Returner (2002)

A young woman from the future forces a local gunman to help her stop an impending alien invasion which will wipe out the human race.

Director:

Takashi Yamazaki

Writers:

Kenya Hirata, Takashi Yamazaki

Stars:

Takeshi Kaneshiro, Anne Suzuki, Gorô Kishitani

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Takeshi Kaneshiro	...	Miyamoto
Anne Suzuki	...	Milly
Kirin Kiki	...	Xie
Gorô Kishitani	...	Mizoguchi
Yukiko Okamoto	...	Dr. Yagi
Mitsu Murata	...	Mizoguchi's Henchman
Kisuke Iida	...	Mizoguchi's Henchman
Kazuya Shimizu	...	Mizoguchi's Henchman
Chiharu Kawai	...	Liu's Interpreter
Dean Harrington	...	Dr. Brown
Xiaoqun Zhao	...	Slave Merchant
Masaya Takahashi	...	Liu Laoban
Kenji Motomiya	...	Mizoguchi's Henchman
Hôshi Ishida	...	Shifan (as Hoshi Ishida)
Misako Nagashima

Storyline

In 2084, the mankind is near total annihilation by alien invaders. Milly, a young woman from the Earth resistance, uses a time machine and returns to October, 2002, trying to avoid the beginning of alien invasion and the war. In her arrival in a ship, she is rescued and saved from the Yakuza evil boss Mizoguchi by a hit-man called Miyamot. Using unconventional methods, Milly forces Miyamoto to help her to save the human race.

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Plot Keywords:

hitman | alien | time traveler | time travel | post apocalypse | 

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Taglines:

Who cares about the future?

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence

Details

Official Sites:

YouTube - trailer #1 [HD] (Flash) (English)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English Mandarin

Release Date:

31 August 2002 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Returner

Filming Locations:

Himeji, Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$29,214, 19 October 2003, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$69,886, 2 November 2003

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amuse,Fuji Television Network,Imagica Corp.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The handgun Milly uses through out the movie is a Walther P99.

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Goofs

During the highway chase when the car is blown into the air and falls back down, the cable that was used by the crane to lift the car up into the air so they could drop it again is visible as the vehicle crashes to the ground.

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Quotes

Miyamoto: El dente won't be the same without you

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Connections

References Back to the Future (1985)

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Soundtracks

Dig In
Performed by Lenny Kravitz

User Reviews

Pretty good, but has its slow moments

This has admittedly taken a lot of inspiration from Matrix, Terminator, Independence Day, ET, Predator, and probably a few others that I didn't notice. However, it seems more like a tribute to the movies, than a lazy ripoff, as it treats the source material with the respect it requires. The plot is very good, it borrows heavily from Terminator, but it gives it a bit of a twist that is pretty interesting. The science fiction portion of the movie is pretty good; the effects are nothing short of stunning and mind-blowing. The CGI totally mixes in perfectly with the live action, without at any point in the movie looking out of place. The action sequences are fantastic; sure, the action is often heavily inspired by films like The Matrix, but they pull it off pretty good. Some sequences leave you yearning for more. The acting is pretty good. I saw it with English audio, so I can't really say anything about the original actors voices, but the English/American voice actors did their job well. The only negative thing I can say about the film, is that the plot drags a bit in some places. At certain times, the movie seemed to not move on at all. However, this is only a few instances in the first part of the movie, and no one should be discouraged from watching it simply because of that. It's a damn good action/sci-fi movie, as long as you can accept that the concept is not particularly original. I recommend this to anyone who liked The Matrix, or similar films. 8/10