News

Well Go USA has acquired Mamoru Oshii's 2009 live-action sci-fi film Assault Girls and will be releasing it on DVD in North America on October 19, 2010.

The film was released in Japan back in December as the feature-length follow-up to Oshii's previous short films “Assault Girl: Kentucky no Hinako” and “Assault Girl 2”, both of which were part of omnibus action movies (2007’s “Shin Onna Tachiguishi Retsuden” and 2008’s “Kiru ~ Kill”, respectively).

Plot: In the aftermath of global thermonuclear war, the Earth's surface has been turned into a desert battlefield. Three beautiful female hunters: Gray (Meisa Kuroki), Lucifer (Rinko Kikuchi), and Colonel (Hinako Saeki) traverse the barren landscape armed with powerful assault rifles to fight a group of deadly sand-dwelling monsters called "sunakujira" (sand whales). When the the epic battle eventually seems to be coming to an end, the sparkle of muzzle flash dies down and assault ship flies overhead. Suddenly, a...

Yesterday we brought word of the awesome sounding upcoming scifi project by Avalon director Mamoru Oshii called Assault Girls. Set in a futuristic desert battlefield where Dune-like female warriors fight giant sand worms, the project sounds like an immediate must-see.

Well if you're like us, and can't wait to get a taste of what Oshii's cooking up for us in his cyberpunk kitchen then be sure to watch his first short from the series, Assault Girl: Kentucky no Hinako right here on Quiet Earth! A segment in Oshii's 2007 omnibus movie, "Shin Onna Tachiguishi Retsuden," it's the first of three Assault girl shorts that are the basis for his upcoming feature.

Just image a feature version of this but even more ambitious and visually arresting. It truly melts the mind. Big ups to our boy Avery for the tip off.

Embedded video stripped, see full HTML version.

Oshii's first live action film after the excellent Avalon, this is the third film with the "assault girl" theme. The first, titled "Assault Girl: Kentucky no Hinako," was a segment in Oshii's 2007 omnibus movie "Shin Onna Tachiguishi Retsuden" and starred Saeki. The second, "Assault GIRL2," was part of last year's "Kiru ~ Kill" omnibus and starred Kikuchi. [via TokyoGraph] Opening December 19th, the production staff promises to combine high-quality visuals, visual effects, and battle sequences. We only have one still which you can see on the right, and it sounds utterly incredible:

The science-fiction story is set on a desert battlefield after giant monsters named "Suna Kujira" (literally, sand whales) devastated the land. Three beautiful female hunters — all of whom wield assault rifles and other powerful weapons — engage in battle with the monsters, including the biggest of them all, the Madara Suna Kujira (spotted sand whale).

Sounds awesome! More as it comes.. via...