Directed by Brooke Burgess Starring David Kaye, Amanda Marier, Janyse Jaud, William B. Davis, Jamie Bell (II) » View on IMDB Rated 4.5/5.0, based on 38 reviews. Buy from Amazon: New price: $17.50 Used price: $6.99

ohhh...so close...ok maybe not so close
Rating: 2/5
I can agree that the dialogue and writing are atrocious, voice actors despicable, themes under-wrought and trite...but there are moments, just a few moments where it almost becomes worth it. Sometimes it becomes real ART. But only in a few moments, and those moments are very fleeting...to o few and far in between. Ohhh, how I wanted to like it after I really connected with it a few times. Hassan talking to Oran...Papa Tui talking to Shandala. I really feel transported sometimes When the music compliments the images just right (and honestly I provide my own soundtrack sometimes out of my collection, works much better than with what they offer), and the art is beautiful, and something on the screen just clicks with what's in my head. What's in my head is probably nostalgia. See I used to watch this semi-animated version of Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that was semi-animated in the same way as this series. And while I haven't seen it since I was probably six or seven, I think even that might be better than this. There are parts that I like, and I can think of a dozen ways to make this series WORK. Cut out the needless monologue. It sounds like something I wrote after I flipped through Naked Lunch for the first time in 7th grade. BE COHESIVE. BE AUTHENTIC. Nothing irritated me more than the Japanese themed sections. You know...that grating ethnic music in the background that is MILES AWAY from being ANYTHING like traditional Japanese music. Christ, would it have been that hard to drum up? You did it (sort of) with the Arab sections! The voice actor was simply pitiful. Is it really that hard to try and speak with a Japanese accent? Hell maybe even get someone who can speak Japanese and provide some subtitles. But no...better to sound overly dramatic to the point where it just feels completely false. And the composition, oh where to begin?! I've seen David Lynch movies too, guys. And guess what, he does it better than you. You know who waxes poetic about cigarettes with references to cancer and corporations? People who are more concerned with the thoughts of those looking at them than their own thoughts. That's right VAIN WRITERS CONCERNED WITH HOW THEY APPEAR INSTEAD OF TRYING TO SAY SOMETHING. Not to mention its completely laughable because the writing is just pitiful right there (I'm talking about when Raimi goes into the alley to light his cigarette). I've gotten better profundities out of 4th graders. This series is SCARED to actually say something. Instead its an amalgam of re-hashed ideas stamped into the ground so hard, you can't even tell that there's an idea anymore. I'm bashing it horribly, but only because I COULD love it. Because I think it could really be good. Because I think the writer could DO something if he'd (or she, I don't know) would quit TRYING so hard. Nice try...good effort...swing and a miss.

Web Success on DVD
Rating: 5/5
I watched these episodes at their original release on the Broken Saints website. I was impressed with their originality and artistic prestige then and am equally impressed to be able to watch any one of these episodes whenever I feel now. Also, the special feature with Brooke Burgess is well worth watching. (A+)

Broken Saints is ALL TIME!
Rating: 5/5
When I first started to watch Broken Saints I wasn't sure I could make it through the whole set but by the end of the first disc I was hooked in a big way! It is brilliant my hats off to Burgess working on a shoe string budget he's mixed conspiracy with religion, philosophy and mysticism and pulled off a masterpiece! Very original Highly recommended.

Not a particularly eventful 12 hours
Rating: 2/5
Given the other alternatives where I could've read a good book, worked on some Xbox360 games or watched a better DVD, it was an uneventful 12 hours that I spent on Saints. Those hours felt like a marathon but without the benefits of physical exercise.

I give it 2 stars, one for the admittedly innovative way of presentation -an animated graphic novel that's delivered like a play. I actually quite enjoyed this, and think it was well executed overall. This approach also suited the thrilling/surreal atmosphere.

Another star for the dialogue, which at some points was quite captivating, but overdone at others. ALso the voice overs were great. William B Davies (ciggie man in X-Files) is recognizible, and makes a welcomed return as a bad dude.

Overdone is perhaps a word that can be used to label this 12-hours of animated fairy tale that includes everything from computer hacking, philosophy, religion, conspiracy and egg farming. At some juncture, the plot is absorbing, yet I found it at the same time to be contrived, very contrived and certainly pretentious. It pretented to have great meaning and poetry, but the effects don't reallt show.

A flaw of the plot is that it attempted to fuse so much together without given individual elements deeper assessment. It touches the surface and thats it.

The slow-moving pace of the entire story magnifies this weakness, and the audience may detect degrees of superficiality. A quick pace with more depth could have addressed this issue. Beside the innovative presentation (though the freshness wore off after a while) and the excellent (and sometimes amusing) voices overs, there wasn't anything that I was hooked on.

At times I was tempted to hit stop on the remote and do something else, but since I had already invested hours watching the first two DVD, I felt little obliged to labor through the third and forth disks to see how the ending unfolds.

And it wasn't much of an ending, I certainly anticipated more, I mean with a 12-hour build up, albeit a slow one, an in-your-face type of ending would be expected from any reasonable person. THe Saint's conclusion was bit of an anti-climax.
Buy this if you must, though I would recommend a rental or borrow.