One of the most beloved anime properties ever, boy-and-giant-robot story Tetsujin 28 - released on these shores as Gigantor - is getting another crack at the big screen this year with a new, live action adaptation of the tale from Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii. Oshii is no stranger to giant robot stories in general - his Patlabor series is one of the best of the type - or the Tetsujin tale in particular, the director having mounted a live stage adaptation of Tetsujin back in 2008.
The Oshii film is being released simply as 28 1/2 - a title that hints he may be pushing the Tetsujin tale into some new territory, though not too new. After all, he's only pushing the number up by a half. A quartet of images from the film have just been released, including one that reveals the robot itself, and there's no doubting who is behind this, all of them featuring his now trademark visual look. Check the gallery below!
The Oshii film is being released simply as 28 1/2 - a title that hints he may be pushing the Tetsujin tale into some new territory, though not too new. After all, he's only pushing the number up by a half. A quartet of images from the film have just been released, including one that reveals the robot itself, and there's no doubting who is behind this, all of them featuring his now trademark visual look. Check the gallery below!
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- Galleries: 28 1/2
Any relation to the 2005 movie?
Nope. New take.
Trivial fun fact - Mamoru Oshii once try to do a live action to Patlabor back in 1998 but it never got off the ground. Here is a test footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i21apUL1yyI
Al Young: Nice find, thanks for the link. Personally I'm glad they never did a live action version because the original films were some of the most boring films of all time and I doubt they could pull off good mech CGI on a Japanese film budget so it would have been a waste of money.
As for 28½, I'll await a trailer before I pass any judgement, but I doubt I will like it because Oshii usually lets me down bigtime.
Frankly these shots puzzle me. Does this one ALSO take place in the Avalon universe?
I know Oshii has said that he prefers to be shooting prolific and low-budget these days, but to set every single film in the same grey wasteland from now on seems a bit much...
(For the record: I don't consider Oshii to be a boring director but will grant that he can be sedate as hell. And the second Patlabor movie is indeed perfectly fine.)
Definitely has the same looks as Avalon or Assault Girls, which share same universe.
Anyway, whatever Oshii does I see. And for sure this looks better than the 2005 version.