garakira
I don't really know why the hate towards this beautiful, fun, thriller, the pace it's slow but it's intended to be like that, it has action, and motives enough to do what the characters do, yes Mamoru it's not involved, but so what?, this is a very entertaining production, and it reflects how life in that not far away Tokio is held, that means that is not only the characters of the first movies the only ones that live there, basically, this expand the universe of Patlabor series.It's not perfect, but it's beautiful done, and please, do favor for you and don't watch the dub version, I get that is one of the weak points of the bad reviews.
Clayton
Last week on SBS, I managed to catch Patlabor 3 at one p.m. Wow. Thankfully, it was the one anime that wasn't airing at midnight or one in the morning, like SBS always does. Starting off, you'll notice the lackluster voice acting in the English dub. It sounds monotonous to the point of blandness. Blandness is also a problem with the character designs, as the main character (who resembles the garbage-truck guy in Ghost of the Shell)'s eyes are reminiscent of the creepy dead eyes problem in The Polar Express. Most of the characters are Average Joes and Janes, but then again this isn't an extreme action anime like Bleach or Dragon Ball.Instead of the thought-provoking philosophy of the previous Patlabors (and also largely to blame for the directorial absence of Mamoru Oshii) we're treated partially to a monster film, which takes away a lot of the thriller aspect. I mean, really, couldn't the writing team come up with some thing a little better? Well, at least we have good animation.To finish, if you enjoyed the previous films, you might want to pick this up, but if you're looking for a deep and philosophical film like Ghost in the Shell or The End of Evangelion, you might let it pass.
cjhaacke
I was completely jazzed to track down the third Patlabor movie; the first two are among my favorites.The third lacked that certain something...namely the main characters from the first two, reduced to minor supporting roles at best. We don't see the progression of the characters like we did between 1 and 2, which, to be honest, was part of what I was looking forward to seeing in the third. They showed up, a little; I found it funny when Captain Goto, in a meeting, asked why he was there. I had to laugh, because I was asking the same question, as he seemed to me to be in the scene just so people knew it was Patlabour 3. If Section 2 didn't show up in some form, even a few scenes, people would not have been able to tell. So they did. In a few scenes.I was disappointed.
gjhong
I just rented the North American DVD and was surprised to see a US movie trailer in the package. This trailer says the movie was in theaters in January of 2003. I don't remember seeing anything like that in the local newspaper. Maybe it was a limited run in selected cities. Anyway I must warn you that like most movies based on existing series there is no reintroduction of the characters. That means if you don't know who does what the movie won't tell you. Also the Special Vehicles Unit takes a supporting role because the story revolves around the captain's detective friend. That means your favourite characters will hardly get any screen time or lines to say. I will give the movie a "B" rating.
AD
