Description

As the world decayed into chaos, the Metropolitan Police had no choice but to fight back and create an elite police unit known as Kerberos…the Watchdogs of Hell. Over time, the zeal of the police force soon transformed into actions of cruelty and corruption. However, three of the elite rebelled against the system, but only detective Koichi Todome escaped. Several years later, he has now returned home. But why? What is left for him in this city that continues to decay? Kouichi must now determine who is friend and who is foe as he attempts to unravel what happened after he left. KEY SALES POINT

* From one of the premier directors of Japanese Cinema - Director Mamoru Oshii
* Live Action Theatrical Feature
* Anamorphic Widescreen ... Read more

Reviews (1)

"Jin-Roh" + "Alphaville" = surreal "Spectacle"
As a fan of Mamoru Oshii's action-packed, yet intellectually provocative anime films, like "Ghost in the Shell", "Patlabor", and "Jin-Roh", I was expecting something interesting from his live-action films. I started by watching "Avalon," which lived up to my expectations. I then decided to watch "Red Spectacles" next because it takes place within the same alternate world of "Jin-Roh".

While "Red Spectacles" starts off with a full-color live-action shootout that could've been straight out of "Jin-Roh", that's about as far as the similarities between "Red Spectacles" and its animated kin go. What follows the opening credits is a sepia-toned black & white genre-bending tour de force reminiscent of Jean-Luc Godard's "Alphaville".

Veteran anime voice actor Shigeru Chiba plays Koichi, a former member of the elite Kerberos police unit who has returned home after spending several years in hiding only to discover that the world he left behind has totally changed in his absence. "Red Spectacles" is constantly shifting genres, from action to slapstick to thriller to tragedy, and though these mood swings can be jarring at times, the film always maintains a surrealist tone. Oshii uses the language of film to cinematically convey Koichi's confusion and paranoia as he fights to uncover a government conspiracy that still wants him dead.

I won't give away the ending, but I will say that the last 5 minutes were visually breathtaking. The cinematography is especially remarkable at the end and Oshii introduces a metaphor in the final frames of "Red Spectacles" that he explores in detail a decade later in his screenplay for "Jin-Roh".

However, I must warn people who are expecting an action flick; "Red Spectacles" will probably bore and/or confuse you. I personally appreciate avant-garde film, so I loved "Red Spectacles", but my bloodthirsty anime "otaku" friends spent the whole film scratching their heads and begging me to fast-forward.

The next film at the top of my "To-See" list is Oshii's 1991 live-action sequel-of-sorts to "Red Spectacles" called "Stray Dogs: Kerberos Panzer Cops" (aka "Jigoku no banken: kerubersu"). ... Read more

Description

The Metropolitan Police’s ultimate crime-fighting unit was an elite squad of men and women known as the Kerberos. A riot and uprising ensues when the unit refuses to acknowledge orders from government officials to disband. At the center of the riot is the leader of the Kerberos squad, Kouichi Todome who escapes after the fighting. Three years later, Inui is released from prison.A member of the Kerberos squad who served jail time for his participation in the riot, he wants nothing more to find his former master. However, the trail to Kouichi is a twisted one, involving a strange woman and a new and unimagined lifestyle. But when he finally finds him, he realizes that, instead of following his own path, he was following the orders of another. KEY SALES POINT

* From one of the premier directors of Japanese Cinema - Director Mamoru Oshii
* Live Action Theatrical Feature
* Anamorphic Widescreen
DVD Features:
Interactive Animated Menus

Dolby Digital Surround Sound

Japanese Language

English subtitles option

DVD Extras:

Theatrical Trailer

Mamoru Oshii's Stray Dog Text ... Read more