Friday, January 20, 2012

Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa

Directed by
                      Seiji Mizushima 
Produced by
                      Seiji Takeda
Written by
                      Sho Aikawa
Music by
                      Michiru Oshima 
Cinematography
                      Susumu Fukushi

Two years have passed since Edward Elric was dragged from his homeworld through the Gate of Alchemy to the parallel world of Earth in the year 1923, which is fundamentally governed by the laws of modern science instead of alchemy. Stripped of his alchemical powers and his newly restored arm and leg, Edward researches rocketry in Munich, Germany with his friend Alfons Heiderich, a young man who resembles his brother Alphonse, in the hopes of returning to his world. One day, Edward rescues a troubled, persecuted gypsy woman named Noah from being sold. Noah is taken in by Edward to live with him and Heiderich, and begins having visions concerning Edward's life in his world. The next day, Edward meets Fritz Lang, a Jewish film director resembling King Bradley, who persuades Edward into helping him hunt down a "dragon" he has been seeking out for inspiration for his next film. The dragon, which turns out to be homunculus Envy, attacks Edward until he is weakened and captured by members of the Thule Society. The Thule Society, led by Karl Haushofer and Dietlinde Eckhart, use Envy and Edward's kidnapped father Hohenheim as catalysts to open a portal to Ed's world, believing it to be the utopia Shamballa. A number of armored soldiers are sent through the portal, only to emerge on the other side in the city of Liore as mutated zombie-like creatures. Alphonse, who had come to visit Liore, fights off the armored soldiers and merges a part of his soul to one of their suits in the hopes of finding Edward on the other side. In the real world, Edward breaks into the Thule Society headquarters and accidentally reopens the portal, returning the dead armored soldiers to Earth and allowing Alphonse's armored form to briefly reunite with his brother before his soul returns to his body, increasing Edward's determination to return to his world. Alphonse is guided by the homunculus Wrath to the underground city beneath Amestris's Central City to reopen the Gate of Alchemy. There they are attacked by the homunculus Gluttony, who brutally fights and mortally wounds Wrath. At Wrath's insistence, Alphonse transmutes and sacrifices the two homunculi to use as material to open the Gate. Meanwhile, in Munich, the Thule Society persuades Noah into guiding them on how to correctly open the Gate based on what she had learned from reading Edward's mind. Edward learns that the Thule Society plans to use the weapons from his world in order to help Adolf Hitler in his attempt to start a revolution, and heads to stop them. Hohenheim and Envy are both transmuted at the same time that Alphonse transmutes Gluttony and Wrath. With the Gate opened, Eckhart successfully leads a fleet into the other world, where she gains the ability to use alchemy. However, she begins to go mad with power and fear of her new surroundings and launches an attack on Central City. Heiderich launches Edward in a rocket-powered plane to return to his world before being gunned down. Edward appears in his world and is reunited with Alphonse and his friend Winry Rockbell, who fits Edward with new automail limbs. The military manages to stop most of Eckhart's soldiers with the help of Roy Mustang. Edward battles Eckhart before Alphonse transmutes parts of his soul to a group of armors, which attack her and force her to retreat. Upon reappearing to the real world, Eckhart is covered by shadow creatures from the Gate and killed by an officer out of alarm of her new, monstrous appearance. Knowing the danger the connection between the two worlds poses, Edward returns to Earth to seal the Gate on that side, knowing he will be trapped on Earth forever. Instead of sealing the Gate on the other world's side as per Edward's request, however, Alphonse has Mustang seal the Gate and secretly follows Edward to remain with his brother. Following Heiderich's funeral, the Elric brothers leave Munich with Noah with the intention of destroying the weapons meant to be used in Hitler's attack and enjoy their new lives together on Earth.


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