An all-time classic

Rating: 10/10 (17 April 2000)

Akira is an extremely challenging movie, both in content and style. The film's ultra-violence will no doubt have Tipper Gore-esque moralists running for cover while the cerebral narrative might just be a tad too cerebral for some.
Which is not to say that Akira isn't a marvellous film. Quite the opposite. The involving plot, regardless of whether you understand it or not, will hypnotise you while the sheer beauty of the drawings will simply take your breath away (lest we forget, this was made in the days before computer graphics replaced CEL as the standard animation technique - which makes the workrate behind Akira all the more impressive). Nonetheless, you need to watch this movie several times in order to fully appreciate the Akira experience. The first time you'll simply be too awestruck to concentrate on the important bits.
And watch the subtitled version if you can. The original voice-acting adds plenty more depth than the US version.