Twentieth Century Boys

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Twentieth Century Boys

2008

2h 22m

Fantasy

Mystery & Thriller

Sci-Fi

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

36%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

67%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

A burned-out rocker discovers his doom-struck adolescent fantasies are coming true in this futuristic thriller.

Critics Consensus

An overlong Japanese sci-fi epic with flashy visuals but a disjointed and frustrating approach to narrative.

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Jon Williams

Little White Lies

20th Century Boys has an excellent pedigree, a huge budget behind it, and a more than competent cast -but it doesn't quite work.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 26, 2009

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Cath Clarke

Guardian

The original may have sold 20m copies but they should have kept creator Naoki Urasawa away from this script - whole swathes ought have been gutted, making for a very long and unfailingly shallow 142 minutes.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 20, 2009

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Justin Bowyer

Empire Magazine

Headache-inducingly convoluted plot and cast of characters but the action and faithfulness to the series is impressive. Be aware that this is definitely a trilogy and the ending reflects this.

Rated: 3/5

Feb 19, 2009

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Sean Axmaker

Seanax.com

Not quite science fiction and as surreal a conspiratorial epic as you'll find, this dense thriller has a distinctively Japanese sensibility.

Jan 10, 2010

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Edward Porter

Sunday Times (UK)

We're being reminded of the banality of evil, but that only slightly raises the IQ of Yukihiko Tsutsumi's film.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 26, 2009

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Philip French

Observer (UK)

The dramatic premise is ingenious and there are two future lengthy episodes to come. But I was often baffled.

Feb 26, 2009

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Antoine T

Great original story, but a clumsy script. You have to get used to the Japanese acting and the cheap special effects as well, very different from what Hollywood produces. It's still worth to watch the whole trilogy, with a very moving ending.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/19/24

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Audience Member

Respect the manga. Actors really look like the manga characters. Not ideal for movie adaptation ( drama would be better) and scene are more fast than the manga. I recommand for people who dreamed about a movie adaptation ( like me)

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

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Audience Member

Comic is much better

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

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Audience Member

Alien Attack on Japan...

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

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Audience Member

Sufficiently weird to keep you interested, but now I have to find the final two parts of the trilogy! Help!!!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

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Audience Member

WOW! This is Fight Club without any fear of "going too far."

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

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Yukihiko Tsutsumi

Director

Toshiaki Karasawa

Kenji Endo

Etsushi Toyokawa

Occho

Takako Tokiwa

Yukiji

Arata Iura

Actor

Bengal

Actor

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Synopsis

A burned-out rocker discovers his doom-struck adolescent fantasies are coming true in this futuristic thriller.

Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Producer: Morio Amagi, Ryuuji Ichiyama, Nobuyuki Iinuma
Screenwriter: Yasushi Fukuda, Takashi Nagasaki, Naoki Urasawa, Yûsuke Watanabe
Production Co: Agung
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery & Thriller, Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): Dec 15, 2009
Runtime: 2h 22m