The 2004 "Appleseed" feature is a reworking of the earlier video based on the manga by Masamune Shirow ("Ghost in the Shell"). In 2131, most of humanity has withdrawn to the glittering city of Olympus after a devastating war. When the curvaceous Deunan Knute comes to Olympus, she encounters her former comrade Briareos, now a cyborg, and the lovely android Hitomi. The fate of Hitomi, Olympus, and humanity rest on the lost "Appleseed" technology that Deunan's mother helped to develop. A standard series of chases, "mecha battles", and confrontations leads to a predictable ending. When the original "Appleseed"appeared in 1988, it felt like a summary of anime's past, while "Akira" pointed the way to the future. This new version feels like a mishmash of "Ghost in the Shell", "Akira", "Jin-Roh", "Evangelion", and other, more exciting works. The motion-capture CG is typically weightless, and the "mecha" look oddly squat. (Rated R: violence) "--Charles Solomon"