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Jan 18, 2014 10:10 PM
#1

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Feb 2012
311
THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
----------------------------------------
What a great film; this is up there with GitS, Jin-Roh, and even most of Satoshi's stuff. I really liked how the thematic dialogues converged with the exposition of the 'terrorist' attacks. The blend between imagery ('the surreal') and an oblique setting is also commendable as it created an unsettling atmosphere that reverberated the insecurities of solitude and peace itself.

Not to mention its relevancy to the cold war is a powerful one. A striking message on its own. With this film I am willing to give Oshii's films - such as Angel's Egg and GitS Innocent - another try. And though I doubt I'll change my views drastically, I feel I will be able to appreciate Oshii's talents and intentions more.

Great stuff.
Jan 28, 2014 7:45 AM
#2
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Jan 2010
181
I think one of my favourite aspects of the movie (amongst other things) is that none of the animation felt wasted, there wasn't a single frame that felt irrelevant or felt as if it wasn't contributing to the atmosphere or story in some way. It's impressive that there was so much going on at once - it's definitely the kind of movie that holds up well upon rewatches because there's so much to take in. There's a lot of clever little moments like the blimps, and my word, the wyvern sequence was just mindblowing.

I also quite liked the debate that was going on at the thematic core of the movie, I think it's a really interesting look at an "Unjust peace Vs Just war" debate, it made for a lot of relevant material. Definitely a movie that was ahead of its time.

10/10 would watch again because it's my favourite.
Jan 28, 2014 7:48 AM
#3
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Jan 2010
181
Also the music and Goto were amazing. Especially this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEK6l02Rl5U

Probably my favourite track on the OST.

I could just literally gush about how much I adore this movie.
Feb 22, 2015 6:07 AM
#4

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Nov 2011
1904
The moment this played in was pure magic.


It's hard to say that I prefer this over the first, but this has hints of Ghost In The Shell 1995 which was to come 2 years later. This basically had Ghost In The Shell all over it. And seeing Gotou and Nagumo shout felt SOOOOO relieving.

This might have just been the hardest to follow of Oshii's works. Not only is it highly political, but the terms used were derailing as well, as if we're expected to know each and every single jargon the used, every law, every dialogue, every time people communicate with each other, ESPECIALLY the government people. They were most of the time expected to be understood in the first run through. And random characters we didn't care about were added into the story like BAJAM, and they ended the movie with a character we've only seen twice like BAJAM.




BUT NOW THAT I LISTEN TO THAT TRACK AGAIN, FUCK
I NEED TO WATCH THIS SHIT AGAIN
I FEEL LIKE EVERY DISCUSSION THEY'VE HAD IMPACTED ME WHILE I WAS ASLEEP
zetsu_shorenFeb 23, 2015 5:10 AM
Aug 4, 2015 5:20 AM
#5

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Oct 2008
4667
Probably the greatest cinematography I've seen in anime.
Sep 29, 2015 12:20 PM
#6
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Jul 2014
602
I expected more from the story. The same was with 1st movie...
Oct 10, 2015 4:03 AM
#7

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Jul 2014
2800
I can see why this is the highest ranked entry in the Patlabor franchise.

This movie is in every sense a more ambitious movie than the first one, and the art and direction are superb, but it's actually too verbose and political-centered for my taste.

I prefer Mamoru Oshii's surreal and rarefied side. Although this movie still have few magical moments of pure beauty as well.
May 26, 2016 11:47 PM
#8

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Jun 2010
1873
A film with some genuinely interesting ideas and despite it mostly being a film about people talking (Oshii directed it if you didn't notice) it isn't boring. The minimalism of Tsuge's plot is a fascinating aspect as he more takes advantages of people's bad motivations to achieve his goals rather than act directly. However it's a bit cold as it's about society and society doesn't have emotions; only individuals do. Trying to add an emotional angle by having the villain be Nagumo's old flame was laughably flat and a rank cliche to boot.

Maybe that was a phony hook for Patlabor fans; something interesting will happen with one of the characters, we promise! I suspect Oshii didn't have much interest left in Patlabor itself and just rode it to make the political drama he wanted. Even the "this is the end of Patlabor" stuff (SV2 is clearly on the way out, most of the cast has quit police work, Noa broke up with Alphonse) is pretty tepid.
May 30, 2016 5:33 AM
#9

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Jul 2008
10993
Damn this was one fine movie...yes it has the flaws others have mentioned, but didn't take away my enjoyment in the least.

I guess my only complaint was there wasn't enough of the original team. Lots of Gotoh and Nagumo which is NEVER a bad thing.

When I think about how old this movie is and how great it looks, sounds and feels along with my enjoyment, I have to give this a 10/10.
Jul 7, 2016 5:09 AM

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Apr 2009
4300
I wasn't expecting anything, it turned out just OK. Lots of talking, and more birds. Wonder what those 2 remaining blimps will do though, right before the end credits roll. O_o

7/10
You see there's no need to wonder where your god is,
Coz he's right here! ...and he's fresh out of mercy.
Nov 19, 2016 8:57 PM
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Mar 2012
4110
Denser dialogue not really my taste, but has nicer montages than movie1. Bits of mech animation quite awesome, those detailed pistons, internal machinery wow.
Philosophical villain not sure what to think of him since very little screentime. Tactics & mystery reveal does hint his personality & goals.
Subs were nearly unrelated to dub & broken grammar often made no sense. I expected better sub from buying dvd. Here dubs pretty much required & the va's were mostly good & natural, but still hard to hear & follow the dense dialogue. There was a scene of Gotou mumbling during that silly conference. Interesting camera pov but no idea what he was mumbling.
Dec 12, 2016 6:28 PM
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Sep 2016
21
I think just visually and tonally, this is a big departure from the original OVA series and the first movie. Now, this is supposed to conclude the movie timeline of the Patlabor universe and I feel like we didn't really explore the characters fully enough to care about them. Interestingly enough, the two previous leads Noa and Asuma are barely in this movie while Goto and Nagumo take the helm.

The movie in itself was freaking excellent though, in fact this is what I expected when I first started the series as I saw Mamoru Oshii's name attached to it. Films of his like Jin-roh and Ghost in the shell will go along very well with this one.
Jan 16, 2017 3:33 AM

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Jan 2015
2947
My solely problem is I need at least a glimpse of takeo kumagami :( . I wonder if it birds/10 or mirrors/10








la critique de l'intention pure
Mar 15, 2017 8:41 AM

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Mar 2016
2038
This was a bad film. I guess all it takes is a superficial sense of "intelligence" and "seriousness" to impress some people. If it didn't tell me it was trying to be smart, I wouldn't have known, but it convinced a lot of others. A shame that for some this is all they'll ever see of Patlabor.
syncrogazerMar 15, 2017 8:45 AM
Mar 27, 2017 3:43 AM

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Oct 2014
3663
I dropped the movie in first 20 minutes. This has nothing on gits. Patlabor sucks.Boring
Aug 4, 2017 7:45 PM
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Jul 2017
187
Not sure wether this is a masterpiece or if I just got something pulled over my eyes. Dialogue is clearly an argument for reality which was busted by Nagumo's statement of I'm right here. Cool scenes of the city with intense dialogue,and great animation.

I liked how Gotoh and Nagumo were center stage. Goto might be my favorite anime character ever. He's just so completely disgusted with his superiors you can see it on his face. Working through the logical sequences of their situation. Smart guy.

I have some holes where Tsuge and Nagumo are concerned. Also his general reveal, and motivation. Will have to watch again.

OST was fantastic. Love it. Ota was horrible again. Why bring that guy along when he just endangers everyone?

I need to rewatch, and in one sitting this time. Cool movie.
Mar 3, 2018 8:17 PM

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Apr 2011
724
Gorgeous movie, one of the best political thrillers I've ever seen, live action or otherwise. I feel so sad for Goto and Nagumo... that Tsuge or whatever, is such a self righteous bastard, of course all society is frail and peace can easily be destroyed, so what? THAT just means that we need to strive to maintain it that much harder.

9/10. The ost was breathtaking, the animation was stellar, Goto is now one of my favorite animated characters of all time, just... fantastic.
Ericonator said:
By definition, everything is retro since by the time you realize something has happened it's already in the past.
Apr 2, 2018 8:50 AM

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Nov 2011
7621
Even this film with today I saw three times. Unfortunately, compared to the first film by Patlabor, it is much closer to masterpieces such as "Ghost in the Shell" and "Jin-Roh", but suitable only for connoisseurs, because it is much more gloomy and thoughtful. So it will be very boring for the rest of the public. Character Design and the participation of the characters in the events also reflects the narrative choice of the film, with a harder style of drawing in the characters' facial features and the almost absence of the TV series characters, with the only prevailing presence of Goto and Shinobu. Even here, the backgrounds have something magical and different, really wonderful to see. Even the robots are well designed and I forgot to say, the damage they suffer are really realistic as those seen in Gundam, something that I greatly appreciated.

8.50/10
Aug 8, 2018 2:48 AM

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Nov 2012
4710
I liked the first movie better,this was too political,harder to understand and less likable for me.
Sep 16, 2018 4:08 PM

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Oct 2015
6916
I liked the first movie, this one sucked for me. It was so slow and boring to be precise.

Tsuge as an antagonist didn't fire me up and bad guys usually play a bigger role in the success of the project. Also the arrest of Arakawa didn't seem surprising as he had red flags all over him. The story wasn't bad but it wasn't enough.

6/10
How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb --- Dr Strangelove

Aug 12, 2019 6:43 AM

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Apr 2017
354
I dare say that this isn't just one of the greatest period anime ever made, it's one of the greatest films.

There is tons of cultural commentary in 90s anime but this one really takes the cake. I'm surprised they turned an amusing comedy/action series about cops in mechs into something this surreal.
Awoo :3
Jun 14, 2020 11:44 AM

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Dec 2015
160
Just finished watching...

This looked like a great political thriller actually. Something rarely to be found in this database, at least according to what I have seen so far...

The best piece of Mamoru Oshii I know. In my opinion, it surpasses Jin Roh and Ghost in the Shell.
Feb 3, 2021 7:34 AM

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May 2020
1985
A decent movie. I wasn't bored at any point but like a lot of people said, this didn't need to be a Patlabor movie to work. We didn't get much of the old cast but Gotou and Nagumo got to shine.

Overall, 7/10.
Feb 4, 2021 12:41 PM

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Feb 2020
5794
Well, this was way better than the first movie and Ova .
It did improvement in many aspects which was lacking in it predecessors (like villan appeal, seriousness, the thrilling effect, magnitude of threat, storyline etc.)

But comparatively, it also fell short in few points like the use of labour units and the main cast (Especially it was disappointing to see the main cast of patlabor series taking a back seat, they were more like a extended cameo. Only Gotou got to shine. This movie was more like a Nagumo focused spin off set in future rather than a patlabor sequal)

Overall still a good movie, But could have done better.

one more thing, did that arakawa guy had some eye problem (never addressed) or was it some kind of error...that was really distracting.
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Jul 31, 2021 6:56 PM
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Jun 2014
155
That was brilliant. I think for people who did not enjoy it as much it would be good to read up on Japanese history over the past 100 years to get a better grasp on what the film is about.
Aug 13, 2021 11:21 AM

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Apr 2012
98
Oshii's ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE
music, characters, suspence - and all of this in this tiny movie
Goto and Nagumo reminds me Batou and Kusanagi so much
May 21, 2022 11:03 PM

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Feb 2021
2347
I thought it was pretty good. The animation improved a lot since the last movie and so did the story's structure. It was interesting how the movie brought up the inevitability of war in periods of what seems like it's peaceful, like how the US or the Soviet Union never fought on their home front during the Cold War but victimized smaller countries like Korea and Vietnam to start proxy wars just to contain their own idea of peace. Also now I know those spider tanks manufactured by the US were the blueprint for Tachikomas in SAC. Amazing ending song too. I'd definitely rewatch this movie some time
Nov 2, 2022 11:37 AM

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May 2021
692
A more serious take in the Patlabor saga, it is really different in tone from the OVA and 1st movie, yet it feel flat for a political thriller, USA isn't going to invade Japan just for internal turmoil, making the bad guy a love interest of Nagumo wasnt necessary, nobody of the main cast died, the show is very soft with the main cast when they endanger often in dangerous situation, that flooding should had been lethal, the bad guy letting himself capture is corny. The shows really wants to send a message and analysis of Japan state of affairs instead of just being easy anime entertainment of mecha's saving the world, it is appreciable but that doesn't make you a "masterpiece" automatically, it was a good show but nowhere near to that level, 6/10.

Also a police force shouldnt be doing this tasks, Japan must have his own Intelligence Bodies...
-Xenophon-Nov 2, 2022 1:52 PM
Jan 6, 2023 12:57 PM

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Aug 2017
3040
Certainly interesting to see the changes in designs between this, the 1st movie and the OVA. All great though.

I particularly enjoyed the scenes with birds, so beautiful.

The whole thing kinda felt like an even more serious remake of a similar arc from the OVA, except now we have a character from Shinobu's past rather than Kiichi's.

Special props to Arakawa's design, very memorable character in his mannerisms, not just because of the eye.

P.S. If you liked this, watch Gasaraki.
Jul 15, 2023 11:15 AM

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Aug 2020
8632
This movie is simply breathtaking. So much was said in only 2 hours... Greatness. Oshii impressed me. 9/10

Jul 15, 2023 11:17 AM

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Aug 2020
8632
And by the way, Gotou's scene in Arakawa's arrest is surprising. Nagumo took the role, and having both as the main characters made everything much more serious. I'm not sure if Izumi and Asuma were the MCs Oshii would still write them in different personas. Still great.

Oct 1, 2023 2:43 AM
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Jan 2015
29
Hot Take:
It's a good Oshii movie.
Just not a good Patlabor movie.
Dec 18, 2023 4:49 PM
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Dec 2023
1
Mamoru oshii take on the Patlabor universe is stunning from the cold war view of Japan asking the question about identity to it's take on politics.
Apr 21, 3:53 PM

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Oct 2019
1198
Movie was really solid. With it being oshii, long scenes of looking at the city with odd music and people talking about whether participating in a just war or unjust peace. Lot of political factions popping up and trying to seize power by making the other fall. Just felt it was odd that the police here is like having a standoff with the army. Granted I’m not into the Japanese history on things. Animation for the mechs were great but like I said, no real focus on them till the end. This couples with taking the most serious characters of the franchise and putting them as the focus and tossing the main cast aside from their comedic stuff as well as one of the captains being an ex love to the bad guy and having to watch 30 seconds of them passionately holding hands before she cuffs him
"Perfection is perception. For me, humanity's imperfections is what makes it perfect"

Jun 17, 4:41 PM

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Apr 2015
690
Well just finished and I think it was really good, but as a "Patlabor" story, I think I liked the first one much more. I like Gotou and Nagumo, but I wish the whole group was more involved like the first movie.

Of course everything about the OST, settings, all the "if" war inside Japan was really well made.
Aug 4, 10:03 PM

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Mar 2023
1
I think I liked the first one much more, and even more the Schaft-Griffon arc from the other timeline series. But I must say, Kenji Kawai is an excellent composer. The soundtrack doesn’t stand out when listening to it on its own, but during scenes like the Ark destruction in Movie 1 or the JSDF coup in movie 2, it really brings intensity to the situation. The visuals are some of the best i have ever seen. I think it will take me several rewatches, especially for the second movie, to understand it completely. It took me a few rewatches to understand this scene alone
vhermouthAug 4, 10:19 PM

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» Do I need to watch the first Patlabor movie to understand this one?

fermo_go - Aug 13, 2021

6 by Theo1899 »»
Aug 14, 2021 1:33 PM
It’s time to ditch the text file.
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