Best movie for a newbie

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Krypter

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Hi Folks, a newbie requesting some input on what would be a good first pokemon movie for me to watch? What's the best one in terms of quality/story? Is there a poll around that shows people's favorite movie?


There's probably a thread for this already but I can't find it in either the popular threads help thread or by searching...
 
I suggest you watch the movie in chronicle order. Or you can begin with The Rise of Darkrai which have the highest reputation(I believe).
 
If you're looking for overall quality I would suggest the 5th movie (Latios and Latias) and the 8th movie (Lucario). The 8th movie is by far my favorite and the 5th movie is my second favorite. They both stand out in terms of quality and they got me to watch the rest of the films.
 
I would suggest either watching Pokemon The Movie 2000 (the second movie), or Lucario and The Mystery of Mew (the 8th movie).

Both movies have a wonderful story, good animation, and a beautiful soundtrack. They are truly outstanding movies in every sense of the word. <3
 
Yeah, I'll say the 8th movie as well. It's one of, if not the, most popular movies among fans.
 
Lucario and the Mystery of the Mew is one of my favorates, Just because of the story and the fact that they dress up too is one of the extras!
 
In order is to be recommended, but for the best story telling and enjoyment factor I would recommend movie 8 'Lucario and the Mystery of the Mew'. It has a good plot some interesting extra protagonists, fights and the odd emotional part. It's not a 'good vs evil' like some films it is a action adventure which suits a pokemon movie perfectly. It's a nice watch, even some of my mates who aren't pokemon fans enjoyed it.

I would also recommend number 2 'the power of one'.
 
The best ones are usually those that focus on bonds of friendship or some form of emotional trauma.
Lucario (movie 8) is the one you'd probably want to set your sights on first, since it's probably the film with the most depth, character-wise, and it's quite easy to be drawn in by Lucario's story. It's also beautifully animated and has a great soundtrack.
I'd also suggest looking into Jirachi (6) as well, since it is a very touching tale, and one of the only instances where the character Masato isn't regulated to background material. The third movie, featuring Entei, is also a good one if you like the more whimsical films and it's definately the nicest looking of the initial 3 pokémon movies, even with some questionable CG.

If you're looking for a good action movie, check out Darkrai (movie 10). There's lots of great stuff going on between Dialga and Palkia there.

A lot of people are probably going to suggest movie 2, but I personally wouldn't bother. After watching it recently, and having not being exposed to it in many years, it's aged badly and looks pretty terrible to boot. If you want 'quality', this certainly isn't the one you should read into. Definately one of the weakest of the current 11, imo.
 
If you can find it, the extended versions of the first movie are worth taking a look at. Even though the first movie isn't really all that good, the extra scenes are fascinating. They explain Mewtwo's origin and it's considerably darker than anything you'll ever see in the rest of the anime. If you can find the 1999 VHS version, you even get a short recap of the first episode with new animation. A clip of this can be seen in the 8th movie (one more reason to watch it).

While you're at it, I would highly recommend most of the entries in the Pikachu the Movie animated shorts. They're really fun to watch and I have to admit, a lot of them are adorable. I would especially recommend the 3rd and 6th shorts. They're my personal favorites and surprisingly, they all have good English dubs.
 
I guess a good film for a newbie would be rise of Darkrai... as it pays homage to all the films before it!
 
I'm in wholehearted agreeance with Lisa that Movies 2 and 8 offer excellent and opulent pleasures for your viewing that are singularities unto their own in greatness. I also strongly agree with Adamant on Movie 8. Anyway, Movie 2 calls to epic nature, is good in animation, works very well as a dramatic background of musical material and impact, and ties in nicely with Ash's characterizations. Movie 8 peers upon things a tad deeper with the aura ties, Sir Aaron, Lucario, all the backgrounds for the aforementioned characters, and as mje89 pointed is less "good vs. evil" and more "good vs. good and retaining faith in good, however one defines that" as an film that lapses into adventure and action. I also like the mysterious facet of it as the conundrums of that film rather remind me that while knowing a lot about a character is good that I'd rather only know so much about a character until the impact is dampened, and that it's best to respect history for what it is and move on, but that's just my opinion.

I think Movies 5 and 7 are quite good as well. Movie 5 is superb and sating in animation, has nice emotional links (especially between Ash, Latios, and Latias), and has good musical tones as well. My only qualm with that film is that it could be a tad more epic by nature. Movie 7 is quite good as well with a sense of things escalating into notions of ever-omnipresent danger, but the culmination of it sort of galls me. I also think, like mje89, that watching the movies in order would work just as well. My only peeve is what I see to be the convoluted discrepancy between the first movie and the Mewtwo origin backstory featured in the Johto special (in which Mewtwo returns). When Mewtwo, who I see to be one of the most complex and deep personas of all Pokémon, doesn't have a proper backdrop in story ties in order to give the character/Pokémon breathing space, it offsets things pretty precariously. Like with Deoxys in Movie 7 (for me), in a way, it makes "good" and "evil" seem overinflated, but much moreso in the first movie, because someone (Mewtwo) who was in augur, made out to be someone much greater, is shown to be yet another villain and Pokémon but just an incredibly strong one (and in this case, a clone). I don't know if that discrepancy will bother you or make you irascible, but it's just something I figured would be best warned.

I'm of the opinion that the rest of the movies are good as well, even Movies 9 and 10 for the most part. I also love the commanding vibe the Unown of Movie 3 give off (them being my 2nd favorite Pokémon because they're so other worldly and indiscernible). Whatever suits your fancy best, but without making this any more verbose I'd say that, to draw this post to a close, that Movies 2 and 8, if you're looking for sheer quality rather than order, as said before me, are rather good choices.
 
Wow, everyone sure likes movie 8, huh?

Obviously. Because it was just that awesome.

I'd also recommend 2 and 6, which are personal favorites of mine. And... I'd recommend the first movie only if you could watch Mewtwo Returns with it.
 
Rhyperior said:
I suggest you watch the movie in chronicle order. Or you can begin with The Rise of Darkrai which have the highest reputation(I believe).
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I think you mean chronological.

My personal favourite is movie 3. If you guys have time on your hands why not have a marathon?
 
Thanks for all the great input, folks! Looks like I'll be checking out 8 and if I like it I'll move on to 2, 6 and 3. Cheers!
 
I actually watched Movies 1-10 in order a few months ago, and I really like how the movies kind of recap the series.

All major characters, including Delia, Oak, Tracey, Giovanni, etc. appear in the movies.

I also love how each movie reflects that era of the anime. Movie 1 is Kanto, Movie 2 is Orange, Movies 3-5 are Johto, Movies 6-8 are Hoenn, Movie 9 is Battle Frontier, and Movie 10 is Sinnoh.

Not only does it fit perfectly, but the movies are like doing a speed-run of the series. You don't get to see the Gyms and tournaments, but the direction of the show is reflected in the movies in a way, and you see the Pokemon on the group for that specific era too.
 
Scott85 said:
I also love how each movie reflects that era of the anime. Movie 1 is Kanto, Movie 2 is Orange, Movies 3-5 are Johto, Movies 6-8 are Hoenn, Movie 9 is Battle Frontier, and Movie 10 is Sinnoh.
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6-7 are Hoenn, 8-9 are Battle Frontier. Because pointing out small mistakes that are easy to make shows how smart and awesome I am. ;P *shot*

Let me take this opportunity to say that Movie 3 is my favorite. All this clamoring about Movie 8 has bumped it to second place, really. o.o Don't you just hate it when your mind forces you to like something less because everyone else loves it so much?

Oh, by the way, hope you like the movies. ^^
 
I'm in the minority when recommending movie 9. The first will always have a special spot on my list, the second you should definitely see, the eighth was great, and the latest with Darkrai was good too. Movie 5 was also good... heck if you enjoy pokemon then they're all good. XD

Let us know how your experience was! :]
 
My favourite movies are #7, destiny Deoxys, (it's an alien sciencefiction movie in pokémon style, how great is that?) And #9, the Manaphy movie, that movie is just awesome in every aspect (plus it contains my favourite shipping ever, Brock x Lizabeth ^^)
 
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