Product Description

Metropolis is a grand city-state populated by humans and robots the cohabitants of a strictly segmented society. Amidst the chaos created by anti-robot factions detective shunsaku ban and his sidekick ken-ichi are searching for rebel scientist dr. Laughton to arrest him and seize his latest creation. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 05/27/2003 Starring: Animated Run time: 109 minutes Rating: Pg13

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10279 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2002-04-23
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English, French, Japanese
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Georgian, Chinese, Thai
• Dubbed in: English, French
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 108 minutes

Amazon.com
Adapted from Osamu Tezuka's 1949 manga, Metropolis (in Japanese with English subtitles) is an opulently beautiful film that fails to present a coherent story worthy of its extraordinary visuals. Evil Duke Red (voice by Taro Ishida) plans to rule the world from Ziggurat, his newly completed art deco tower. A new robot is being developed by his henchman Dr. Laughton (Junpei Takeguchi) to control all the machines in the world from Ziggurat. Japanese detective Shunsaku Ban (Kousei Tomita) and his nephew Kenichi (Kei Kobayashi) arrive in Metropolis in pursuit of Laughton and are plunged into Red's plot. When the duke's maniacal adopted son Rock (Kohki Okada) attacks Laughton's hidden lab, Kenichi and the waiflike android Tima (Yuka Imoto) flee into the city's subterranean slums and fall in love. Despite a protracted series of chases and violent shootouts, there's little excitement and less character development. Director Rintaro (Hayashi Shigeyuki) borrows heavily from Fritz Lang's 1926 Metropolis, Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, and Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, but his staging makes much of the action hard to follow. The film takes an unintentionally hilarious turn when Ziggurat crumbles to Ray Charles's "I Can't Stop Loving You." The computer-generated skyscrapers, machines, and airships offer dazzling vistas of an overscaled and sinister deco-dystopia. But Tezuka's flat little characters, with their big eyes, round noses, and bubble-shaped feet, don't fit into that realistic three-dimensional environment. MPAA rating: PG. Contains considerable violence and grotesque imagery. --Charles Solomon

DVD features
The 3 1/4-inch "pocket DVD" includes production drawings, two scenes in various stages of production, and a short biography of Osamu Tezuka, the "god of manga," who was instrumental in creating both the animation and manga industries in Japan. The interesting but often frustrating making-of featurette focuses on director Rintaro, screenwriter Katsuhiro Otomo, voice actors Yuka Imoto (Tima) and Kei Kobayashi (Kenichi), and composer Toshiyuki Honda. Curiously, Rintaro and Otomo agree that Tezuka would never have given them permission to film this early manga; Rintaro adds that he fears being haunted by Tezuka's ghost. Honda explains why he needed to create a memorable theme song for the film, but not why he used a New Orleans jazz idiom. Although they include brief remarks from the computer graphics crew, the documentarians neglect the artists who designed the dazzling art deco skyscrapers that dominate the title city--and the film. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Remarkable
Well, for once I will not cut corners around this review, this film must be watched by everyone. It could quite possibly be the most well-done anime of all time.

Now, to start off with the basics, "Metropolis" is a state-of-the-art anime that was based off of the old Osamu Tezuka ("The God of Manga", creator of "Astro Boy," "Kimba," and "Adolf" to name a few) comic from 1949. It's modern update was written by Katsuhiro Otomo ("Robot Carnival," and "Akira") and directed by Rintaro ("X:The Movie," and "Galaxy Express 999"). But you all know that after reading the shallow Amazon review from above.

The film's story has been brought up again and again, so I won't go into it that much. However, I will say this, the story is executed in a form in which I would call "Noir Disney." Don't worry, it's nothing bad, it's just saying that although the film looks like it takes a childish approach to things, it tends to be a bit more on the dark side. Thus, the film seems like a very interesting blend of two different genres. Besides, Otomo takes extreme cautions with the script, knowing that the material it's based on is nearly half a century old.

Characters are something to gleam over as well. Unlike "Akira," "Ghost in the Shell," or "Arcadia of my Youth" the characters have a full understanding of their emoitions. This can be credited not only to the superb animation, but also to the very talented JAPANESE (not English) voice cast. It is very easy to fall in love with all of these characters. From the robot, Pero, to the detective Shunsaku Ban, even to the enigmatic Rock of the Marduk. A rarity even in Disney movies.

The animation is the real star of the show. Blanding extraordinary CGI and traditional Tezuka-style characters, the artwork teems with both powerful and simple energy that radiates from ever cell of animation. Madhouse Studios ("Ninja Scroll," "Trigun," "Cardcaptor Sakura," and several others) spent a LOT of time and effort on these breath-taking visuals. Whats more, they even put in enough effort to make the film seem as if it were alive. For example, in one scene, Shunsaku Ban is reading a book, he flips the page, but the page flips back (as it would in real life) and he turns the page back to where it was. Don't see my point? Well, considering that animation is a technique that requires A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT, the fact that they would put something as small as that gives the film a certain clarity not seen today.

Last note, the soundtrack....wow. Everything about the music is so...so...I don't know, vivid, alive, real...I could throw out a lot of adjectives here. Its basically Dixie-Land Jazz played in the background and foreground throughout the entire film. It captures just about everything in the movie. From the city scapes, to the chase scenes, even to the little scenes like people in a bar. What's the shining note is the climax song, Ray Charles' "I Can't Stop Loving You," I won't spoil the ending but I will just say this, "Dr. Strangelove" anyone?

In the end, "Metroplis" is a landmark in anime. EVERYONE should buy the DVD when it comes out, or just go to the theaters. Believe me, it is time worth spent. And if your an anime fan, you have more of a reason to go. You can't be a true otaku simply by watching "Fushigi Yugi" and "Utena" all day long. Do yourself a favor and watch this. There, I said my piece.

-RW

"I Can't Stop Loving You"
Between 1947 and 1949, Osamu Tezuka - who was to become the world's best-known anime producer - issued a small series of manga about a world of the future where industrialization, robots and humanity are all at odds. Sharp class differences also contribute to the tensions of a world largely in the hands of the power hungry. Now, 50 years later, Rintaro, another famous name in anime has decided to create an film from the original manga, sparing no effort or expense.

We find Metropolis in the throes of a celebration. Duke Red has completed the Ziggurat, an immensely tall building whose central tower conceals a solar weapon that will make the city the capital of the world, and Duke Red its ruler. The intricate politics of Metropolis are based on three tiers - the upper class, a vast and impoverished lower class, and beneath all else, the robots. There is great conflict over the role of the robots. Many fear them, and an anti-robot faction called the Marduks watch the streets, ready to destroy and automaton that acts out of line. Duke Red is the power behind the Marduks, but secretly he has hired Dr. Laughton, a criminal scientist, to build a super robot in the image of his daughter. This is Tima, whose destiny is to command the weapon hidden in the top of the Ziggurat.

Into this come Shinsaku Ban and his nephew Kenichi. Shinsaku is a detective, come from Japan to track down Dr. Laughton. As he is doing this, Duke Red's adopted son Rock, leader of the Marduks, is plotting to destroy Laughton's lab and Tima with it. The resulting conflagration catapults Kenichi and Tima into a wild race for life with Rock right behind them. On the way, we get to see much of Metropolis's underground, bringing home the social message.

The real thrust of the plot, as is often the case with anime involving robots and cyborgs is the question of what is human and what is not. Or whether that should even make a difference. Tima, who does not know she is not human, finds she is capable of wonder, love, and fear. Is she a soul in the making or a flawed machine? If she had never met Kenichi this would have been a far bitterer film, and the white doves would never get to fly.

Not only is the artwork remarkable, but this is an exquisite piece of animation, smoothly combining CGI and two-dimensional animation. Sometimes the entire screen seems to be in motion. An agile eye will pick up new details on each watching. Toshiyuki Honda's music is equally satisfying. It is interesting that Tezuka refused to have this story made into a film during his life. Apparently, he thought of 'Metropolis' as an early and not especially successful effort. However, Rintaro and writer Katsuhiro Otomo (of 'Akira' fame) have much modified and expanded the story. This is a commonplace when a manga is converted to the screen, since many Japanese anime producers avoid slavish imitation if they have an opportunity to break new ground. I like to think that Tezuka would have been impressed with Rintaro's efforts even if 'Metropolis' was no longer just his story.

Strong Plot, But Never Fully Develops Its Ideas
Based on Manga by Osamu Tenzuka (the "Godfather" of anime responsible for the familiar doe-eyed look) and adapted to the screen by Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), "Metropolis" only bears passing resemblance to the Fritz Lang film that obviously inspired it. While the animation is breathtaking and the story good, it never fully delves into the possibilities of the various philosophical problems it raises: artificial intelligence, surrender of freedom for security, and responsibility of outsiders to do the right thing. As a result, "Metropolis" ends up coming off as a really, really nice piece of fluff - one that, unfortunately, cannot compete with other `serious' anime titles like Princess Mononoke, Akira, or Grave of the Fireflies.

The story alternates between Kenichi, the son of a Japanese private eye sent to the gigantic future-city of Metropolis to find a doctor who is accused of making illegal human-robot hybrids, and Rock, a slightly off-kilter policeman who is head of the fascist-leaning goon squads that kill robots and revolutionaries with equal gusto. When Rock discovers that his adoptive father, a powerful Duke who plans on taking over Metropolis, has ordered the creation of a robot that resembles his dead daughter, he attempts to kill her, but she falls into the city's seedy robot/worker underworld where she meets Kenichi. He forms a bond with her, but her innocence is soon replaced as she realizes she was created for one purpose: the completion of a mysterious ziggurat that sits at the center of Metropolis. As the story moves towards its inevitable, Akira-esque conclusion, the revolutionary workers in the city attempt to gain control, although it becomes clear they are merely pawns of a larger force.

As other reviewers have noted, it's difficult not to see the strains of other movies in this one: Akira most notably, but Ghost in the Shell as well, and probably quite a few others. It's not a problem, but it makes "Metropolis" seem a little soul-less - as if it were cobbled together from stolen parts. The good parts of Fritz Lang's classic are present, but incredibly watered-down - robots with souls, workers revolting, and arrogance in power. Again, these concepts are never fully explored, leaving the viewer wondering, `great, well, what next?' It should be noted, however, that the soundtrack is a lively collection of old jazz, blues, and swing tunes, and adds a very unique side to Metropolis - probably its most outstanding feature.

While many of the backgrounds are rendered, the animation is far more fluid and traditional than other recent computer-assisted efforts, most notably the short and rocky "Blood-The Last Vampire." While the viewer notices them, it's never a distraction. The characters are all animated with the traditional `super-deformed' large heads, hands, and feet, and of course eyes the size of dinner plates (if you're a cute character, anyway). The DVD is the perfect exhibition ground for this movie, as its presented in stunning anamorphic widescreen that looks so good it hurts. The colors are lush and clear, and there are two DD 5.1 soundtracks (one English, one Japanese) and - an anime first - the original Japanese track in bass-blowing DTS. There are subtitles for the purists (and hard of hearing), of course, but the dub is pretty darn good. The extras are all contained on a second small DVD similar to promotional CDs they used to hand out. It's more of a gimmick than anything, but it's your standard making-of fare and interviews. In other words, you'll watch it once and forget about it.

Metropolis should probably stay in the "rent it before you buy it" category, especially if you are used to more depth from your anime. It's one of those movies that grows on you, and you end up liking it despite its problems.