Stray Dog

Mamoru Oshii has put out pretty impressive videos, this is not one of them.

The main character pursues his old master (like a Stray Dog.. ) who left his unit behind. Throughout the entire movie all he does is walk down streets (they even walk the same streets over pointlessly ) , occasionally bumping into a guy that feels life can be summed up in his "Stray Dog philosophy", then eating, then walking around some more. All the while a horrible piano tune plays.

Don't let the cover fool you, there really isn't many kerberos panzer cops in this movie. It's not until the very end does the main character put on his nifty leather armor and mow through baddies, which was about the only exciting part of the movie (no cheesy piano music either!).

Not much of a plot, predictable, and boring. If you're interested in Mamoru's live action movies Avalon is better. If you absolutely have to have something with kerberos cops in it try Jin-Roh The Wolf Brigade.

Straw Dog is unlike any movie that I have seen. Like many people, I expected an intense action film after seeing "Jim Roh", Mamoru Oshi's animated masterpiece but the bulk of "Straw Dogs" is a beautiful, poetic mediation on trust and betrayal with plenty of sublime imagery. At first, I was put off by the main character Ishi seemingly directionless journey in China to find his former master from the Capital Police (the heavily armored Kerberos who were disbanded 3 years before).

With action at both ends of the film, the middle can seem boring unless you transcend the action movie expectations. It's full of serene sea-side beauty and some interesting shots of a Chinese village. There is some great action and violence at the end that's a bit confusing as to who Ishi's adversaries are but it's worth the wait.

This movie is summed up in one word. Boring. They make you think at the beginning there will be action, with all the Panzer cops in some dilapidated building. All they do is with there, or lean against the wall. then this guys just spends most of the whole movie doing senseless stupidity. They are trying to be an "art film" with emotional tension, but it looks like some kid took his video camera around and followed two people as they wander aimlessly. If we are to be bored to death, at least the guy could have sex with the woman, but even this does not happen. If you made the same mistake and bought this hoping for an action movie, there is finally meagre action with 25 minutes to go, in the form of a laughably bad (obviously fake) kung fu fight. We FINALLY see the panzer armour with 20 minutes to go, at 1 hour 15 minutes in. He has and MG42 and with this, fights a bunch of guys with painted clown faces. Even the battle at the end is drawn out and they try to make it have "drama". i think the director was hoping to emulate a John Woo film, with balletic violence at the end. It just does not work. even the battle at the end is fake looking. While the outfit is cool, they spend too much time having the viewer "admire" the Panzer cop armour and things move too slowly, even during the final battle. They throw is a little more stupidity with a wandering scene in the middle of the battle - in case an hour and 15 minutes of it was not enough. After the guys dies, they throw in 5 more minutes of random scenery. Even one star is too high praise for this piece of garbage portrayed as a film