• BFI IMAX home
  • Anime
  • Ghibliotheque presents… Cowboy Bebop + intro by Michael Leader and Jake Cunningham

Ghibliotheque presents…

Cowboy Bebop

+ intro by Michael Leader and Jake Cunningham, co-hosts of the Ghibliotheque podcast

It’s the return of the space cowboy! This spin-off from the legendary anime series finds bounty hunter Spike Spiegel and the crew of the spaceship Bebop taking on the task of tracking down a terrorist who poses a threat to all human life on Mars.

  • Director

    Shinichirō Watanabe

  • Japan 2001. 115min

  • Digital 2K

  • Certificate

    12A

  • Japanese with English subtitles

The anime series Cowboy Bebop epitomised Japanese animation for a whole generation of fans in the early 2000s, and this feature-length follow-up (also known as Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven's Door) was pitched at hardened viewers and curious newcomers alike.

The core creative team of animation director Toshihiro Kawamoto, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto (Tokyo Godfathers, Wolf’s Rain) and ace soundtrack composer Yoko Kanno returned, under the direction of cineliterate anime superstar, Shinichirō Watanabe (Macross Plus, Samurai Champloo), to craft this spectacular slice of stylish, genre-bending sci-fi that makes the most of its big-screen canvas.

This special screening will be introduced by Michael Leader and Jake Cunningham, co-hosts of the podcast Ghibliotheque and co-authors of The Ghibliotheque Anime Movie Guide, which charts a path through the wildly creative and influential anime industry with 30 standout feature films, from Akira to Your Name. Following the screening, Jake and Michael will be selling and signing copies of the Ghibliotheque Anime Movie Guide and their previous book, Ghibliotheque: The Unofficial Guide to the Movies of Studio Ghibli.