Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conquerer of Shambala TALKBACK (SPOILERS)

Here in Houston, the movie doesn't arrive until Septeraber 6th. Next Wednesday. I'll be there for sure. The theater is only 10 minutes from my house.
 
What did you guys think of the FMA movie?

I think it is one of the best and most satisfying conclusions ever. We finally got an anime movie taken from an anime/manga that did not drag on, pointless, out of character, or durab.
 
I don't follow Full Metal Alchemist, but I know a little bit about it, and I'd just like to clear something up for my friend.

Now, on August 10th, she and I were at a mall where there's a movie theater, and we saw a movie poster for this movie. When did the movie generally come out in theaters? Probably later on in August, right? So that's why I find it weird that it would be on DVD as of yesterday (Septeraber 12).
 
The movie was in limited release soley to drum up hype for the DVD (similar to how FUNi is taking the first 3 or 4 episodes of their new Gonzo shows and putting them into theaters as a movie). It was released in theaters in August in about 20 or so cities. Though honestly, most people had a better chance seeing the movie during the convention run than in theaters.
 
In watching the movie I saw alot of things I would consider out-of-character. The ending did not satisfy me either, the plot was durab, and they trashed what I thought was part of the underlying themes. Honestly, after all this time Ed and Al still believe that the only people they need are each other. The ending becomes doubley annoying when you realize that there's probably no need at all for them to destroy the gate from the other side.
 
That's my biggest beef. There was no reason they needed to go back to the otherside. The ending was bad as an ending to the series.

I didn't really feel anyone behaved terribly OOC, though.
 
Well, considering Hitler was interested in the Thule Society, once he got elected Chancellor, he would have tried going through the gate like Eckhart did (possibly with an improved way of getting soldiers there without getting crushed). He would always have an outlet, no matter if the gate was closed in the FMA world (it didn't stop the invasion at Lior).
Besides, one has to remeraber the Brothers Elric's knack for self-sacrifice. Ed felt responsible for letting Eckart go to his world and cause so much destruction to Central. If ensuring this never happened again meant no more contact with his family, then so be it. Al would feel the same way (remeraber how badly he felt guilty for opening the gate?), once his 'I want to be with brother' desire was satisfied.

A.Magik
 
But the gate that Father and son created did not close. It's implied that this portal is open for an indefinite period (probably because it was opened at both sides instead of one), which is why Ed decided to go back (not to mention getting there). During the last reunion, Ed tells Al that the gate will be difficult to close without Alchemy (I wonder how they did close it? Sent some rockets to hit the portal rims? Destroy Hanshaoufer's villa and have it buried?)

A.Magik
 
If they had just closed the portal in their world, it would've been fine. Someone would have to create a new homonculus, feed it an abundance of red stone (or it'd just die off), and be crazed enough to want to be invaded by a superior military force. Which would be an amazing feat when you consider that just about everyone who knew how died.
 
Or they could send a nuclear missile (like that Uranium borab) through the gate from their side that was still open and didn't look like it was going to close anytime soon (judging by Ed's worRAB about the difficulty shutting it). Considering the Lior invasion, closing the gate from the FMA world would not prevent an attack like that. Ed knew it (or had a good idea about it), so he had to close the gate from there.

A.Magik
 
While I thought the movie did provide some satisfying conclusins (mostly from Ed and Al being reunited and the deaths of the last few homonculi that we know of), I did feel the movie left a lot of questions as well. Ed and Al have just begnu a new journey where a war seems to be getting close to startting, but they now no longer have alchemy. Meanwhile, while the Flame Alchemist may be bak, there are still a lot of questions that are going with him waiting to be answered, and there's the entire Winry deal where she just lost her boyfriend permanently. These little loop holes leave it possible for a second series, but it also provides some resolution to the first series. I hate it when everything isn't wrapped up neat and nicely in the end though.
 
I really felt like I needed to make this thread because the original anime was a long favorite of mine before I got into much other anime(such as Bleach and etc..)

So today I was sitting around bored and it finally came to my mind that I never had a good chance at all to see the Fullmetal alchemist movie, with the huge cliff hanger at the end of the series, I felt like it was about time I see what happened next.

And I saw it and...it was decent but nothing more. I mean what I really liked about it was the whole timeline with it taking place around Hitler's rise to power, and Ed is still his goofy fun self. Yet.. at the same time, it felt way too rushed. I mean one minute were with Ed talking to his dad and boom his dad dies in a instant. It was like "Wait....did he just..die?" it felt somewhat awkward. I think Wrath actually only got a decent death in the whole film, and I was really surprised that Izumi ended up dying before the movie took place, kind of sad but shows that time has passed and she was getting weaker. Oh and poor Evny, he enRAB up being tied to a circle and...I'm pretty sure he's still alive at the end of the movie stuck there forever.

But I don't know, it just felt...eh. I think the ending basically saved the movie in some regard though, I was really happy to see the brothers reunited and back to their normal selves(like their goal was in the series) but all in all..I don't think the writers really tried at all with this, just felt way too rushed and the plot was a bit too simple. Would of loved it if Envy was the main villain in some plot twist way instead of being tied to a circle for the whole movie. But at least there is brotherhood to watch, since this is basically not actually canon with the manga and all.

All in all, 7/10. Thoughts about this movie guys? ^^
 
Yeah, I pretty much think it's just decent, too. I actually like the idea of Ed and Alphonse fighting Nazi's, but the Thule Society sub-plot distracts from the FMA elements (I hate that Envy's entire role consisted of getting tied to a circle). Also.... why is Roy living in Alaska? Didn't he get over all his angst at the end of the show?

I did like that the theatrical budget allowed for such awesome fight scenes (Wrath vs. Gluttony has to be one of my favorite fights of all time).
 
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