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Title (English) Lupin III - Alcatraz Connection

Title (Japanese) Rupan Sansei: Alcatraz Connection

Advertising
Fantasy Novel

Notes The 13th Lupin III TV movie. 90 mins.

Classification -

Synopsis

Review I finally got a chance to watch this year's Lupin III summer movie - "Alcatraz Connection". This is the 13th annual summer original Lupin movie that NTV has put into its Friday night, 9PM movie slot. It was broadcast in August. The movie is set in San Francisco and concerns Lupin's search for a lost treasure and his run-in's with various crime organizations and other malevolent "forces". There is also a fairly involved "paranoia plot" that twists its way around all the goings-on.
The movie starts out with a great set piece - Zenigata flies to an offshore criminally-run gambling ship, accompanied by a disheveled, Colombo-type San Francisco police detective. Zenigata attempts to warn the mobster head of the ship that Lupin is planning to rob the gangsters. But his warning is interrupted by an attack by a giant sea monster, and of course, the appearance of Lupin, Jigen, Goemon and Fujiko. All sorts of shenanigans occur and set the stage for the rest of the movie.
There are a number of mysteries in the movie, so I'll avoid spoiling them, but suffice to say, there are plenty of "chase, capture, escape" routines, along with lots of humor, stunts and a fair amount of cleavage on the part of Fujiko and other girls. The animation is quite good - definitely movie quality - with some interestingly integrated 2D and 3D CG. The musical themes are familiar from earlier films, with the difference that the opening theme is song in English.
There are some odd parts about the general "look" of the movie. Lupin and the "regulars" look pretty much as they normally do, but the rest of the characters are designed in a manner very similar to the character designs in "Cowboy Bebop". I didn't notice a reference to Sunrise in the credits, but I might have missed it. The street scenes and details in San Francisco are quite good, as is the English in the various signs. There are also the type of Japanese "in-jokes" about American society that appear from time-to-time in comedy anime set in the US.
One of the most interesting parts of watching these Friday night movies is seeing all the different advertisements. This is not like a normal anime broadcast - there were almost no ads aimed at kids. Instead most of the ads were for food or cars or beer, and there were a number of ads at the beginning in particular, for "feminine hygiene" products as well as for home decorating products. Obviously, the advertisers were expecting a large female contingent in the audience. ( Even some of the beer ads were aimed at women. )
All-in-all, "Alcatraz Connection" was very reminiscent of many of the recent "James Bond" movies - lots of action, mixed with humor and pretty girls, but not a lot of "depth". Don't expect another "Castle of Cagliostro" with this film. But if you are a Lupin fan ( and if in particular you are a Zenigata fan ) you may well enjoy this film.
(Dave Baranyi)

Credits

Episodes

Release

TV Showing See the whole series for free? This series may be syndicated to regional cable, satellite or terrestial TV stations. For Europe click here.

Date 2001-08-03

Production

Broadcaster

Animation

References & Help Look up the latest data on this title at:
Richard Llewellyn's Animated Divots, or
Anime News Network (see Encyclopedia section) ,
or in "The Anime Encyclopedia" (Clements & McCarthy, Stone Bridge Press, 2001).
Help & further information.

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Information
Title (English)	Lupin III - Alcatraz Connection
Title (Japanese)	Rupan Sansei: Alcatraz Connection
Advertising Fantasy Novel
Notes	The 13th Lupin III TV movie. 90 mins.
Classification	-
Synopsis
Review	I finally got a chance to watch this year's Lupin III summer movie - "Alcatraz Connection". This is the 13th annual summer original Lupin movie that NTV has put into its Friday night, 9PM movie slot. It was broadcast in August. The movie is set in San Francisco and concerns Lupin's search for a lost treasure and his run-in's with various crime organizations and other malevolent "forces". There is also a fairly involved "paranoia plot" that twists its way around all the goings-on. The movie starts out with a great set piece - Zenigata flies to an offshore criminally-run gambling ship, accompanied by a disheveled, Colombo-type San Francisco police detective. Zenigata attempts to warn the mobster head of the ship that Lupin is planning to rob the gangsters. But his warning is interrupted by an attack by a giant sea monster, and of course, the appearance of Lupin, Jigen, Goemon and Fujiko. All sorts of shenanigans occur and set the stage for the rest of the movie. There are a number of mysteries in the movie, so I'll avoid spoiling them, but suffice to say, there are plenty of "chase, capture, escape" routines, along with lots of humor, stunts and a fair amount of cleavage on the part of Fujiko and other girls. The animation is quite good - definitely movie quality - with some interestingly integrated 2D and 3D CG. The musical themes are familiar from earlier films, with the difference that the opening theme is song in English. There are some odd parts about the general "look" of the movie. Lupin and the "regulars" look pretty much as they normally do, but the rest of the characters are designed in a manner very similar to the character designs in "Cowboy Bebop". I didn't notice a reference to Sunrise in the credits, but I might have missed it. The street scenes and details in San Francisco are quite good, as is the English in the various signs. There are also the type of Japanese "in-jokes" about American society that appear from time-to-time in comedy anime set in the US. One of the most interesting parts of watching these Friday night movies is seeing all the different advertisements. This is not like a normal anime broadcast - there were almost no ads aimed at kids. Instead most of the ads were for food or cars or beer, and there were a number of ads at the beginning in particular, for "feminine hygiene" products as well as for home decorating products. Obviously, the advertisers were expecting a large female contingent in the audience. ( Even some of the beer ads were aimed at women. ) All-in-all, "Alcatraz Connection" was very reminiscent of many of the recent "James Bond" movies - lots of action, mixed with humor and pretty girls, but not a lot of "depth". Don't expect another "Castle of Cagliostro" with this film. But if you are a Lupin fan ( and if in particular you are a Zenigata fan ) you may well enjoy this film. (Dave Baranyi)
Credits
Episodes
Release
TV Showing	See the whole series for free? This series may be syndicated to regional cable, satellite or terrestial TV stations. For Europe click here.
Date	2001-08-03
Production
Broadcaster
Animation
References & Help	Look up the latest data on this title at: Richard Llewellyn's Animated Divots, or Anime News Network (see Encyclopedia section) , or in "The Anime Encyclopedia" (Clements & McCarthy, Stone Bridge Press, 2001). Help & further information.