Ritana (2002)

Director:

Takashi Yamazaki

Writers:

Kenya Hirata (writer)
Takashi Yamazaki (writer)

Release Date:

31 August 2002 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Who cares about the future?

Plot:

A young woman from the future forces a local gunman to help her stop an impending alien invasion which will wipe out the human race.

Plot Keywords:

Flow Motion | Future Noir | Tech Noir | Violence | Neo Noir

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Takeshi Kaneshiro	...	Miyamoto
Anne Suzuki	...	Milly
Kirin Kiki	...	Xie
Goro Kishitani	...	Mizoguchi
Yukiko Okamoto	...	Dr. Yagi
Mitsuru Murata	...	Mizoguchi's Henchman
Kisuke Iida	...	Karasawa, Mizoguchi's Henchman
Kazuya Shimizu	...	Murakami, Mizoguchi's Henchman
Chiharu Kawai	...	Liu's Interpreter
Dean Harrington	...	Dr. Brown
Xiaoqun Zhao	...	Slave Merchant
Masaya Takahashi	...	Liu Laoban, Chinese Godfather
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ahmad Ali	...	Future Soldier
Ari Anders	...	Future Technition
Byron Baron	...	Future Soldier
Bernard Beardsley	...	Future Soldier
Buruna	...	Future Soldier
SirLaosson Dara	...	Future Soldier
Francisco Gala	...	Future Soldier
Ryan Hill	...	Future Technician
Kanata Hongô	...	Young Miyamoto
Hoshi Ishida
Semenov Ivan	...	Future Technician
Shûgo Oshinari	...	Shooter
Kristine Protacio	...	Future Technician
Eric Robinson	...	Eric, Future Technition
Sean Ryan	...	Future Soldier
Steve Ryan	...	Future Soldier
Soltane M. Salah	...	Future Soldier
Nejat Shanino	...	Future Soldier
Laura Windrath	...	Future Technician (as Laura Windrash)

Directed by
Takashi Yamazaki

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kenya Hirata		writer
Takashi Yamazaki		writer

Produced by
Chikahiro Ando	....	producer
Toru Horibe	....	producer
Akifumi Takuma	....	producer

Original Music by
Akihiko Matsumoto

Cinematography by
Akira Sako
Kozo Shibazaki

Film Editing by
Takuya Taguchi

Production Design by
Anri Johjo

Sound Department
Keiichi Momose	....	sound designer
Yasushi Tanaka	....	sound

Special Effects by
Kikuo Notomi	....	armourer
Kikuo Notomi	....	pyrotechnician

Visual Effects by
Semin Tho	....	CG artist
Takashi Yamazaki	....	visual effects

Stunts
Yûji Shimomura	....	stunts
Hiroyuki Yoshida	....	utility stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Nariyuki Ueda	....	lighting technician

Production Companies

• Amuse
• Fuji Television Network
• Imagica Corp.
• Robot
• Shirogumi
• Toho Company

Distributors

• Columbia TriStar Films de Argentina (Argentina)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2004) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Destination Films (2003) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• LK-TEL (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (Argentina) (VHS)
• Metacinema (2005) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Samuel Goldwyn Films (2003) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)

Other Companies

• Kobe Film Office  film commission

Also Known As:

Returner (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence. (also edited version)

Runtime:

USA:116 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Mandarin | Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Malaysia:18SG | Malaysia:U (cut) | Canada:14A (video rating) | UK:15 | Argentina:13 | Germany:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:18 | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Himeji, Japan

Company:

Amuse

Trivia:

The handgun Milly uses through out the movie is a Walther P99.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the highway chase when the car is blown into the air and falls back down, the cable that was used by the crane to lift the car up into the air so they could drop it again is visible as the vehicle crashes to the ground.

Movie Connections:

References Trancers (1985)

Soundtrack:

Dig In

Pretty good, but has its slow moments

This has admittedly taken a lot of inspiration from Matrix, Terminator, Independence Day, ET, Predator, and probably a few others that I didn't notice. However, it seems more like a tribute to the movies, than a lazy ripoff, as it treats the source material with the respect it requires. The plot is very good, it borrows heavily from Terminator, but it gives it a bit of a twist that is pretty interesting. The science fiction portion of the movie is pretty good; the effects are nothing short of stunning and mind-blowing. The CGI totally mixes in perfectly with the live action, without at any point in the movie looking out of place. The action sequences are fantastic; sure, the action is often heavily inspired by films like The Matrix, but they pull it off pretty good. Some sequences leave you yearning for more. The acting is pretty good. I saw it with English audio, so I can't really say anything about the original actors voices, but the English/American voice actors did their job well. The only negative thing I can say about the film, is that the plot drags a bit in some places. At certain times, the movie seemed to not move on at all. However, this is only a few instances in the first part of the movie, and no one should be discouraged from watching it simply because of that. It's a damn good action/sci-fi movie, as long as you can accept that the concept is not particularly original. I recommend this to anyone who liked The Matrix, or similar films. 8/10