Lack of good storyline.

Expected more

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

...you have here all the clichés that Hollywood made in this same vein movies. Also you can have unnecessary violence. The plot is evident and the movie is too long. I put 5 instead of 4 due to the actors can play the instruments; not so incredible but right for the movie; a bit of drama here and there and the panoramic views of the FUJI rock festival. The songs are better than usual in these movies.-I really cannot understand how the other commentators put 10 stars! Seems that they never watched a 10 stars real film; being 5 in the middle; so a good movie to pass the time is the top of what these kind of entertainment would have.

There's comedy, there's drama, and then there's rock music in a heady mix you may think it's a Masala film with all ingredients put into a melting pot and coming off deliciously entertaining. It's a story about the coming together of five individuals who share the common love for rock, and for the fictional band Dying Breed, before circumstances led them to form their own band, to create their brand of music to move the world. It's the tale about the struggle of an indie band in the cutthroat world of the music industry, where rules aren't always fair to begin with, and often experiencing being muscled out from the bigger players who live to engineer sounds like hotshot producer Ran (Shido Nakamura) responsible for rival band Belle Ame, versus those that play and create from the bottom of their hearts.From the tale of the individual character perspective, it's about Koyuki (Takeru Sato, almost over-utilizing his bug eyes when blindsided), an oft bullied schoolboy who finds himself learning to play the guitar under the guidance of a master (Takanori Takeyama) before teaming up with fellow schoolmate Saku (Aoi Nakamura), where both find themselves propelled into the more adult world of performing under the auspices of a real band in real gigs, rising from obscurity in school to having their own groupies, and having fellow band members protect them from incessant bullies at school. For Ryusuke (Hiro Mizushima) it's about forging a name for himself, coming from USA to Japan to do just that, breaking away from his ex-band due to his attitude and animosity, setting up some real competition. Chiba (Kenta Kiritani) the loud mouthed rapper who provides most of the comic relief as the impetuous frontman who knows a thing or two about rousing a crowd, and Taira (Osamu Mukai) the bassist modelled after Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea, completes the band BECK.Most of the subplots take us through the emotional roller coaster of the various characters, especially that of Ryusuke, Chiba and Koyuki as they deal with demons from the past, envy and worry, and romance respectively, the latter having a relationship with Ryusuke's filmmaker sister Maho (Shiori Kutsuna), who is also being pursued by rival band Belle Ame frontman, the actor turned singer Yoshito (Yuta Furukawa). While all the cast members forming BECK share some incredible chemistry as a tight outfit, these three characters and the cast playing them stand out especially, with screen time dedicated to their struggles. I would have preferred a little more insights to possibly the most mature band member in Taira, while Saku has a very fleeting romantic angle coming from an ardent BECK supporter Hiromi (Sari Kurauchi).For its almost 2.5 hours runtime toward the ultimate goal and closure for the usual genre strategy of having to perform on the biggest stage possible, we journey with the band toward the Grateful Sound Festival which is the fictional version of the real Fuji Rock Festival, and the punchy pacing allowed for a lot of plot devices and elements getting squeezed effectively into the film, such as the dark history of Ryusuke's guitar Lucille that comes with six bullet holes in its body, jamming sessions with Blues legends, and even guitar picks become objects used to emote through music. You'll also find yourself rooting for BECK throughout, celebrating their inching toward success, and crying when pressure builds and cracks starting to appear and threatening band longevity.But of course, what is a film about a band, if there's no rocking music to stomp your foot to? BECK provides this by the bucketloads, although of course three signature tunes of the titular band stood out, especially since we bear witness to their creation and practice sessions, primed for that all important make or break performance. There's the rock tune Evolution with Chiba in his prime, but making way quite surprisingly to Koyuki who is responsible for the slower English numbers, and here's where some may be disappointed.We're made to believe that Koyuki, while he can't understand nor converse in English, can actually belt out English songs with plenty of heart even though he knows those lyrics by rote. And his innate ability is to move mountains and part oceans each time he opens his mouth to sing. Now this being a Japanese film, and I suppose it's quite clear that the actor Takeru Sato may not be able to confidently emote and cause audiences to break down as per those on screen, Yukihiko Tsutsumi came up with deliberately muting his voice. This may not go down well with some audiences, but I thought it was a rather creative way to allow one's imagination to run wild into how Koyuki does actually sound like when singing, and how awesome his voice would probably be judging from the supporters, and fellow band members' reactions. It also played out almost like a running joke, leaving you literally begging to hear some singing voice, so I have absolutely no qualms about that.The last film involving Japanese rock music to form a premise was Fish Story, also an excellent film that was one of my favourites in 2010. BECK belongs to the same charming vein that makes this a highly recommended film , and in my books one of the most entertaining film so far in 2011 for rock fans and non-fans alike. Clearly a favourite in my books, and a contender as one of the best. Don't miss this!

The movie itself was not terrible, it was filmed rather well, and the merging of elements in the plot can be forgiven as the need to save time and make the plot less complex is necessary for most adaptation films. However there is one gigantic glaring flaw in this movie that I can not overlook or downplay in anyway. The main character, Koyuki, never once sings throughout the entire movie. The base of this series is the singing of the main character, which never happens, instead you get to watch him mouth words silently, in what I assume is a desperate attempt to hide the actors inability to sing (in English perhaps?).All in all this really ruined the movie for me, how can I watch an adaptation of one of my favorite manga's where the main character doesn't do the thing he is best at and acclaimed for. So, if you were looking forward to hearing Koyuki sing, you're better off watching the anime or fantasizing about it in your head, this movie will not satisfy on that account.

This is great manga-anime adaptation to live action. As an adaptation I would say it's almost perfect. Even the music is wickedly pleasing.(However I should mention that they only adapted few arc of the original manga).Beck adaptation to live action is done beautifully. Anybody who read the original manga will be pleased with clever and honest presentation of the story. I sat at the edge of my seat throughout the film wondering how much the casts, the scenes and the feels come to live just like they're in the manga.Almost all key elements are laid just as in the original source. The material is handled with outmost care although some of characters motive in the movie are questionable if you don't read the lengthy manga first. And Ryusuke does speak in English, real English! Not just some japanglish like we see normally in Japan TV or movie. Even in the anime adaptation the English is terrible (The character supposedly brought up in NY).As the story is about badass talent, the musics does deliver the punch. I don't really knoe if they're actually originals but they sounds pretty convincing.However, did I said before that they're almost perfect?Well, I decided not to post any spoilers. ;)