Steamboy

Steamboy (2004)

  • 59% of critics liked it
    (88 reviews)

  • 67% of users liked it
    (15,252 ratings)

Katsuhiro Otomo, director of the groundbreaking anime feature Akira (1988), returns with this visually striking fusion of the past and the future. It's the Industrial Age in England, reimagined, and various and sundry inventors and scientists are arriving in Britain to hawk their products while… More

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In Theaters
Mar 18, 2005 Wide
Sony Pictures Entertainment

Critic Reviews

  • J. Hoberman, Village Voice

    It's a sensationally designed piece of work.

  • Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post

    Its problem is not a lack of things to look at. There's plenty of them, and they're all cool. It's just that, in this world of clanking, hissing machines, even the people seem like robots.

  • Stephen Hunter, Washington Post

    The movie never transcended its elaborate production work to achieve an independent reality. It's simply pictures of what never happened.

  • Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times

    Until it careers into cacophony ... it's a lot of fun.

  • Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

    Steamboy, ultimately, shares deep-seated themes with the futuristic Akira. Both offer cautionary tales about scientific responsibility and the evils of war. And both look pretty cool, too.

Read all 13 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Emil K


    Flawlessly executed and full of mind blowing action set pieces. While the screenplay may lack the depth and is clearly filled with couple of cliches too many and underdeveloped characters, it still packs a hell of punch with it's spectacular visuals. Katsuhiro Otomo, who is best… More

  • Robert C


    Not at all what I was expecting, but enjoyable none the less. A bit long in my opinion, but lots of cool concepts and visuals.

  • Dean M


    This Japanese computer-generated anime is cool, starts out as a nice Jule Verne-style adventure, but the story is too complicated and talky to maintain momentum. Animation of the machines is smooth and graceful, but the characters are stiff and charmless.

  • Walter M


    [font=Century Gothic]"Steamboy" starts in Manchester, England in 1866 where Ray Steam is a mechanic and engineer, even though he is still a kid. He lives with his mom while his father and grandfather are working on an engineering project in Alaska. One day, a package… More

  • a b


    I haven't seen it with the Japanese language track, which would probably help.

Read all 6 featured audience ratings

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