[quote name='icebeast']I guess a better way to put it is don't watch Escaflowne the movie first, because it doesn't really do the series justice (or if you do, don't assume you wouldn't like the series because you don't like the movie).
And, it does try to tell almost the same story, I mean there are differences obviously, but the core of the story is similar but the changes they made didn't serve to improve anything from the original series. Basically the biggest offender is the love story, which just doesn't come off right at all since mysteriously two characters fall in love over a very short amount of time and with minimal interaction, whereas the love story works in the series because it's handled over a much longer time and there is MUCH more interaction between the characters (also one character isn't trying to kill the other at the start, then mysteriously has a change of heart, and in like 1-2 days decides that he actually loves her instead). It doesn't help that I didn't like emo Hitomi (i.e. "I'm going to kill myself." at the start of the movie) at all either (since she's one of my favorite characters ever, and that movie made me dislike her because she was so out of character).
I'm glad someone else has watched and enjoyed the series though.
It seems like it's kind of overlooked.[/QUOTE]
Yes the story is similar, but they're two separate things. See my example using the X-Men movies. Similar stories, but two separate things.
The love story aspect didn't bother me, but you're right that it wasn't as much put into it as the series. That's no fault of the movie though. The movie has 2 hours to tell the entire plot whereas the series has 13 hours to flesh things out. A series is going to have more character development in general. Was the love story as good as the series? Not at all. Was it perfectly good for a movie? Definitely.
As for Hitomi, again you're using the series to say how she should act. You're already doing it wrong. THE SERIES HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MOVIE. I know it's tough to get that due to the same name and mostly the same characters, but stop using one to justify the other. If you use her series portrayal as a guide, then yes she's out of character. Hitomi's character in the movie is just fine, in fact it's perfect for the story they're trying to tell. She's supposed to be a foil for Folken. They're both people that feel worthless and feel that the world would be better off if it just didn't exist. Folken is the dark path that Hitomi was headed down.
I loved the movie. I did like the series better, but I feel if the movie had been made into a series it would have been far superior to the original series.