Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie | |
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Directed by | Shinichirō Watanabe |
Screenplay by | Keiko Nobumoto |
Based on | Cowboy Bebop by Hajime Yatate |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Yōichi Ōgami |
Edited by | Shūichi Kakesu |
Music by | Yoko Kanno |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan |
Release date |
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Running time | 115 minutes[1] |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Box office | $3 million[2] |
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, known in Japan as Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie is set between episode 22 and episode 23 of the original series.[3] The plot centers on a mysterious terrorist planning to exterminate the human population of Mars by releasing a virus. The bounty hunter crew of the spaceship Bebop works to capture the terrorist and prevent the attack.
The film was conceived by Watanabe as an extension of his work on the television series, which he had treated as a series of miniature films. So as not to alienate existing fans, much of the series' style was retained, with adjustments to make it accessible to a new audience. Increased budget and production facilities enabled filming styles associated with live action films, as well as higher-quality animation than in the series. Arabic aesthetics were used, in contrast to the series, which entailed Watanabe traveling to Morocco for research. Arabic elements also influenced Kanno's music.
The film was produced by studios
Setting
The film is set in the year 2071, fifty years after a disaster on the Moon caused Earth to be largely abandoned. Humanity has settled on other planets and moons. The film's protagonists are bounty hunters who travel together on the spaceship Bebop. They are Spike Spiegel, a former gangster; Faye Valentine, a fugitive; Jet Black, a former police officer; Radical Edward, a hyperactive girl hacker; and Ein, a small dog with enhanced intelligence. Together they hunt for wanted fugitives and criminals throughout the solar system.
Plot
On
Jet learns that the pathogen is a nanomachine, a biological weapon that has been illegally manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Cherious Medical. Spike encounters Cherious's agent Elektra Ovilo, and he attempts to capture Vincent, but Vincent throws him off a train, then releases another cloud of nanomachines. Everyone else on the train dies, except for Elektra, who was immunized when in a relationship with Vincent. She gives a sample of her blood to a friend at Cherious Medical, and they prepare a stock of vaccine.
Vincent intends to explode giant jack-o'-lantern balloons full of nanomachines at the Halloween parade, which will kill everyone on Mars. Jet recruits a gang of aged crop-duster pilots to scatter the vaccine, and Faye hijacks the city's weather-control systems to cause rain, assisting in the vaccine's spread. Spike confronts Vincent and the two fight to a standstill. The nanomachines are released, but Spike is cured by the vaccine. Vincent prepares to kill Spike, but is shot by Elektra. He thanks Elektra for their time together, then dies.
Voice cast
Character | Japanese voice actor[3] | English dub actor[4][5] |
---|---|---|
Spike Spiegel | Kōichi Yamadera |
Steve Blum[6] |
Faye Valentine | Megumi Hayashibara | Wendee Lee |
Jet Black | Unshō Ishizuka | Beau Billingslea |
Edward Wong | Aoi Tada | Melissa Fahn |
Elektra Ovilo | Ai Kobayashi | Jennifer Hale |
Vincent Volaju | Tsutomu Isobe | Daran Norris |
Lee Sampson | Yūji Ueda | Dave Wittenberg[7] |
Rashid | Mickey Curtis | Nicholas Guest |
Development
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie was first announced in September 1999: the majority of the series' staff were carried over along with Watanabe, including producer
The idea for a film was in the mind of director Shinichirō Watanabe during the development of the original Cowboy Bebop series, which he had originally envisioned as a film.[12] Watanabe treated each episode of the series as a miniature film, so to progress onto a feature-length film seemed natural to him. So as not to disappoint fans, the film incorporated as much of the series as possible while making it accessible to newcomers.[13] He had thought up some of the story and the character of Vincent during the production of the series.[12] After the series ended and there was demand for a continuation from both fans and sponsors so the decision was made by the series creators to make a film.[14][15] Watanabe said "When the original 26-episode series concluded, a lot of fans and sponsors wanted me to continue. That's why I made this movie."[15]
Watanabe was aiming towards a live-action look for the film despite its medium, using camera tricks, visual effects and character expression impossible in the series while keeping "the Bebop flavor".
Because of increased running time, budget and facilities, the team were able to include more
Music
The music for Cowboy Bebop: The Movie was composed by Yoko Kanno, composer for the original series, and performed by her band Seatbelts.[8] She used the same mixture of music genres (western, opera, jazz) as with the TV series, but also added Arabic elements in keeping with the film's thematic feel. She used Arabic and English for the music lyrics. Alongside these, the soundtrack made use of a large number of rock instruments.[11][18] Five tracks from the film were released on the Seatbelts mini-album Ask DNA, released on July 25, 2001.[19][20] The soundtrack's official release, Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door OST Future Blues, was released on August 22, 2001. Both these albums were reissued in December 2012.[19]
Release
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie was first released in cinemas in Japan on September 1, 2001. After the film's international release, this date was subject to debate in the western fanbase due to its proximity to the September 11 attacks.[21] It was first shown to the west at the 2002 AnimeCon, where it was announced that the original English cast would reprise their roles.[22][23] Its Japanese subtitle, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", was changed for the western release due to sharing its name with the 1973 Bob Dylan song of the same name. Instead of creating a new subtitle, the team settled with using "The Movie",[11] though a November 2018 rerelease of the film by Funimation features the original subtitle. It was jointly released in the United States by Sony Pictures through their Destination Films label and Samuel Goldwyn Films and internationally by TriStar Pictures. During its initial screening at the event, it sold out completely, prompting a second screening later in the event.[22] The film received a limited theatrical release in the United States, opening on April 4, 2003. During its opening weekend, it reached 19th place in the box office chart, bringing in $12,338 per screening.[24] The film's total gross in America was $1,000,045. Its worldwide gross totals $3,007,903.[2]
The film was released on DVD in Japan on February 7, 2002, immediately reaching the top of the DVD/VHS charts. Sunrise and Bandai Visual underestimated the possible sales, with the first print being used up soon after release, prompting a second print for mid-February.
In celebration for the series's 20th anniversary in 2018, the film was shown in US theaters by Funimation Films on August 15 (with Japanese audio and English subtitles) and on August 16 (with the English dub).[31] A limited edition steelbook Blu-ray of the film was released by Funimation under license from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on November 13, 2018.[32]
Critical response
On
Critic reviews have generally been positive. Andy Patrizio of IGN gave the film a score of 9 of 10, saying that the developers "did a superb job of fleshing out the story", as well as praising it for "not succumbing to melodrama like many of its live-action counterparts". He also commented that the film's subject matter of terrorism in the face of the September 11 attacks "smacked way too close to home". The music also received praise.[37] Mike Crandol of Anime News Network echoed many of these sentiments. His main criticism stemmed from the fact that Jet, Faye and Ed were relegated to supporting roles, and that it was difficult getting them all into the story. He also said that the team had outdone themselves with the animation quality in a few scenes, such as the final fight between Spike and Vincent.[38] Robert Koehler of Variety, reviewing an undubbed subtitled release, praised the visuals and writing, although he found some sections a little long.[39] Charles Solomon writing in the Los Angeles Times however praised the film for its running time, saying it gave screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto time to explore the characters.[40]
Other reviews were more mixed. Lawrence van Gelder of
Analysis
While the movie is technically set on Mars, it has been described by Thomas Kent Miller as "only a Mars movie by a technicality" due to the fact that "aside from a brief flyover over some Martian terrain at the beginning and a classic dog-fight over the same sort of terrain at the end", there are next to no other visuals to suggest action takes place in an exotic location (here, Mars); instead the urban design of the city where most of the movie takes place looks no different from modern-era cities on Earth.[45]
References
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- ^ a b "Cowboy Bebop (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e "Cowboy Bebop - Heaven's Door - About the Movie". CowboyBebop.org. Archived from the original on November 17, 2002. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
- ^ "Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001) - Shinichiro Watanabe - Cast and Crew - AllMovie". AllMovie. Archived from the original on January 12, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
- ^ "Cowboy Bebop: The Movie". TV Guide. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
- ^ Miss Mecha Zero. "Big Shiny Robot - Cowboy Bebop - The Movie shown at the Aero Theater with special guests Steve Blum and Peter Ramsey". bigshinyrobot.com. Archived from the original on January 12, 2017. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
- ^ "Dave Wittenberg". crystalacids.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
- ^ a b "Further Cowboy Bebop details released". Anime News Network. September 25, 1999. Archived from the original on April 5, 2014. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ "Cowboy Bebop Movie Begins Production". Anime News Network. July 28, 2000. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ "Cowboy Bebop Helmer Shinichiro Watanabe, BONES Plan New TV Anime". Anime News Network. October 16, 2012. Archived from the original on November 3, 2014. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
- ^ a b c "Cowboy Bebop Panel". Anime on DVD.com. February 14, 2006. Archived from the original on June 5, 2003. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ a b "Animatrix Director: Kid's Story and A Detective's Story". The Animatrix official website. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
- ^ a b c "From the Small Screen to the Big Screen". Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (DVD). Culver City, California: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. 2003.
- ^ Bricken, Robert (January 2003). "Behind the Bebop - Murder, Mars and All That Jazz". Anime Invasion (#5). Wizard.
- ^ a b Solomon, Charles (March 30, 2003). "Dirty Harry in Space?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 30, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
- ^ a b c "The Director's Voice: Shinichiro Watanabe Interview". Cowboy Bebop: The Movie website (English). Archived from the original on March 7, 2003. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ "'Cowboy Bebop' director Watanabe talks anime". The Daily Texan. February 14, 2006. Archived from the original on July 15, 2009. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
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- ^ "More Details and corrections on Cowboy Bebop Soundtracks". Anime News Network. July 30, 2001. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
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- ^ "Weekend Box Office Numbers". Anime News Network. April 8, 2003. Archived from the original on April 1, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
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- ^ "Columbia Tristar has Cowboy Bebop movie ... it seems". Anime News Network. January 25, 2002. Archived from the original on September 8, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
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- ^ Crandol, Mike (February 4, 2002). "Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (movie)". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
- ^ Koehler, Robert (August 14, 2002). "Review: 'Cowboy Bebop – The Movie'". Variety. Archived from the original on October 5, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
- ^ Solomon, Charles (April 4, 2003). "A space cowboy who doesn't pull his punches". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 21, 2014.
- ^ van Gelder, Lawrence (April 4, 2003). "Futuristic Cowboys From Mars on a Mission". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
- ^ Bradshaw, Peter (June 27, 2003). "Cowboy Bebop". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
- ^ Russell, Jamie (June 17, 2003). "Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2003)". BBC. Archived from the original on November 21, 2014. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
- ^ Mays, Jonathan (April 4, 2003). "Feature: Cowboy Bebop Theatrical Reviews". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
- ISBN 978-1-4766-2626-0. Archivedfrom the original on June 20, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
External links
- Cowboy Bebop: The Movie at AllMovie
- Cowboy Bebop: The Movie at Box Office Mojo
- Cowboy Bebop: The Movie at Metacritic
- Cowboy Bebop: The Movie at Rotten Tomatoes
- Cowboy Bebop: The Movie at IMDb
- Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (film) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia