Spriggan (1998)

An elite superhuman agent must stop a foreign military unit from seizing control of an ancient artifact that holds the key to ultimate power.

Director:

Hirotsugu Kawasaki

Writers:

Yasutaka Itô (script), Hirotsugu Kawasaki (script)

Stars:

Shotaro Morikubo, Ryuji Aigase, Takehito Koyasu

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shotaro Morikubo	...	Yu Ominae (voice) (as Shôtarô Morikubo)
Ryuji Aigase	...	Colonel MacDougal (voice)
Takehito Koyasu	...	Jean-Jacques Mondo (voice)
Katsumi Suzuki	...	Little Boy (voice)
Ken Shiroyama	...	Dr. Meisel (voice)
Sakiko Tamagawa	...	Margaret (voice)
Kenji Takano	...	Fat Man (voice)
Fumihiko Goto	...	Turkish Agent B (voice)
Dai Matsumoto	...	Manager (voice)
Hiroyuki Oshida	...	Guard B (voice)
Ikumi Kimura	...	Stewardess (voice)
Katsuhisa Hôki	...	Turkish Agent A (voice)
Kenichi Sakaguchi	...	N.C.O (voice)
Kinryû Arimoto	...	Yamamoto (voice)
Masaaki Yajima	...	Narrator (voice)

Storyline

Yu is a young man who has a past he desperately wants to forget. His present is that he is a superhuman top agent for Arcan, an organization dedicated to protecting ancient artifacts to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. However, he receives several bloody messages, culminating in the suicide of a friend, telling that Noah would be his death. In response, Yu travels to Turkey to visit the Arcan dig at Mount Arrat, where Noah's Ark is supposed to have rested. Along the way there and at the destination, he learns of forces of his past have returned to stop him and sieze control of the Ark, which turns out to be an alien device of ultimate power.

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Plot Keywords:

older actors younger roles | power | artifact | death | suicide | 

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Taglines:

They were looking for a sign. What they found was a warning.

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

5 September 1998 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Spriggan

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,420, 14 October 2001, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$7,420, 14 October 2001

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandai Visual Company,Studio 4°C,Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original subbed print of the film features Dr. Miesel saying to McDougall, "You Americans are so arrogant." Possibly in response to 9/11, the DVD changes the line to, "You are the product of arrogant minds."

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Goofs

During the fight with Colonel MacDougal Ominae's arm was broken in multiple places and left hanging limp. However, when he was falling with Jean after escaping the Ark he used the broken arm to shoot his grappling hook and hung from it, then after landing was using his 'broken' arm as if it weren't injured at all.

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Quotes

Colonel MacDougall: Why wait 40 days and nights when you have title waves?

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Crazy Credits

"The Spriggan Ice Cream Social Club"

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Alternate Versions

The sound of a school bell after Yu's flashback in class was added for the English dub.

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Connections

References Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

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Soundtracks

Jing Ling
Performed by Saju

User Reviews

One for the die hard fans.

What a piece of enjoyable apocalyptic junk crap!!! Based on a Manga, this manic mayhem doesn't settle down until the last thirty minutes when we get to see some creative use in animation. The rest is just bombarded with ridiculous and sometimes laughable action scenes.