Rating: 
Summary: Perfectly Watchable But Basically A Jazzed-Up TV Episode
Review: * Fans of the PATLABOR anime series know the basic scenario:
in the near future, big robotic machines known as "Labors"
are common in industrial and military roles, and to combat
crimes performed by Labors a police "Patrol Labor" group is
set up. The heroes of the series are the personnel of
"Patlabor Division 2", a self-described "gang of losers" that
manage to get things done in spite of a maverick reputation.The PATLABOR 1 movie involves Division 2 dealing with a rash
of Labors running amok, with suspicion falling on the operating
system for the Labors. Suspiciously, the chief designer of the
OS, an E. Hoba, committed suicide under bizarre circumstances.
The devious Captain Goto of Division 2 enlists (using a
little trickery) officer Asuma Shinohara to get to the bottom
of things, and soon a frightening plot emerges ... The PATLABOR 1 movie is a reasonably well put together piece
of work, with good (if not extraordinary) production values, and an intelligent (if not extraordinary) script. It is certainly
better than much of the indifferent anime that gets churned
out on a regular basis by Japan's animation studios.
However, PATLABOR 1 is basically just a scaled-up PATLABOR
TV episode, and the only thing it really brings to the party
is better production values over the TV show. If you like the PATLABOR TV series, you'll probably like this
movie. If you were lukewarm on the TV series, you might not
find the movie very stimulating. In comparison to the
follow-on and outstanding PATLABOR 2 movie, it looks more like
a creditable practice exercise for producer Mamoru Oshii,
preparing him for better work to come.
Rating:
Summary: Perfectly Watchable But Basically A Jazzed-Up TV Episode
Review: * Fans of the PATLABOR anime series know the basic scenario:
in the near future, big robotic machines known as "Labors"
are common in industrial and military roles, and to combat
crimes performed by Labors a police "Patrol Labor" group is
set up. The heroes of the series are the personnel of
"Patlabor Division 2", a self-described "gang of losers" that
manage to get things done in spite of a maverick reputation. The PATLABOR 1 movie involves Division 2 dealing with a rash
of Labors running amok, with suspicion falling on the operating
system for the Labors. Suspiciously, the chief designer of the
OS, an E. Hoba, committed suicide under bizarre circumstances.
The devious Captain Goto of Division 2 enlists (using a
little trickery) officer Asuma Shinohara to get to the bottom
of things, and soon a frightening plot emerges ... The PATLABOR 1 movie is a reasonably well put together piece
of work, with good (if not extraordinary) production values, and an intelligent (if not extraordinary) script. It is certainly
better than much of the indifferent anime that gets churned
out on a regular basis by Japan's animation studios.
However, PATLABOR 1 is basically just a scaled-up PATLABOR
TV episode, and the only thing it really brings to the party
is better production values over the TV show. If you like the PATLABOR TV series, you'll probably like this
movie. If you were lukewarm on the TV series, you might not
find the movie very stimulating. In comparison to the
follow-on and outstanding PATLABOR 2 movie, it looks more like
a creditable practice exercise for producer Mamoru Oshii,
preparing him for better work to come.
Rating: 
Summary: Simply Breathtaking
Review: A more than slight change (for the better) from the origanal tv series. I love this movie, the plot is so engulfing that once I started watching it, I couldn't stop. Set in the future, Labors (mechs) are very common. When some of the work labors go on the rampage and start reiking havok, it's up to Azuma, Noah and her labor Alphonse to get to the top of this mystery and solve it. The animation is beautiful with simply awesome city shots and stunning character animation. The character design is great. Everyone has a different personality, which brings life to this great anime. Like other reviewers have said, this isn't an action packed movie (though it does have its moments), but don't let that discurage you from buying it. All in all, this is one of my favorite animes (ranking up there with Akira, Mononoke, and M.P.). Get your stinking credit card and buy it!!
Rating:
Summary: Deep and thought-provoking near-future sci-fi
Review: A superb example as to how animated science fiction can tease a viewer's mind with an intriguing story and subtle directing rather than with just explosions, screaming, and giant robots. But it has those as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Complex and Detailed Anime...VERY GOOD !
Review: All positive comments are right on. Beware, there is not a lot of action but the caracters and plot are interesting enough to follow and enjoy. I am highly dissapointed by the DVD encoding. Who ever did the encoding did a poor job which is a bummer especially when the anime is good and deserves better !
Rating:
Summary: A great film, period
Review: Anyone who likes anime owes it to themselves to see the Patlabor movies. The series itself is a lot of fun with it's quirky characters and off-beat approach to police drama, but the movies take this formula to a new level of poeticism. Oshii polishes his style, later institutionalized by Ghost in the Shell, with these two films. This first film concerns a new operating system for "Labor" robots that seems to have a few, less-than-accidental bugs. It is up to Division 2 to figure out what is going on before it is too late. Anyone not willing to pay attention to subtle dialog may get bored with this movie but everyone else will revel in it's beautifully presented, vaguely political drama. The disk is supposedly "digitally remastered". Maybe it is just me, but the picture seems grainy at times and even appears to harbor some color bleed and shadowing. It's a little disappointing for an otherwise visually stunning film. At least it is letterbox. The audio is Dolby 5.1 in English, stereo for the Japanese. This kind of dub is the reason fans beg for subtitles. The translation is ok, but obscures more often than it clarifies. The real trouble is the acting which just doesn't seem convincing for the characters. The best performance was probably Noa, the lead female character. At any rate, watch it subtitled for best results. Patlabor 1 the Movie deserves a disk that is as polished as the story and didn't quite get it. I give it 4 stars for the strength of the content, not package.
Rating:
Summary: I own them all.
Review: Every episode, every movie. It's not so much the machines nor the tech that makes the series so appealing to me. It's the characters themselves and the way that they interact with each other. After a few episodes, one can see the little quirks and ideosyncracies of each, and little bits of humor pop out of nowhere. Of course, it does help if you understand Japanese. The emotional content and impact gets soooo lost in the translation. :)
Rating:
Summary: The Blade Runner of anime.
Review: I got interested into Mamoru Oshii's work after I saw the stunning "Ghost in the shell" and I have to say that I wasn't disappointed by this earlier release. It's an ambitious movie, that tries to renew the typical mecha-action story, and succeeds thanks to a multi-layered , complex plot that blends seamlessly science-fiction and detective story, very realistic in its premises (the mechas are very much everyday tools) but also with many interesting twists (the investigation scenes in the slums of Tokyo have an intriguingly surreal quality to them) True, it's not a relentless, action-packed movie, but I think that the battle scenes (the one in the streets of Tokyo is splendid!)have a stronger impact on the viewer when they make sense in the context of a story, and this is the case. The final climax, maybe, is not as powerful as I expected, but that's a minor flaw, because the rest is so good. Also , this is a movie, not a tv-series, so it has the kind of top-notch quality usually reserved to theatrical releases: superior character design, wonderfully "fluid" animation, and incredibly detailed machines, mechas, landscapes etc. The sequel is supposed to be even better, and I'll get it for sure. Strongly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The Blade Runner of anime.
Review: I got interested into Mamoru Oshii's work after I saw the stunning "Ghost in the shell" and I have to say that I wasn't disappointed by this earlier release. It's an ambitious movie, that tries to renew the typical mecha-action story, and succeeds thanks to a multi-layered , complex plot that blends seamlessly science-fiction and detective story, very realistic in its premises (the mechas are very much everyday tools) but also with many interesting twists (the investigation scenes in the slums of Tokyo have an intriguingly surreal quality to them) True, it's not a relentless, action-packed movie, but I think that the battle scenes (the one in the streets of Tokyo is splendid!)have a stronger impact on the viewer when they make sense in the context of a story, and this is the case. The final climax, maybe, is not as powerful as I expected, but that's a minor flaw, because the rest is so good. Also , this is a movie, not a tv-series, so it has the kind of top-notch quality usually reserved to theatrical releases: superior character design, wonderfully "fluid" animation, and incredibly detailed machines, mechas, landscapes etc. The sequel is supposed to be even better, and I'll get it for sure. Strongly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: For once an anime that is NOT an action film...completly
Review: I need to start by saying I have not watched anything but the Patlabor Movies so I have no clue what the series is all about. I also need to say that I bought this film on the heels of watching Macross Plus, my favorite anime EVER, and was expecting an action mech film. Boy was I suprised.
The first time I watched this, I literally fast forwarded through most of it to get the the action. Imagine my dismay when I got there and there seemed to be NONE! I threw down the movie in disgust and left.
Weeks later my friend who got me into Anime saw it and asked to watch it. I told him I thought it was crap but why not. This time...I actually watched the movie and I was blown away with its deep story, amazing imagination and palpable theme of discovery and mystery. For plot line and story, look at the other reviews, I'm just here to give opinion.
Patlabor uses Labors, or mecha, not as show stealing engines of destruction but as obvious evolutions of police enforcement. As such, there is no flashy gundam style energy exchange or more deliberate destruction of the mechwarrior fame. But what you do get is a deep plot of industrial espionage, mysterious dissapearences and a suprisingly realistic look at what future law enforcement would actually look like, detective work too.
In the end, I realized that all anime need not be about amazing action. Patlabor has a pretty good action scene towards the end but that is not why I suggest this movie. I say watch this because it shows what anime can also bring to our DVD players. A well written, well studied movie that would probably crash at the box office because everyone expects it to shoot stuff.
|
