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Returner (2002)
Front Cover Actor
Takeshi Kaneshiro Miyamoto
Kirin Kiki Xie
Anne Suzuki Milly
Goro Kishitani Mizoguchi
Yukiko Okamoto Dr. Yagi
Kisuke Iida Karasawa
Kazuya Shimizu Murakami
Chiharu Kawai Liu's Interpreter
Dean Harrington Dr. Brown
Mitsuru Murata
Movie Details
Genre Action; Adventure
Director Takashi Yamazaki
Producer Chikahiro Ando; Toru Horibe
Writer Kenya Hirata; Takashi Yamazaki
Studio Columbia TriStar
Language Japanese
Audience Rating R (Restricted)
Running Time 116 mins
Country Japan
Color Color
Plot
There's not a single original idea in Returner, but that doesn't stop this Japanese sci-fi action thriller from being a whole lotta fun. Combining elements of (what else?) The Matrix, E.T., The Terminator, and Independence Day, plus a dash of Back to the Future (among others), the mayhem begins when scruffy survivor Milly (Anne Suzuki) uses a time portal to leap from 2084--when humans are being systematically wiped out by invading aliens--to 2002, where she hooks up with a gunslinging maverick (Takeshi Kaneshiro) whose swirling overcoat and hair-trigger attitude make him the live-action equivalent of the quintessential anime hero. Together, they thwart a Yakuza psychopath (played with hilariously laconic nihilism by Goro Kishitani) who's attempting to steal a recovered alien spaceship to exploit its highly advanced weaponry. In its race to avoid an end-of-the-world scenario, Returner throws in just about everything from the sci-fi anime repertoire, and director Takashi Yamazaki blithely and blatantly shifts from juvenile sentiment to violent brutality, resulting in a clash of tones that makes Returner wildly entertaining but decidedly not for children. Utterly derivative but worthwhile for sci-fi and anime fans, it's a noteworthy case of clever recycling, with energy and ammunition to spare. --Jeff Shannon
Personal Details
Seen It Yes
Index 647
Collection Status In Collection
Links Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon Fr
User Lookup 1 DivX6
User Text 1 Jp Fr
Product Details
Format DVD
Region 2
Screen Ratio 1.85:1
UPC (Barcode) 043396008175
Release Date 10/02/2004
Subtitles English; French; Portuguese; Spanish
Audio Tracks English Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital 5.1
Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1
Nr of Disks/Tapes 1