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Pokémon Heroes: Latios and Latias (simply Pokémon Heroes) is the fifth Pokémon movie, third and final Gold and Silver era movie and the final original series movie. It features Latios and Latias. It was released in Japan on July 13, 2002. Distributed on limited release by Miramax Films, it opened in select American theaters on May 16, 2003. It was released on VHS and DVD in the United States on January 20, 2004. Echo Bridge Home Entertainment released the movie on Blu-ray (along with Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys on the same disc) on May 15, 2011. The movie was shown with the Pikachu short Camp Pikachu.
Plot[]
In Alto Mare, a legend is told of its guardians, Latios and Latias, who have protected the city for a long time. The Soul Dew, their essence, is kept in Alto Mare to keep the city safe. But when Team Rocket agents (English dub only) Annie and Oakley arrive to attempt to steal the Soul Dew, Ash and his friends must recover it to keep Alto Mare safe at all costs.
Cast[]
| Character | Japanese voice | English voice |
|---|---|---|
| Ash Ketchum | Rica Matsumoto | Veronica Taylor |
| Misty | Mayumi Iizuka | Rachael Lillis |
| Brock | Yuji Ueda | Eric Stuart |
| Pikachu | Ikue Otani | |
| Togepi | Satomi Korogi | |
| Jessie | Megumi Hayashibara | Rachael Lillis |
| James | Shin-ichiro Miki | Eric Stuart |
| Meowth | Inuko Inuyama | Maddie Blaustein |
| Narrator | Unsho Ishizuka | Rodger Parsons |
| Latias | Megumi Hayashibara | |
| Latios | Masashi Ebara | Megumi Hayashibara |
| Bianca | Fumiko Orikasa | Tara Jayne |
| Annie | Uno Kanda | Megan Hollingshead |
| Oakley | Yumiko Shaku | Lisa Ortiz |
| Ross | Kōichi Yamadera | Michael Sinterniklaas |
| Lorenzo | Gutch Yuzou | Wayne Grayson |
Differences[]
The Japanese version had a few key differences from the English version.
- Annie and Oakley were not affiliated with Team Rocket.
- The original Soul Dew may or may not have the soul of a Latios inside it at all. The one that appears after Latios' death still does.
- Latios' Japanese voice was not retained in the dub, which opted to use Latias's voice clips instead.
- The American version edited out the prologue where Annie and Oakley were reciting the legend of Alto Mare from the book they were about to steal.
Gallery[]
Release[]
Optimum Home Entertainment re-released the movie on DVD in the UK on May 9, 2011. StudioCanal released the film along with Pokémon 4Ever: Celebi: The Voice of the Forest on Blu-ray in the UK as a double feature pack on April 2, 2012, just one day before Pokémon the Movie: Black—Victini and Reshiram and White—Victini and Zekrom came out on DVD on April 3, 2012. Echo Bridge Home Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray in the United States along with Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys on May 15, 2011.
Reception[]
Pokémon Heroes received negative reviews from critics, earning a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 17%. Lou Lumenick did not give the film any stars and called it an animated form of child abuse and recommend parents to rent Spirited Away for their children. Desson Thomson said "This one's for kids and no one else". Retrospective reviews were more positive. TheGamer's Eric Switzer found the film's plot to be confusing, though felt it was better executed than the series' previous film. The identity of who kissed Ash at the end of the film became a highly debated topic among fans of the series.
Legacy[]
Bianca made her mainline anime debut in the episode Ash and Latios in Pokémon To Be a Pokémon Master of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series. Heroes, alongside Pokémon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back is one of the few Pokémon movies that has been confirmed to not be a non-serial movie, and is in canon with the main anime.
External links[]
- M05 at Bulbapedia, the Pokémon wiki.
- Pokémon Heroes: Latios and Latias at the Internet Movie Database
- Pokémon Heroes at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia