A battle cyborg awakens in a post-apocalyptic world with no memory and embarks on a search to find out who she really is. A film by Robert Rodriguez, starring Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Keean Johnson, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Lana Condor, Jeff Fahey, Eiza González, Derek Mears, Leonard Wu, and Jennifer Connelly.
ALITA
BATTLE ANGEL
Robert Rodriguez
(2019)
ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL is an action film inspired by the 1990s manga series Gunnm (銃夢), created by Yukito Kishiro (木城ゆきと). Set in a post-apocalyptic future, the story follows Gally (ガリィ), a female cyborg discovered in a scrapyard without any memories. A cybernetics doctor finds her, rebuilds her body, and takes her under his care.
Gunnm (銃夢), also known as BATTLE ANGEL ALITA, was an extremely popular and influential Japanese cyberpunk manga series during its initial run from 1990 to 1995. The host magazine Business Jump (ビジネスジャンプ) reached record monthly sales of 760,000 copies, indicating Gunnm was a major driver of the magazine’s success. Reviewers have widely praised the series as a “classic example of a beautiful story about life” and “probably the best cyborg anime” they’ve seen, highlighting its complex world-building, realistic depiction of cybernetics, and compelling characters. Gunnm has developed a dedicated global fanbase and is considered a masterpiece of the cyberpunk genre. The manga has been translated and published in multiple languages beyond its original Japanese, demonstrating its international recognition and influence, which can be seen in later science fiction works.
300 years ago, a catastrophic war known as “The Fall” devastated Earth. It was a war between the Imperium and the United Republic of Mars that ended with no one left to fight. The war left empty cities and ruins on both Earth and Mars. The truth about who attacked first was lost, as memories faded, but hatred lingered. The aftermath of “The Fall” led to a dystopian world, with 11 sky cities destroyed, where cyborg technology has advanced and Zalem, the last sky city, rules over the scrapyard below.
In the year 2563, cybersurgeon Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) discovers a disembodied female cyborg with a perfectly intact human brain while scavenging for parts in the massive scrapyard of Iron City. Returning to his home laboratory, Ido reattaches the cyborg’s head to a new body with the help of nurse Gerhad (Idara Victor).
However, when the cyborg (Rosa Salazar) regains consciousness, she seems to lose all her memories, she doesn’t even remember her own name. Ido names her Alita. Ido explains that after the war, survivors from all over the world flocked to the Iron City. Everyone in the lower city works for Zalem. He further elaborates that no one from down below has ever set foot in Zalem, a rule that’s never been broken. During their walk through the city, Alita is drawn to a television broadcast of a violent, high-speed sport called “Motorball.”
Iron City is a dystopian metropolis built on the ruins of the old world. It is a vertical scrapheap of a city that rises beneath the sky city of Zalem, connected by long metal tubes. Iron City is home to a diverse population of humans and cyborgs, with a mix of advanced technology and decaying infrastructure. The city is divided into different districts, with the poorer citizens living in the slums and the wealthy elite residing in the upper levels.
Motorball is a gladiatorial race where cyborg competitors battle each other while trying to carry a heavy 40kg ball across the finish line. Players must constantly move forward, with penalties for moving backwards or stopping for too long. Only weapons fitted on the cyborgs’ bodies are allowed, with exploding weapons banned. The goal is to either be the first to carry the ball over the finish line or be the last player left standing, as players often forgo the finish line to engage in violent combat. The sport is extremely popular among the citizens of Iron City, providing them with a distraction from the harsh realities of their society. Motorball has three ranked leagues – a third league for semi-professional players, a second league with more advanced gameplay, and a top-tier first league with the highest ranked players.
Alita meets Hugo (Keean Johnson) when he saves her from being stomped by Centurian, a giant police robot patrolling the city. Upon learning that Alita is a cyborg, Hugo becomes fascinated by Alita’s intricate cyborg hand, asserting that it was a really great job done by Doc Ido. Alita reveals to Hugo that Ido rebuilt her body except for her core, which Ido found in the scrapyard. Surprised, Hugo deduces that if her core was found in the scrapyard, that means Alita must come from Zalem.
The next day, Alita encounters Chiren (Jennifer Connelly), Ido’s estranged ex-wife, who recognizes that Alita’s cyborg body was originally built for her and Ido’s deceased daughter, whose name is also Alita. Curious, Chiren confronts Ido about their daughter’s body, which he was supposed to destroy years ago. When she asks if he’s told Alita the truth, Ido dismisses her, asserting that their daughter is gone and Chiren needs to move on. Chiren retorts that it’s clear who’s still clinging to the past.
Chiren’s true motive for the visit is to enlist Ido’s help in building the finest Motorball champions Iron City has ever seen. She reveals she’s struck a deal with Vector, who promises to secure her return to Zalem. Ido, however, remains distrustful of Vector, asserting that Chiren shouldn’t trust him either. Refusing to create monsters, Ido rejects Chiren’s offer. Infuriated, Chiren declares she’ll find a way back to Zalem no matter the cost, even if it means crawling her way there with her bare hands.
Alita becomes suspicious about Ido’s strange behavior, as she saw him quietly leave the house at night and returned later with an injured hand. When Ido’s patient, Jacked Cyborg (Hugo Perez), mentions a gruesome murder that a woman’s body was carved up for parts to sell, Alita suspects that Ido might be involved in crime. The next night, Alita decides to stalk Ido and finds him hiding in a dark alley, waiting to strike a woman with his Rocket hammer. Alita attempts to stop Ido, but it turns out that Ido is a Hunter-Warrior.
A hunter-warrior is a bounty hunter in the Scrapyard who is registered with the Factory. Granting them the authority to pursue wanted criminals and collect the bounties on them. In the absence of a formal criminal justice system or police force in the Scrapyard, hunter-warriors function as the primary means of enforcing Factory Law.
Realizing it is a trap, Ido attempts to protect Alita and tells her to flee while he fights. However, he is outnumbered, surrounded by a mysterious hooded figure who led jacker criminals, Romo (Derek Mears) and Nyssiana (Eiza González) in an ambush mission to kill Ido. As Ido makes a slip, Alita steps in and manages to kill Romo and Nyssiana. During the fight, something in Alita’s memory is triggered, and she has a vision of herself in the battle on the moon.
The mysterious hooded figure, revealed as Grewishka (Jackie Earle Haley), vows to destroy Alita. In their fight, Alita unknowingly employs a lost martial arts technique called Panzer Kunst, severing Grewishka’s right arm and forcing him to retreat back into a pit on the ground. Grewishka declares revenge on Alita and Ido, and that he will come for both of them.
Originating on Mars, Panzer Kunst (パンツァークンスト) is the first fighting style, developed for cyborgs and zero-gravity combat. It emphasizes speed, agility and fluidity, as well as the use of attacks that use the momentum generated from coordinated movements that employ the user’s whole body. This fighting style is effective against a variety of foes, including unarmed opponents, armed opponents, and even those wielding ranged weapons. Its foundation is fighting in zero gravity, a prerequisite for all space age martial arts, which allows the practitioner to fight in any atmosphere. Panzer Kunst utilizes powerful vibration-based strikes to bypass an opponent’s cyborg armor and directly cause damage to limbs, joints, or internal organs.
Ido reveals that Alita’s body was created for his daughter who suffered from paraplegia. But his daughter was murdered by one of his former patients when he worked as a tuner for the Motorball games. Unable to cope with their daughter’s death, Chiren left. That’s why Ido became a Hunter-Warrior, to seek revenge. Ido then shows Alita that her heart, which is part of her original core, is powered by an Anti-Matter Micro-Reactor, powerful enough to fuel all of Iron City for years. He further explains that this is a lost technology, predating The Fall, which means Alita is in fact a remnant from the war that happened 300 years ago.
Grewishka crawls back to Chiren who resides in Vector’s luxurious penthouse, pleading for her help. Initially skeptical about wasting her talent on him, Chiren decides to rebuild Grewishka after she learns that Ido’s new cyborg girl did this to him. While inspecting, Chiren discovers that Grewishka is embedded with a Telepresence Chip, indicating someone in Zalem is monitoring him through the chip. Suddenly, Grewishka awakens and speaks to Vector. Evidently, it’s Nova (Edward Norton), the technocratic overlord of Zalem, communicating via Telepresence Chip. Nova reveals that the cyborg girl who damaged Grewishka knows the fighting techniques of Panzer Kunst. He then commands Chiren to rebuild Grewishka and have him bring the cyborg girl to Nova.
Severing the connection with Grewishka, Nova repatchs through Vector (Mahershala Ali) and speaks directly to Chiren. He offers her a golden ticket back to Zalem, if and when she pleases him with the jobs he requests. Determined to do whatever it takes to return, Chiren accepts Nova’s offer.
Hugo takes Alita to a Motorball game where Kinuba (Leonard Wu), a ruthless Motorball player, wins the game for his team, the Grindcutters, moving his position to number 2 on the Motorball Championship leaderboard. Vector expresses concern with Chiren, asserting that Kinuba would jeopardize the odds of the game. Intrigued by the Grindcutters, Chiren tells Vector she might have a use for them.
Alita becomes fascinated by the Motorball after watching the game and learns that the final champion would be selected and offered an opportunity to go to Zalem. Hugo splits off with his friend Tanji (Jorge Lendeborg Jr.) and the crew. He promises to take Alita to a secret place in the Badlands tomorrow that might help jog her memory.
Directed by American filmmaker Robert Rodriguez from a screenplay written by James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis, ALITA boasts spectacular and exciting fight scenes created by the visual effects team from AVATAR, along with James Cameron as both producer and screenwriter. However, it’s clear that they couldn’t wrap everything up in 120 minutes, so we’ll have to wait for the sequel.
James Cameron said in an interview that we shouldn’t call the movie “Battle Angel Alita” but “Alita: Battle Angel,” because the next installment would be “Alita: Fallen Angel,” followed by “Alita: Avenging Angel.” He hopes it will make enough money to warrant making the sequels.
ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on 13 January 2019. It was theatrically released in the United States on 14 February. The film grossed over $405 million worldwide against its $200 million budget, making it Rodriguez’s highest-grossing film. However, the film needed to gross around $500 million globally to break even.
The 4K UHD Blu-ray of ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL was first released on 23 July 2019. This edition offers a significant upgrade in video quality compared to the standard 1080p Blu-ray. Presented in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio, the 4K transfer provides excellent detail, clarity, depth, and dimensionality, especially during the film’s action sequences and visual effects-heavy scenes. The 4K Blu-ray also supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ dynamic HDR formats.
Rounding out the package is a 3D Blu-ray, in addition to the standard 1080p Blu-ray. While the audio remains the same DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround sound track as the 1080p version, the 4K Blu-ray still offers a premium home theater experience with the best available video quality and dynamic HDR formats.
