The Legend of the Gold of Babylon (バビロンの黄金伝説 Babiron no Ōgon Densetsu?) is the 3rd Lupin the 3rd movie released on July 13, 1985. It was produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha, Nippon TV and Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation, directed by Seijun Suzuki and Shigetsugu Yoshida, and written by Atsushi Yamatoya and Yoshio Urasawa.
Synopsis
Lupin searches for a gigantic hoard of hidden treasure originating in ancient Babylon. With the help of his usual team, a set of stone tablets, and a drunken old woman by the name of Rosetta, Lupin competes against mafiosos Marciano and Kowalski who are also set on finding the lost Babylonian treasure. Complicating matters is Inspector Zenigata, who has been roped into judging the "Miss ICPO Beauty Contest" and must now drag a group of nominees around with him, all eager to prove themselves as agents. Will Lupin get to the treasure before Marciano and Kowalski lay their grubby hands on it? Will the trail of talent following Zenigata interfere with him finally apprehending Lupin?!
Long Summary
Production
This film is the only Lupin film where he wears the pink jacket from the third TV series. When TMS decided the time was right to make a third Lupin movie, they first chose Mamoru Oshii as director, based on the recommendation from Hayao Miyazaki. During the pre-production stage, however, the company considered Oshii's plan as too avant-garde, and replaced him with Seijun Suzuki and Shigetsugu Yoshida both who were working at Part III at the time; the former wrote Part III Episode 13. Even though the idea was scrapped, some artwork by Yoshitaka Amano and interviews of the original version were made.
Mamaro Oshii's original idea for this movie was for the story to have no protagonist at all. Lupin III wouldn't be seen at all throughout the movie. His other idea involved an architect building the Tower of Babel in the heart of Tokyo and would have committed suicide upon completion. Lupin’s goal would have been to steal a fossil of an angel. Another idea was that an older, depressed Lupin accidentally caused a nuclear explosion in Tokyo, then realized he was a fictional character and attempted to enter the real world.
The original writer Yoshio Urasawa also left with Atsushi Yamatoya finishing the script. Due to the production change, some of the Part III staff worked on both the movie and were still finishing off the series such as Yuzo Aoki.
Cast
- Japanese
| Characters | Voice Actors |
|---|---|
| Lupin III | Yasuo Yamada |
| Daisuke Jigen | Kiyoshi Kobayashi |
| Goemon Ishikawa XIII | Makio Inoue |
| Fujiko Mine | Eiko Masuyama |
| Inspector Koichi Zenigata | Gorō Naya |
| Rosetta | Toki Shiozawa (old woman) Naoko Kawai |
| Marciano | Maki Carrousel |
| Kowalski | Chikao Ōtsuka |
| Willy | Obon |
| Chen | Kobon |
Additional voices:[2]
- International Policewoman:
- Fumi Hirano as Caramel
- Keiko Han as Chinjao
- Rihoko Yoshida as Zakskaya
- Keiko Toda as Saranda
- Saeko Shimazu as Lasagna
- Kenichi Ogata as Sam
- Teiji Ōmiya as Secretary
- Yūji Fujishiro as Tartini
- Takashi Taguchi
- Takuro Kitagawa
- Susumu Otaki
- Naoko Kawai
- English
- Click on "Show" to view the cast
| Characters | Voice Actors |
|---|---|
| Lupin III | Tony Oliver |
| Daisuke Jigen | Richard Epcar |
| Goemon Ishikawa XIII | Lex Lang |
| Fujiko Mine | Michelle Ruff |
| Inspector Koichi Zenigata | Doug Erholtz |
| Rosetta | Ellyn Stern |
| Marciano | Christopher Smith |
| Kowalski | Taylor Henry |
| Willy | Keith Silverstein |
| Chin | Todd Haberkorn |
Additional Voices:
- International Policewoman:
- Lauren Landa as Caramel
- Cindy Robinson as Chinjao, Zakskaya, Saranda
- Michelle Ruff as Lasagna
- Jose Argumedo
- Kyle Hebert
- Italian (L'oro di Babilonia / La leggenda dell'oro di Babilonia)
- Click on "Show" to view the cast
| Characters | Voice Actors |
|---|---|
| Lupin III | Roberto Del Giudice |
| Daisuke Jigen | Sandro Pellegrini |
| Goemon Ishikawa XIII | Vittorio Guerrieri |
| Fujiko Mine | Alessandra Korompay |
| Inspector Koichi Zenigata | Enzo Consoli Maurizio Mattioli (announcer for the Miss ICPO contest) |
| Rosetta | Francesca Palopoli |
| Marciano | Elio Marconato |
| Kowalski | Vittorio Di Prima |
| Willy | Unknown |
| Chin | Unknown |
- Spain (Arsenio Lupin en El Oro de Babilonia)
- Click on "Show" to view the cast
| Characters | Voice Actors |
|---|---|
| Lupin III | José Carabias |
| Daisuke Jigen | José María Cordero |
| Goemon Ishikawa XIII | Unknown |
| Fujiko Mine | Laura Palacios |
| Inspector Koichi Zenigata | Unknown |
| Rosetta | Josefina de Luna |
| Marciano | Abel Navarro |
| Kowalski | Unknown |
| Willy | Eduardo Moreno |
| Chin | Abel Navarro |
Additional Voices:[3]
- International Policewoman:
- María Luisa Rubio as Caramel
- Laura Palacios as Chinjao
- María Romero as Zakskaya
- Josefina de Luna as Saranda
- Rafael Torres as Sam
- Eduardo Moreno as Comisario
Marciano's name is transcribed as Marchiano, to ensure the correct pronunciation of the Italian surname in Spanish writing - otherwise, it may be mispronounced [mar-ˈθja-no], meaning "an inhabitant of the planet Mars", instead of [mar-ˈtʃja-no], as in the surname of boxer Rocky Marciano. This was based on the Japanese transliteration Maruchiāno.
- French (L'Or de Babylone)
- Click on "Show" to view the cast
| Characters | Voice Actors |
|---|---|
| Lupin III | Philippe Ogouz (as Edgar de la Cambriole) |
| Daisuke Jigen | Philippe Peythieu |
| Goemon Ishikawa XIII | Jean Barney |
| Fujiko Mine | Catherine Lafond (as Magali Mine) |
| Inspector Koichi Zenigata | Patrick Messe (as Inspecteur Gaston Lacogne) |
| Rosetta | Agnès Gribe |
| Marciano | Manuel Gélin |
| Kowalski | Gérard Dessalles |
| Willy | Unknown |
| Chin | Unknown |
Staff
- Original work: Monkey Punch
- Director: Seijun Suzuki, Shigetsugu Yoshida
- Producer: Tetsuo Katayama, Hisashichi Sano, Hidehiko Takei
- Layout: Jun'ichi Iioka, Hiroyuki Onoda
- Screenplay: Atsushi Yamatoya, Yoshio Urasawa
- Music by: Yuji Ohno
- Music director: Seiji Suzuki
- Song selection: Yutaka Gōda
- Storyboard: Tameo Kohanawa, Shigetsugu Yoshida, Hidetoshi Owashi
- Assistant director: Rokō Ogiwara
- Animation director: Yūzō Aoki, Tatsuo Yanagino, Hidetoshi Owashi
- Art: Tsutomu Ishigaki
- Photography: Hajime Hasegawa
- Audio recording: Yukiyoshi Itokawa
- Editing: Mitsutoshi Tsurubuchi
- Production manager: Tadahito Matsumoto, Takahisa Yokomizo
- Distribution: Toho Company, Ltd.
- Production support: Tokyo Movie
- Production: Tokyo Movie Shinsha, Nippon TV, Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation
Reception
The film has a mixed reception among people with fans from the US are more critical.
Helen McCarthy when she wrote for Anime UK praised the film and found it to be "one of Lupin's strongest ever outings" and thought that "anyone who doesn't love it is hard to please indeed!". She had noted the references to the Indiana Jones saga, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Fortean theory and nursery rhymes. She found it hard to say whether it was the sophistication of the script or the visual inventiveness that she had found stronger but considered it a tribute to Monkey Punch in terms of its flexibility and longevity. This review was also used in the synopsis of its UK VHS release. [4]
Mike Toole of Anime News Network stated that when he first watched The Legend of the Gold of Babylon in the 1990s, he hated it, having only known Lupin as the "smooth, gallant antihero" from The Castle of Cagliostro and The Fuma Conspiracy. Whereas Legend of the Gold of Babylons version of Lupin is closer to Monkey Punch's original "rough, drunken, lecherous crook." However, a decade later, he stated that the film "goes down much smoother" having been acquainted with Suzuki's other work, the director being known for his bizarre and oddly-structured films.
Paul Jensen, also of Anime News Network, felt that the film's troubled production shows in the final product. He believes that its convoluted plot is a result of all the staff changes, with the drama, comedy and action scenes competing for the audiences' attention rather than complementing each other. Jensen stated that the movie feels like a "few unrelated stories edited together than a single, unified film."
Reed Nelson who was later involved with the Discotek release however did not consider the movie to be worth watching. He considered the Miss ICPO Beauty Pageant plot to have dated stereotypes and referencing another fan by saying that it felt "more like a dragged-out Third Series episode than a movie". [1]
Releases
- Further Information: Home Media Releases/Movies#The Legend of the Gold of Babylon
It was released on subtitled VHS and LaserDisc in North America by AnimEigo in 1994 under the title "Rupan III: Legend of the Gold of Babylon", due to copyright concerns regarding the Arsène Lupin name at the time. The release also had various translation mistakes regarding the credits to the staff such as Atsushi Yamatoya credited under "Oowaya Chiku", Yuzo Aoki as "Taizoo Aoki" and Seijun Suzuki as "Kiyoshi Suzuki". A year later, it was released in the UK by Western Connection as a limited release and was released with the Lupin III name in tact. Both VHS releases had different translators with Shin Kurokawa and Michael House for the US and anime fan Jonathan Clements for the UK.
In 2005, Discotek Media acquired it for a DVD release, however, it was later cancelled due to both North America's declining anime industry and the rights for the movie had made it more expensive due to Seijun Suzuki's involvement. In August 2017, Discotek announced that they would release The Legend of the Gold of Babylon on DVD and Blu-ray. It has a new English dub featuring the same cast from Pioneer Entertainment's dub of Lupin the 3rd Part 2 with the exception of Zenigata. It was later announced that a Blu-ray would be released on November 27, 2018, while the DVD version was released on December 18, 2018.
Censorship
Italian
The Italian version was censored when it was dubbed and the dialogue was rewritten. While the DVD is uncut, there are segments where it switches between the Italian dub and the Japanese original. The following was cut from the dub:
- When Kowalski spanks his henchmen with the flyswatter of death after they were ordered to turn around.
- When Marciano lifts Fujiko out of the swimming pool and he grabbed Fujiko as they were about to kiss but she pulled away and he threw the ring into the pool. Marciano asks Fujiko about the engagement ring but she wanted the Gold of Babylon first. This was cut due to being a romantic gesture.
- When Marciano strips Fujiko from her night gown causing her to be naked as he searches for the camera and pulls his knife out, he stabs her but turned out that Fujiko inflated like a balloon and exploded as it was really Lupin in disguise. In the Italian dub, it makes it appear that after Marciano grabbed Fujiko, Lupin came out from the smoke.
- As Lupin runs down the train car, he screams when Chinjao starts attacking. She was about to kick Goemon however he blushed causing her to jump down. The Italian dub resumes when Goemon calls her "Belladonna".
- When Lupin leaves the room where the man and the women were naked in bed and the mafia chase after Lupin since the door was open.
- 1:11:25 - The Italian dub abruptly cuts off the conversation cutting out Jigen saying "Has his throat been torn out?" and Lupin replying "Has his head got twisted off?". Goemon's line was altered from the original "or have his ribs been broken?". Due to the cut, Goemon's line is lipsynced to Jigen's mouth then the Japanese audio takes over. Zakskaya attacking Zenigata in the tank then throwing him to the back was also cut.
- After Kowalski puts the phone down, he goes to the room furious that "Junior" gave the order for his henchmen to "kill him". He then tortures his henchman Mike with the flyswatter of death for failing to stop Lupin and Jigen. The other henchmen were terrified as Mike was dead and to dispose of "him".
Spanish
- The scene of Lupin entering his hotel room, seeing Rosetta passed out and tiptoeing to the phone to call for help, thinking she died, had been cut.
Mistakes
- In a scene where Jigen and Goemon check on Lupin, who captured a group of hoodlums who fired at him, Goemon's fundoshi disappears in between shots.
- The English dub shows Lupin mistakenly thinking Rosetta had died, even though she was audibly snoring when she was lying there, passed out from whiskey.
- When Lupin sees Rosetta, he thinks she's a ghost. Part 2 Episode 113 shows he doesn't believe in ghosts, no matter how much his friends try to prove it.
Notes
- The only known anime film Seijun Suzuki had directed. He also worked as a director in Lupin the Third Part II from episode 55 and wrote Part III Episode 13. Coincidentally, Lupin was partly inspired by his style of filmmaking.
- One of the promotional artworks of the movie featuring Lupin and Fujiko had him in his red jacket rather than the pink jacket.
- Discotek was originally going to release this movie on DVD in the U.S. after The Plot of the Fuma Clan was released. But it resulted that purchasing the rights to the movie was more expensive than the other two Lupin movies they obtained previously. The reason why is because international media rights to Seijun Suzuki's films have gotten more expensive. So Discotek has decided to wait for whenever the price becomes cheaper.
- When a paparazzi asked Lupin if he hated any food, Lupin says it's Tako (Octopus). This was derived from Part 1 Episode 2 when Lupin couldn't stand octopus meat.
- The Discotek release has a reference to the English dub title of Part 2 Episode 8. One of the chapter titles is called Disorient Express Again.
- This was the last Lupin III theatrical movie to feature Yasuo Yamada as the voice of Lupin III.
- In the Spanish dub of the scene where Lupin heads into the hotel and sees Rosetta, his nonverbal sounds aren't dubbed.
- In the museum fight, Lupin uses a similar freezing spray in a perfume bottle technique to what Fujiko uses in The Mystery of Mamo.
Translation Notes
- The different dubs took liberties with the scene where Lupin is about to drive away on his motorcycle and Zenigata has a wind-up monkey toy on his head. In the original, Lupin says "Pops, those cymbals really suit you. Enough to make me want to give you a kiss." Zenigata, acting the very definition of a tsundere, retorts "Oh? Then why don't you kiss me?" In the English dub, Lupin says "You and Chuckles make a great team. You're a chimp off the old block." Zenigata replies, "Oh yeah? Well, monkey see, monkey do!" In the Italian version, Lupin says "I like my little game. I wish you the best of luck." Zenigata replies "How can I make the urge to play go away?" In the Spanish dub, Lupin asks, "Hey, Inspector, do you like motorbikes? Want me to kiss you?"; Zenigata replies "Fine, kiss me!"
Gallery
External Links
- Official TMS Page. tms-e.co.jp (in Japanese)
- Official TMS Global Page. tms-e.co.jp (in Japanese)
References
- ↑ ルパン三世BOX English soundtrack name
- ↑ ルパン三世 バビロンの黄金伝説. www.mau2.com (in Japanese)
- ↑ ElDoblaje entry
- ↑ "Lupin III The Gold of Babylon UK VHS Tape (find issue of Anime UK where it was first reviewed)"
