# Lupin the Third: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon
**Lupin the Third: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon** (*Lupin III: Babylon no Ōgon Densetsu*; ルパン三世 バビロンの黄金伝説) is a 1985 Japanese animated theatrical film, the third feature film in the [Lupin the Third](https://www.edgepedia.org/lupin-the-third) franchise, in which master thief [Lupin III](https://www.edgepedia.org/lupin-iii) races two Mafia families and Inspector Zenigata's new female Interpol patrol to find the legendary Gold of Babylon.[1](https://lupin.fandom.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Gold_of_Babylon) • [2](https://www.tms-e.co.jp/global/alltitles/lupin/010303.html) It was co-directed by the live-action auteur Seijun Suzuki and Shigetsugu Yoshida, and it remains the only Lupin film made in the pink-jacket character design of the *Part III* television series.[3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv87r8PavRY)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | July 13, 1985, Japan; distributed by Toho[1](https://lupin.fandom.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Gold_of_Babylon) • [4](https://eiga.com/movie/40113/) |
| Position in franchise | Third theatrical Lupin III film, between *The Castle of Cagliostro* (1979) and *Farewell to Nostradamus* (1995)[1](https://lupin.fandom.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Gold_of_Babylon) |
| Directors | Seijun Suzuki and Shigetsugu Yoshida[2](https://www.tms-e.co.jp/global/alltitles/lupin/010303.html) |
| Screenplay | Yoshio Urasawa and Atsushi Yamatoya[2](https://www.tms-e.co.jp/global/alltitles/lupin/010303.html) |
| Music | Yuji Ohno; theme song "MANHATTAN JOKE" sung by Naoko Kawai[2](https://www.tms-e.co.jp/global/alltitles/lupin/010303.html) |
| Runtime | 100 minutes[1](https://lupin.fandom.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Gold_of_Babylon) |
| Audience ratings | IMDb 6.1/10 from about 1,100 votes; Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter 37% from 50+ ratings with no critic reviews counted[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089943/ratings/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rupan_iii_legend_of_the_gold_of_babylon) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Stone tablets unearthed in New York City tell of a treasure from the Babylonian civilization: thousands of years ago, a god demanded that all the gold of Babylon be collected and hidden, and the tablets hold the clue to the location of the golden [Tower of Babel](https://www.edgepedia.org/tower-of-babel).[7](https://www.lupinencyclopedia.com/anime/theatrical-films/legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon) • [4](https://eiga.com/movie/40113/) Lupin III comes to New York with his partners Daisuke Jigen and Goemon Ishikawa XIII to claim it.[2](https://www.tms-e.co.jp/global/alltitles/lupin/010303.html)
Three forces converge on the treasure. Marciano, the Mafia boss who controls New York, wants it for himself, with his lieutenant Kowalski carrying out the hunt.[2](https://www.tms-e.co.jp/global/alltitles/lupin/010303.html) • [8](https://watch.plex.tv/ja/movie/lupin-iii-legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon?context.unit=HE) Inspector Zenigata of Interpol is briefly taken off the Lupin case to judge the "Miss ICPO" beauty contest among police recruits; the contest ends in controversy, and Zenigata ends up back on the trail with the contestants as his new partners.[7](https://www.lupinencyclopedia.com/anime/theatrical-films/legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon) A drunken old woman named Rosetta, who claims to have known Napoleon and [Alexander the Great](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexander-the-great), keeps appearing to declare her love for Lupin and offers him a mysterious item connected to the treasure and to [Halley's Comet](https://www.edgepedia.org/halleys-comet).[7](https://www.lupinencyclopedia.com/anime/theatrical-films/legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon) • [9](https://www.netflixmovies.com/lupin-the-third-the-legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon-1985) The film ends with a battle royal among Lupin's gang, the Mafia, and Zenigata's policewomen at the ruins of Babylon, and Rosetta's true identity supplies the science-fiction twist of the story.[2](https://www.tms-e.co.jp/global/alltitles/lupin/010303.html) • [10](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=17607)
## Production
The film was produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha, Nippon TV, and Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation, with Toho as distributor.[1](https://lupin.fandom.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Gold_of_Babylon) It was developed alongside the *Lupin the Third Part III* television series, which shared much of the same staff, and it uses that series' pink-jacket design for Lupin, the only theatrical film to do so.[3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv87r8PavRY)
**A rejected first director.** [Mamoru Oshii](https://www.edgepedia.org/mamoru-oshii), later the director of *Ghost in the Shell*, was initially slated to direct, and he developed story concepts with designs by [Yoshitaka Amano](https://www.edgepedia.org/yoshitaka-amano). Among his pitches was a film in which Lupin never appeared; the studio judged the material too experimental and replaced him with Suzuki and Yoshida, directors of *Part III* episodes.[11](https://anigamers.com/reviews/lupin-iii-the-legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon-thieves-vs-mobsters-vs-miss-lasagna/) A Japanese-language fan account of the production states that the studio, alarmed by Oshii's draft, brought in Yoshida from the TV series and recruited Suzuki, who had worked on the second TV series' supervision, as co-director, transferring the TV staff onto the film.[12](https://lupin.fandom.com/ja/wiki/%E3%83%AB%E3%83%91%E3%83%B3%E4%B8%89%E4%B8%96_%E3%83%90%E3%83%93%E3%83%AD%E3%83%B3%E3%81%AE%E9%BB%84%E9%87%91%E4%BC%9D%E8%AA%AC) Some of Oshii's ideas survived into the finished film in modified form, and Oshii and Amano repurposed their rejected concepts for the art film *Angel's Egg*.[11](https://anigamers.com/reviews/lupin-iii-the-legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon-thieves-vs-mobsters-vs-miss-lasagna/)
Suzuki was a notable hire: he was known for cult 1960s live-action thrillers such as *[Branded to Kill](https://www.edgepedia.org/branded-to-kill)* and *[Tokyo Drifter](https://www.edgepedia.org/tokyo-drifter)*, and he had returned to directing after a long industry blacklist.[13](https://cinemastrikesback.com/review-lupin-the-third-the-legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon-japan-1985/) • [14](https://www.dsoaudio.com/fr327.htm) The production schedule was tight, with only a few months available while the series was still running.[3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv87r8PavRY)
## Reception
The film has a mixed reception, and it is described as a polarizing entry in the franchise, chiefly because of Suzuki's direction, which favors visuals over narrative.[1](https://lupin.fandom.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Gold_of_Babylon) • [7](https://www.lupinencyclopedia.com/anime/theatrical-films/legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon) On Rotten Tomatoes the film has no critic reviews counted and a 37% audience score from 50+ ratings; on IMDb it holds 6.1/10 from about 1,100 votes.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rupan_iii_legend_of_the_gold_of_babylon) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089943/ratings/)
Critics have divided along familiar lines. Helen McCarthy, writing for *Anime UK*, praised the film as "one of Lupin's strongest ever outings" and noted its references to the [Indiana Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/indiana-jones) films, *Close Encounters of the Third Kind*, and nursery rhymes.[1](https://lupin.fandom.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Gold_of_Babylon) Mike Toole of Anime News Network initially hated it in the 1990s, having known Lupin only as the "smooth, gallant antihero" of *[The Castle of Cagliostro](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-castle-of-cagliostro)* and *The Fuma Conspiracy*, but a decade later, after becoming acquainted with Suzuki's other work, he found the film "goes down much smoother"; he observed that this Lupin is closer to Monkey Punch's original "rough, drunken, lecherous crook."[1](https://lupin.fandom.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Gold_of_Babylon) Paul Jensen, also of [Anime News Network](https://www.edgepedia.org/anime-news-network), attributed the film's convoluted plot to staff changes during production, saying it feels like "a few unrelated stories edited together than a single, unified film."[1](https://lupin.fandom.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Gold_of_Babylon) A Cinema Strikes Back review described the New York-set first third as full of local color and bizarre caricatures, and called the film decent but never transcendent in the way *Cagliostro* is.[13](https://cinemastrikesback.com/review-lupin-the-third-the-legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon-japan-1985/) Recurring criticisms among English-speaking fans include dated ethnic caricatures, an overlong opening chase, and a messy plot.[1](https://lupin.fandom.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Gold_of_Babylon)
## Home video and availability
AnimEigo released the film on subtitled VHS and [LaserDisc](https://www.edgepedia.org/laserdisc) in North America in 1994 under the title "Rupan III: Legend of the Gold of Babylon," avoiding the name [Arsène Lupin](https://www.edgepedia.org/arsene-lupin) because of copyright concerns at the time; that release contained translation mistakes in the staff credits.[1](https://lupin.fandom.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Gold_of_Babylon) Discotek Media later announced a DVD but put the project on hold amid a market decline, and the film's only US home-video appearance remained the AnimEigo release.[7](https://www.lupinencyclopedia.com/anime/theatrical-films/legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon) A new English dub by Epcar Entertainment, released by Discotek in 2018, features the cast of Pioneer Entertainment's *Lupin the 3rd Part 2* dub except for Zenigata.[1](https://lupin.fandom.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Gold_of_Babylon) As of recent listings the film is not available for streaming in the United States, though it streams in Japan on services including Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and U-NEXT.[15](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/lupin-the-third-the-legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon)
In Japan the film has been largely absent from television: while *Lupin vs. the Clone* and *The Castle of Cagliostro* are rebroadcast regularly on the Friday Road Show slot, *Babylon* has not been broadcast there for more than 20 years since 1990, though it has aired on other broadcasters' satellite channels.[12](https://lupin.fandom.com/ja/wiki/%E3%83%AB%E3%83%91%E3%83%B3%E4%B8%89%E4%B8%96_%E3%83%90%E3%83%93%E3%83%AD%E3%83%B3%E3%81%AE%E9%BB%84%E9%87%91%E4%BC%9D%E8%AA%AC)
## References
1. [The Legend of the Gold of Babylon, Lupin III Wiki](https://lupin.fandom.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_the_Gold_of_Babylon)
2. [LUPIN THE 3RD "LEGEND OF THE GOLD OF BABYLON" | ルパン三世 | ALL TITLES | TMS ENTERTAINMENT CO., LTD.](https://www.tms-e.co.jp/global/alltitles/lupin/010303.html)
3. [Legend of the Gold of Babylon Retrospective and Review, Legacy of Lupin (YouTube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv87r8PavRY)
4. [ルパン三世 バビロンの黄金伝説, 映画.com](https://eiga.com/movie/40113/)
5. [Lupin III: Legend of the Gold of Babylon (1985) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089943/ratings/)
6. [Lupin the 3rd: Legend of Gold Babylon, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rupan_iii_legend_of_the_gold_of_babylon)
7. [Legend of the Gold of Babylon, Lupin III Encyclopedia](https://www.lupinencyclopedia.com/anime/theatrical-films/legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon)
8. [ルパン三世 バビロンの黄金伝説, Plex](https://watch.plex.tv/ja/movie/lupin-iii-legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon?context.unit=HE)
9. [Lupin the Third: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon (1985) on Netflix, NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/lupin-the-third-the-legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon-1985)
10. [ルパン三世 バビロンの黄金伝説, KINENOTE](https://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=17607)
11. [Secret Santa Review: Lupin III: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon, Ani-Gamers](https://anigamers.com/reviews/lupin-iii-the-legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon-thieves-vs-mobsters-vs-miss-lasagna/)
12. [ルパン三世 バビロンの黄金伝説, Lupin III Wiki (Japanese)](https://lupin.fandom.com/ja/wiki/%E3%83%AB%E3%83%91%E3%83%B3%E4%B8%89%E4%B8%96_%E3%83%90%E3%83%93%E3%83%AD%E3%83%B3%E3%81%AE%E9%BB%84%E9%87%91%E4%BC%9D%E8%AA%AC)
13. [Review: Lupin the Third: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon (Japan 1985), Cinema Strikes Back](https://cinemastrikesback.com/review-lupin-the-third-the-legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon-japan-1985/)
14. [Lupin III: The Gold of Babylon (1985), dso film reviews](https://www.dsoaudio.com/fr327.htm)
15. [Lupin the Third: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/lupin-the-third-the-legend-of-the-gold-of-babylon)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Animated and short films › Japanese anime features › Released 1932 to 1998*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license