009 Re:Cyborg
009 Re: Cyborg
2012 · Japan · 105 min
- Director
- Kenji Kamiyama
- Screenplay
- Kenji Kamiyama
- Producer
- Tomohiko Ishii
- Music
- Kenji Kawai
- Production company
- Production I.G
- Based on
- Cyborg 009
What the critics say
23 % Rotten Tomatoes positive reviewsWhat it is about
In 2013, a wave of skyscraper bombings strikes cities around the world, apparently directed by a force known as "His Voice". Twenty-seven years after the Cyborg 00 team broke up, 007 works for British intelligence and 002 for the American National Security Agency, after a falling out with his former comrades. Joe Shimamura, whose memories are periodically reset, lives as an ordinary high school student who believes he has a family and friends he cannot quite place, while a voice he cannot explain keeps speaking to him. As the investigation turns toward a fossil that resembles an angel's skeleton, the old team must reunite to find out who is pulling the strings.
How it was made
The project grew out of a earlier short, the 2010 3DCG film 009: The Reopening, directed by Mamoru Oshii. Produced by Production I.G with Sanzigen and in partnership with Ishimori Entertainment, it was directed and written by Kenji Kamiyama, with music by Kenji Kawai, who had previously worked with him on Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit and Eden of the East. It opened in Japan on October 27, 2012, in both 2D and RealD 3D, and was released at the same time in several Asian territories. The film is said to have borrowed elements from Oshii's cancelled Lupin the Third feature, such as the angel fossils and the giant tower in Tokyo.
Reception and legacy
The film was positioned as a new chapter in the story of Shotaro Ishinomori's Cyborg 009, balancing large-scale action with questions about the protagonist's identity. A six-volume manga adaptation by Gatou Asou ran in Monthly Big Gangan from 2012 to 2015. It led to the Cyborg 009: Call of Justice trilogy, released in 2016, with Kamiyama again serving as chief director.
Stills
Trailer
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Trivia
Asian release
The film opened at the same time in more than five Asian regions, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea.
UK delay
The British release was postponed in January 2014 because the English dub was not finished on time.
Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.