for me for Christmas, thinking it was kind of anime-ish (I GUESS it counts as anime - I dunno!)and thought I would like it. I love comics and anime/manga, so this was intriguing. The idea itself of animated comics is a good one, and they way the "panels" displayed on DVD was brilliant. The storyline, however, literally put me to sleep! Things move very, very slowly,and all the characters' dialouge was poetic to the point of overkill and, to me, blocked my understanding of what was going on in general. I'm starting to wander if this comic epic was just praised for the graphics. If so, how dissapointing! My parents wasted thier money on this one.
Decent enoughReviewed by Alysia Kay Henderson, 2009-03-09
The product arrived very quickly but the case was damaged/worn. "Good" condition was stretching it a little, the discs have a few issues with tiling. But other than that everything is fine.
Amazed, amazed, awesomeReviewed by Berlin L. Brown, 2008-02-14
I don't even know what to write. I just finished watching the
entire thing and am going; awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome.
Amazing. If you can dream up the perfect story that combines young,
old, technology, religion, good, bad and put it together; Broken
Saints will be 1000 times better than anything you could come up
with.
It is part Cyberpunk, part religious tale, part storytelling.
Truly, truly amazed.
In terms of Anime or other things that are considered different or
strange;
Broken Saints is better than Akira, probably better than some of
the Ghost in the Shell series. It doesn't really compare to any
hollywood stories, but it beats the story of Lord of the
Rings.
Good job. I was lucky that was able to experience this.
Anybody who gives this a bad review. They probably didn't watch
most it, have really low IQ or flat out crazy. You can easily
ignore the bad ratings, I almost listened to them and missed out on
a great series.
ohhh...so close...ok maybe not so closeReviewed by Trevor, 2008-01-15
I can agree that the dialogue and writing are atrocious, voice actors despicable, themes under-wrought and trite...but there are moments, just a few moments where it almost becomes worth it. Sometimes it becomes real ART. But only in a few moments, and those moments are very fleeting...to o few and far in between. Ohhh, how I wanted to like it after I really connected with it a few times. Hassan talking to Oran...Papa Tui talking to Shandala. I really feel transported sometimes When the music compliments the images just right (and honestly I provide my own soundtrack sometimes out of my collection, works much better than with what they offer), and the art is beautiful, and something on the screen just clicks with what's in my head. What's in my head is probably nostalgia. See I used to watch this semi-animated version of Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that was semi-animated in the same way as this series. And while I haven't seen it since I was probably six or seven, I think even that might be better than this. There are parts that I like, and I can think of a dozen ways to make this series WORK. Cut out the needless monologue. It sounds like something I wrote after I flipped through Naked Lunch for the first time in 7th grade. BE COHESIVE. BE AUTHENTIC. Nothing irritated me more than the Japanese themed sections. You know...that grating ethnic music in the background that is MILES AWAY from being ANYTHING like traditional Japanese music. Christ, would it have been that hard to drum up? You did it (sort of) with the Arab sections! The voice actor was simply pitiful. Is it really that hard to try and speak with a Japanese accent? Hell maybe even get someone who can speak Japanese and provide some subtitles. But no...better to sound overly dramatic to the point where it just feels completely false. And the composition, oh where to begin?! I've seen David Lynch movies too, guys. And guess what, he does it better than you. You know who waxes poetic about cigarettes with references to cancer and corporations? People who are more concerned with the thoughts of those looking at them than their own thoughts. That's right VAIN WRITERS CONCERNED WITH HOW THEY APPEAR INSTEAD OF TRYING TO SAY SOMETHING. Not to mention its completely laughable because the writing is just pitiful right there (I'm talking about when Raimi goes into the alley to light his cigarette). I've gotten better profundities out of 4th graders. This series is SCARED to actually say something. Instead its an amalgam of re-hashed ideas stamped into the ground so hard, you can't even tell that there's an idea anymore. I'm bashing it horribly, but only because I COULD love it. Because I think it could really be good. Because I think the writer could DO something if he'd (or she, I don't know) would quit TRYING so hard. Nice try...good effort...swing and a miss.
Web Success on DVDReviewed by Velomn Dluca, 2007-12-04
I watched these episodes at their original release on the Broken Saints website. I was impressed with their originality and artistic prestige then and am equally impressed to be able to watch any one of these episodes whenever I feel now. Also, the special feature with Brooke Burgess is well worth watching. (A+)
