Patlabor 1
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

is a 1989 Japanese animated
science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses Speculative fiction, speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as Extraterrestrial life in fiction, extraterrestria ...
directed by
Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of acclaimed anime films, including ''Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer'' (1984), ''Angel's Egg'' (1985), '' ...
and written by
Kazunori Itō is a Japanese anime screenwriter and artist who is well known for his work in the '' .hack'' franchise and his writing for the 1995 ''Ghost in the Shell'' movie. Itō supervised the writing for the novel, '' .hack//Another Birth'' which was wri ...
, with an original story by
Headgear Headgear, headwear, or headdress is any element of clothing which is worn on one's Human head, head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protective clothing, protection against t ...
. It was produced by
Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and ...
, Tohokushinsha and animated by I.G. Tatsunoko. It is a sequel to ''Patlabor: The Early Days''
OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...
mini-series.


Plot

Set in 1999,
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
is undergoing a huge re-development program: old suburbs are being demolished and human-made islands are being constructed in
Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...
under the Babylon Project. The largest construction site is the Ark, a huge man-made island that serves at the Project's nerve center and chief Labor manufacturing facility. However, several of the Labors being used in Tokyo, specifically those built by Shinohara Heavy Industries, suddenly activate and go haywire, even while unpiloted. The
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department The , known locally as simply the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), is the prefectural police of Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. Founded in 1874, the TMPD is the largest police force in Japan by number of officers, with a staff of more than 4 ...
's (TMPD) 2nd Special Vehicles Section (SV2) is assigned to help neutralize the malfunctioning Labors, but only the SV2's Division II is on duty around-the-clock (with Division I already on training duties elsewhere). The JGSDF is also preoccupied as they send their own forces to stop an HOS-equipped TYPE-X10 Labor tank prototype. As Division II goes out on the field, team commander Captain Gotoh, Sgt Asuma Shinohara, and mechanic Shige Shiba work with police Detective Matsui to find further leads on the case. They discover that all the malfunctioning Labors, plus other Labors in the
Greater Tokyo Area The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world, consisting of the Kantō region of Japan (including Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis and the prefectures of Chiba Prefecture, Chiba, Gunma Prefecture, Gunma, Ibaraki Prefecture, ...
, were equipped with the company's new Hyper Operating System (HOS). Low-frequency resonance emanating from wind-struck high-rise buildings triggers the erratic behavior in these units. To SV2 pilot Noa Izumi's relief, no copies of the software were installed in Division II's AV98 Ingram police Labors. They also learn that HOS programmer Eiichi Hoba, who had committed suicide days before, was obsessed with the Babylon Project's Biblical references (the Ark being alluded to Noah's Ark, for example; his own name. E. Hoba—
Jehovah Jehovah () is a Romanization, Latinization of the Hebrew language, Hebrew , one Tiberian vocalization, vocalization of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the proper name of the God in Judaism, God of Israel in the Hebrew BibleOld Testament. The Tetr ...
—for another) and planted a self replicating virus in the code that would cause Labors to malfunction. A computer simulation predicts that gale-force winds acting on the Ark could send all the Labors in Tokyo into a massive rampage, especially since the Ark's size and steel framework amplifies the resonance frequencies causing them to reach farther into the city. Worse, the weather bureau announces that a typhoon is expected to hit Tokyo within two days. Gotoh discreetly gets clearance from the TMPD leadership to destroy the Ark as Shige tries to dig up more evidence of Hoba's guilt to justify the operation. Kanuka Clancy returns from the US to help in the raid. Division II attaches flotation bags to their vehicles and head out to the Ark. Malfunctioning HOS-equipped Labors engage the team as soon as they land on the Ark. Ingram pilots Noa and Ohta, plus Kanuka in a hijacked AV-X0 TYPE-0 police Labor prototype, buys time for Hiromi, Asuma and Shinshi to break into the control room and activate the Ark's self-destruct sequence. However, Kanuka loses control over the TYPE-0 in the chaos because it runs on HOS as well. Trapped by the TYPE-0 in one of the last remaining ledges, Noa climbs out of her damaged Ingram and fires her shotgun into the Labor’s S-RAM system to finally shut it down. With the successful destruction of the Ark, SV2 sends helicopters to rescue the team.


Development

The Biblical references in the movie were due to Oshii being inspired by Noa's name's similarity to
Noah Noah (; , also Noach) appears as the last of the Antediluvian Patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5–9), the Quran and Baháʼí literature, ...
, and he reused some concepts from his cancelled ''
Lupin the Third , also written as ''Lupin the Third'', ''Lupin the 3rd'', or ''Lupin the IIIrd'', is a Japanese media franchise created by Monkey Punch. The series follows the endeavors of master thief Lupin III, grandson of gentleman thief Arsène Lupin, jo ...
'' movie as a result, with the ark being the equivalent of the cancelled film's tower of Babel. The plotline involving the architect and mastermind having committed suicide before the start of the story was also taken from the cancelled film. Oshii also wanted to reuse part of the cancelled film's ending, but was stopped by other staff members such as Izubuchi. He would later go on to use that ending for the live action film '' THE NEXT GENERATION Patlabor: Shuto Kessen''.


Voice actors


Home media

The first two ''Patlabor'' films have been released on DVD numerous times. The original release uses the same master as the Laserdisc release and offers stereo Japanese. The next release featured remastered non-anamorphic letterbox video. The original North American DVD release from
Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1991, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...
featured a VHS transfer and the original Manga UK English dub. The third release, which the latest R1s from
Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America. Most of the anime and ...
use, features remastered anamorphic letterbox video and 5.1 sound. The US release features a new English dub produced by Bandai Visual. The Australian Madman/ Manga UK R4 release uses the Australian Manga VHS master, and includes remixed 5.1 Manga UK dub and the original 2.0 Japanese dub. . In 2008, both movies were released in Japan on Blu-ray with English audio and English subtitles. It was licensed in Europe by Beez Entertainment.
Section23 Films SXION 23 LLC, doing business as Section23 Films, is an American multimedia distributor based in Houston, Texas specializing in releasing anime and Japanese films. Established in 2009, Section23 is one of five successors to ADV Films; alongside ...
has licensed all three ''Patlabor'' films and the first film on Blu-ray and DVD was released on May 5, 2015.


Legacy

Animations from the movie were used extensively in the music video " Juke Joint Jezebel" by
KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial rock band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art proje ...
.MTV's Primestar Boost; Japanimation Rocks by Brett Atwood, page 47, Billboard, 19 Aug 1995.


Notes


References


External links

* * * {{Studio Deen films 1989 anime films 1989 science fiction films Bandai Visual Films directed by Mamoru Oshii Films set in 1999 Animated films set in Tokyo Japanese science fiction films 1980s Japanese-language films Maiden Japan Manga Entertainment Patlabor Postcyberpunk films Production I.G Studio Deen Films scored by Kenji Kawai 1989 films 1989 in Japanese cinema Animated films set in the 1990s Animated films set in the future