Metropolis (2001)
"Metoroporisu" (original title)

Kenichi and his uncle Shunsaku Ban must find the mystery behind robot girl Tima.

Director:

Rintaro

Writers:

Osamu Tezuka (comic book), Katsuhiro Ôtomo (screenplay),

Stars:

Yuka Imoto, Kei Kobayashi, Toshio Furukawa

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yuka Imoto	...	Tima (voice)
Kei Kobayashi	...	Kenichi (voice)
Kôki Okada	...	Rock (voice)
Tarô Ishida	...	Duke Red (voice)
Kôsei Tomita	...	Hige-Oyaji (voice)
Norio Wakamoto	...	Pero (voice)
Junpei Takiguchi	...	Dr. Laughton (voice)
Takeshi Aono	...	Ponkotz (voice)
Masaru Ikeda	...	President Boon (voice)
Shun Yashiro	...	Notarlin (voice)
Toshio Furukawa	...	Skunk (voice)
Shigeru Chiba	...	Lamp (voice)
Masashi Ebara	...	Ham Egg (voice)
Takaya Hashi	...	Lyon (voice)
Norihiro Inoue	...	Atlas (voice)

Storyline

Metropolis is a story of how important emotions are and how they separate humans from everything else. The movie follows a young boy and his uncle (a private investigator). The story is set in the far future where humans and robots live together, unfortunately not in harmony. Many robots are forced underground and are terminated for entering unauthorized areas. They are more or less servants to humankind. The plot starts to unfold when the boy meets a robot named Tima and they get in all kinds of trouble. Never a dull moment when you've got a robot by your side.

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Plot Keywords:

robot | metropolis | future | riot | assault rifle | 

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Taglines:

Welcome to Metropolis

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence and images of destruction

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp] Sony

Country:

Japan

Language:

English French German Italian Spanish Japanese Russian

Release Date:

25 January 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$84,660 (USA) (25 January 2002)

Gross:

$636,830 (USA) (30 May 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandai Visual Company, DENTSU Music And Entertainment, Destination Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the robot-girl Tima remembers and first reveals her name to the human boy Kenichi, on the wall behind her there is a map of Lake Ontario showing the coastline with Toronto and neighboring towns, but turned 90 degrees to the left.

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Goofs

At Robot Storage Area 17, the sign in the window changes from "Metropolis Police Department" to "Metlopolis Police Department."

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Quotes

Rock: Really? So, what are you then? A human?

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Connections

References Duke Nukem 3D (1996)

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Soundtracks

"St. James Infirmary"
Words and Music by Irving Mills
Performed by Atsuki Kimura

User Reviews

An Amazing Milestone In Anime History !!!

When I first saw this I was totally blown away by its beautiful animation and groundbreaking use of music! It really made me lyrical in a way few anime does - Rintaro and Otomo really has what it takes to make a masterpiece. The blend of charming old-fashioned technology and allusions to modern phenomenons makes it the perfect anime for the beginning of 21st century!

Metropolis is based on Tesuka Osamus first manga and later gave inspiration to his more famous "Astro Boy". Some story elements and characters from Tesukas later works are clearly inserted in Metropolis to make it work as a movie, which in this case is good... The choice of music is, in my opinion, daring and rather funny; jazzy tunes spiced with hits from the 60s (Ray Charles) sets the tone of the "optimistic atomic age". All in all, well made nostalgia...

I could go on forever with this rant, so I spare you that if you see this little animated gem! Rent it, buy it, steal it (if necessary ;) , you won't regret it!