The Movie
Not to be confused with "Armitage III - Poly-Matrix" (1997), the chopped-to-90-minute version, "Armitage III - The Complete OVA" (2002) is the full 2 hour and 20 minute compilation of the original 1995 4-part series of this graphic and intense anime from Pioneer Entertainment.

The year is 2179. Mars is in the middle of a terra-forming phase by Earthlings who have colonized it. With them, they brought robots known as "Seconds" to do menial labor. Also present are illegal humanoid robots called "Thirds", mirror images of humans designed by an opposing force to infiltrate the population. Rene D'anclaude, a human, vows to destroy all the "Thirds" and sets out to do just that. Ross Sylibus, also human, is recruited to find Rene and bring him to justice. Having recently lost his partner at the hands of a renegade Cyborg, Ross is not too keen on robots in general. He is teamed with Naomi Armitage, a cyber-punk cop in the Martian Police Department. She's also a "Third," and her fight against D'anclaude is a fight for her survival. Ross has trouble with the partnership until he is injured and is forced to receive a cybernetic limb replacement, partially transforming him into one of the machines he hates. Slowly, he comes to realize that being human is more than just flesh and blood and eventually joins Armitage in her quest to discover the mystery of why "Thirds" were created. Armitage and Ross are brought together in a bond of love and hope as their journey uncovers a secret that could destroy both planets!

Episode 1: Electro Blood
A victim turns up, Kelly McCanon, a popular singer. Ross discovered something shocking: the fact that the corpse was not a human, but a "Third".

Episode 2: Flesh & Stone
Another bullet-riddled "Third", Lavinia Whately, is found dead at an industrial power plant. But, Armitage is missing and Rene is is custody. All leads point to her.

Episode 3: Heart Core
The Martian Police Dept. decides to drop the investigation. Ross doesn't agree with the department's decision and heads out on his own to discover Rene is not what he appears to be.

Episode 4: Bit of Love
The only remaining person with the knowledge of the secret of the "Thirds" is Asakura. But, Asakura's memories have been altered. Will the secret ever be revealed?

This movie, produced from the OAV series, parallels Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" and the plot has strong ties to the short story "Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep" by Philip K. Dick. The English dub cast including the unknowns of Hank Wilspank, B.G. Mills and Lee Stone deliver excellent performances and are are much more robust and vocally animated than their Japanese equivalents. The animation is good with fast pacing supported by the rock tracks and mixes traditional art style with rough distance drawings. Slow-mo effects are inserted at points to accentuate the dramatic scenes. Recommended for mature audiences, this violent production has a fair amount of blood and a hefty applications of profanity, thanks to Pioneer's choice in the translation. There are a couple short nude scenes as well.