Taglines: Discover a bold new world and a brave new hero.
Battle Angel is based on a manga written by Yukito Kishiro called “Battle Angel Alita”, which was released in Japan as “Gunnm”, and received an anime adaptation of the first few books, called “Battle Angel”. The story takes place in the distant future, where cyborgs and robots are common place. A floating city, called Tiphares, holds a dark secret, as it dumps its trash onto the world below.
In the junk yard beneath, a cyborg doctor, Ido, scavenges for extra parts when he runs into the head and torso of a young cyborg girl, still alive. Only her brain is human, as the rest of her body is a machine. She has lost all her memory of her past, and is given the name Alita by Ido. He rebuilds her, and becomes her surrogate father, as he gives her new body parts. However, as a series of mysterious murders start to spread through the city, Alita starts to suspect Ido in this crimes, as a way to find her body parts.
However, she follows him one night, only discover that he has been chasing the real murderer, under the authority given to him as a “Hunter-Warrior”. During this encounter with the real murderer, she instinctually acts on her own, taking out the killer with martial arts moves from an ancient school. As a result, she decides to aid Ido in his pursuit of justice, and becomes a Hunter-Warrior as well. As she unlocks her true powers and potential, she encounters deadly enemies, and idealistic friends.
The manga contains 9 books, while this movie will only cover the first 3. After the success of the original series, Yukito Kishiro wrote a sequel series, titles “Battle Angel Alita: Last Order”. This series is still ongoing, and follows the adventures of Alita as she explores her own past and tries to save her friends.
Alita: Battle Angel is a 2019 American cyberpunk action film based on Japanese manga artist Yukito Kishiro’s 1990s series Gunnm and its 1993 original video animation adaptation Battle Angel. It was directed by Robert Rodriguez and produced by James Cameron, who co-wrote the script with Laeta Kalogridis. Rosa Salazar stars through performance-capture animation as the titular heroine Alita, a cyborg who awakens in a new body with no memory of her past, so she sets out to uncover her destiny. Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, and Keean Johnson star in supporting roles.
Announced in 2003, production was repeatedly delayed due to Cameron’s work on Avatar (2009) and its sequels. After years of development hell, Rodriguez was announced as Alita’s director in April 2016, with Salazar cast as the lead the following month. Principal photography began in October 2016 in Austin, Texas, mostly at Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios, and lasted until February 2017.
Alita: Battle Angel had its world premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square on January 31, 2019, and was released in the United States on February 14, 2019, by 20th Century Fox in RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, 4DX, ScreenX and IMAX 3D formats. It is the first film produced by Lightstorm Entertainment since Avatar. The film grossed over $404 million worldwide. It received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for Salazar’s performance, the action scenes, and the visual effects but criticism for the screenplay.
Alita: Battle Angel (2019)
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Rosa Salazar, Mahershala Ali, Eiza González, Jennifer Connelly, Lana Condor, Michelle Rodriguez, Christoph Waltz, Casper Van Dien, lle LaMont, Jorge Lendeborg Jr.
Screenplay by: James Cameron, Laeta Kalogridis
Production Design by: Caylah Eddleblute, Steve Joyner
Cinematography by: Bill Pope
Film Editing by: Stephen E. Rivkin, Ian Silverstein
Costume Design by: Nina Proctor
Set Decoration by: David Hack
Art Direction by: Jeff B. Adams Jr., Paul Alix, A. Todd Holland, Leslie McDonald, William Ladd Skinner
Music by: Junkie XL
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: February 15, 2019
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