In 1860s Britain, a boy inventor finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly conflict over a revolutionary advance in steam power.In 1860s Britain, a boy inventor finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly conflict over a revolutionary advance in steam power.In 1860s Britain, a boy inventor finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly conflict over a revolutionary advance in steam power.
- Awards
- 3 wins
Anna Paquin
- James Ray Steam
- (English version)
- (voice)
Patrick Stewart
- Dr. Lloyd Steam
- (English version)
- (voice)
Alfred Molina
- Dr. Eddie Steam
- (English version)
- (voice)
Anne Suzuki
- James Ray Steam
- (voice)
Ikki Sawamura
- David
- (voice)
Susumu Terajima
- Freddie
- (voice)
Osamu Saka
- Army General
- (voice)
Keiko Aizawa
- Mrs. Steam
- (voice)
Mark Bramhall
- Alfred Smith
- (English version)
- (voice)
Oliver Cotton
- Robert Stephenson
- (English version)
- (voice)
Robin Atkin Downes
- David
- (English version)
- (voice)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBegan production in 1995 and, because of financial problems, it was put on hiatus during 1998. Production companies Production I.G. and Sunrise got involved and brought the movie back in production. A total of eight years was spent on making the movie.
- GoofsDuring the opening ceremonies of the Great London Exhibition, the Tower Bridge is featured prominently. The Exhibition took place in 1851, while construction of the Tower Bridge didn't even begin until 1886. The movie is set in 1866: neither of these should exist at this time.
- Quotes
Dr. Loyd Steam: An invention with no philosophy behind it is a curse.
- Crazy creditsUnder the end credits, images of future events in the lives of the characters are shown.
- Alternate versionsTwo versions were released in theaters, one was the original 126 minute Japanese cut, while the other was a 106 minute English dub cut.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Katsuhiro Otomo Cinema Anthology (2005)
Featured review
An extraordinarily inventive depiction of an alternative 'steampunk' Victorian era, but plotwise, it's as vapid as anything produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.
The latest film from the director of Akira, Katsuhiro Ôtomo, is a pacy thriller anime set in an alternate 1850s London, in the middle of the industrial age. Rai Steam is the third in a line of engineer inventors who dreams of going to the first ever Great Exhibition when his grandfather unexpectedly returns from the United States with an new invention, the steamball. About the size of a bowling ball, the steamball is a source of immense, self-renewing power and the people who funded the invention want it back at any price. Rai escapes on his steam-powered unicycle, and the race is on. On the way, he encounters a steam-powered cyborg, a giant steam-powered "Death Star" and a feisty, economic rationalist sidekick, the Gone With The Wind-inspired Miss Scarlett (Manami Konishi).
While the plot is nothing new and very much in the Hollywood thriller style, the inventiveness of the world Steamboy is set in is exhilarating. Imagine steam-powered individual submarines, flying machines and more, all drawn in painstaking detail with thousands of cogs and wheels all impacting on each other. Although some CGI is used, most of the film's made in the traditional anime style around 180 000 individual pictures were used to make Steamboy, and it shows.
Steamboy's a rip-roaring 'steampunk' piece of entertainment, complete with an insane despot who plans to take over the world. Although it's strange to see a film set in London where all the (Anglo) characters are speaking Japanese, it's best not to take Steamboy too seriously. Comic relief is provided by Miss Scarlett and Rai's grandfather, Loyd Steam (Katsuo Nakamura). Loyd Steam also speaks for the natural order, something that's often found in Japanese anime and was inspired by both the animist former national religion, Shinto, and the WWII atomic bombings. Unlike Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke, however, it's barely touched on here. Steamboy succeeds because of the fantastic imagination behind the animation, not for its philosophy. ***½/***** stars.
While the plot is nothing new and very much in the Hollywood thriller style, the inventiveness of the world Steamboy is set in is exhilarating. Imagine steam-powered individual submarines, flying machines and more, all drawn in painstaking detail with thousands of cogs and wheels all impacting on each other. Although some CGI is used, most of the film's made in the traditional anime style around 180 000 individual pictures were used to make Steamboy, and it shows.
Steamboy's a rip-roaring 'steampunk' piece of entertainment, complete with an insane despot who plans to take over the world. Although it's strange to see a film set in London where all the (Anglo) characters are speaking Japanese, it's best not to take Steamboy too seriously. Comic relief is provided by Miss Scarlett and Rai's grandfather, Loyd Steam (Katsuo Nakamura). Loyd Steam also speaks for the natural order, something that's often found in Japanese anime and was inspired by both the animist former national religion, Shinto, and the WWII atomic bombings. Unlike Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke, however, it's barely touched on here. Steamboy succeeds because of the fantastic imagination behind the animation, not for its philosophy. ***½/***** stars.
helpful•3310
- colettesplace
- Dec 17, 2004
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Cậu Bé Hơi Nước
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $22,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $468,867
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $136,148
- Mar 20, 2005
- Gross worldwide
- $10,870,198
- Runtime2 hours 6 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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