Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001)

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.

Directors:

Shin'ichirô Watanabe, Tensai Okamura

Writers:

Keiko Nobumoto (screenplay), Hajime Yatate (based on the story by)

Stars:

Beau Billingslea, Melissa Fahn, Nicholas Guest

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kôichi Yamadera	...	Spike Spiegel (voice)
Unshô Ishizuka	...	Jet Black (voice)
Megumi Hayashibara	...	Faye Valentine (voice)
Aoi Tada	...	Edward Wong (voice)
Yûsaku Yara	...	Hoffman (voice)
Kazuhiko Inoue	...	Shadkins (voice)
Jûrôta Kosugi	...	Harris (voice)
Kinryû Arimoto	...	Captain (voice)
Hidekatsu Shibata	...	Colonel (voice)
Yûji Ueda	...	Lee (voice)
Nobuo Tobita	...	Murata (voice)
Rikiya Koyama	...	Steve (voice)
Ai Kobayashi	...	Elektra Ovirowa (voice)
Jin Hirao	...	Antonio (voice)
Toshihiko Nakajima	...	Carlos (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:

based on manga | terrorist | explosion | neo noir | based on tv series | 

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Taglines:

Are you living in the real world?

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Genres:

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

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's Japanese theatrical release date was September 1st 2001, the day before the TV series' first US broadcast.

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Goofs

The name of the city all it's happening appears to be "Alba City" like it's written on the floor by the near end when the mayor opens the Halloweens celebration, but before that when Jet is trying to get the airplanes, behind the guy who rents them it says everywhere Alva with a "v" instead of "b".

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Quotes

Vincent: No one can draw a clear line between sane and insane. You move that line as you see fit for yourself. No one else can. You'll understand soon... that the one that's insane is this world. Do you want to come with me? The only ones left will be you and me.

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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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Alternate Versions

Some DVD versions have the textless opening and ending credits. The opening credits completely fill the television image instead of only about half the image.

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Connections

Referenced in Chris Stuckmann Hilariocity Reviews: Batman & Robin (2015)

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Soundtracks

Ask DNA
Words by Tim Jensen
Vocals by Raj Ramayya
Music Composed by Yôko Kanno

User Reviews

A fun romp with some old friends.

Watching Cowboy Bebop: The Movie is kind of like reconnecting with an old friend. He's got the same sense of humor, the same style and you recognize him, but at the same time, he's matured. Perhaps he's grown sleeker, taken advantage of improved technologies, or perhaps gotten a little wide around the belly.

Everything's back in Cowboy Bebop the movie. Because of the characters and plot as we know it, the movie probably occurs somewhere in the late teen episodes or early twenties episodes of the series, which has a positive and a negative effect. If you've already watched the series, then certain things don't surprise you since you know what happens to the characters later. Furthermore, because this was produced after the series, it also doesn't get to tangle with the central storyline of the series (they mythology), where the series, which was excellent even in the anthology episodes, really shined. On the plus side, it hits where we're most familiar with the series, before things get super serious and with the characters in the state that they spent most of the series.

The story deals with a bioterror threat and the Cowboys get caught up in it, while trying to nab bounties to make a little change while in an urban city. There is no space travel or dogfights in space, but The Movie does take efforts to include a little of everything that the series has had (minus the mythos), so expect to see martial arts, gunplay, dogfights (but not in space), goofing off, hungry characters, Ed being silly and such.

Unfortunately, the story only lives up to the high standard of a stand-alone episode of Cowboy Bebop, but despite the fact that The Movie is considerably longer than an episode, it all flows along smoothly and feels like you just watched a good two-parter rather than an episode that's been dragged out. Nonetheless, since we hardly get into the Cowboy characters, the story doesn't have the same resonance of the stronger episodes in the series. Instead we get to go deeper into a pair of characters for the movie, who have somewhat interesting stories, but aren't strong enough to really carry the emotional heft of the film since they aren't the protagonists.

The art, on the other hand, is still gorgeous and the movie benefits from the widescreen aspect ratio as well as what appears to be an improved budget for the animation, as everything, from backgrounds to characters, are treated with a wonderful level of detail. There are a few scenes involving butterflies that are absolutely beautiful to look at. Furthermore, the sound benefits from a great surround sound mix, adding directionality and heft to the soundtrack. Finally, the score by Yoko Kanno is delicious to listen to and perfectly brings you back into the series while presenting some absolutely stunning new songs in the mix as well.

Overall, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie is a fun ride. Although, in the end, it's not as strong (story-wise) as the more compelling episodes of the series, the art, the sound, the music and just getting to spend a little more time again with characters you've come to know and love makes this a thoroughly enjoyable film. Recommended for Cowboy Bebop fans--but you must watch at least most of the series before watching this. 8/10.

Details

Official Sites:

BONES [Japan] Funimation Films [United States]

Country:

Japan USA

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

16 May 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heavens Door

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$234,429, 6 April 2003

Gross USA:

$1,000,045

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,007,903

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bandai Visual Company, Bones, Destination Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1