(I saw this one first back in the summer of 2006.)
It must be said that widely acclaimed Japanese animation (Anime') director Mamoru Oshii is one of the most distinguished personalities in all of Anime'. His most famous work - and my personal favorite film of his - is 1995's "Ghost in the Shell" (which gained added popularity in the United States and around the rest of the world for its apparent influence on "The Matrix" and its sequels).
Before "Ghost in the Shell," though, he was probably most famous for his work on the "Patlabor" series of films, which were adapted from a popular Manga (Japanese comic) and TV series - both of which Ishii himself co-created (based on original concepts by Yuuki Masami), alongside longtime collaborator Kazunori Ito and several others. The first in the series was 1989's "Patlabor: The Movie." While a little confusing at times, I got through it with little difficulty. The story itself is engaging, but I actually save my best praises for this film's darker, superior, politically-charged and mature 1993 sequel, "Patlabor 2: The Movie."
"Patlabor: The Movie" is set in Japan in the late '90s (the then-future), where mankind is aided in everyday tasks (like construction work) by "Labors," giant robots that are operated by specially trained humans. They are also used extensively in military and law enforcement duties; the series focuses mostly on the "Patrol Labors" ("Patlabors") that are being used by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police force.
The plot gets moving when the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's 2nd Special Vehicles Section (SV2) begins investigating a series of incidents where Labors of differing size and operations begin malfunctioning all across the city. The young SV2 operative Asuma Shinohara, alongside female SV2 pilot and close associate Noa Izumi, suspects that a new operating system (OS) that had recently been installed to over 80% of the labors in the city, is what is causing the malfunctions. The OS was written and designed by Eiichiro Hoba - who committed suicide just five days before the story begins - with the intention that all Labors installed with the program deliberately malfunction if a series of specific conditions are met (like high winds generating low-frequency sound-waves all across the city, for example). The now-deceased Hoba had become obsessed with the Babylon Project - a series of man-made islands in the Tokyo Bay area, and its nerve center the Ark (Hoba's fixation was on the obvious biblical allusions to the Ark, as in Noah's Ark) - and specifically targeted the Labors involved in its construction.
"Patlabor: The Movie" is quite an early achievement from Mamoru Oshii and shows many of his trademark filmmaking signatures that would become more apparent over the course of his career. The numerous biblical references; the deep, involving plot and colorful, multi-dimensional cast of characters; the moody, atmospheric score by frequent collaborator Kenji Kawai; and philosophical musings about technology run amok in the then-future all appear here. It's an astounding piece of animation, though as I stated earlier, it's not as good as its darker, more mature and plot-heavy sequel "Patlabor 2: The Movie."
8/10
It must be said that widely acclaimed Japanese animation (Anime') director Mamoru Oshii is one of the most distinguished personalities in all of Anime'. His most famous work - and my personal favorite film of his - is 1995's "Ghost in the Shell" (which gained added popularity in the United States and around the rest of the world for its apparent influence on "The Matrix" and its sequels).
Before "Ghost in the Shell," though, he was probably most famous for his work on the "Patlabor" series of films, which were adapted from a popular Manga (Japanese comic) and TV series - both of which Ishii himself co-created (based on original concepts by Yuuki Masami), alongside longtime collaborator Kazunori Ito and several others. The first in the series was 1989's "Patlabor: The Movie." While a little confusing at times, I got through it with little difficulty. The story itself is engaging, but I actually save my best praises for this film's darker, superior, politically-charged and mature 1993 sequel, "Patlabor 2: The Movie."
"Patlabor: The Movie" is set in Japan in the late '90s (the then-future), where mankind is aided in everyday tasks (like construction work) by "Labors," giant robots that are operated by specially trained humans. They are also used extensively in military and law enforcement duties; the series focuses mostly on the "Patrol Labors" ("Patlabors") that are being used by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police force.
The plot gets moving when the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's 2nd Special Vehicles Section (SV2) begins investigating a series of incidents where Labors of differing size and operations begin malfunctioning all across the city. The young SV2 operative Asuma Shinohara, alongside female SV2 pilot and close associate Noa Izumi, suspects that a new operating system (OS) that had recently been installed to over 80% of the labors in the city, is what is causing the malfunctions. The OS was written and designed by Eiichiro Hoba - who committed suicide just five days before the story begins - with the intention that all Labors installed with the program deliberately malfunction if a series of specific conditions are met (like high winds generating low-frequency sound-waves all across the city, for example). The now-deceased Hoba had become obsessed with the Babylon Project - a series of man-made islands in the Tokyo Bay area, and its nerve center the Ark (Hoba's fixation was on the obvious biblical allusions to the Ark, as in Noah's Ark) - and specifically targeted the Labors involved in its construction.
"Patlabor: The Movie" is quite an early achievement from Mamoru Oshii and shows many of his trademark filmmaking signatures that would become more apparent over the course of his career. The numerous biblical references; the deep, involving plot and colorful, multi-dimensional cast of characters; the moody, atmospheric score by frequent collaborator Kenji Kawai; and philosophical musings about technology run amok in the then-future all appear here. It's an astounding piece of animation, though as I stated earlier, it's not as good as its darker, more mature and plot-heavy sequel "Patlabor 2: The Movie."
8/10