Patlabor 2 the movie

This film is essentially a reworking of episodes 5 and 6 of the original Patlabor OVA series. It is of course much more complex and more political. In an interview Masami Yuuki claims that Mamoru Oshii made this film to showcase his favourite character Shinobu Nagamo. Oshii apparently got the job as director for "Ghost in the Shell" based upon his work on this film. Apart from the bird motif of the film, Oshii's favourite animal, a Basset Hound, makes it's debut in one of his anime films (a cardboard cut out appeared in his 1992 live action film "Talking Head") and would later become one of his trademarks. The dog would later appear in "Ghost in the Shell", "Minipato", "Avalon" and "Innocence". This film was the last to be produced by I.G. Tatsunoko, who would later in 1993 change their name formally to Production I.G.

In 1998, Oshii re-released the film with a Dolby Digital 5.1 channel remix. Additional music was also added by Kenji Kawai. The remastered version of this film, and "Patlabor the movie", were released on the home video in Japan in December 1998.

Movie Synopsis

Hidive and VRV are currently streaming this film in Japanese with English subtitles and an English dubbed version. Hidive current streaming rights only include Canada and the United States of America. VRV's current streaming rights only include the United States of America.

Maiden Japan released the film in the US on blu-ray with an English dub, original Japanese dialogue and English subtitles. Currently it is only available on the "Patlabor The Mobile Police: Complete Collection Special Edition" blu-ray box set, which also includes the TV series, the New OVA series and the other two anime films. In Japan the movie is available on blu-ray with an English dub and English subtitles from Bandai Visual. The Maiden Japan blu-ray set is only available in the United States of America, and therefore will only work on region A blu-ray players. If you don't live in United States of America, check your blu-ray player's instruction manual to see if it will play them. All Bandai Visual blu-ray discs are region free. Please see the English Language Movie Releases Video List for a complete listing of all releases, formats and product specifications of this film in English.

Bandai Channel, Amazon Prime Japan and Hulu Japan are currently streaming the film in Japanese. Bandai Channel, Amazon Prime Japan and Hulu Japan's current streaming rights only include Japan.

This movie is available in Japan from Bandai Visual on DVD and blu-ray. The DVD version does not come with English subtitles or an English dub, however the blu-ray release comes with the new English dub and English subtitles. The DVD is only available in Japan, and therefore will only work on DVD players that are both NTSC compatible and will play region 2 discs (if you don't live in Japan, check your DVD or blu-ray player's instruction manual to see if it will play the discs). All Bandai Visual blu-ray discs are region free. 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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