Cowboy Bebop is without a doubt one of the greatest television shows of its time. It was smart and thought provoking and was more than willing to dive headlong into some pretty heavy philosophic themes in its episodes (especially in the later episodes of the series). But despite its brilliance, or perhaps because of it, the show never lost focus on the importance of emotion to the characters of the show and through them it helped to shed a light on the motivation behind their actions and helped allow the audience to connect with these characters which has helped them to remain iconic and loved nearly 20 years later. The best thing that I can say about this movie is that it continues these feats from its run on television to the big screen. The characters are the main focus of this film which ends up being both the movie's greatest strength and its ultimate failure. The people that watch this movie are more than likely to be fans of the original series and have thus have already become very attached to each of the four main crew members of the bebop and their own mentality over the course of the show's 26 episode run. The point to that is that the focus on the characters of this movie is simply the cherry on top of the already great franchise. We didn't really need it unless it helped further flesh out these 4 and provide new context to their decisions in the final episodes of the series. These complaints obviously don't apply to any of the new characters who I found very enjoyable except for the fact that I knew none of them would have any impact on the rest of the series. I wish that they had as it would have added to the importance of this movie on the franchise as a whole instead of the one-off adventure that this turns out being. Overall I don't think that this is a bad film at all. In fact I really enjoy this movie and think it would be great as a stand alone film, however as part of a series I just do not feel it to be a necessary addition to Bebop's legacy. That's not a knock on the movie really at all though because the music, animation, shot composition, and story are all really rather amazing. I just think that the movie would have benefited from being either more important to the main series or completely separated from it instead of being a tacked on extra long bonus filler episode that it ends up being.

Like the series, the movie toys with multiple layers of meaning. To me the series and movie both portray how some of us are unable to accept realities we find ourselves in as they are, how we fail to find meaning in what is and instead hold on for a 'how it should be'. A future that one may deserve but may never come true. Just as Spike fails to find meaning in the life he lives with the crew of bebop as he is consumed by his ghosts so does Laurence fail to see past the horrors he has endured. He asks Spike which is real, whether his life ended in Titan and everything after that point is a dream or titan is a nightmare which he fails to wake up from. The question is rhetorical, He already knows which is true but by failing to accept it he can cling onto some kind of comfort or a prospect of vindication. With his dying breath, he admits he was looking for a way out of the nightmare to which Spike ironically replies he should not have been afraid to open his eyes, the very thing Spike fails to do. Not everyone who deserves to leave purgatory gets to do so because there are no doors leading out, to begin with. Cowboy bebop shows this to the viewer in a matter of fact way like its another one of those unavoidable realities of life.

My mistake with COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE was that I'd watched this (back in '03) before watching the series. But having just blown through all 26 episodes, the movie feels like you're falling back in with the old crew on a new adventure. As such, the movie nails what it sets out to do: COWBOY BEBOP on the big screen. Familiar characters, great soundtrack, and boosted production values; really well done animation (this is really nice to look at), grandiose shootouts, firefights and a very nice aerial dogfight. It ratchets the violence to surprising heights and just feels larger in scope. The science bogs down the story, but it doesn't take long to get back in the groove.It's a nice capper to the series. And after what Spike goes through in this movie, adds to the final moments in the series' finale (he doesn't make out, at least to me).Good stuff.7/10

There's a horde of 10's here and not quite sure if I watched the same movie. There's definitely things to rejoice about here with familiar characters and awesome fighting sequences but this movie was too slow and never fully engaged me. Vincent and Eleka were cool characters but I've never felt like they were worth the emotional investment to really care. OK, so he thought his whole life was like a dream because they erased his memory. You poor baby, and now he's going to try to annihilate everyone. Couldn't really relate there because I was thinking, just move on then! Beside this, the TV series set such high standards and although it is unfair to compare the two, it really can't be helped. This movie is a 5 but if you want to watch a 10, watch the last two episodes of the TV series, "Real Folk Blues".