Lupin III: Legend of the Gold of Babylon is a 1985 Japanese animated film co-directed by Seijun Suzuki and Shigetsugu Yoshida. It is the third feature film based on Monkey Punch's popular Lupin III manga. It was released on subtitled VHS and LaserDisc in North America by AnimEigo in 1994 under the "Rupan III" name, due to copyright concerns with Maurice Leblanc's Arsène Lupin. In 2018, Discotek Media released it on DVD and Blu-ray under its original name with an English dub.
Synopsis
searches for a gigantic hoard of hidden treasure originating in ancient Babylon, with the help of his usual team, a set of stone tablets, and a drunken old woman by the name of Rosetta. Complicating matters is Inspector Koichi Zenigata, who has been roped into judging the "Miss ICPO Beauty Contest" and must now drag a group of nominees around with him, all eager to prove themselves as agents.
Cast
Production
This film is the only Lupin film where he wears the pink jacket from the third TV series. AnimEigo released the film with English subtitles and Japanese dialogue under the title "Rupan III: Legend of the Gold of Babylon" on VHS and LaserDisc in the North America in 1995. In 2005, Discotek Media acquired it for a DVD release, however, it was later cancelled due to North America's declining anime industry. In August 2017, Discotek announced that they would release The Legend of the Gold of Babylon on DVD and Blu-ray. It has a new English dub featuring the same cast from Pioneer Entertainment's dub of the second Lupin anime. It was later announced that a Blu-ray would be released on November 27, 2018, while the DVD version was released on December 18, 2018.
Reception
Mike Toole of Anime News Network stated that when he first watched The Legend of the Gold of Babylon in the 1990s, he hated it, having only known Lupin as the "smooth, gallant antihero" from The Castle of Cagliostro and The Plot of the Fuma Clan. Whereas Legend of the Gold of Babylon's version of Lupin is closer to Monkey Punch's original "rough, drunken, lecherous crook." However, a decade later, he stated that the film "goes down much smoother" having been acquainted with Suzuki's other work, the director being known for his bizarre and oddly-structured films. Paul Jensen, also of Anime News Network, felt that the film's troubled production shows in the final product. He believes that its convoluted plot is a result of all the staff changes, with the drama, comedy and action scenes competing for the audiences' attention rather than complementing each other. Jensen stated that the movie feels more like a "few unrelated stories edited together than a single, unified film."
