Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

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Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
Image:CowboyBebopMUSDVD.jpg
US-Region 1 DVD Edition
Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe
Written by Story:
Hajime Yatate
Screenplay
Keiko Nobumoto
Music by Yoko Kanno & The Seatbelts
Cinematography Yōichi Ōgami
Editing by Shūichi Kakesu
Distributed by Bandai
Release date(s) Image:Flag of Japan.svg September 1, 2001
Image:Flag of the United States.svg August 11, 2002
Running time 115 min.
Language Japanese
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (カウボーイビバップ 天国の扉 Kaubōi Bibappu: Tengoku no Tobira?) is an animated feature film directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, based on his Cowboy Bebop television series. The film focuses on a mysterious virus and the Bebop's crew attempts to claim a bounty of 300 million woolongs for capturing the criminal behind the virus. The film was rated R by the MPAA.

Cowboy Bebop: The Movie takes place between episodes 22 and 23 of the original TV series.

Contents

[edit] Characters

Main article: Cowboy Bebop characters

Spike Spiegel and Jet Black are bounty hunters. Spike is a former member of the Red Dragon crime syndicate and Jet is a former Inter-Solar System Police (ISSP) officer and the owner of the starship Bebop. Faye Valentine is an amnesiac who constantly gambles on quick cash as a solution to her problems. Edward is a young, eccentric computer genius; she is also a master hacker.

Vincent Volaju is the film's antagonist. He's the only survivor of a series of experiments conducted after the Titan War. His plan is to release the virus throughout the world, leaving only a handful of survivors.

Electra Ovilo is a veteran of the Titan War. Her love for Vincent caused them to have a short-term relationship, during which Vincent transferred the vaccine to Electra.

Rasheed is apparently an ethnic Arab with a considerable amount of knowledge of "beans". He is really Doctor Mendelo al-Hedia, the man who developed the nano-machinery that was to be used as a virus for the military and vaccinated Vincent in attempt to keep it under control.

Lee Sampson is a teenage hacker and Vincent's accomplice. He is very interested in video games from the 20th century, as shown by him playing an alternate version of Pac-Man in a car while talking to Vincent.

[edit] Voice cast

[edit] Reception

Reception to the film was generally positive, earning a 70% score on Rotten Tomatoes.[1] For example, the BBC gave it 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "an example of anime at its very best."[2] However, some critics disliked the film. Newsday gave it only 1.5 out of 5 stars, saying that it was "a very long and pretentious ride into the sunset."[3] Nevertheless, a positive review on fansite The Jazz Messengers, which gave it an A-, indicates that fans of the series were not disappointed.[4] It was nominated in 2004 for the Online Film Critics Society Awards in the Best Animated Feature category; it lost to Finding Nemo.[5]

[edit] Adult Swim

Midnight September 3, 2005, Adult Swim broadcasted Cowboy Bebop: The Movie. However, there were still some cuts in the TV broadcast:

  • The movie was broadcast in fullscreen rather than the original letterbox format. Apparently, Adult Swim broadcast the syndicated version of the movie, as distributed by Sony Pictures, the film's US licensors.
  • The film's original Japanese title was Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door. In all other English-language versions the film is simply Cowboy Bebop: The Movie.
  • The movie's end credits were displayed in Japanese rather than in English. Also, the video part of the credits were sped up, with the audio at normal speed, like all movie broadcasts. As such, the entire ending song, "Gotta Knock a Little Harder", and Spike's reprisal of the opening line were not heard.

In order to conform to broadcast standards, other edits that were made include:

  • Spike's "And you take too long to take a shit!" is changed to "And you take too long to take a crap!" Sony used the "crap" spoken from Spike's previous line, "Don't pull that Art of War crap on me!"
  • The pan shot of Faye in the shower is cut, though only her silhouette is seen through the shower curtain. In the same scene, while Faye talks to Ed on the phone, the camera zooms in to avoid showing cleavage.
  • The man on the monorail being shot in the head is cut so no bullet impact is seen.
  • Vincent shooting Spike through the chest is cut.
  • The police chief's "Shit!" was muted out.
  • Another shot of the police chief saying "Shit!" was cut.
  • The scene of Vincent shooting Spike through the side of his stomach on the tower is cut.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Cowboy Bebop: The Movie - Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
  2. ^ Russell, Jamie. BBC - films - review - Cowboy Bebop: The Movie. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
  3. ^ Stuart, Jan. Cowboy Bebop: The Movie. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
  4. ^ Knockin' On Heaven's Door review. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.
  5. ^ IMDb: Online Film Critics Society Awards: 2004. Retrieved on 2007-11-22.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Works of Shinichirō Watanabe
TV and OAV seriesMacross Plus · Cowboy Bebop · Samurai Champloo
FilmsCowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Short filmsA Detective Story · Kid's Story · Baby Blue
v • d • e
Cowboy Bebop
MainCharacters · Episodes · Cowboy Bebop: The Movie · Manga
MusicThe Seatbelts · Yoko Kanno · Cowboy Bebop (album) · Vitaminless · No Disc · Blue · Remixes: Music for Freelance · Ask DNA · Future Blues · Cowgirl Ed · Box Set · Tank! THE! BEST!
Misc.Cowboy Bebop (PlayStation game) · Cowboy Bebop: Tsuioku no Yakyoku
fr:Cowboy Bebop - Knockin' on Heaven's Door

pt:Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no Tobira

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