From the maker of Akira, it's an Industrial-revolution adventure epic! This movie is about Ray Steam, a young boy whos father and grandfather are both well-known inventors who are currently working in America for The O'Hara Foundation. Together, they manage to invent The Steam Ball, which is kind of like a steam-based battery. What follows is all kinds of adventure and intrigue as two groups battle for control of this new technology. Highly entertaining with great visuals, this movie is sure to become as classic as Ghost In The Shell.
This movie has a good overriding theme, that of "what is science for?". There's a kind of battle of ideologies as the father and the grandfather (and the fathers childhood rival!) all believe that technology exists for a reason, but none of them agree on the exact reason. Ray ends up being an important factor in this battle, partially because he has his own ideas of what science is for.
The end of the movie is good to watch too, and I mean when the credits are rolling. In the background, pictures are showing the story of what happens next. They show things like a war starting and the exploits of two kids in a kind of superhero getup. The whole movie is the story of the creation of Steamboy, a "superhero origins" piece, where he comes from and why he does what he does. I think that might be the best thing about this movie, at the end you find out that the marvelous movie you've just seen is merely the beginning.