Patlabor: The Movie (Limited Edition)
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DVD details
Actor: Julie Anne Taylor, Lisa Enochs, Megan Hollingshead, Sharon Holm, William DufriesBrand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; German (Original Language); Japanese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Animated, Collector's Edition, Color, Dubbed, DVD, Limited Edition, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-04-25
Audience Rating: Unrated
Model: BUDH0100DVD
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Patlabor: The Movie (Limited Edition)
DVD Review: Finally, a quality release for a classic film
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the way "Patlabor 1" _should_ have been treated in an English-language release. This film is the foundation of Mamoru Oshii's signature style, which would be perfected in "Patlabor 2" and then reach international attention with the later "Ghost in the Shell" and "Innocence" features.
The new translation of the dialogue offers far more detail than the old version from the late '90s by Manga Entertainment, Bandai Visual USA seems to have really wanted to make a mark with this first release for the new company, and they achieved this.
The film itself is a classic Oshii blend of philosophy and action, based upon the characters he helped introduce with the "Patlabor: The Original Series" OVA, but turning the focus of the show from the adventures of the Patlabor cast to an introspective look at where Tokyo (and humanity in general) was heading. Many elements were far ahead of their time; today threats of killer computer viruses are common; all of us deal with them in our email accounts, but in 1989 the internet was in its early public infancy, and the idea of someone creating a virus to spread death and destruction was a fantastic concept. The fact that humanity's inventions could so easily be taken from their pure helpful purposes and turned to nefarious ends was a relatively new idea, one which challenged the prevailing viewpoint that humanity would only be helped and assisted by its new technological creations.
This release sets a new standard for how high-profile titles should be released, and I hope that it is a precedent that will be followed commonly. The documentaries on the extra disc were a little underwhelming compared to the standards set by Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" or even the well-conceived and excuted making-of documenatries that came with Pioneer/Geneon's "WXIII: Patlabor 3" special edition release.
But the 184-page Patlabor Archives book is a treasure for those interested in how and why "Patlabor 1" turned out the way it did, detailing much of the history of the film, why it is so different in tone from the Patlabor OVAs and TV series, and the innovative ways that Oshii used to turn the city of Tokyo itself into one of the central characters of the film. I read the entire booklet before watching the new version of the film, and it changed the way I viewed the movie, made me far more conscious of the social commentary that is in fact one of the film's central themes.
The storyboard is another gem for those who are interested in the process of how an idea for a film is translated into a finished work, and even glancing through it made me more conscious of some of the finer details in the film, things which are so subtle that they may escape detection even after multiple viewings, but because they were specifically laid out in the storyboards were deliberately placed to enhance some aspects of the film.
Is this Limted Edition of the film necessary to enjoy the picture? No, it's not. Get the new version of the basic movie if all you're interested in is a great thinking-man's movie with a few heart-pounding action sequences thrown in for variety's sake (it _is_ a mecha anime on the surface, after all). The basic film of this Bandai Visual USA version is far superior to the old Manga Entertainment one; if you already own that, you might consider picking up this one, anyway, because this translation mentions an awful lot of details that were left out of Manga's version. But the Limited Edition's special features will probably only be of interest to the devoted anime and Patlabor fans, for its illumination of how the anime industry and Mamoru Oshii actually work.
The downside of this, for those who have been following Patlabor for a long time, is that this is the fourth complete English-language cast for the Patlabor characters, a result of four different companies having been responsible for releasing this over time (Manga Entertainment doing the original versions of the first two movies, US Manga Corps doing the OVAs and TV Series, and Pioneer/Geneon doing WXIII: Patlabor 3).
Description of Patlabor: The Movie (Limited Edition)
"Patlabor The Movie" is set at the dawn of the millennium in Tokyo. Advanced robotic vehicles called Labors are used heavily to rebuild the city after a massive earthquake. A maverick team from the Metropolitan Police led by Ki'ichi Gotoh and Shinobu Nagumo must uncover a devilish scheme to infect Tokyo's 8,000 strong force of Labors with a computer virus. As a powerful typhoon approaches Tokyo and a dead man's revenge begins to take full effect, the team faces a seemingly impossible task: destroy the symbol and spearhead of Tokyo's redevelopment before 8,000 Labors go berserk!The Limited Collector's Edition, limited to 10,000 numbered sets, boasts an illustrated cover designed especially for this release by illustrator Yutaka Izubuchi (mecha designer of the Patlabor series and creator and director of the hit anime series "RahXephon"). In addition, "Patlabor The Movie" has been newly remastered, and features a new English translation and dubbing and a new authentic 5.1 channel audio mix. This impressive Limited Collector's Edition contains:
Disc 1: "Patlabor The Movie" and Japanese trailers and television commercials
Disc 2: "Making of 'Patlabor The Movie'" (Japanese with English subtitles)
Book 1: Archives (184 pages, 4 color and black & white) containing:
· Exposition and criticism of the film (character, story background, artwork, etc.)
· Interviews with director Mamoru Oshii, screenwriter Kazunori Ito, mecha designer Yutaka Izubuchi, character designer Akemi Takada and music composer Kenji Kawai
· Key animation drawing samples with explanatory notes
· and more!
Book 2: Storyboard by Mamoru Oshii (300 pages, with English translation)
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