Patlabor the movie

The first Patlabor film follows on directly from the original OVA series. Unlike the comedic OVA series, this film for the most part is a drama. A very clever film for it's time. Before computer viruses became rather common, this film showed what potentially could happen, and showed how far it could spread. Like the OVA series, there isn't a lot of Labor action, with only four short action sequences. Most of the film follows the uncovering of Eiichi Hoba's grand scheme. Oshii used quite a lot of animal motifs in the film, mostly bird shots. These would become a trademark of the Patlabor films. There is also the motif of cages which can be seen in Eiichi Hoba's old apartments he lives in. Oshii also uses fish-eye lens type shots for the first time in this film. Also of note is the amount of religious references in the film. Oshii uses them quite a lot in his films, especially his 1985 film "Angel's Egg".

In 1998, Oshii reunited the cast members to re-record the dialogue for a Dolby Digital 5.1 channel remix. Additional music was also added by Kenji Kawai. The remastered version of this film was released on the home video in Japan in December 1998.

The film was also the first Patlabor anime released to the English speaking world. Unfortunately the original English dub, produced by Manga Entertainment, bizarrely changes several lines including one of the very few lines actually spoken in English. This changes the mood in several scenes. The changes include the following; when Noa and Asuma come to pick up Shinobu from the Ark at the beginning of the film, they don't seem to know who she is. Also before they arrive there, the helicopter pilot's dialogue has been changed to sound like he's running a tour or something! When Division 2 is called out to fight the beresk Labor, the pilot's line about how he's doomed because Division 2 is rescuing him is changed, which makes Ota look like he's getting angry for no reason. Also in the same sequence the helicopter pilot sounds like he's commentating on a wrestling match, when in the original he's just questioning Division 2's tactics. The final one is bizarre. In the original, an airport official asks Kanuka in English, "Sightseeing?", and she answers back in English, "No, combat". This has been changed to; "Occupation?", "Labor Pilot". Why change good English lines into something duller and quite obviously not humorous at all? For these reasons, either the subtitled version or the new vastly superior dub produced by Honneamise/Bandai Visual is recommended over the inferior original English dub. At the moment however, only the DVD currently in print to have Manga's English dub is the Australian region 4 disc set.

Movie Synopsis

Currently, only three versions of the film are in print in the English speaking world. Panorama in Hong Kong have released the movie on DVD and Blu-ray with English subtitles as well as well as an optional Cantonese dub and Chinese subtitles. Madman Entertainment have the rights to the Manga Video dubbed version in Australia and New Zealand and have released the film as a bilingual double DVD set with "Patlabor 2 the movie".

Recently deleted versions include a Bandai Visual USA version released in the US and UK. In the US was released on Bavndai Visual USA's Honneamise video label on DVD, in a standard disc only edition, as well as a limited 10,000 unit special edition which includes; exclusive packaging illustrations by Yutaka Izubuchi, remastered 5.1 audio channel, a new English-dubbed audio track, a making of documentary, Japanese trailers and TV commercials, the complete 300-page storyboard book drawn by Mamoru Oshii with an English translation, and a second book that includes past interviews, articles, artwork and drawings. Bandai's European video arm, Beez Entertainment, also released the movie in the same format on DVD, except the special edition is limited to 1,000 units. A double DVD pack of the single disc versions and a double pack of the limited edition versions (including the bonus discs and books) were also released by the company.

The Panorama DVD and Blu-ray are only available in Hong Kong, and therefore will only work on NTSC compatible and region 3 compatible DVD players and region A Blu-ray discs. The Madman Entertainment DVDs are only available in Australia and New Zealand, and will therefore will only work on PAL compatible and region 4 compatible players. The Honneamise DVDs were only available in the US, and therefore will only work on NTSC compatible and region 1 compatible DVD players. The Beez Entertainment DVDs were only available in the UK, and therefore will only work on PAL compatible and region 2 compatible DVD players. If you don't live in these countries, check your VCR or DVD instruction manual to see if it will play them. Please see the English Language Releases Video List for a complete listing of all releases, formats and product specifications for this movie in English.

This movie is available in Japan from Bandai Visual/Emotion on DVD, Blu-ray, HD DVD and UMD as well as the "Mamoru Oshii Introduction-Box" DVD box set. The DVD and UMD versions do not come with English subtitles or an English dub, however the double disc DVD/Blu-ray and DVD/HD DVD sets as well as the single disc Blu-ray release come with the new English dub and English subtitles. Please note all versions listed below only contain the 1998 Dolby Digital 5.1 remix, with the exception of the "Emotion the Best" DVD version, which is the only DVD release in Japan to include the original 1989 theatrical audio. These discs are only available in Japan, and therefore will only work on DVD, Blu-ray, HD DVD and UMD players that are both NTSC compatible and will play region 2 DVD discs and region A Blu-ray discs (if you don't live in Japan, check your player's instruction manual to see if it will play the discs). Please see the Japanese Movie Releases Video List for a complete listing of all releases, formats and product specifications for this movie.

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