Steamboy (2004)
"Suchîmubôi" (original title)

In 1860s Britain, a boy inventor finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly conflict over a revolutionary advance in steam power.

Director:

Katsuhiro Ôtomo

Writers:

Sadayuki Murai, Katsuhiro Ôtomo

Stars:

Anne Suzuki, Alfred Molina, Anna Paquin

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Anne Suzuki	...	James Ray Steam (voice)
Masane Tsukayama	...	Eddî Suchîmu-hakase (voice)
Katsuo Nakamura	...	Dr. Lloyd Steam (voice)
Manami Konishi	...	Scarlett O'Hara (voice)
Kiyoshi Kodama	...	Robert Stephenson (voice)
Ikki Sawamura	...	David (voice)
Susumu Terajima	...	Freddie (voice)
Osamu Saka	...	Army General (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rosalind Ayres	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Mark Bramhall	...	Alfred Smith (voice)
Oliver Cotton	...	Robert Stephenson (voice)
Robin Atkin Downes	...	David (voice)
William Hootkins	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Peter Lavin	...	Additional Voices (voice)
David S. Lee	...	Jason (voice)

Storyline

Rei is a young inventor living in the U.K. in the middle of the 19th century. Shortly before the first ever World Expo, a marvelous invention called the "Steam Ball", behind which a menacing power is hidden, arrives at his door from his grandfather Roid in the U.S. Meanwhile the nefarious Ohara Foundation has sent men to acquire theSteam Ball so that they can use its power towards their own illicit ends.

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Plot Keywords:

ball | steam | inventor | 19th century | boy | 

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Family | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for action violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Sony Pictures [us]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

18 March 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Steamboy

Box Office

Budget:

JPY 2,127,519,898 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$2,034 (Hong Kong) (15 July 2005)

Gross:

$2,034 (Hong Kong) (15 July 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandai Visual Company, Steamboy Committee, Studio 4°C

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min 103 min (theatrical)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Ray is walking through the city of Manchester at the beginning of the movie, for a few seconds Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels can be seen talking together on the street (Marx is the smaller one with white hair and beard; Engels is the taller one with the mustache). Both men were living in Britain at the time the film takes place.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Scarlett O'Hara: Simon!

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Crazy Credits

Under the end credits, images of future events in the lives of the characters are shown.

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Connections

Referenced in Stay Alive (2006)

User Reviews

A mostly wonderful animated film that pushes the bounds of what can be done on film

This is a review of the English subtitled version of the film and not the English dubbed version A boys own adventure as our young hero fights to keep a steam ball out of the hands of evil corporate profiteers. Set in and around London in the late 1880's this is quite simply one of the most amazing animated films ever made. Odds are you have never seen anything like it on this scale.

As Otomo Katsuhiro pushed the field of animation with his Akira some twenty years ago, he does it again with Steamboy his long in production masterpiece. This is a film so rich and detailed you simply can not truly believe that anyone would have taken the time to do the animation. This is a film to shame most animators working in the field who keep things simple. Nothing is simple here as we get grand battle scenes in London, chases through the English country side, and huge clockwork machines that are mind boggling in their visual complexity. It has to be seen to believed.

The characters here all arc. No one is as they seem at first or second except perhaps for our hero, Roy, who tries desperately to do the right thing with the scientific marvels his father and grandfather have given him but instead finds no one is wholly good nor evil. There is a complexity to everyone that is uncommon for most animation, both Japanese and American.Its refreshing to see that we are given real people to root for and to hiss. What happens to them may move you to tears, it did me.

The film is constructed in essentially two half's. The first is a rollicking adventure as Roy is thrust int the fight against the aforementioned evil corporation, which, like the characters is not as clearly evil as first seems. It his here that there are several set pieces that are some of the finest things I've ever seen on film, in particular the initial chase by the bad guys to get the steam ball. It starts in Roys home, which is trashed and then continues on steam powered vehicles across the countryside before ending up intersecting with a speeding train. Spielberg could learn a great deal for the next Indiana Jones movie. This first half is near perfect in execution.

The second half of the film is a giant set piece that begins as a small scale fight during the London Exhibition and quickly expands into a full scale war in London. Its is here that the film falters, not because its bad, rather because its not fully clear whats happening. Its as if Otomo set in motion this huge machine and didn't know how to control it. I knew over all what was going on in the big picture but I was lost as to the details. This is a damaging flaw to the film that destroys many people ability to enjoy the film. If you can let yourself go and let the film wash over you then you will be more likely to truly appreciate this film for what it is- grand story telling on a huge scale.

I can't recommend this film enough. Certainly one of the best animated films ever made, I'm sure it will be near the top of my best films of the year.

Lastly Stay through the credits. If its not readily apparent the pictures under the credits take the story well past the ending of the film and show you quite clearly what happens to everyone we've come to know. One can only hope that we will one day be treated with the story those pictures tell.