Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: Elite squad of special-forces city police find themselves up against a vast conspiracy of terrorists who might be linked to a giant company.
Biased, pithy comments: For Japanese anime, and in particular OAV (or ``straight to video'' TV episodes), this is one of the best. Masamune Shirow's comic (Shirow also drew the epic ``Ghost in the Shell'' comic) has been brought to life on screen brilliantly and (best of all) expensively, meaning that the usual stiff faces and cheap pans to give static screens the illusion of motion have been mostly replaced by fluid and responsive faces, high-speed action, and fast-paced plot. Does it mean anything at the end of it? Probably not, but it's definitely a welcome change of pace for action fans and cartoon fans---Shirow's hot-headed creation Leona curses, swears, and blows things up better than anyone I know. Definitely worth seeing for animation fans; probably less so for your average American moviegoer who isn't into anime. Shows some similarity to ``Patlabor'' series, only with tanks instead of mecha.
Other Notes: Alas, this movie promulgates painful redhead stereotypes. Worse than that, it promulgates painful female stereotypes---besides Leona's inability to control her emotions (which is clearly meant to be cute, while in a guy it would be annoying or even bullying), I love it when the mayor of this giant megalopolis serves coffee to tech people. Yeah, right---imagine Guliani doing the same thing. Not.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Shigeru Chiba, Aya Hisakawa, Yuko Mita.
Directed by: Noboru Furuse