Subject: RETROSPECTIVE: PATLABOR: THE MOVIE (1990)

From: [email-masked] (Chris Meadows)
Date: 27 May 1997 16:52:08 GMT

PATLABOR: THE MOVIE
                           [MOBILE POLICE PATLABOR]
                       A film review by Chris Meadows
                        Copyright 1997 Chris Meadows

Review Rating: 9 out of 10

Directed by Mamoru Oshii
Script by Kazunori Itoh
Produced by Bandai Co., Ltd.

118 Minutes; Not Rated (though I suspect it would be rated PG for
adult themes and language)

Mamoru Oshii is a name that probably isn't very well-known to most
American audiences, but perhaps it should be.  Oshii was the director
of last year's best-known Japanese animated film import, _Ghost in the
Shell_, and is known among fans of Japanese animation, or anime, for
making films with a deep philosophical bent. 

One of these films was the first theatrical venture for the Patlabor
animated series.  In its many incarnations--graphic novels ("manga"),
two different runs of made-for-video episodes (Original Animation
Videos, or OAVs for short), and a television series running to nearly
fifty episodes--Patlabor has proven to be one of the most popular
series ever in Japan.  Set in the very near future (though it was a
somewhat farther away near future when the series was first
conceived), this atypical giant robot anime features the characters,
rather than the machinery, as the primary focus. 

As a whole, Patlabor is the story of an exciting time for Japan.  As
the prologue to each episode of the television series explains, giant
industrial robots, known as "Labors" (an interesting play on words,
considering that "robot" is derived from the Czech word for labor),
have come into widespread use in Japan toward the close of the
twentieth century.  With the rise of Labors, however, has come a new
menace--Labor crime.  This led to the creation of the two Special
Vehicle divisions, using Patrol Labors to fight Labor crime. 

The Patlabor story centers around the second Special Vehicle division,
SV2, who, through no fault of their own, have acquired a bad
reputation for destructiveness.  Sometimes utterly hilarious,
sometimes almost deadly serious, the Patlabor series explores the
interpersonal relationships of the Special Vehicle crewmembers, and
also looks at the effects of technology on modern life. 

Those who are unfamiliar with the Patlabor story and characters may
find themselves slightly confused coming into the movie, although
there is ample background exposition provided for new viewers.  The
story, as has much of Patlabor before, centers around the
controversial Babylon Project, a gigantic seawall that will, on its
completion, allow the reclamation of thousands of square miles of land
from Tokyo Bay.  This project has been an almost constant target of
environmentalist terrorists, most notably the House of Sea
organization.  However, the threat in this case comes not from any
terrorist, but from someone who is already dead... 

Shinohara Heavy Industries, the premier Labor manufacturer in Japan
(if not the whole world), has just come out with a new operating
system that increases Labors' movement speed and efficiency by 30%.
This Hyper Operating System, HOS for short, has very quickly been
installed into well over 90% of the nation's Labors...including the
Patrol Labors of SV2.  Since that installation, dozens of Labors,
including a heavily-armed military model, have begun to go on berzerk
rampages for no apparent reason...and the only factor they all had in
common was that they were all running under the new HOS.  (Some wags
have compared this to Windows 95.)  It's up to Asuma Shinohara, labor
command officer with SV2 and the son of the president of Shinohara
Heavy Industries, to find the source of these problems before more
Labors--including SV2's own--fall victim to them, and before HOS drags
his father's company down with it. 

As was the case with _Ghost in the Shell_, if you just want a
no-brainer actionfest, this might not be the movie for you.
_Patlabor: The Movie_ is more of a psychological thriller, a
technological suspense drama.  It is closer, perhaps, to a Chrichton
novel than to an action movie (Crichton novels that have been made
_into_ action movies notwithstanding).  There are long, thoughtful
montages of dialogueless footage as two investigators make their way
through slums and derelict housing in old quarters of Tokyo, similar
to sequences from _Ghost in the Shell_.  This movie is fraught with
symbolism--in fact a large part of it is based on Christian symbolism. 

Patlabor's near-future setting is, aside from the giant robots
tromping around, very similar to our own present day.  The film uses
this setting to make its central point: is progress moving too fast
for humans to keep up?  Are history and culture falling by the wayside
like the old buildings that are being torn down and replaced with new?
This is a question just as applicable to today as it is to Patlabor's
alternate-1999 setting.

As far as the technical aspects of the film go (referring to the
subtitled version, as that's the only one I've seen), the film
transfer is clear, almost phenomenally so.  The animation quality is
incredible, though the character design is different from what most
Patlabor fans will be used to.  The OAVs and TV series were more
cheerful, better-suited to humor; the movie, however, makes everyone
look a great deal less cute, and emphasizes that this is going to be,
for the most part, a deadly serious storyline. 

As far as cinematography goes, there are many interesting moments in
_Patlabor: The Movie_.  I don't think I can recall ever seeing a
fish-eye perspective used in any other animated film (save for _Ghost
in the Shell_, another Oshii film), or indeed, in many other movies at
all.  The cinematography is well-suited to the storyline, emphasizing
what it needs to, though a couple of scenes (where characters'
features are exaggerated in anger) may seem slightly strange to
Western audiences. 

The audio track of _Patlabor: The Movie_ is in glorious hi-fi stereo,
and should be used to demonstrate home theater systems--it _is_ that
good.  Even without headphones, sounds from either side of the screen
can be clearly heard to _come_ from that side.  Giant robot footsteps
are deep and booming.  The sometimes-understated, sometimes-blaring
score is crisp and clear, and always right on the mark, enhancing the
moods created by the animated scenery. 

As far as the subtitles go, I have to say that they're among the most
easily-readable subtitles I've ever seen for _anything_.  Large enough
that they don't strain the eyes, but small enough not to conceal too
much of the screen. 

Although it does have several action sequences in it, most notably the
climactic conclusion, _Patlabor_ is foremost not an action movie.
Although it is a superbly-realized film, it relies in large part upon
prior familiarity with some of the characters to carry the story, and
that could detract from some people's enjoyment.  My rating: 9 out of
10. 

(As an aside, the Patlabor OAVs and TV show are being released by
U.S. Manga Corps, and the first and second theatrical movies are
released through Manga Video.)
-- 
Chris Meadows aka  | Author, Team M.E.C.H.A., Crapshoot & Co.
Robotech_Master    | on the Superguy Listserv (bit.listserv.superguy)
[email-masked] | With a World Wide Web homepage located at
[email-masked] | http://www.jurai.net/~robotech/index.html