Lupin III: Babylon no Ougon Densetsu

An essential for Lupin III fans and a decent movie if you can put yourself in the mindset that this was made in the '80s at the same time as the Pink Jacket Series with a huge effort to mimic Western animation gags. STORY: One thing I can say is canon about all Lupin movies and specials...I learn something new about geography or history. This one is about some mysterious tablets, Hitler, New York, and ancient gold from Babylon. And aliens. Before I get into what's bad about this movie, there's always something worth the watch in every single Lupin special. Something about every single Lupin special or movie will make you laugh out loud and this one was no different. ANIMATION: The cons? This is such an old school cartoon. Complete with random stuff popping up with zero explanation, suspension of belief, and hokey, Road Runner and Coyote style gags. Another con was the art. The animation is not great and I can see why it was never released in America. Even worse was the story. In the start, Lupin and Zenigata essentially put on a show for every American tourist stereotype ever in the audience. There's a motorcycle race between the two of them that goes in and around this giant face decoration thing. This lasts for almost 15 minutes (no exaggeration). I feel like there just wasn't enough effort made in making this movie. CHARACTER: The characters are horrendous. Old school, hokey, pink jacket era characters, story, and animation. We've got pimps and a cast straight out of Sanford and Son. Lupin wears a "hip" version of his green coat. Then we get a full minute of an old lady doing a strip tease. And she's the most detailed of any of the characters in this movie. There's this scene with a Miss ICPO pageant in which the special manages to insult half a dozen countries as well as women in general splendidly. I don't know why I'm surprised, considering how much Monkey Punch seems to hate women (I say this based on some of the main characters' open sexism as well as the numerous rape and almost-rape scenes in the original Lupin manga.) Goemon has sliced all sorts of things in the past. Satellites in space from the earth. A water spout. Numerous clothing articles. Things that "cannot be cut." In this special, he slices a bolt of lightning. ENJOYMENT: This brings me to the enjoyment level. Suspend your belief, push yourself back into the '80s, and don't expect much except easy laughs. Then you will enjoy this movie. Again, it's worth a watch but not the best Lupin fare.

Watched this on Crackle about a month ago and as a person who hasn't watched Lupin the Third since the 90s and only very few episodes of it, you can believe I'll be giving an unbiased review. The story is essentially a bunch of set pieces strewn together and just gets crazier as it goes on. It never really makes any sense. What does make sense is that the comedy of this show is pretty great where things you'd never dream of happening happen, so it stays entertaining for as little sense as it makes. As for the animation, some of the animation is reused in scenes but hey, what can you do. For such a silly movie it's amazing anybody bothered animating it to begin with. The sound is funky and fresh but not something super memorable. I recommend this movie if you enjoy the other Lupin the Third shows or if you enjoy a lot of silliness thrown at you at once. This show and Lupin the Third simply show that character and humour are sometimes worth more than a coherent story.

Another Lupin movie for the ages, and if Mamo (first Lupin movie) was weird, Legend of the Gold Babylon really steps it up a notch. Mamo had some dialogue and a story (somewhat), where Babylon is more non-stop Loony Toons-like chase scenes and slap stick Western humor. It is ironic how a movie with such a big Western influence never made it to the West. Directed by Shigetsugu Yoshida (nothing of note) and key animation by Satoru Utsunomiya (Akira), there is a reason why this is a decent anime to look at but nothing more. The action is fun at first, but each scene just consistently drags on with Lupin and the gang dodging hundreds of bullets one after the other. For example, the beginning starts with Zenigata chasing Lupin on a bike on the weird face billboard for 15 plus minutes in a Scooby-Doo door to hallway fashion. Our “story” is seemingly forced for Lupin to find the lost gold of Babylon based on an ancient stone tablet found under Madison Square Garden in New York City. Mob bosses and the like join in on the search, and the constant need to try and kill Lupin along the way. As crazy as it sounds, it really is that crazy; nothing more and nothing less with this movie. Everything is over the top in this Lupin movie and not for the better. All that’s been witnessed and written before plus just a few more examples: Goemon can slice lightning now, Lupin has all sorts of gadgets always on him and can pull them from out of nowhere (dynamite, parachutes, etc; has not been done to this extent), and even a random international police beauty pageant that manages to be as racist and stereotypical as possible to every major country at the time. Unless there is the itch to watch more Lupin and the gang, just skip over this one.

I love Lupin III as a series, but this one is a bit dull. The animation in this caper comedy feature leaves something to be desired. As do the racial stereotypes that seem to be a bit prevalent in this particular film. The story centers around Lupin chasing down a legendary treasure left by Nebuchadnezzar in ancient Iraq. All the while being pursued by mob gangsters who are also after the treasure. If you're a fan of Lupin III's adventures and comic hijinks, I'd say you should give it a go. That being said, there are many other Lupin feature-length films that are better.

With the recent Pioneer cast dub for this movie, I went back and re-watched this piece again. If you're a fan of wackier, more 'out there' Lupin stories, then this will be right up your alley. Personally, however, I don't much care for the zanier Lupin stories. The gags don't really land, and when they do, they only manage to get a small chuckle out of me. The subplot with the old woman and Lupin wasn't particularly funny or interesting, though the direction they decide to take her makes sense in the end. The art is consistent with the Pink Jacket era of the 80s. It's all over the place, and you'll be lucky if anyone looks on model for five minutes. One nice thing is that the characters personalities themselves are all consistent, and everyone acts like how you would expect. The usual cast of characters is very nice. Overall, I would say that if you enjoy the Pink Jacket era of Lupin III, then give it a shot. Otherwise, it might be hit or miss.

[THIS WAS WRITTEN RIGHT AFTER WATCHING IT AND ON MY SOCIAL MEDIA ACC. KEEPING THIS HERE FOR AN ARCHIVE] Legend of the gold of Babylon is done and man what a weird one (again). This is my first real exposure to part 3 in any meaningful way and man. I’m really not that big on the character designs; like in theory I should love how loose and expressive they are but in practice it all feels TOO loose and too expressive. Everyone’s movements and expressions are way too mushy and all over the place for my liking. It’s just a personal preference thing really, part 3 designs at the least just ain’t my thing. The ANIMATION on the other hand was so good and when it got especially great it got overshadowed by the crazy art style which I found kind of ironic. Lots of fluidity and smooth animation moments in here which actually worked in the part 3 styles favor, making it all look even more unique than it already did. Plot and story I was really miffed on. The pacing especially sucked. Fucking movie dedicated 15 WHOLE FUCKING MINUTES AT THE VERY START TO LUPIN AND ZENIGATA FUCKING AROUND ON BIKES ON SOME GIGANTIC FLOATING FACE IN THE SKY. I DONT KNOW. IT GOT SO OLD K WAS SITTING HERE LIKE how long has it been since this bit started Jesus Christ. Aside from that the plot itself was honestly just some standard lupin fare extended to a full movie but unlike something like voyage to danger where it was in a fun way this one just felt a bit more dragged out and lame. At least w voyage to danger it was about stealing a fuckimg nuclear submarine, this one was just about some gold statue or something. One thing I thought was cool tho was that most of the runtime was in New York City🤩🤩🤩cool!! Too bad that lead to racist stereotypes everywhere!!!!!! Yeah there was some weird ass racist shit in the movie which didn’t surprise me since the vibe of part 3 gives off that kind of stereotyping exaggeration feel like all women in the movie look like a sex doll basically as an example. This one was definitely strange and not one I was like totally in love with. I have no idea why they dubbed this and why so recently (2018), like out of all the old Undubbed lupin movies u chose THIS ONE??? Tf!!!!!! Anyway I give this one a 6/10. Not deplorable but not that great either [this was written right after watching it. shit was straight ass actually F tier]

Jesus, I had this as background noise and it was still unrelentingly boring. The plot isn't really Baaaaad so much as it's a whole lot of nothing and padding what would have been maybe two forgettable episodes of a TV show. What's more insulting is that Mamoru Oshii was going to direct the movie that ultimately became this, but they passed on his idea involving angel fossils and Lupin transcending this physical plane because it sounded different. There were certain scenes in this that were obviously inspired by that previous storyline, and they were dim shadows of what could have been. That other movie sounded dope as fuck. We were robbed. Fujiko's character design is a war crime.

This movie was released before I was born. The first 10 minutes is super interesting in context with the change of times, from a japanese perspective. Internalization , early technology (pilot lighter) , disco culture and many more. I started watching lupin in asian dub around 1996-1998 (I can't remember, and there is no internet info when it started in my country). The station in my country cut an episode into 2 or 4 parts (each airing exact 30 minutes padded by ads) and potentially censoring sexy/ecchi or violent+ (say torture) parts. I'm surprised I didn't find it boring, but the looney-toons and inspector gadget (and/or james bond) esque style of depicting impossible scenes is not my taste. Overall an interesting pickup for Lupin fans.

Its nothing amazing. Its essentially a 30 minute episode stretched into a full length movie. But i found it entertaining and funny. Lupin is searching for the golden tower of Babylon. There are references to Hitler/Nazis which is typical for the Lupin franchise. Also aliens. Because why not. The Pink Jacket series has always been seen as the weakest but i do truly like its silliness. The other cast members dont get to do much. More focus is put on Lupin and Fujiko, who make a good couple in this. Zenigata teams up with female ICPO agents from around the world but not enough focus is put on that. Goemon has a little love subplot which also gets no attention.