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Features: DVD, Animation, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, Dolby Digital (5.1), English, French, Dubbed & Subtitled, Spanish, Subtitled
Brace yourself for a totally new experience in cutting edge animation. Based on the classic comic created by Osamu Tezuka (Astroboy), written by Japanese anime legend Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) and directed by Rintaro (X, Galaxy Express 999), Metropolis is a spectacular film featuring stunning imagery and unforgettable characters. In the industrial, tri-level world of Metropolis, Duke Red is a powerful leader with plans to unveil a highly sophisticated robot named Tina. But Duke Red's violent son Rock distrusts robots, and intends to find and destroy Tina. Lost in the confusing labyrinth beneath Metropolis, Tina is beginning a friendship with the young nephew of a Japanese detective. But when Duke Red separates the two innocents, Tina's life--and the fate of the universe--is dangerously at stake. 2-disc set.
"...one of the most dazzling films I've ever seen..." Jeffrey M. Anderson, San Francisco Examiner
"...brings together some of the biggest names in Japanese anime, with impressive results." Jamie Russell, BBCi
"...a near-perfect fusion of computer and cel animation..." J. Hoberman, The Village Voice
Editor's Note
This animated Japanese film from Rintaro (X) and Katsuhiro Otomo (AKIRA), based on the 1949 manga by Osamu Tezuka, takes place in the futuristic city of Metropolis. A struggle between the robots and the human population of the city, who once coexisted peacefully, has now exploded into a violent revolution. An investigation conducted by private detective Shunsaku Ban and his nephew Kenichi leads to an outlaw scientist named Dr. Laughton. The scientist was hired by the ruler of Metropolis, Duke Red, to create a superhuman robot-girl, Tima, to succeed him as the next ruler of Metropolis. However, Duke Red's jealous bastard son, the Rock of Marduk, cannot stand the idea of a robot taking the throne and he sets out to destroy Tima. What ensues is a frantic race as Kenichi and Tima flee the Rock through the underground tunnels, dilapidated alleys, and skyscraping towers (called the Ziggurat) of Metropolis, aided by a nurturing trash-collecting robot, Fifi.Combining classic cartoon drawing with modern computer animation techniques, METROPOLIS plays on the sharp contrast between flat, round characters, and deep, undulating, digital backgrounds. A blimp-submarine vessel roves through Metropolis, sometimes propelled through a watery medium, other times gliding on a monorail or floating through mid-air. The detail of the city's decor is breathtaking, from the moldings and colorful facades of the momentous buildings to the shiny marble floors and leather furnishings of some of the city's sleek interiors. A New Orleans jazz soundtrack adds an element of playful mystique to the film, though the blaring rendition of "I Can't Stop Loving You" that plays as the towers come crashing to the ground in the hellish apocalyptic finale only enhances the shocking, warlike chill that permeates the film.
| Features | Audio: Japanese DTS And 5.1 Dolby Digital; English 5.1 Dolby Digital; French | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Production Notes | | Scene Selections | | Conceptual Art Gallery | | Theatrical Trailers | | Biography Of Osamu Tezuka And Rintaro | | Animated Menus | | Two Animation Comparisons | | History Of Metropolis Comic Book | | Digitally Mastered Audio & Anamorphic Video | | Widescreen And Fullscreen Presentations | | Animax Special: The Making Of Osamu Tizuka's Metropolis | | Exclusive Featurette: Interview With Rintaro Katsushiro |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Columbia Tri-Star |
| Release Date: 3/24/2009 |
| Running Time: 109 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2002 | | Catalog ID: 07796 | | UPC: 00043396077966 | | Number of Discs: 2 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: Japanese | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English Dubbed, French Dubbed, Japanese | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 1.85:1/4:3 |
| Cast & Crew | Osamu Tezuka - Based On Comic Created By | | Yasuhiro Nakura - Character Design | | Rintaro - Director | | Toshiyuki Honda - Music | | Katsuhiro Katsuhiro - Writer |
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"METROPOLIS, a hallucinatory tour de force of color, perspective and scale, virtually encapsulates the history of Japanese animation..." 01/25/2002 p.E31Hollywood Reporter
"...Beautiful....The film is often a sci-fi's dream come true, and the illustrative style is quite classy..." 01/29/2002 p.20-39 Sight and Sound
"...METROPOLIS is an exhilarating reminder of how remarkable Japanese anime can be. An outstanding cinematic achievement and a masterpiece of modern animation..." 03/01/2002 p.49-50 Total Film
"...METROPOLIS has an impeccable anime pedigree and a unique retro style....Much more than just a curio..." 03/01/2002 p.106 Chicago Sun-Times
"...A surprisingly thoughtful and challenging adventure that looks into the nature of life and love....If you have never seen a Japanese anime, start here. If you love them, METROPOLIS proves you are right..." 01/25/2002 p.32 Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
...The story is told with enormous energy... The movie is so visually rich I want to see it again to look in the corners and appreciate the details... Metropolis is not a simple-minded animated cartoon, but a surprisingly thoughtful and challenging adventure. - Roger Ebert
The New York Times 9 of 10
...If any two dozen frames of Metropolis--enough to fill one second of screen time--were hung in a gallery, the sheer visual density and sensory stimulus would be overwhelming. The effect of almost two hours of exquisitely detailed and remarkably varied cityscapes, rendered in a palette of colors and light effects that would make a live-action cinematographer or an Italian Renaissance painter weep, is exhausting and exhilarating. The dream world of Metropolis is so intricate, so sublime, that the ordinary world seems to be the one missing a dimension. - A.O. Scott
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