Kidô keisatsu patorebâ: Gekijô-ban

This movie is widely considered a masterpiece. The story is set in an alternate history where by the late 90's Japan is using large robots called "laborers" in the Military, but also in municipal functions like construction, and especially, the Police.

Something is causing laborers in Japan to go berserk and reject human control, sending them on a rampage. It's up to the people of Special Vehicles Section 2 to discover the cause before it's too late! Some may be disappointed by the fact that the laborers for which the title gets it's name aren't featured in every single scene: this film is not about constant fighting and action, though the action scenes that do exist are very well done and fascinating. Because this is more of a crime/mystery movie instead of hardcore action, people with different tastes may not enjoy it as much.

This was the first anime movie I ever saw and it got me hooked with it's completely original story and lovable characters and robots! Certainly an animation masterpiece!