A Japanese police unit who use giant anthropomorphic robots (called Labors) is caught up in a political struggle between the civilian authorities and the military when a terrorist act is blamed on an Air Force jet. With the aid of a government agent, the team gets close to a terrorist leader to stop things from going out of control when after the military is impelled to impose martial law.
Direction
Oshii's surveillance-state poetry—every frame is a question about watching.
Cinematography
Atmospheric watercolor skies that haunt longer than any action sequence.
Writing
Dialogue so dense it needs footnotes; politics that aged terrifyingly well.
Director
Mamoru Oshii
Mina Tominaga
Noa Izumi (voice)
Toshio Furukawa
Asuma Shinohara (voice)
Ryusuke Ohbayashi
Kiichi Goto (voice)
Yoshiko Sakakibara
Shinobu Nagumo (voice)
Michihiro Ikemizu
Isao Ohta (voice)
Daisuke Gori
Hiromi Yamazaki (voice)
Shigeru Chiba
Shigeo Shiba (voice)
Issei Futamata
Mikiyasu Shinshi (voice)
Osamu Saka
Seitaro Sakaki (voice)
Tomomichi Nishimura
Matsui (voice)
Ryuji Nakagi
Sakuma (voice)
Fumihiko Tachiki
Buchiyama (voice)
Shinobu Adachi
Tamiko Shinshi (voice)
Akimasa Omori
Yamadera (voice)
Jinpachi Nezu
Yukihito Tsuge (voice)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
JP
