Akira Trailer (1988)

This is the western trailer to Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira (1988), perhaps the most popular anime movie ever made. This trailer is visually lead and gives no clue as to the storyline other than "Neo-Tokyo is about to explode" - the rest of the trailer is comprised of fast-paced editing to portray a sense of anticipation. As the trailer gives none of the storyline away, it focuses on the film's setting...

The opening shot depicts chaos, a city street filled with fire and debris - this shot sums up the backdrop to the entire film.

The helicopter in the next shot suggests that the city has a degree of authority despite it's current state, and an effort is made to regulate the chaos.

The next shots include youthful bikers blasting through the city streets. This is a basic summary of the film's protagonists.

In typical trailer fashion, misplased explosions are included to grab the viewers attention, exploiting their lust for action.

The shot with the industrial lift descending into the darkness is a powerful and mysterious shot. Some of the men on the lift appear in labcoats, denoting their authority and responsible role within the film - a stark contrast to the wild bikers.

I particularly like this shot as it sums up the modernist design concepts within the film, of which there are many. This shot secures the belief that the film is set in the future.

This shot depicts a struggling father and child making their way through the streets. This has great relevence to the main plot, but holds little relevence to a first-time viewer. A powerful shot nonetheless.

I like how the blurred vision of the father (or child) is shown from a first person perspective. Creative shots like this were uncommon in anime films at the time. As Akira was cutting edge at the time, I feel that the trailer included this shot to showcase its animation techniques.

After some character shots, this is included. This highly sophisitacated machine looks almost organic, this supports the somewhat primitive background music, wich utilises wooden percussion - music like this is not often associated with futuristic design concepts. As a craft flies past the machine, the trailer cuts to another first-person view.

The armed response team are shown blasting a body to pieces with superior firepower. This is a rather shocking scene as the gore is very explicit. This tells the viewer that the authorititive figures within the film are willing to take extreme measures to regulate the mysterious happenings. Regardless of its content - this is an amazing piece of animation. I particuarly like the shading as the subject is direcly under a spotlight.

I believe his shot in the tunnel (which is superbly animated) was again included to showcase the cutting-edge animation. As the tunnel and explosion hold little relevance to the storyline.

This shot depicts a bizarre dream sequence taking place in a hospital bed, in which some toys come alive. I think this is a risky shot to include in a trailer as the audience have no reference to it. This shot alone could change some viewers perspective on the film, as it is rather unrealistic. Though it was clearly included to provoke a reaction.

This shot depicts a well-dressed elderly man looking down at a protest in a lower precinct. The larger, younger, and darker suited man carries all the trademarks of a bodyguard - and in fact is. This, along with his position above the crowd denotes the elderly man's authority.

This is one of my favourite shots in the entire trailer. It depicts a preacher in utter despair. In film convention, preachers of this sort often forsee formidable futures, this is used to denote that some form of apocalypse is rapidly approaching. A great shot to include.

Helicopters always denote militant authority. Here more are being deployed to counter the madness as the trailer nears its climax.

The final shots portray the transformation in personality of the main character - Tetsuo. Before he is consumed by light, this is the build up to the most important part of the film - the ending - which fittingly concludes this well paced and intriguing trailer.