Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993)

When a terrorist attack is blamed on the Air Force, Special Vehicle Unit 2 gets caught in the middle of a growing political conflict.

Director:

Mamoru Oshii

Writer:

Kazunori Itô

Stars:

Mîna Tominaga, Briony Glassco, Julie Ann Taylor

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mîna Tominaga	...	Noa Izumi (voice)
Briony Glassco	...	Noa Izumi (1995) (voice)
Julie Ann Taylor	...	Noa Izumi (2006) (voice)
Toshio Furukawa	...	Asuma Shinohara (voice)
David Jarvis	...	Asuma Shinohara (1995) (voice)
Doug Erholtz	...	Asuma Shinohara (2006) (voice)
Ryûnosuke Ôbayashi	...	Captain Kiichi Gotoh (voice)
Peter Marinker	...	Captain Kiichi Gotoh (1995) (voice) (as Peter Marincker)
Roger Craig Smith	...	Captain Kiichi Gotoh (2006) (voice)
Yoshiko Sakakibara	...	Deputy Section Chief Shinobu Nagumo (voice)
Sharon Holm	...	Deputy Section Chief Shinobu Nagumo (1995) (voice)
Megan Hollingshead	...	Deputy Section Chief Shinobu Nagumo (2006) (voice) (as Karen Thompson)
Michihiro Ikemizu	...	Isao Oota (voice)
Martin McDougall	...	Isao Oota (1995) (voice) (as Martin McDougal)
Sam Riegel	...	Isao Oota (2006) (voice)

Storyline

A Japanese police unit who use giant anthropomorphic robots (called Labors) is caught up in a political struggle between the civilian authorities and the military when a terrorist act is blamed on an Air Force jet. With the aid of a government agent, the team gets close to a terrorist leader to stop things from going out of control when after the military is impelled to impose martial law.

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Plot Keywords:

coup d'etat | police officer | conspiracy | deep state | deception | 

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Genres:

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

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Certificate:

Unrated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film sparked controversy less than two years after it was released when on March 20, 1995, the religious cult released sarin gas on several lines of the Tokyo Metro subway, killing a dozen people, injuring fifty and inflicting temporary vision problems to a thousand other commuters. The film scene in question was when a group of airships flew over Tokyo and crashed, releasing colored gas that was shortly deemed harmless.

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Quotes

Arakawa: The government may be looking for a change of cast, but no one wants to play the lead in this tragedy. Nobody wants to fire but no one's negotiating. We're looking at the collapse of civilian government by default.

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Connections

Follows Patlabor: The Movie (1989)

User Reviews

A complex, memorable politico-military thriller

This is a fine example of what Japanese animation can produce at its best. The style of this movie strongly reminds me of a Tom Clancy novel, which is unusual for anime. At the beginning I was a little put off by the slow pace of the movie, but as the story unfolded, I was sucked in by its complexity and realism. Indeed, the conflict and the political games between the government, the army and the police are so well constructed that I thought "this could *really* happen!"

If you liked this movie you should try to see "Jin-roh". There's the same kind of political and military intrigue but the story is more personal and close to the action than the high-circle strategy atmosphere which permeates Patlabor 2.

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

7 August 1993 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Patlabor 2

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandai Visual Company, Tohokushinsha Film Corporation (TFC), Elastic Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1