Spriggan (1998)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Hirotsugu Kawasaki

Writers:

Yasutaka Itô (writer)
Hirotsugu Kawasaki (writer)

Release Date:

12 October 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

They were looking for a sign. What they found was a warning.

Plot:

An elite superhuman agent must stop a foreign military unit from seizing control of an ancient artifact that holds the key to ultimate power.

Plot Keywords:

Power | Artifact | Noah's Ark | Turkey | Roof

Cast

J.D. Hawkins	...	ARCAM Guard 2
Chris Patton	...	Yu Ominae (voice) (as Christopher Patton)
Kevin Corn	...	Colonel MacDougall (voice)
Ted Pfister	...	Dr. Meisel (voice)
Andy McAvin	...	Jean-Jacques Mondo (voice)
Kelly Manison	...	Margaret (voice)
Mike Kleinhenz	...	Fattman (voice)
Spike Spencer	...	Little Boy (voice)
John Paul Shephard	...	Yamamoto (voice)
John Swasey	...	Mr. Smith (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
C. Markham Anderson	...	ARCAM Explorer, Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Ross Bautsch	...	COSMOS Yu (voice: English version)
Bob Biggerstaff	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Victor Carsrud	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Kevin Charles	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jason Douglas	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Jennifer K. Earhart	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Ralph Ehntholt	...	Pentagon Black Ops, ARCAM Explorer (voice: English version)
Bob Elliot	...	Pentagon Black Ops, Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Foley Gang	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Tiffany Grant	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Matt Greenfield	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Todd Greenfield	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
John Gremillion	...	Intelligence Officer, Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Hilary Haag	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Jay Hickman	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Junie Hoang	...	Additional Voices
Don'l Johnson	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
John Kaiser	...	Pentagon Black Ops, Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Andrew Klimko	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Mark Laskowski	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Jason Lee	...	Additional Voices
James Marshall	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Vic Mignogna	...	Arcam Security 1, Additional Voices (English version) (voice)
Rob Mungle	...	Pentagon Black Ops, Customs Inspector (voice: English version)
Frank Page	...	Pentagon Black Ops, Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Phil Ross	...	ARCAM Explorer, Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Paul Sidello	...	Turkish ARCAM Agent (voice: English version)
Randy Sparks	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Greg Stanley	...	Additional Voices (voice: English version)
Kurt Stoll	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Adam Taylor	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Kira Vincent-Davis	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Brett Weaver	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Amanda Winn Lee	...	Additional Voices (as Amanda Winn)

Also Known As:

Spriggan (USA)
Spriggan (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
Spriggan (Spain) [es]

MPAA:

Rated R for violence.

Runtime:

France:90 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-15 (video rating) (2005) | Australia:MA | Germany:16 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Trivia:

Fatman and Little Boy are the names of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the fight with Colonel MacDougal Ominae's arm was broken in multiple places and left hanging limp. However, when he was falling with Jean after escaping the Ark he used the broken arm to shoot his grappling hook and hung from it, then after landing was using his 'broken' arm as if it weren't injured at all.

Movie Connections:

References Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

They don't make em like they used to.

It's hard to believe it has been 8 years since this film first came out in Japan. I had only been into anime for a few years when I first saw a preview for this on an ADV VHS of City Hunter. I knew from the first time that I saw that trailer that this would be my favorite anime. I was right. I had watched all the essential anime "films" out at the time i.e. Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Patlabor 1&2, Ninja Scroll, Wicked City, Vampire Hunter D, Fist of the North Star, Golgo 13, etc. Aside from Spriggan and possibly Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust there hasn't been, for me at least, a satisfying theatrical anime film. Films like Cowboy Bebop, Metropolis, GITS 2:Innocense and Steamboy while all visually spectacular and great just don't have the spark that makes Spriggan and some of the other titles I mentioned classic. That's probably part of the reason why I'm not really into the new "breed" of anime. Or it could be just my personal taste. Well onto to Spriggan.

First the story. I know that many bash the film because of it, but personally I enjoyed it. It's not something mind-blowing or confusing that asks deep psychological or metaphysical questions like GITS, Evangelion or Akira but a straight forward sci-fi action adventure along the lines of James Bond, Indian Jones or Stargate. The basic plot follows young Ominae Yu, who is a "Spriggan" an elite secret agent/soldier for the Arcam Foundation. He finds himself pulled into a confrontation between Arcam and a rouge covert army for control of the recently discovered Noah's Ark which may be more than the wooden boat in the bible. What follows is an espionage action adventure a-la Metal Gear Solid with a healthy dash of Akira and Raiders of the lost ark.

Now the visuals and soundtrack. They are downright beautiful. It was one of the last films to use mostly traditional hand drawn animation and one of the first to employ some neat cgi and special camera tricks that are now common place in anime today. I like how the cgi never seems out of place and blend in nicely. The soundtrack is also classic. The music really sets the tone of the film. Both the Japanese dub and the English are superb. In fact I have to say this is one of the best dubs I've heard.

Well they don't make em like they used to. In my opinion, the best anime was produced from the 1980's to close of the 90's. Perhaps because anime is now more of a kids thing and its all over the place, a lot of the new stuff just doesn't have the same feeling. To me Spriggan is a classic and my favorite anime. If you haven't seen, I'd say its certainly worth checking out. Its one of the last of its kind. Here's hoping they make a sequel.