Product Description

2179: Mars has been colonized by Earth, populated by humans and “Second Type” robots – robots designed to perform the menial tasks humans won’t do. Then there are the “Third Types” – illegal humanoid robots designed by a nationalist force to look and behave exactly like humans – living undetected among the Martian population as citizens, until one man, Rene D’anclaude, declares war on the “Thirds”, starting a massacre in a vow to destroy them all. That’s where she comes in. She’s Naomi Armitage. A cyber-punk Martian cop in hot pants, with an attitude as deadly as her gun. She’s also a “Third”, and her fight against D’anclaude is a fight for her survival. Her partner, Ross Sylibus, lost his partner at the hands of a cybernetic killer and hates robots. Ross must face this prejudice when he is injured and received cybernetic limb replacements, bringing him closer to becoming one of the monsters he abhors. He begins to realize that being human is more than just flesh and blood and joins Armitage in her fight against D’anclaude and her quest to discover the mystery of why the “Third Type” was created. Armitage and Ross are brought together in a bond of love and hope as their journey uncovers a secret that could destroy two worlds! This is a story about technology and emotion. About hatred and love. About a human on the verge of becoming a machine and a machine on the verge of becoming a human. It is a story of survival.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25418 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-01-06
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Subtitled, THX, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Japanese
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

On the DVD
ccInteractive menus with music & sound
Production notes
Original theatrical trailer

Synopsis
Robots who've been designed to pose as humans find themselves the targets of a murderous maniac in this four-part anime OVA. In the 22nd century, the planet Mars has been colonized by the Earth, with most of the manual labor being performed by androids. Among the android population are unusual creations called "thirds," which are almost impossible to distinguish from human females. A madman, Ross D'Anclaude, has developed a passionate hatred for the "thirds" and has set out to destroy as many as he can, so Martian law enforcement authorities put two of their best detectives on the case, Ross Sylibus and Naomi Armitage. But both bring their own personal baggage to the case -- Ross distrusts robots after his former partner was killed by an android, while Naomi is herself a "third." For the English-dubbed version of Armitage III available in the United States, the voice of Ross Sylibus was dubbed by Kiefer Sutherland, while Elizabeth Berkley performs the voice of Naomi Armitage. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

DVD Menu

• Side #1 --
  • HyperJump (Select Scene)
  • Start Transmission (Play)
  • Cybertext Link (Language Set Up)
    • Subtitles Off
    • Japanese Subtitles
    • English Captions for the Hearing Impaired
  • Matrix Data (Extras)
    • Trailers
    • Chiaki Konaka
    • Hiroyuki Ochi
    • CD Music
    • Problems?

Customer Reviews

What a disappointment
Why did they do this? Armitage III the series was a 4 part classic, relatively low-key, release from Pioneer. Featuring one 50-minute episode and 3 thirty minute episodes it told the story of Armitage, a robot trying to help other Third types in a future Mars colony. But, the series was hacked up and assembled into this shambles of a movie featuring dire voice-overs by Kiether Sutherland (who is a good actor) and Elizabeth Berkley (who is not). Neither actor or actress seemed to give much of an effort and the original series, with it's increased length and full scenes and low-key voice actors give Armitage a much better run.

Alas, it is virtually impossible to find.

Skip This -- Get The OAV
There are tons of great reviews for this movie. That's understandable if none of them have seen the original OAV series this came from. See, back in 1994-1995, a 4-part OAV series called "Armitage III" came out in Japan. "Poly-Matrix" takes that 140-minute series and hacks it down to ~90-minutes. Thus this 1997 dub-title is born. So a lot of the story gets cut and things aren't nearly as good as the original. If you've seen the original, you'll be annoyed at all of the cuts and poor edit choices.

As to the dub cast (there is no Japanese cast on a dub-title as they simply re-edit an original Japanese product for American consumption), having big stars lend their voices makes it a better dub than a lot of anime titles/series. But it doesn't make up for the complete and utter hack job the series was given to form this movie.

Bottom line: If you thought this was good, the OAV is tons better. If you haven't seen this, get the OAV instead.

Thought provoking
Armitage III - Poly Matrix is in a class all its own. Almost as if it were an anime version of Bladerunner, Ross and Armitage hunt down and destroy thirds. Similar in theme to Metropolis (2001), the characters are fixers in a world of technology gone awry. It is gritty, sassy and a bit graphic and is not for the weak of heart. Much has been said about the graphics but little is mentioned about the implications of the story of a sentient robot out to destroy her own. Unlike Ghost in the Shell, which focuses on the issue of cyborgs -- this one is steeped with robot lore. As part of the big four (Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Princess Mononoke, and the Armitage series) is a necessary element to appreciating this ever changing and very dynamic genre. Hyroyuki Ochi, although creating something short of a classic, has created a thought provoking saga.

Miguel Llora