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Updated June 2, 2002: The new DVD reviews are in! Visit DVD Cult and DVD Talk for the scoop.

February 18, 2002: Read the leading reviews from METROPOLIS' theater release - Check out what ROGER EBERT and The New York Times had to say about the flick.

If you missed the movie during it's very limited release (as did I!) you can soon get it on DVD at AMAZON.COM and YAHOO.COM.

As METROPOLIS hits the screens, U.S. release November 9, 2001, you can check out these links: OFFICIAL SITE
TRAILER & PHOTOS at Rotten Tomatoes
REVIEWS at Ain't it Cool News

TRISTAR PICTURES PRESENTS

A METROPOLIS COMMITTEE PRODUCTION

OSAMU TEZUKA’s METROPOLIS

METROPOLIS will be released in theaters on November 9, 2001 (With New English Subtitles)

Based on the Comic by OSAMU TEZUKA
Directed by RINTARO
Screenplay by KATSUHIRO OTOMO
Character Design / Chief Key-Animation Supervisor YASUHIRO NAKURA
Key-Animation Supervisors: SHIGEO AKAHORI, KUNIHIKO SAKURAI, SHIGERU FUJITA
Art Director / CGI Art Director SHUICHI HIRATA
CGI Technical Director TSUNEO MAEDA
Music by TOSHIYUKI HONDA
Sound Director MASAFUMI MIMA
Animation Producers MASAO MARUYAMA, IWAO YAMAKI
Animation Studio MADHOUSE
Conceptual Support TEZUKA PRODUCTIONS
Produced by METROPOLIS COMMITTEE

VOICE CAST
Tima: YUKA IMOTO
Kenichi: KEI KOBAYASHI
Rock: KOHKI OKADA
Duke Red: TARO ISHIDA
Shunsaku Ban: KOUSEI TOMITA
Pero: NORIO WAKAMOTO
Dr. Laughton: JUNPEI TAKIGUCHI
Ponkotz: TAKESHI AONO
President Boon: MASARU IKEDA
Notarlin: SYUN YASHIRO
Skunk: TOSHIO FURUKAWA
Lamp: SHIGERU CHIBA
Hamueggu: MASASHI EBARA
Lyon: TAKAYA HASHI
Atlas: NORIHIRO INOUE
Fifi: RIKAKO AIKAWA

ENGLISH VOICE CAST: (not complete)
Kenichi & Fifi: Brianne Siddall (Hello Kitty)
Tima: Rebecca Olkewski (Sol Bianca)
Rock: Dave Whittenberg (Digimon)
Atlas: Scott Weinger (Aladdin)
Shunsaku Ban: Tony Pope (Hello Kitty)
Pero: Dave Mallow (Gundam Movie)
Dr. Laughton: Sy Prescott (Akira)

METROPOLIS
Synopsis

Based on the classic manga (comic) by Osamu Tezuka, the Godfather of Anime and Manga, Metropolis was brought to the screen by two of the most respected figures in Japanese animation today: Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira) and Rintaro (X, Galaxy Express 999). In fact, Rintaro began his career working for Tezuka on his popular Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom) television series.

In the late 1940s, long before Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion established Osamu Tezuka as one of the most influential animators of all time, the legendary illustrator created the classic manga Metropolis. Set in the future, Metropolis is a grand city-state populated by humans and robots, the cohabitants of a strictly segmented society. Amidst the chaos created by anti-robot factions, detective Shunsaku Ban and his sidekick Ken-ichi are searching for rebel scientist Dr. Laughton, to arrest him and seize his latest creation, Tima, a beautiful young girl. When they locate them, Shunsaku quickly comes to realize that the eccentric scientist is beyond their reach, protected by a powerful man and his fierce desire to reclaim a tragic figure from his past.

More than fifty years since it was first imagined, Tezuka’s vision of the inability of scientific progress to fulfill basic human needs -- in spite of its mechanizing even the most fundamental aspects of life -- confirms him as a prophet as well as a fabulist. Written by Otomo and directed by Rintaro, the retro-futurism of the story - as well as its precautionary tale -- is spectacularly rendered in its visual style, combining the best in Japanese cel animation with the latest in digital technology.

Director: Rintaro
Born in 1941 in Tokyo, Rintaro joined Toei Animation in 1958 and went to work for Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Productions in 1960. There, he directed episodes of such classic animated series as Astro Boy and Kimba, The White Lion. He has also directed episodes of many other television series, Space Pirate Captain Harlock (1978) among them. During the seventies, he cemented his position as one of the best television anime directors, and has since concentrated his efforts on feature animation work, and has directed a string of enduring masterpieces such as Galaxy Express 999 (1979); Harmagedon (1983); The Blade of Kamui (1985); Phoenix (1986), and X: The Movie (1996).

Screenplay by: Katsuhiro Otomo
Born in 1954 in Miyagi prefecture, Katsuhiro Otomo started his career in 1973 as a comic writer and has since become one of the world’s top selling manga artists, and one of the anime industry’s top directors. He won the Japan Sci-Fi Grand Prix in 1983 with Domu and in the same year started serializing Akira. His first work in animation was as a character designer for Rintaro's Harmagedon in 1983. Otomo then went on to direct a screen adaptation of Akira (1988), which earned him worldwide recognition and was an international hit. His follow-up film, the comedy Roujin Z, was a Siskel & Ebert Video Pick of the Week. He has also worked on the blockbuster anime films Perfect Blue, Spriggan, Robot Carnival, Neo-Tokyo and Memories and the live-action feature World Apartment Horror (1991). He is currently working on his next directorial project, Steam Boy.

About Osamu Tezuka
Born in 1928, Tezuka Osamu is widely considered the most influential animator in Japan, and the rise of the Japanese animation industry parallels his career. Also considered the father of the modern Japanese manga comic, Tezuka is probably best known for three characters he created in the early 50s: Kimba the White Lion, Astro Boy (Mighty Atom) and Princess Knight. The serialized comics were so successful that their animated versions was distributed in America. A pioneer in incorporating a cinematic style into his comics, Tezuka brought themes of hope and humanity to post-war Japan, where the graphic novel-like manga is popular as a national pastime. Based on a character that originated in the Metropolis manga, Astro Boy represented the soaring achievement of society in danger of becoming a victim to its own technology. This ambivalence toward scientific progress touched a nation recovering from first-hand experience with the theme. In the early 60s, Tezuka set up his own studio, Mushi Productions, which launched the careers of many of today’s most talented animators. When Tezuka made the transition into animation, he not only brought his manga characters to life, he revolutionized the field by introducing adult themes into animation. Tezuha's early success paved the way for the fascination with Japanese animation -- and its visual style -- that continues to this day.

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Friday, AUGUST 17, 2001

The Friday, August 17th program begins at 7:00 PM with a special sneak preview of the new Japanese Anime film METROPOLIS, 2001, Toho/Sony Repertory, 107 min. Dir. Rintaro (aka Shigeyuki Hayashi). Be among the first to see an advance screening of this exceptional new anime. Based on a classic manga by the late, great Osamu Tezuka (with whom Rintaro worked on such 1960’s classics as "Astro-Boy" and "Kimba"), METROPOLIS is not a remake of the legendary Fritz Lang silent – although it’s not without similarities. In an enormous, retro-future city where robots and androids do most of the work, there is nonetheless great unrest. The government is really a tool of the evil billionaire Duke Red, and the seeds of rebellion grow underground. Stir into this crucible of turbulence a young man, his detective uncle, a youthful assassin, and an angelic blonde who doesn’t realize just what she really is, and the result is as compelling as it is eye-popping, and as unusual as the Swing-era music on the soundtrack. Do not miss this rare opportunity to see and hear the original Japanese version with subtitles! "METROPOLIS is the new milestone in anime, a spectacular fusion of C.G. background with traditional character animation. It has beauty, power, mystery and above all ... heart. Images from this film will stay with you forever. My congratulations to Rintaro-san for his masterpiece." – James Cameron. Subtitled in English.