Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001)
"Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no tobira" (original title)

A terrorist explosion releases a deadly virus on the masses, and it's up the bounty-hunting Bebop crew to catch the cold-blooded culprit.

Director:

Shinichirô Watanabe

Writers:

Marc Handler (writer: English version), Keiko Nobumoto (screenplay),

Stars:

Steve Blum, Beau Billingslea, Melissa Fahn

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Blum	...	Spike Spiegel (voice) (as Steven Blum)
Kôichi Yamadera	...	Spike Spiegel (voice)
Beau Billingslea	...	Jet Black (voice)
Unshô Ishizuka	...	Jet Black (voice)
Megumi Hayashibara	...	Faye Valentine (voice)
Wendee Lee	...	Faye Valentine (voice)
Melissa Fahn	...	Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski IV (voice)
Aoi Tada	...	Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski IV (voice)
Yusaku Yara	...	Hoffman (voice)
Kazuhiko Inoue	...	Shadkins (voice)
Jûrôta Kosugi	...	Harris (voice)
Kinryû Arimoto	...	Captain (voice)
Hidekatsu Shibata	...	Colonel (voice)
Yûji Ueda	...	Lee Sampson (voice)
Nobuo Tobita	...	Murata (voice)

Storyline

The year is 2071. Following a terrorist bombing, a deadly virus is released on the populace of Mars and the government has issued a 300 million woo-long reward, the largest bounty in history, for the capture of whoever is behind it. The bounty hunter crew of the spaceship Bebop; Spike, Faye, Jet and Ed, take the case with hopes of cashing in the bounty. However, the mystery surrounding the man responsible, Vincent, goes deeper than they ever imagined, and they aren't the only ones hunting him. The original creators of the virus have dispatched Electra to deal with Vincent and take out anyone who may stumble on the truth behind him. As the hunt for the man with no past and no future continues to escalate, they begin to question what about the world is reality and what is a dream as the line between sanity and insanity becomes more apparent.

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Plot Keywords:

virus | terrorist | terrorist bombing | explosion | future | 

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Taglines:

They're here to save the planet. But not for free.

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Crime | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp] Sony Pictures

Country:

Japan USA

Language:

French German Italian Portuguese Spanish Japanese English Arabic

Release Date:

1 September 2001 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Cowboy Bebop the Movie: Knockin' on Heaven's Door

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$234,429 (USA) (4 April 2003)

Gross:

$999,435 (USA) (11 July 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandai Visual Company, Bones, Destination Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although having been involved in numerous dubs for Japanese games, Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no tobira marks the first time voice actor Jennifer Hale has been involved in an anime dub. In a recent interview, she has stated that voicing Electra in the movie is one of her most favorite experiences.

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Goofs

Spike's bullet wound when he fights Vincent on the tower.

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Quotes

Jet: Spike, if that hostage had been shot, what would you have done then?
Spike: If it happens, it happens...
Jet: Really... As usual, for a 125,000-Woolong criminal, there were too many risks involved. Bounty hunting is harder than just that. Before I teamed up with you, I lead quite a normal life.

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Crazy Credits

As the credits roll we see Aruba City during the rain and several of the characters from the film.

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Connections

Referenced in Praxis (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Diggin'"
Words by Tim Jensen
Vocals by Steve Conte
Music Composed by Yôko Kanno

User Reviews

an extended jam on an established theme, with improvisations

I'll try to avoid echoing other comments here and cut straight to the chase: This is not perfect, but MAN it's so close. I had some trouble with the pacing, which seemed a bit slow to me--as if they weren't quite sure how to work with a feature-length timeframe; I'm still a bit hazy on just how the villain's threat was resolved, which I'm usually not after a CB episode; and gosh, *why* isn't "Tank!" on the soundtrack? Songs with words just don't cut it in a CB score. --But honestly, those seem like such small problems next to everything that's wonderful about this movie. It has all the stuff you love about Bebop the series: the brilliant, flashing action and fight sequences, the character interaction, Spike's nicotine jones =), the gorgeous cinematic visuals, and the dreamlike melancholy that underlies even the funniest moments. The villain, his grip on the fantasy/reality divide completely erased after a genetic experiment on Titan, makes a neat counterpoint to Spike, forever haunted by his dreams of the perfect future he once believed in. Jet's protective concern for his reckless teammates was never better painted than in a scene where he blusters about how much happier he was without any of them and couldn't care less where they are, only to pounce on the phone's first ring like a worried mom on date night. There's just a *little* more of Faye's skin for the fanboys (but only a very little bit more, honest! we're not talking topless here! x my heart!), Ed has a trick-or-treat encounter that would never make it to American TV, and even the Big Shot duo put in an appearance (despite having absolutely nothing to say).

It's not intended as a wrap-up or finale to CB the series; it occurs in between episodes and should be thought of that way, as an experimental episode both different from and similar to the original sessions. Kind of like an extended jam on an established theme, with improvisations, in the true bebop style.