| | | From The Director Of Akira
Features: DVD, Director's Cut, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, Dolby Digital (5.1), Featurettes, Interview, Production Drawings, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese Subtitled
From the leader in anime Katsuhiro Otomo (Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis, Memories), comes his first feature- length directorial project since his breakthrough film (Akira). Ten years in the making, with a total budget of $22 million, Steamboy is the most expensive Japanese anime production ever. A retro science-fiction epic set in Victorian England, Steamboy features an inventor prodigy named Ray Steam, who receives a mysterious metal ball containing a new form of energy capable of powering an entire nation, the Steam Ball. Young Ray Steam must use the Steam Ball to fight evil, redeem his family, and save London from destruction. With more than 180,000 drawings and 400 CG cuts, Steamboy is one of the most elaborate animated features ever created. Steamboy will be brought to life with an outstanding ensemble voiceover cast including Anna Paquin (X-Men), Patrick Stewart (X-Men), and Alfred Molina (Spider-man 2).
Editor's Note
Katsuhiro Otomo, the master Japanese anime director behind the international success AKIRA, scores again with STEAMBOY, the inventive story of a family of inventors from Manchester, England, that gets ripped apart by greed, pride, and power. Ray Steam (voice of Anne Suzuki) is a young boy following in the footsteps of his father, Eddy (Masane Tsukayama), and grandfather, Lloyd (Katsuo Nakamura), scientists dedicated to advancing technology through the use of steam. When Lloyd invents a steam ball that has unheard-of possibilities, everyone wants it--world leaders, wealthy industrialists, and even the government--but most of them want it for evil purposes. And so it is up to Ray to protect the fate of the earth while also choosing between his father and grandfather. The background paintings and 3-D CGI animation are gorgeous, creating a gray-and-white palette of gear-driven machines that melds perfectly with the story, which takes the main characters to a major science exhibition in Victorian-era London. In addition to the original subtitled Japanese version, there is an English-language edition featuring the voices of Anna Paquin, Alfred Molina, and Patrick Stewart. STEAMBOY is an animated gem both kids and adults can enjoy.
| Features | "Re-voicing Steamboy" Featurette | | Audio: English, Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Audio: French, Spanish, Portuguese Dolby Digital Stereo | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Audio: English, Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1, French, Spanish & Portuguese Dolby Digital Stereo | | Animation Onion Skins | | Widescreen Presentation | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese | | Multi-Screen Landscape Study | | Ending Montage | | Production Drawings | | Director's Cut of the Feature Film | | Re-voicing Steamboy Featurette | | Interview with Katsuhiro Otomo |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Columbia Tri-Star |
| Release Date: 9/25/2007 |
| Running Time: 126 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2005 | | Catalog ID: 05503 | | UPC: 00043396055032 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: Japanese | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English Dubbed, French Dubbed, Japanese, Portuguese Dubbed, Spanish Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | Los Angeles Times
"[With] lush, painterly backgrounds and some virtuoso sequences..." 03/18/2005 p.E4Entertainment Weekly
"It's nifty to behold..." 04/01/2005 p.50 Premiere
"The setting and winsomeness of the teen protagonists suggest Otomo paying homage to Miyazaki, but the ideological bent and propulsive action here are pure Otomo." 09/01/2005 p.122 Sight and Sound
"[F]ans may appreciate STEAMBOY for its wholehearted embrace of the sub-genre of 'steampunk', which places futuristic technology in period settings....The splendid animation is on a par with AKIRA." 01/01/2006 p.76 San Francisco Chronicle 9 of 10
The real pleasure of this movie, which has many, is the last 40 minutes, when the villain's plan is unleashed and young Ray must save London. It is the most ambitious stretch of any animated film I have ever seen, action-packed and tightly edited, with imaginative conceptions based on the mechanical contraptions of the period. Steamboy is a fine example of how anime uniquely contributes to world cinema. - G. Allen Johnson
Chicago Sun-Times 5 of 10
Steamboy is a noisy, eventful and unsuccessful venture into Victorian-era science fiction, animated by a modern Japanese master. It's like H. G. Wells and Jules Verne meet Akira. - Roger Ebert
The Onion AV Club 6 of 10
...it rings slightly hollow at the core, thanks to the bizarre plot, which has two thoroughly mad scientists and multiple hangers-on delivering heartfelt rants about the purpose and meaning of science, then endangering the lives of countless people to enforce their will. - Tasha Robinson
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