Image Ent. Inc. and Bandai Visual USA Inc. have released the 1993 anime masterpiece PATLABOR 2 THE MOVIE on DVD.
PATLABOR 2 was directed by acclaimed director Mamoru Oshii (PATLABOR THE MOVIE, GHOST IN THE SHELL, JIN-ROH, AVALON), written by Kazunori Ito (.HACK//, AVALON), with music by Kenji Kawai (GHOST IN THE SHELL, AVALON, RINGU).
Set three years after the first film, PATLABOR 2 draws police commanders Ki'ichi Gotoh and Shinobu Nagumo into the hunt for Tsuge, a rogue officer of the Japan Self-Defense Forces connected with an escalating wave of terrorist attacks. But the investigation into the plot is guarded by secrets both personal and political, as the awakening fear of terror in Tokyo is slowly answered by the dream-like fade of democracy into martial law. Tokyo, rush hour: the dead of winter. A terror strike from the air shatters the Bay Bridge. When news footage shows an unidentified F-16 fighter jet in the vicinity, the investigation takes a darker turn as the outlines of the shadowy military and political coalition behind the incident are traced. But the conspiracy itself is out of control, and what began as a gesture is becoming a game where the peace, the freedom, and the very lives of the people of Tokyo are at stake.
The DVD will be released in both a single disc edition ($29.99) and a limited collectors edition ($89.99). The limited collectors edition is numbered with a limited run of only 10,000 units. The cover art was illustrated especially for the DVD release by noted illustrator Yutaka Izubuchi (mechanical designer of the PATLABOR movies). The limited edition set includes:
* Disc 1: The full-length animated film in Japanese and newly dubbed English voiceover with optional English subtitles, newly remastered anamorphic transfer (first U.S. release), new authentic 5.1 channel sound (first U.S. release) as well as Japanese trailers and television commercials.* Disc 2: The Making of PATLABOR 2 THE MOVIE in Japanese with English subtitles.* Book 1: Archives (144 pages) containing exposition and criticism of the film, interviews with the director, a Tokyo location map, key animation drawing samples with explanatory notes and additional information about the film.* Book 2: The directors storyboard (300 pages with English translation).
Bandai Visual USA Inc. was established in 2005 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Bandai Visual Co., Ltd. with a mission to facilitate stronger, more active involvement in positioning, marketing and distribution of Bandai Visual programs in North America. From its base in Torrance, California, Bandai Visual USA seeks to form new alliances and reinforce existing ties in an effort to strengthen Bandai Visuals international presence as a producer and content provider in the ever expanding and diversified specialty programs market. Bandai Visual USA titles are released on DVD under its Honneamise label, named after the 1987 animation film that Bandai Visual first produced. More information is available at www.bandaivisual.us.
Image Ent. Inc. is a leading independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming in North America, with more than 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 200 exclusive CD titles in domestic release and approximately 300 programs internationally via sublicense agreements. The company is headquartered in Chatsworth, California, and has a domestic distribution facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. The companys subsidiary Image Ent. (UK) maintains a content acquisition office in London, England. For more information, go to www.image-entertainment.com.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
