Nostalgia

[Spark Of Spirit]

Yeah, the first part was basically just a prologue so it was fine to introduce to new audiences, but really the highlight was Our Wargame. The plot alone could have carried the film even for non-Digimon fans.

The last part was just boring and I don't even know why they bothered sticking it in there. I didn't even know what was going on in it the never mind now that I know it's insane.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Really, even as a kid I didn't like that part. I was insanely entertained by the movie up until Our War Game, though. For me that was everything that I had wanted out of a Digimon movie as a kid. Unlike the Pokemon movie, it didn't disappoint me in the least, but actually exceeded my expectations. I was also really glad that Izzy got a big role to play in the movie. He was my favorite character in Digimon as a kid (and even now, for that matter).

[Daxdiv]

For the Digimon movie, I still liked the first segment. The second was OK from what I remember. I still thought most of the rewritten lines in the dub were groan worthy. I never got around to watching Our War Games in Japanese, I got around to watching the more superior Summer Wars, which is technically what that movie is if Tai and Sora hooked up at the end. The 3rd segment was just WHY DID THIS HAVE TO EXIST?

As for the Video Games, I never played the digital keychain one, but I did play the first 3 Digimon World. I remember liking them, but never beat them. I kept on getting stumped on trying to digivovle a Champion into an Ultimate that wasn't getting Numemon into a Monzemon suit in one and I was just lost in two. Three was the one that I came close to beating.

[Rosalinas Spare Wand]

The keychain ones? You mean the Digivce games? They were basically Tamagotchi with Digimon characters. They were still quite fun though, I remember I got a black D3 and would bring it with me to school and take on my bros who had the blue and green ones. One of them still has his season 1 orange digivice too.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

For the Digimon movie, I still liked the first segment. The second was OK from what I remember. I still thought most of the rewritten lines in the dub were groan worthy. I never got around to watching Our War Games in Japanese, I got around to watching the more superior Summer Wars, which is technically what that movie is if Tai and Sora hooked up at the end.

Speaking of Summer Wars, is it just me or was that scene where millions of Oz users donate their accounts to Natsuki so that she can win the game against Love Machine a complete homage to the scene in Our War Game where kids all over the world send e-mails of encouragement to War Grey-Mon and Metal Garuru-Mon in which the data from those ends up boosting their strength and letting them fuse into one ultimate being? Because that's totally the vibe I got from that scene, even though they both played out differently.

The 3rd segment was just WHY DID THIS HAVE TO EXIST?

They probably thought that kids would want to see Adventure 02 characters on there as well, since that was currently airing on FOX at the time and it had much higher ratings and overall popularity than the 1st season did. That said, even as a kid I actually remember preferring to have had the movie focused on the digi-destined from season 1, and I was actually a big fan of Adventure 02 at that time.

[Daxdiv]

For the Digimon movie, I still liked the first segment. The second was OK from what I remember. I still thought most of the rewritten lines in the dub were groan worthy. I never got around to watching Our War Games in Japanese, I got around to watching the more superior Summer Wars, which is technically what that movie is if Tai and Sora hooked up at the end.

Speaking of Summer Wars, is it just me or was that scene where millions of Oz users donate their accounts to Natsuki so that she can win the game against Love Machine a complete homage to the scene in Our War Game where kids all over the world send e-mails of encouragement to War Grey-Mon and Metal Garuru-Mon in which the data from those ends up boosting their strength and letting them fuse into one ultimate being? Because that's totally the vibe I got from that scene, even though they both played out differently.

Considering that Our Wargames and Summer Wars share the same director, there is no way in hell that it was a coincidence the scene played out like that. I'm pretty sure that was Mamoru Hosoda intention. Hell, I'm pretty much sticking to my opinion that Summer Wars is basically Our Wargames that decided to add a family theme in it, was written better, and if Sora and Tai hooked up near the end.  They even share the same animation style. I sort of blew my mind when I came to that revelation.

They probably thought that kids would want to see Adventure 02 characters on there as well, since that was currently airing on FOX at the time and it had much higher ratings and overall popularity than the 1st season did. That said, even as a kid I actually remember preferring to have had the movie focused on the digi-destined from season 1, and I was actually a big fan of Adventure 02 at that time.

Yeah, I get that part, but why? I felt loss during that road trip between the newbies that it wasn't funny. Or Why TK and Kari were not in Japan.

[talonmalon333]

I don't think Pokemon the 1st Movie is bad.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I thought the Pokemon movies got better. I watched the second and third and wondered why the first was so much more boring than it.

[talonmalon333]

I thought the second movie's plot was way over the top, with the whole "chosen one" deal and "The world shall turn to 'Ash'" play on words. I understand what you mean about the third though. That one was the most well made, even though nostalgia makes me pick the first one.

But even putting aside nostalgia, I don't think the original's bad. I mean... it's a kid's film. It doesn't try to be anything more, so why do critics rate it as if it does?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Well, I think that just because its a kids film doesn't mean that there aren't any standards to compare it to. For reference, Our War game (referring to the Japanese version specifically here), is also a kids film, but I felt that there was a sense of effort put into it that really showed passion for the work rather than it just being an entertaining film just for kids but mostly an obvious marketing ploy to sell toys. Don't get me wrong, it is also that since that's the main reason for shows and movies like Pokemon and Digimon, but at the same time, I kind of felt that Pokemon was a bit more obvious with how it was there more to sell toys than to tell a really good story. I'm not saying that it was a bad, and I was a huge fan of the anime when I was a kid, but looking back on it I feel that other kids films in the same vein have aged a bit better than Pokemon The First Movie did, personally.

[Kiddington]

I haven't seen either movie in so long, I really can't comment too much.

Although, I will say, I've always been way more of a Pokemon kid at heart (and still am, obviously), so Pokemon The First Movie probably holds a better place for me as far as nostalgia is concerned.

I really should get around to watching these again. I believe I still have both of them on VHS, buried somewhere out in the garage.

[Rynnec]

While I do have nostalgia for the first Pokemon movie. It's the second Pokemon movie that I have the most nostalgia for.

While I also have nostalgia for the Digimon movie (mostly from the promos leading up to it) I didn't actually see it until it came out on video. It was the debut of Omnimon in all his badassery, so it wins on that alone.

[Avaitor]

I thought the Pokemon movies got better. I watched the second and third and wondered why the first was so much more boring than it.

haha, same.  You know, I didn't even get to watch the third Pokemon movie until it premiered on CN a couple of years after it came out in the US. I thought it was okay. The second was better, but I still enjoyed it a lot more than the first.

I remember being pretty pumped up for the first movie when it came up, and I even saw it twice in theaters, the second during a dollar theater run. But I just found it utterly boring both times. Even when I watched it with my friends during our weekly bad movie night showings a few months ago with my nostalgia glasses on, I thought it still sucked.

The Digimon movie I actually went to see in favor of a birthday party, since it came out around that time. I dragged along a couple of friends who were kind of fans, but were a little reluctant to see it, but came out impressed at the end. In hindsight, it doesn't really work, but I still really enjoyed it as a kid. The second part especially, although I liked the first and didn't hate the third like all of you guys.

I want to see if I can find my old VHS copy now, actually.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

For the Pokemon movie, my brother and I convinced my dad to take us weeks before it even came out, because we wanted to be there to watch it on its first opening day. As a kid I was hyped up like crazy and when I saw the movie, I wasn't necessarily disappointed as I still liked it quite a bit as a kid, but I walked out feeling that it could have been better. That said, I may have just had too high expectations. I'm not sure what exactly it is that I was expecting from a Pokemon movie, but I guess that it just didn't feel like it was that big of an event compared to most regular arcs in the show. It just seemed to be on a bit of a larger scale and with an obviously bigger animation budget. The 2nd movie which I saw only when it aired on CN seemed much grander in scope and something that was too big for the TV series, so I think that it was at least more fitting for a movie scenario.

As for Digimon, I had to beg my mom to take me to the movie. My brother wasn't as big a fan of Digimon, even though he ironically got me into it, but he tagged along anyways. At any rate, I don't regret seeing that movie in theaters one bit. It totally blew me away at the time, and as a kid that's how I felt a Digimon movie should be done for the most part, so I walked out of the theater really satisfied. Actually, that has a lot to do with why I wanted to see Summer Wars in theaters, to have an awesome Digimon-reminiscent experience like that (except with a legitimately great movie, this time) but unfortunately the movie didn't release in any theaters close by to me.

[Foggle]

I actually won a contest from KidsWB (remember that!?) to see the first Pokemon movie in the theatre on release day for free. They gave me three tickets, so I went with my dad and a good friend. My dad was real nice taking me to see the first three movies (the only ones I've ever seen) at the theatre. I know he absolutely hated Pokemon and would jokingly complain about it in the car. On the way back from the third movie, I remember saying something to the extent of "I don't even know why I like this show" and suddenly stopped watching it around the time that film's VHS came out because I realized I just didn't care for it anymore. The last Pokemon game I ever played until downloading ROMs roughly 8 years later was Gold version, which I played directly after Silver. Never even got Crystal.

I always thought Digimon (the TV show) was exceedingly lame, but my friend showed me the movie at his house one time and I thought it was awesome. The games were pretty cool from what I played, too.