Lupin the 3rd: Napoleons Dictionary

From Siberia with Love, broadcast in the summer of 1992, is the fourth Lupin made for TV special. This time Lupin is on the hunt for 500 tons of Romanov gold lost after the Russian revolution of 1917. Standing in his way is perhaps the most terrifying enemy Lupin has ever faced, the grandson of the mad Russian monk Rasputin. The ancestor named Rasputon is so powerful that he exerts control of President Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev. He EVEN appears to control Goemon if that seems possible. Can even Lupin win against a foe who literally possesses supernatural powers?The Japanese are notorious for shortcutting on animation and From Siberia with Love is no exception. In particular the animators showed intense action by literally repeating the same frames of animation 3 times. On other occasions animators would pan in and out quickly on static images to give the illusion of action. Having said that I will say that the animation here is a vast improvement over Napoleon’s Dictionary released about a year prior.Plot wise I would say From Russia with Love is probably one of the better Lupin movies. I found it very amusing that Lupin intended to steal the gold right down to the final brick and 500 tons is a whole lot of gold. A few bricks would make someone quite wealthy but our favorite thief never does anything half way. Lupin’s plan for stealing the gold is completely unfeasible but still very clever and classic Lupin. The production quality as a whole is about on par with Japanese television animations from the era. There is some female nudity and profanity so I can’t say this film is safe for children but I think Lupin fans will be quite satisfied.This is now the fifth Lupin movie released by Eastern Star in the past year including the Pièce De Résistance, Castle of Cagliostro. Castle of Cagliostro definitely got the premier treatment with the most extras and a blu ray transfer. The other movies are all released on DVD with less extras at a higher price and more often than not without dubbing. It’s common for lower quality movies to be released at a higher price because they appeal to a smaller niche audience. If you really enjoy Lupin but want to wait for a dubbed version and/or high def version you may well be waiting forever. In fact if fans shun the releases by Eastern Star for a better version it may simply convince studio’s that the United States is not a viable market for Lupin movies. The next Lupin movie unreleased in the U.S. is Alcatraz Connection from 2001 and hopefully Eastern Star plans on jumping to that one rather the next eight which have already been released in the states.

Let's start off with the biggest issue. This movie is NOT dubbed into English so be warned. If you don't know Japanese prepare to watch subtitles.The movie starts with Lupin stealing a 1908 Packard from a museum right under Inspector Zenigata's nose in order to impress a woman. When she turns out to be a flake he decides to use the car to win a Madrid to Paris race with the prize being Napoleons Dictionary. Apparently Napoleon was quoted as saying, 'The word impossible is not in my dictionary' and Lupin wants to confirm that this is true. I looked it up and this is legitimately a quote attributed to Napoleon. Meanwhile, agents sent by the G7 nations are hunting down Lupin in order to find the secret to the Lupin family treasure. After the Gulf War (this movie came out in 1991) the G7 nations need a boost to their economies and each wants their hands on the estimated 200 billion dollar Lupin fortune. As it turns out Napoleon's Dictionary IS the key to the Lupin fortune so Lupin's attempt to gain it isn't done simply on a lark.Thie animation ranges from passable to atrocious Even by 1991 made for TV standards this would be considered pretty shoddy. Compared to Castle of Cagliostro, which came out 12 years prior, the animation here looks like junk. What saves the movie is a fairly decent plot. There are a LOT of Lupin III movies including 24 made for TV. Most of them I haven't seen because they've never been released in the U.S. but of the ones I've seen Napoleon's Dictionary has one of the better stories. I particularly enjoyed the interaction between Lupin and Zenigata who spend more than the usual time together. My biggest issue is with the ending. The U.S. military attacks the Lupin family castle and Lupin, Jigen, Goemon and Fujiko end up slaughtering dozens if not hundreds of soldiers. Even Zenigata gets in on the killing. I know that Lupin III has never been the gentlemen thief that his grandfather was but this disregard for human life was disappointing. Besides all the killing this is a movie that could be watched by children. Fujiko, in particular, manages to keep her voluminous breasts under wraps.Eastern Star is perhaps working to release all the Lupin II TV movies having now released four in the past two years which should be pretty exciting for Lupin fans. As far as I can tell only one of the four are dubbed and even on that one I'm not 100% sure since Amazon's descriptions are inaccurate. Napolean's Dictionary is the 3rd of the 24 made for TV movies. So far Eastern Star has been going in chronological order and I'm not sure if they are going to skip over a bunch because nine of the next ten movies have already been released. I'd like to see some of the more recent movies since the U.S. is over a decade behind.

Discotek has once again graced us with another entry in the Lupin III franchise, this time with the 1991 release Napoleon's Dictionary. Like the specials before and after it, you should have a pretty good idea of what you're going to get. The particular feature comes complete with a gadget-riddled car that even 007 would be jealous of, robotic Lupin legs (that police officers shoot up in one of the special's most comical scenes) and an escape using various missile parts to cause the turret tower of an old castle to fly. If any of this sounds appealing then you're good company; if not then Lupin may not be the franchise for you.One thing that really stands out is the humor. I'm not sure exactly why but I found myself laughing far more through this special than I typically do. Lupin is never short of comical moments but this one, especially the first ten minutes. just had so many random and fun moments that immediately pulled me in. It's a bit higher on comedy this time around and I'm okay with that. As the cover illustration suggests, this one is a bit more raucous and it works perfectly. It's not the best of the specials by any means but I'd rate it higher than the first two.The picture quality is decent but it's the sound that really stands out. Everything is loud and clear, making it easy to keep up and hear the magnificent score at the same time. The extras are the standards we've come to expect from Discotek and they've once again managed to do this series justice. If you're a fan of the franchise then picking this up is a no-brainer and if you're looking for something fun and different then this certainly isn't a bad place to start.

Lupin the 3rd: From Russia with love (the original title "changed due to copyright" infringement)is a great movie its about lupin and his gang as they steal 100 tons of gold bars from the new York mafia and Rasputin the 3rd Who uses his power to tick lupin and others to his advantage.its in the original Japanese only with English subtitles.

Great Film It's One Of the Top Ten best Lupin the 3rd Movie Ever made and a must own Title "if You A Fan Of the Series" then I recommend this.

☆☆☆☆☆

Terrible Lupin the Third TV special. Only consider buying this if you are a die-hard Lupin fan and own practically everything else in the franchise. Director Osamu Desaki tries every trick in his arsenal to make this terrible story with it's awful characters and plot that is beyond dumb, watchable...and fails.Buy Castle of Cagliostro if you prefer the lighter Lupin stories (or Island of Assassins if you prefer one of the darker ones), not this crap.

Weil ich eine ProduktRezension machen soll und kein subjektives feedBack zum Inhalt des Filmes gebe ich 5 Sterne.Der Film lässt sich einwandfrei abspielen und die CD sowie auch die CD-Hülle sind in einem tadellosem Zustand.Qualitativ ist die CD-Hülle wohl kein Sammlerstück, lässt sich bei dem Preis aber denke ich auch nicht erwarten.Alles in allem bin ich sehr zufrieden.