Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no Tobira

I'm never that comfortable with films of series. Mostly, that's because all too often a film of a series consists of some kind of edited-all-to-hell clip show that tries and totally fails to boil down the story of a long series to a relatively much shorter film. Knockin' on Heaven's Door isn't that, which is very much in its favour. Rather, it's basically like a two-hour "lost episode" that belongs somewhere in the middle of the series - without spoiling anything, by the end of the series, there's characters missing who are still present in this film. Another point in the film's favouris that it's pretty much equally accessible for existing fans and those unfamiliar with the characters. While there's plenty of details that might be lost or not fully comprehensible for new viewers, by and large the film stands up well as a stand alone drama, introducing its characters and their situation. However, this in a way exposes another major weakness of films of series. Series are, by nature, episodic. They devote an episode to introducing a character or exploring their personalities. Once this is done, they generally have plot episodes, in which the main thrust of the series is pursued, and then they have one-shot episodes that have our characters in some kind of interesting situation, but which is basically unrelated to the plot - if there is one. Films, by contrast, do all of this at once. The proceedure is totally different, and a director or scriptwriter used to a series format adapts less well to a film format. Knockin' on Heaven's Door exemplifies this - while the film as it is works, it's more obvious and cumbersome than a film directed by a director used to a feature-length format. The storyline, also, suffers in this way. It's not that it's a bad story, in fact it might make a great two- or three-part episode, but as a film, the material comes across as stretched, holey and lacking in substance. It's also remarkable in that it's not half as quirky or original as Cowboy Bebop's famously eclectic mixtures of ideas: biological terrorism unleashed by a madman with a mysterious and sinister military past, fascinated by death and bent on destroying the world, with cod philosophical pretentions to fil gaps between action and a garnish of some fashionable christian mythology. It's all very generic really, and frankly the only things that make this Cowboy Bebop and not something much more generic are the familiar characters, who are luckily strong enough to make the thing hang together. The new characters are not much to speak of, either - Vincent the aforementioned madman, a hacker accomplice, a Moroccan information seller and, of course, Electra, a tough, wildcard femme fatale with a mysterious connection to our antagonist. Electra comes off as the best realised of these, and, perhaps not coincidentally, closest to a series character (though she's a dead ringer for a more mature version of BGC2040's Priss as well). Vincent seems very like main series antagonist Vicious stripped of his hatred of Spike, which is to say, not that special and a bit rabid and foaming for credibility. The film drags. It's just too long. What this is primarily due to is unclear; maybe an over-developed story with far too much exposition (every character seems to need every other to explain nanomachines to them, it seems. We, however, do not), or perhaps the increasingly egregious and segmented action scenes (why are there spitfires on Mars? Who knows, let's cut back to Spike being pursued by military jets for no apparent reason!), or it could be the ponderous attempts to fashion some sort of existential aspect to the story ("I'm not insane, the rest of the world is." - oh really? You don't look thirteen years old, Vincent, but you sound it). Philosophical-minded action films are not especially uncommon; good and effective ones are extremely rare. Suffice it to say that I was surprised and rather disappointed when the apparent climax occured and passed with a good half an hour left on the clock. As I say, the film hangs almost completely on the main characters. It would have been unthinkable to not bring the original cast in for this gig too (can't speak for the dub cast, don't know), and they all acquit themselves just as well as they do in the series. Music, too, such a central part of the series, is again provided by Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts; while the styles used in and prominence given to the music may not be to everyone's tastes, the versatility and range Kanno's score covers while still retaining a high basic quality standard is nothing short of incredible. Visually, the quality seems to have been kicked up a notch; the animation of the series was never bad, but the film is sumptuous and extremely well detailed. However, one of my main bones of contention remains. The art design is realistic, unapologetically multicultural and sort of grimy, very credible in its way, but under even cursory analysis, it's illogical in the extreme. Why is Mars covered in early twentieth-century New York-style tenement blocks and labyrinthine Moroccan markets? Has anyone remembered that it has one third of earth's gravity? Is there, in fact, any reason for this to be set on Mars at all, other than to tie in all these diverse elements? It's sci-fi doing what sci-fi does most often and least well - making half-baked stuff up to accomodate its ideas, with no thought for maintainance of disbelief suspension. I was never as bowled over by Cowboy Bebop as many people seem to have been. Overall I liked it, certainly, in fact I thought some of it was absolutely excellent, but other parts I thought were pretty terrible, and it was quickly clear that the series was never going to be "a classic" in my eyes the way it is for lots of others. This was primarily because of its disjointedness and apparent lack of story direction, and the same is true of this film. Now, after watching it, I'm left with the same "...well, so what?" feeling a significant amount of the series gave me, but because of the length and the negative impact it has, I have comparatively more holes to pick at as well. Perhaps if you're a real fan, this film has more to offer, but overall, for me, while I'd not actually call it bad, this doesn't reach the already kind of saggy standard the series set.

Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door was released in Japan on September 1st, 2001. Shinichiro Watanabe stayed on as director, and it was produced this time by not only Sunrise, but also Bandai Visual (famous for their work on the .hack series and Dennou Coil), and Bones (famous for their work on Fullmetal Alchemist and Ouran High School Host Club). It was released Stateside by Bandai on August 11th, 2002. It's just a few days before Halloween on Ganymede, a major national holiday, and a terrorist has blown up a tanker filled with a biochemical weapon. The government posts a 300 million Wulongbounty for the terrorist, and the Bebop crew just decides to go after it. But the more they investigate, the deeper the rabbit hole seems to go... Yes, to answer any questions ahead of time, this is not a sequel; it takes place between episodes twenty-two and twenty-three. It's not quite what I was expecting, admittedly, but it's still a pretty good plot. It could've been fit in the series as a two or three part episode, and apparently Wantanabe had wanted to originally, but he couldn't have gotten away with it on TV. The visuals for this are absolutely beautiful; the animation got an update in the three years since the show had aired, and things are definitely smoother than they were in the show. There's an even more unprecedented amount of detail in this, and it's absolutely beautiful. Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts came back to do work on the music again, and it's just as awesome and catchy as it was in the series. I found myself humming a few of the songs after it was done. All the seiyuu and the voice actors were able to return for the movie, which just adds t o the awesomeness of the movie in general. And the dub for this was actually fairly accurate, which surprises me, as this was released Stateside a little over a year after 9/11, and a few days before the 9/11 attacks over in Japan. All in all, a pretty good movie, with a good plot and unprecedented detail and smoother animation, if not what I was expecting.

It was a good follow up (in-between, actually) to the series. I suggest that if you’re planning to watch Cowboy Bebop – Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, you should watch after you get to the episode when Ed is introduced. You just need to get to know all 4 major characters to understand the movie. I didn’t like it as much as the series, mostly because the series kept me interested by introducing new plot lines in each episode. Having to focus on one specific plot for 120 minutes was a bit exhausting. It has a nice plot – throughout the movie you’ll get why “Knockin’ onHeaven’s Door” is part of the title. I also found the plot to be timely. Terrorism is a problem that’s been widespread throughout the world for years, and it’s interesting to see a group of bounty hunters trying to do something good for mankind. The characters are back, of course. They’re still the same as they were in the series. 2 more major characters are introduced throughout the movie. The villain is Vincent Volaju, a mysterious terrorist with a forgotten past. He is definitely convincing as a villain, at least I think so. Electra is also a character added to the mix. I didn’t really like her, mostly because she looks like a guy, but her presence is important to the story. The original voice actors are also back to reprise their respective roles. I would have been mad if they changed the voice actors. I think one of the major innovations in the movie is the visuals. The visuals are 10 times more stunning than in the series, all thanks to the collaboration with BONES studio. I guess it may have something to do with the fact that it was produced in 2001, and 2001 animation definitely improved since 1998. The screenplay was also as great as before. Yoko Kanno came back to do the music again, but I have to say I’m a bit disappointed. There were less tracks than there were in the series, and there were a lot of scenes where there was no background music at all. That was a rare occurrence in the series. The opening theme, "Ask DNA" by The Seatbelts featuring Raju Ramayya and the ending theme "Gotta Knock a Little Harder" by The Seatbelts featuring Mai Yamane, were really nicely done though. Obviously, I liked the series better, but that may have something to do with the fact that I finished the series first before watching the movie. It’s kind of hard to top the ending of the series, so it’s best if you watch the movie in between the series.

Warning : minor spoilers ahead It was a month ago when I finished cowboy bebop series, and i would say that i was a little bit disappointed. Why would I be disappointed? Well, mostly because many episodes almost feel like fillers, they don't support character development and some enemies just minor criminals/bounties and those villains rarely have interesting characters. After sometime, I decided to watch the CB movie. And I would say the movie was very good. This movie has the elements that some cowboy bebop episodes lack. Mostly the well developed story and characters(villains). Story (8/10) "Which one is dream? Which one is reality? A 'deadman', searchingfor that answer, tries to endanger the society. It is up to Spike and the gang to stop him". Yup, that was pretty much the synopsis of the movie. Like the series, the story presents a sci-fi modern era where humans has lived in other planets. Our MCs (Spike, Jet, Faye, Ed), are bounty hunters. This time, they are trying to catch an unknown terrorist. Unlike the series, which lack episodic story development because they have only 20 minutes duration for one story, the movie has almost 2 hours duration. It really has a great difference to tell a story. The story plot is very well chronologically executed, and not rushed. We got to see a complex investigation, gaining information, interesting background story and past of the main villain, good action scenes, and a nice final conclusion of all of them. The big differences i felt most with the series are this movie presents us a nice built villains, well developed plot, bigger case and conflicts that put our MCs in critical situation, which rarely seen in the series. Art (9/10) Considering the time it was aired, I would say the animations are great. The backgrounds are nice and the movements were fluid. But what I like most is the character design. It was unique in my opinion, no moe, and it gives me more mature atmosphere from it. Sound (8/10) The sountrack is like the original series, the classic ones. Nice OP and ED. Soundtracks also fit well with the atmosphere of the scenes. Though a few scenes were quiet and don't have BGM in it. Voice acting is also good. Character (8/10) We got our MCs back, Spike and the gang, whose characters are the same with the series. Spike being a cool badass, Faye being selfish and ignorant, Jet who is sometimes being the most sane one, and Ed is.. crazy.. What really caught my attentions was the main villain's character, Vincent. A man with an interesting past that leads to his interesting philosophy (which one is dream, which one is reality). To seek his answes he will do anything. Interesting terrorism, which he also left mystery to be solved. Above all that, he also really got some skills to overpower the main protagonist. Enjoyment (8/10) Yeah, let's make this one short. From the scores above I'd say I really enjoy this movie. It was a nice watch and it has cured my disappointment of CB franchise. Overall (8/10) Cause the majority of above scores i gave were 8s, then my overall score would be 8, which means really good.

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