Haradrim Mamoru Oshii has created an amazing work of political and military intrigue wholly different from the haunted proto-ghost story of Patlabor: The Movie. Although it parallels its predecessor in some plot elements (lone madman with delusions of affecting a world-change), the movie departs from all other aspects of "typical" Japanese cartoon work and enters a realm reserved for potboilers like Three Days of the Condor and The Hunt for Red October.Commander Gotoh, caught between his loyalty to his men, his sense of duty and his relationship with one of his troops and a coming civil war finds himself on the sword point of a massive socio-political upheaval with overtones of covert U.S. backing. What it all leads to is a potential breakdown of civilian governance of Japan and an end to that nation's independent self-rule. The terroristic acts of a lone military mastermind who bears a grudge against short sighted bureaucrats - and has the reasons for his contempt proved time and again during the crisis he engineers - push Japan into a state of near panic as the military and the police including Commander Gotoh's Special Vehicles Unit face off against one another. Will the final showdown end in the madness of a civil war? Watch the movie, find out.Forget preconceptions about Japanese cartoons, and discard the mental image brought up by the "giant robot" on the cover of the DVD. The "Labors" serve as mere background icons (much as the powered armor did in R.A. Heinlein's seminal Starship Troopers (not the execrable movie loosely based on that work)) and as subtle statements on the separation of men from society by duty and law.Please, if you have a prejudice against Japanimation, don't let it override your judgment. Don't miss this one. It's that good.

Katana_dk "Japanese cartoons are for kids"...This is yet another movie to show to people who wrongfully believe that!A movie like "Ghost in The Shell" and the series "Neon Genesis Evangelion" have proven to contain more plot in the screenplay, and even afterthought in the mind of the audience, than most Hollywood-movies I know of. "Patlabor 2" is definitely another addition to my list of movies I would say disproves the first sentence in this comment.As other commenters have noted, "Patlabor 2" resembles a Tom Clancy political thriller. The storytelling was so good that it got my heart racing in some scenes, and that is saying a lot from my point of view (Trust me on that one - I've seen "The Others" and similar movies, without moving a muscle when the rest of the theatre screamed).If the story was tightened here, and the plot was elaborated there, "Patlabor 2" could be made into a Hollywood-movie as a frame-by-frame copy! I really mean that - There is always room for improvement, but in my opinion there are only very minor blemishes to the flow of the movie. I enjoyed every second, although some other commenters found the "slow parts" boring or irrelevant.The music (or lack thereof) is also definitely worth a mention. It's hard to describe - I just couldn't imagine it being any different for this movie. The reason I write lack of music is because there are scenes where any Hollywood-producer would have slapped on some generic classical music, but in this case there is none. For example there is a scene after a climax where you just see different parts of the cityscape, with snow falling, and there is no sound at all. THAT's movie-magic. It's part of what draws me to this strange, exotic type of movies - it's so different than what most of us are used to.Recreate the visuals using a film-camera, actors and a special-effects crew, copy+paste the music, label it "made in Hollywood" and you've got yourself a blockbuster-hit!Japanese cartoons are for kids - not. If you have a brain, and an attention-span bigger than your average action-monkey, this movie is for you.

lije Patlabor 2 is a very good anime, both by the technical quality of Oshii's team's work, and by a very good and smart screenplay, using politic and terrorism as background.This movie show us that anime is not only for kids (see Disney) and that japanese anime can have beautiful picture and good screenplay.

razula Mamoru Oshii's "Ghost in the Shell" got all the hype, but his earlier film, "Patlabor 2," is by far the more mature, artistically successful film. This is anime at its finest - sharply detailed artwork, superb animation, and a story that WILL hook you.Disguised as a Tom Clancyesqe techno-thriller, Patlabor 2 is actually a knowing, often cynical examination of global politics. The film at times resembles a surreal CNN report...if it were scripted by Noam Chomsky and directed by Alfred Hitchcock! What does that mean? First, the symbolic visuals are beguiling and plentiful. I would suggest you first view either "Psycho" or the "The Birds" and then Watch the Birdie in "Patlabor 2".Patlabor 2 is a beautiful film. There are many stunning, surreal cityscapes that recall "Blade Runner." These scenes are accompanied by Keiji Kawai's meditative, haunting score. But the film's greatest impact is its disturbing plausibility. There may be giant robot police patrolling the streets of Tokyo, but the patterns of infrastructure and the chaos that breaks out when it breaks down seem all too real.I give this anime my highest recommendation and I would especially recommend it to those who are either unfamiliar with Japanese anime or perhaps think animation is not a "serious" artistic medium. (This film will set them straight). Due to it's highly dense dialogue, I would recommend the dubbed version (unless you're fluent in Japanese or just prefer subtitles). The dubbing job is superbly acted and well-timed, preserving the original script's dramatic pauses and moments of silence.