Watch Cowboy Bebop: The Movie For Free

Nice effects though.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This 2001 feature based on the anime series of the same name flirts with being the perfect introduction to anime for viewers unfamiliar with the genre, but be warned that some of its cliches might still put off non-converts. Highlights include:-A mostly great English dub, right down to the ancillary characters. Steve Blum will be associated with the wiry, perpetually unperturbed spacefaring bounty hunter Spike Spiegel till the end of his days, and here he imbues the character with an infectious joie de vivre and a flirtatious attitude to go along with new one-time love interest Elektra Ovilo. I also loved Nicholas Guest as the mysterious Rashid, as well as Michael Gregory as the soft-spoken (though stereotypical) Native American chief Laughing Bull.-Impeccable music. Yoko Kanno's versatile and jazzy tunes are layered over explosive dogfights and tranquil strolls in equal measure. Her music remains one of the most vital reasons to watch the original television series, and it is a major draw for this film. Most of the tunes are joyful and exuberantly funky, as if they were lost Motown classics. But there are quieter, contemplative pieces too, especially towards the end of the film.-Jaw-dropping action scenes. The fight choreography here has to be seen to be believed. Scenes from this film have indisputably gone down in animated film history: the hand-to-hand fight between Spike and Vincent on the speeding frail line, the wild aerial battle featuring vintage WWII biplanes and futuristic fighter aircraft; the improvisational fight between Spike and Electra where the former's weapon of choice is a broom handle; the final, vicious confrontation between Spike and Vincent during a rainstorm. These will suck in just about any viewer, and they almost all top even the better fights from the TV series.An interesting plot. There's a bit of a mystery here, so viewers can get their procedural fix too. Interviewing leads and pursuing suspects involves some actual detective work that leads to a sinister bio-tech company with a front as a generic pharmaceutical entity. As in the show, the main characters (Spike, Jet, Faye, Ed, Ein) all go off on their own in pursuit of the truth, rather than sticking together as a group; they're all loners at heart, which especially became apparent in the final episodes of the TV series.-Moroccan Street. The director wanted to explore a different cultural setting than he had in the TV series, and the scenes that take place on "Moroccan Street" provide a unique Middle Eastern aesthetic that feels both respectful and celebratory. The art department was clearly fascinated by Middle Eastern culture, and it shows. Don't know of any other anime that pays this much reverence to the style of the Mid East. What is unfortunately generic is the villain, Vincent. Clad in a billowing cape and with a hilariously dead stare, plus an unintentionally ridiculous voice by Daran Norris, he's about as stereotypical as a self-involved suicidal terrorist mastermind can be. His vampiric appearance is occasionally effective when he sets off bombs or kills one of his lackeys, but his backstory couldn't be any hokier. He creepily romances Faye and Electra; it all comes across as comically emo.Other odd anime-isms that might threaten this film's consumption by a non-anime watching audience include the character of Ed, who is just as loopy as she was in the TV series. She'll be endearing to anime fans and off-putting to everyone else, though Melissa Fahn's performance is great. There's also some slapstick jokes that might feel out of place to neophytes, as well as some cartoony characters like the old coots who help out in the dogfight scene. And the runtime is a bit long at two hours.Still, this is one my favorite anime movies. It's slick, sexy and cool, with a familiar Westernized flair that distinguishes it from other kookier shows and movies in this Japanese medium. I recommend it.

Like the series, the movie toys with multiple layers of meaning. To me the series and movie both portray how some of us are unable to accept realities we find ourselves in as they are, how we fail to find meaning in what is and instead hold on for a 'how it should be'. A future that one may deserve but may never come true. Just as Spike fails to find meaning in the life he lives with the crew of bebop as he is consumed by his ghosts so does Laurence fail to see past the horrors he has endured. He asks Spike which is real, whether his life ended in Titan and everything after that point is a dream or titan is a nightmare which he fails to wake up from. The question is rhetorical, He already knows which is true but by failing to accept it he can cling onto some kind of comfort or a prospect of vindication. With his dying breath, he admits he was looking for a way out of the nightmare to which Spike ironically replies he should not have been afraid to open his eyes, the very thing Spike fails to do. Not everyone who deserves to leave purgatory gets to do so because there are no doors leading out, to begin with. Cowboy bebop shows this to the viewer in a matter of fact way like its another one of those unavoidable realities of life.

Story:First of all, the story raised some questions and I couldn't follow it. Something about people getting sick from nanomachines? The story didn't seem to do the TV series justice. It takes place around Halloween and the characters are off to try and defeat Vincent and there's a tower that looks like an Eiffel Tower. The Halloween plot just seems to be unnecessarily added in there just to make Vincent look freaky than he already is.Characters:It was nice to see the characters especially Spike again, but I always felt that this movie was was disappointing compared to the series. I felt that something was wrong with the characters like Spike. He just seemed quite persuasive. Vincent is a terrible villain. He's just a Spike copycat for Spike to try and relate to and also defeat.I didn't really think much of Faye and Jet, but Faye in here was annoying with her talkativeness about going out on the race track or something.Electra minus her know-it-all personality seemed like she could be a good character but the end ruined it for her. If Vincent was the guy who wanted to terrorize other people, why was she still in love with him? She's beautiful but this whole love story at the end was contrived.Animation:The Cowboy Bebop animation looks more exciting and surreal than the series. There is some fast camera movements. Though, Spike's clothes look darker than in the TV series. But the problem is that one minor character kept moving his arms around when he was frightened and he was talking to Vincent before he shot him.Voice acting and music:The English dub was probably the best part of the movie. I liked how well Steven's voice captures Spike's interest for Electra, and like the series, the other voice actors did well capturing the characters' personalities. Though, I don't know about Vincent, I think he still needs to shut up. The music captured the emotions well. Though, the music isn't jazzy, disappointingly, but oh well, it sounds more country-like and the music sounds catchy. I don't like country music but the country music here sounds pretty catchy. OverallIt's pretty good for a Cowboy Bebop movie. It has pretty high re- watch value because I loved some of the characters but I still thought the series was more interesting.

My mistake with COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE was that I'd watched this (back in '03) before watching the series. But having just blown through all 26 episodes, the movie feels like you're falling back in with the old crew on a new adventure. As such, the movie nails what it sets out to do: COWBOY BEBOP on the big screen. Familiar characters, great soundtrack, and boosted production values; really well done animation (this is really nice to look at), grandiose shootouts, firefights and a very nice aerial dogfight. It ratchets the violence to surprising heights and just feels larger in scope. The science bogs down the story, but it doesn't take long to get back in the groove.It's a nice capper to the series. And after what Spike goes through in this movie, adds to the final moments in the series' finale (he doesn't make out, at least to me).Good stuff.7/10