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:

They're here to save the planet. But not for free.

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Genres:

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

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is set close to 2071. This means the Dr.I Dreidecker seen towards the end is over 150 years old.

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Goofs

Spike's hair changes from green to black repeatedly throughout the movie.

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Quotes

Jet: Great, a wannabe preacher with a gun...

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Crazy Credits

After the closing credits we are taken back to the Bebop living room. Spike naps on the couch. Spike: He was just all alone. He couldn't enjoy a game with anyone else. Like living in a dream... That's the kind of man he was... He spots a butterfly in the air and grabs it. He opens his hand. Nothing is there. TEXT: ARE YOU LIVING IN THE REAL WORLD?

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Alternate Versions

When Faye walks into the weather control center in the original Japanese version, the staff asks what she's doing there. She responds, "Can't you tell? I'm an average terrorist." The English dubbed version changes the line to, "Can't you tell? I'm just a gun-toting weather girl." to be more politically correct.

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Connections

Referenced in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: Body Odor Penalty (2019)

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Soundtracks

Pushing the Sky
Vocals by Mai Yamane
Music Composed by Yôko Kanno

User Reviews

BEBOP RULES!!!!!

I've been one of the lucky people able to see Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door at the box office. It kicks so much ### on so many levels. Featuring just about the entire main TV series cast at one point or another(with the exception of TV villain Vicious), it is one of the best movies I've seen in 2003.

The plot is a bit haunting, especially with the bad guy being a bio-terrorist, but then again, this was made back in 2001, before any of the stuff was going to happen. I'm not going to say much, except it is a bit hard to understand if you only see it once. Also, it helps to better understand the characters if you've seen the TV series.

Yoko Kanno once again composes the music, and it's awesome. Just about every tune perfectly fits in with the scenes.

And what scenes they are. The action scenes kick dirt in the faces of most live action movies I've seen recently. The fight scenes literally make the weak action in the Matrix films look like ballet. Just see the fight at the end of the film and you'll know what I mean. It's just...... wow. I can't really describe it without spoiling anything, and I do not want to do that. Another thing good about animation... you can get away with stuff you could never do in live films, without a ton of CGI. This helps when you see some really big animation stunt. And of course, it couldn't be CB without one of those awesome chases in Spike's ship, the swordfish.

BOTTOM LINE: With the DVD out at most stores, including places like Walmart, you have no excuse to miss this thrill ride.

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