released 16 nov 03 / last mod 01 jun 07 / greg goebel / public domain
* Fans of the PATLABOR anime series know the basic scenario: in the near future, big robotic machines known as "Labors" are common in industrial and military roles, and to combat crimes performed by Labors a police "Patrol Labor" group is set up. The heroes of the series are the personnel of "Patlabor Division 2", a self-described "gang of losers" that manage to get things done in spite of a maverick reputation.
The PATLABOR 1 movie involves Division 2 dealing with a rash of Labors running amok, with suspicion falling on the operating system for the Labors. Suspiciously, the chief designer of the OS, an E. Hoba, committed suicide under bizarre circumstances. The devious Captain Goto of Division 2 enlists (using a little trickery) officer Asuma Shinohara to get to the bottom of things, and soon a frightening plot emerges ...
The PATLABOR 1 movie is a reasonably well put together piece of work, with good (if not extraordinary) production values, and an intelligent (if not extraordinary) script. It is certainly better than much of the indifferent anime that gets churned out on a regular basis by Japan's animation studios. However, PATLABOR 1 is basically just a scaled-up PATLABOR TV episode, and the only thing it really brings to the party is better production values over the TV show.
If you like the PATLABOR TV series, you'll probably like this movie. If you were lukewarm on the TV series, you might not find the movie very stimulating. In comparison to the follow-on and outstanding PATLABOR 2 movie, it looks more like a creditable practice exercise for producer Mamoru Oshii, preparing him for better work to come.