- Joined
- Oct 7, 2014
Funnily enough, the movies were my introduction to Berserk. I knew vaguely what it was and I kept hearing good things about it. Plus they were on Netflix and at the time it was the most accessible Berserk media to me.
The first two are rough, especially the CGI that sometimes just looked like PS2-era FMVs. That and even I could sense they were condensing a shitload of material for the sake of fitting it into three movies. That said, I enjoyed the characters. I immediately got attached to Guts and the movies did a fine job showcasing his relationship with Griffith and the rest of the Band.
The third movie though I thought was amazing. For all the trilogy's faults, the third movie stuck the landing for the Eclipse, which was emotionally devastating in a way I just wasn't expecting. I went into Berserk expecting extreme violence, and I got that, I just wasn't expecting that level of tragedy. The climax of the third movie was the moment I fell in love with the series, which in turn inspired me to start reading the manga (which I've slowly been getting through but it's incredible, and I don't doubt all the added details will make the Eclipse hit that much harder).
The movies are okay as entry points if you want to dip your toes into Berserk, but I do understand why fans wouldn't like them as much considering they had to condense to fit into three movies.
I've had a huge attachment to the old dub actors for a long time and they all sound infinitely better and more polished in the movies than in the '97 series. Griffith's VA in particular is chilling and has grown so much from the previous adaptation. So if anything, I'll give them very high praise for that. I think the third film is overall pretty solid. Even the stuff they cut isn't as bad as it was in the other two films. It at least has an ending as well, whereas it's a lot more abrupt an unfinished in the '97 anime.