The Big O

The Big O: Anime Legends Complete Collection

Paradigm City. A City of Amnesia. Forty years ago everyone lost their memory but humanity continues to survive. They've learned to operate machinery produce electricity and go on living each day at a time. Still ther's something missing in a town with no past no history of what has come before. Roger Smith is a Negotiator hired to negotiate disputes between parties. And Roger enjoys a reputation of being the best at his job. But he has an ace up his sleeve a rather big ace! He contrls the Megadeus called the Big O a wondrous piece of technology from befeore the age of Amnesia. Occasionally fragments of memories appear and with them often comes trouble. The Big O comes in handy for subduing such dangers but does it serve some greater purpose? Together with the unusual R. Dorothy Wayneright and his loyal butler Norman Roger Smith keeps Paradigm City safe from the nightmare of memories. Genre: Action/Mecha/Sci-Fi. System Requirements:Run Time: 325 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ANIMATION/ADULT SWIM Rating: UNRATED UPC: 669198802768 Manufacturer No: 80276

The Big O, Vol. 2: Anime Legends Complete Collection

He s back and he s bigger than ever!Due to popular demand the second series of Big O is back and in one complete set! When we last saw Roger Smith he was about to defend his home of Paradigm City against three invading robots. The battle is over and Roger Smith is now plagued by doubts about who he is and the world he lives in. However as Roger nears the truth behind Paradigm City and everybody s lost past he will discover the secrets that lay behind The Big O and the other Megadeus hidden within Paradigm City. New mysteries demand to be unraveled old enemies threaten to wreak havoc once again and more clues to the cataclysmic event that happened forty years ago Big O It s showtime!System Requirements:TRT: 325 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ANIMATION/ADULT SWIM Age: 13+ UPC: 669198802775 Manufacturer No: 80277

The Big O (Vol. 3)

"Negotiator" Roger Smith uses his giant robot, the Megadeus, to fight crime in the amnesiac world of Paradigm City. A mad scientist tries to re-create a kitten from human tissue in "Missing Cat." A screechy kidnapper bedevils Roger in "Beck Comes Back," and Smith's former boss, Major Datsun, is haunted by a spectral image that may be a lost memory or an illusion in "Winter Night Phantom." In the latter episode, the filmmakers appropriate images of Jacqueline Kennedy and John-John at JFK's funeral--an egregious lapse of taste. This popular mecha detective series suffers from a visual discontinuity: the designs of Roger and the other regular characters display an art deco elegance, but the villains and minor characters are drawn in a more cartoony style. The results are as incongruous as pitting the Archies against Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop. Rated 13 Up: Violence, minor profanity, alcohol and tobacco use. --Charles Solomon

Life gets more and more interesting everyday for Paradigm City's top negotiator. But when Dorothy finds a stray cat and brings it home - it makes everyone happy, until an older couple shows up claiming to be the parents of the cat - the cat isn't really a cat at all... but a boy! When the cat/boy is kidnapped, Roger and Dorothy come to the rescue and discover that someone has been genetically engineering these creatures. How does Roger go from rescuing kidnapees to becoming a kidnapper himself?!

The Big O (Vol. 2)

The designs in this mecha detective series have a minimal, vaguely art deco elegance that sometimes overshadows the series' lack of plot and characterization. The action unfolds in Gotham-esque Paradigm City, 40 years after a mysterious "incident" caused its citizens to lose their memories. Roger Smith is officially a Negotiator who handles difficult situations for the police, but he's really a crime fighter in the Batman tradition. When the going gets rough, he summons the title character, a giant mecha suit as a sort of deus ex machina. In "Bring Back My Ghost," Roger has to find an honest military policeman who was murdered a year earlier. The man didn't really die and has been using a robot to create specters that kill corrupt officers. When they meet, the man confesses to Roger he doesn't know how he learned to operate the robot, and the story falls apart. The viewer never finds out who's dispatching the frogmen Roger battles or the identity of the mysterious woman known as Angel in "The Call from the Past." Many of the scenarios were written by Konaka Chiaki, who was also one of the writers on Serial Experiments Lain, and the storytelling is similarly fragmented and opaque. Like Warner Bros.' animated Batman, The Big O looks better in stills than it does in motion. Rated 13 Up for minor profanity, occasional suggestive humor, and mild violence; alcohol and tobacco use. --Charles Solomon

As Paradigm City's top negotiator, Roger Smith lives a very exciting, yet dangerous life. When a series of mysterious accidents begin plaguing the city's police force, all clues point towards a "ghost." Fed up with Dorothy's piano playing, Roger takes her to see his friend Instro, an android who is very gifted concert pianist. However, can Roger protect the City from Instro's creator while keeping his identity as the pilot of the Big O a secret from the inquisitive Angel?

The Big O II - Aggressive Negotiations (Vol. 4)

The Big O (Vol. 1)

The art deco-influenced backgrounds and simplified character designs give this series a look that's closer to Warner Bros.' Batman than to anime series like Gundam Wing. The Big O begins with a premise similar to A Wind Called Amnesia: the inhabitants of Paradigm City somehow lost their memories 40 years ago. Since then, they've struggled to survive in the half-ruined metropolis. Dashing Roger Smith, who looks a bit like Pierce Bronson, is officially a negotiator who handles difficult situations, but he's really a covert superhero. Like Batman, he's fabulously wealthy, and his car and wristwatch are loaded with deadly gadgets. But when the going gets tough, Smith summons the Big O, his giant "Megadeus" mecha to slug it out with other robots. His butler, Norman, and Dorothy, an automaton girl, assist him in these endeavors. At times the cool palette, saxophone music, and suave-but-tough-guy dialogue suggest the filmmakers are trying to capture the noir tone of Cowboy Bebop. But the rather superficial Smith lacks Spike Spiegel's underplayed intensity, and director Kazuyoshi Katayama can't match Shinichiro Watanabe's visual panache. The Big O will appeal primarily to kids who are fans of the Batman and Superman television series. The Cartoon Network started playing the series in 2001 in an edited format. This edition (featuring the first four episodes) is rated 13 and up for minor profanity, occasional suggestive humor, and mild violence. --Charles Solomon

The Big O (Vol. 4)

In the final collection of this 1999 art deco-accented mecha series, the filmmakers attempt to meld elements from previous episodes into a climactic confrontation between Negotiator Roger Smith and the forces of evil. The linked episodes "Enemy Is Another Big" and "R.D." start to tie together the mysterious plague that destroyed humanity's memories, schemes to restore those memories (or implant false ones), the origins of Roger's giant Megadeus robot, the sinister plans of Paradigm Corporation head Alex Rosewater, the plots of the screeching villain Schwartzwald, and the true nature of Roger's cyber-girl Friday Dorothy. But this baroque story line was supposed to pay off in the second season of The Big O, which was never produced, and the adventure simply ends. The images of terror victims leaping from a burning skyscraper in "Enemy Is Another" may disturb some viewers. (Rated 13 and older: violence, minor profanity) --Charles Solomon

The Big O II - Missing Pieces (Vol. 2)

As the second season of this stylish, static mecha series continues, Negotiator Roger Smith experiences nightmares/flashbacks: collages of robot attacks, burning cities, universal product codes, and what appear to be human clones. How these fragmented recollections link Roger's role as "Dominus" of the title mecha Megadeus, the schemes of the wealthy Rosewater family, and the plague that destroyed the memories of everyone in Paradigm City will undoubtedly be revealed as the show progresses. Meanwhile, much of the focus shifts to android Girl Friday Dorothy, who rescues Roger from kidnappers and discovers Angel's ties to what appears to be a German bund left over from a World War II-era B movie. The new season of The Big O continues the disconnect between the elegant Deco designs of the main characters, and the broad, cartoony villains, including the gang who takes Roger hostage. (Rated 13 and older: violence, alcohol use) --Charles Solomon

The Big O II - Paradigm Lost (Vol. 1)

The first season of The Big O ended in mid-story, with the fate of the characters left hanging; fans will be glad to see the second season make its belated appearance. The familiar characters--Negotiator Roger Smith, his automaton Girl Friday Dorothy, and blonde Angel--are all back, as are the sinister Alex Rosewater, the head of the Paradigm Corporation, and the screechy villain Schwartzwald (although Schwartzwald may actually be dead). Instead of individual stories, the episodes form a single narrative, albeit a jumbled and often incoherent one. In the first installment, an impoverished Roger wanders through a strangely reconstituted Paradigm City, yet in the next three, he's once again his wealthy, suave self. Presumably all these questions will be sorted out as the story progresses, along with source of plague that erased the memories of the citizens of Paradigm City. (Rated 13 and older: violence, alcohol use) --Charles Solomon

The Big O: The Oscar Robertson Story - Video Biography

Country born, city raised, in the ghetto, coming up the tough way. The Big O: The Oscar Robertson Story is a riveting two-hour biography chronicling legendary basketball ability, a pioneer's strength to quietly endure the battle for civil rights, a shy young man who became a major public figure, as an athlete, precedent setting players' rights advocate, Hall of Famer and transplant donor. In his first ever authorized biography are the video highlights of his high school, college and pro career the placid pages of a book cannot provide, as well as the entertaining journey of the fascinating life of The Big O: Oscar Robertson. Video highlights The bio features interviews with Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Phil Jackson, Dan Patrick, Red Auerbach, John Wooden, Jerry West, Bill Walton, Walt Frazier, Hank Aaron, Dick Vitale, Jerry Lucas, family, friends and more. There is also classic highlight footage from his high school, college and pro career, as well as historic footage surrounding his battle for equal civil rights.