What will the apocalypse be like? Will it be fire and brimstone, disease and decay as the human race melts away under the flames of their own sins? Or perhaps it will be warm and comforting as we are lifted away to blissful eternity. Will Arnold Schwarzenegger be there in cyborg form spouting semi-witty one liners? Whatever is to come, the end of existence has always been a topic that fascinates our kind. In bizarre and hypnotic fashion, the end of humanity is thoroughly explored in Hideaki Anno's landmark 1997 animated film The End of Evangelion. The film is available on Region 1 DVD from Manga Entertainment, so western audiences now have a chance to own this powerful piece of cinema.

The End of Evangelion is the second of two film finales to the Neon Genesis Evangelion television series. Responding to heavy criticism from fans (including a host of death threats) over the lack of closure in the final two regular Evangelion episodes, Anno responded with The End of Evangelion, a film that absolutely stunned audiences and served as an enormous middle finger towards his rather ungrateful fanbase. The ninety minute film is characterized by shockingly gruesome depictions of human suffering (both physical and mental), multi-layered conversations of loathing and self-doubt, hyper-kinetic musical montages and some truly beautiful imagery of humanity's return to its primordial state. Portions of the film will no doubt remind you of other groundbreaking work like Katsuhiro Otomo's "Akira" or even Pink Floyd's "The Wall", but its absurdly complex religious symbolism puts it in a class by itself.

Like Death and Rebirth, End of Evangelion is actually made up of two episodes: Air and My Pure Heart for You. Together they effectively replace episodes 25 and 26 of the regular series and serve as a comprehensive conclusion to the saga. The first half of Air is the same as the Rebirth segment of Death and Rebirth, just in case you wanted to see it again. Air concentrates on the main characters in the saga and allows us to witness their fates, which as you might suspect are fantastically gruesome but not wholly surprising. It is the end of the world, after all. This episode depicts the most impressively animated Eva battle in the series, in which Asuka's Unit 02 tears asunder a host of white winged production Evas. Though she is perhaps the least likely character to receive pity from viewers, her horrifying death is one of the most excruciating and uncomfortable things I've ever watched. Like most great cinema, this movie is definitely not for the timid or those lacking in constitution.

With the fate of the main characters conclusively wrapped up, My Pure Heart for You is free to delve into the fate that awaits the whole of humanity. Here Anno is at his most uninhibited and the series enters its most bizarre phase, as the familiar elements of life and death are shed as the apocalypse (or "third impact") begins. The episode draws on a bewildering array of religious and mythological sources, including the Tree of Life, the Lance of Longinous and the pre-biblical story of Adam and Lilith. (Providing an analysis is beyond my editorial capacity, and I'd advise you to look to the audio commentary for some answers.) The animation is absolutely mind-boggling here and the visual style takes on an almost hypnotic quality that is hard to look away from. It's not too often you get to watch sexual metaphors on such a grand scale, but this film delivers that in spades. Though its climax is still open to interpretation, End of Evangelion still does an excellent job of tying up any lingering loose ends. It is a fitting ending to a fine saga, but it can still stand on its own as a powerful work of art.

Manga Entertainment presents End of Evangelion on a single DVD in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. I'm not sure if the animation was filmed in that ratio or just matted, but there seems to be far fewer out-of-frame shots than were present in Death and Rebirth. The visual quality is quite high and is generally free of compression artifacts and other visual defects. I'm not sure why it looks so much better than Death and Rebirth, but its shorter length may have allowed for a lower degree of compression. Whatever it is, it looks damn good, and it sounds damn good too. The stereo and Dolby 5.1 soundtracks are perfectly adequate, but if you've got the necessary hardware you'll want to opt for the kick-ass 6.1 DTS EX track. With this crystal-clear audio mix, explosions are loud and full of room-rattling bass and you can distinctly identify the source of each voice even when there are multiple voice tracks layered over each other. The audio engineers did a fabulous job making sure the movie sounds every bit as good as it looks, so crank this one up to eleven.

Although End of Evangelion is undoubtedly the more important of the two-movie finale, it is curiously lacking in extras. None of the cool features from the Death and Rebirth disc are present here, which I must admit is mildly disappointing. The main bonus feature is definitely not disappointing, however: a full length audio commentary with Amanda Winn Lee, Taliesin Jaffe and Jason C. Lee. Much like on the Death and Rebirth disc, these three provide wealth of behind-the-scenes knowledge and some insight into the deeper meaning of the film. Listening to the commentary will give you a solid grounding in the religious symbolism used throughout the movie, though they encourage you to do your own research and form your own conclusions as well. The only other items on the disc are theatrical trailers and video previews of other Manga titles, not exactly exciting stuff. I understand that the two movies are meant to be viewed together, but I still would have liked some bonus features that focused on End. The great commentary makes up for the missing features, but I still expected Manga to provide a more robust DVD edition of this film.

In the end I'm still fumbling for the words to properly describe End of Evangelion. Truly relevant cinema always has the power to defy description or analysis, and this film falls squarely into that category. After watching it you'll know something important just happened, but the audiovisual barrage is so overwhelming that it will likely take several viewings for it to sink in. I highly recommend this film if you have any interest in animated cinema at all or are curious to see the progression of the animated medium that was inspired by films like Akira. Watching the entire Eva series beforehand is recommended, but the film is so powerful that you will likely be moved even without any prior knowledge. The film looks fabulous and sounds even better, so this relatively bare-bones DVD edition can be forgiven. Pick it up, you won't regret it.