Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa

Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa (劇場版 鋼の錬金術師　シャンバラを征く者, Gekijōban Hagane no Renkinjutsushi Shanbara o Yuku Mono) is the first feature-length Fullmetal Alchemist film, serving as the conclusion to the 2003 anime series, which was loosely based on the original storyline of the manga. The movie is set two years after the series and takes place mainly in 1923 Germany, as well as featuring Liore, Central, and the forgotten underground city.

Synopsis
Edward Elric, having been sent to the other side of the Gate (ending up in our world) at the end of the anime, is trying to find a way back to Amestris. Meanwhile, on his side of the gate, Edward's brother, Alphonse, is trying to find a way to bring his brother, Edward, back home. Al has had recurring dreams that he is in Germany with Ed. During the two year time gap between the end of the series and the beginning of the movie, Ed has become a rocket scientist and is living with a boy named Alfons Heiderich, Al's real-world counterpart. They meet up with a group of gypsies headed towards the fair that Ed and Heidrich were going to demonstrate one of their rockets. Edward saves one of the gypsies, Noah, from a group of men trying to capture her for her clairvoyant abilities and runs off with her to safety. Later, soldiers from the mysterious pro-Nazi secret society known as the Thule Society open a gate to Amestris believing it is their fabled utopia Shamballa, unbeknownst to them they are crushed due to pressure from entering the gate and are covered in gatechildren. Upon appearing in Reole they are quickly dispatched by Al in his original body and Alex Louis Armstrong, who was aiding in rebuilding Reole after its destruction in the anime. Al realizes that they must have come from another world and it has to be the portal to where Ed is. Al uses Soul Transmutation to transfer part of his soul into a suit of armor, that coincidentally looks like the one he wore in the series.

Meanwhile, Ed and Alfons are keeping Noah at their apartment. In the city, Ed sees a man drive by that looks like Führer King Bradley. After confronting him, he realizes he isn't Bradley, but his counterpart, a Jewish movie director named Fritz Lang. He is searching for a dragon to use as inspiration for one of his movies. At first skeptical, Ed joins the search at an abandoned castle where the dragon was last sighted. He finds the dragon, which turns out to be the Homunculus Envy (in the form he took in the last episode of the 2003 anime, after crossing through the Gate). Soldiers from the Thule Society come in and apprehend Envy to use in their experiments. Back at the Thule Society head quarters, Envy is strung in a circle above a large Transmutation Circle like image, and after biting into the Elrics' father Hohenheim of Light, activates the circle with his blood, sending the soldiers into the gate and to Reole.

Later, Ed breaks into the Thule Society head quarters and after finding the room with an unfinished circle, fills it in properly and accidentally activates it with his blood from a cut on his face he sustained from a piece of glass when entering the society. This opens the Gate and sends the bodies of the soldiers who went in before, along with Alphonse who sealed part of his soul into one of the suits of armor during the fight. After a brief reunion, the two proceed to escape the society. Al can't keep his soul attached to the armor for long, so his soul dissipates and escapes soon after. This is enough time for the brothers to confirm that they had accomplished their goals from before.

During this time, the Elrics' friend Winry Rockbell, had traveled to Dublith to visit the Curtis residence but was informed by Sig Curtis that his late wife Izumi had succumbed to her injuries from Human Transmutation and died. At Izumi's grave, Winry finds a disheveled Wrath and takes him back to Resembool for Automail maintenance. There, Wrath confronts Alphonse and leads him to the underground city. They are attack by a deformed, monstrous Gluttony and, after a battle, Wrath traps himself and Gluttony in the transmutation circle Al had made to open the gate. Al activates it and uses the two Homunculi as sacrifices. In front of the Gate, we see a brief scene of a naked Wrath reuniting with a naked Izumi and the pair going into the gate together.

While this is happening, Noah is contacted by the Thule Society and is told to read Edward's mind and find out how to activate the Transmutation Circle. At the beer hall, Ed and Noah go for dinner, but find that every one within the hall, including Maes Hughes' counterpart, is a member of the Nazi party that is planning to overthrow the German government. Before Ed can be captured, Fritz Lang breaks through the wall and rescues Ed, who proceeds to fly to the Thule headquarters and break through the window into the room with the Transmutation Circle and Heidrich's finished rocket, which is prepared to fly soldiers into the Gate and conquer Amestris. Dietlinde Eckhart, the leader of the Thule Society, was planning to use the technology and resources in Amestris (which she thought to be the mystical Shamballa) to conquer the world. Ed is about to attack her but stops when he sees Hohenheim in Envy's mouth. Hohenheim proceeds to apologize to Ed for "turning his son into a monster and then abandoning him, and not being able to stop this beast (Envy) from hurting him." After asking him to give Al his regards, forces Envy's mouth down on him and uses his blood and Envy's body to open the Gate.

After this event, Edward is horrified by his father's fate. Eckhart then shoots Edward in the prosthetic arm, who falls to the storage area that contained rockets. Edward wakes up to find he is strapped into another rocket created by Heidrich. Although Ed says he doesn't want to go, Alfons explains that he is doing this to make amends, but also asks Ed to no longer imagine that he and his world are merely a dream. Heidrich launches Ed off before being shot by Hess. As his plane, equipped with rockets, makes its way up to the Gate, Ed sees Noah who begs for him to take her with him, but he is already moving past her, and cannot stop. On the other side of the Gate, Ed crashes in the underground city and finds Al, Winry, and Sheska there. After a brief reunion, they see Eckhart and her fleet of ships, who had previously been mutated by the Gate Children, fly into Amestris. Al is horrified that he let something like that into the Alchemic world and runs off. Ed tries to follow, but his broken prosthetic limbs prevents him from doing so, and Winry quickly installs a new Automail arm and leg to Ed while several more ships pass through the Gate. Ed finds Al about to try to transmute a child who had been crushed by a collapsing house, but Ed stops him and tells him they need to stop Eckhart. Al agrees and they both set off to attack the war ships.

At the Central Command, soldiers are barely fending off the attacking soldiers of the Thule Society with Lt. Colonel Alex Louis Armstrong, until General Roy Mustang arrives and attacks several of the soldiers with alchemy. After giving orders and giving individual orders to each of the soldiers from his squad (except Riza Hawkeye, who he did not notice until all of the other soldiers had been dispatched), Roy creates a hot air balloon to directly attack the war ships. After taking to the skies, Roy Mustang then meets up with the Elric Brothers to take down the main ship. Fighting through most of the ship's external defenses and boarding the ship, Roy remains outside to secure the only exit whilst the Elrics enter to fight Eckhart, as Edward can now use alchemy. After Eckhart briefly fights Edward, she then retreats and releases several armored Thule Society solders to finish him, but they then turn on her due to Alphonse previously placing parts of his soul within the suits. Edward and Alphonse then flee, but Edward then uses alchemy to send Alphonse and Roy back to the ground without him, despite Al's objections. Before Alphonse leaves, Edward instructs Al to destroy the portal in Amestris while he destroys the one beyond the Gate, so that they can prevent any further invasions.

Edward then pilots the ship, and flies it back through the portal, crashing it in the lab containing Noah. Eckhart then leaves the ship, completely covered in Gate Children, heading toward Noah, trying to reach Shamballa once more. Knowing that Gracia had asked him to protect Noah, Officer Hughes(who had returned from a failed march against the German government) responds quickly by firing a head shot at Eckhart, killing her instantly. After that, Edward exits the ship, and notices that Noah is cradling Alfons' dead body, knowing that he was shot in his chest. Upon exiting the ship, Ed finds that a suit of armor similar to Al's begins to talk - but when he inquires how long until the soul fragment fades, he finds Alphonse within it, who states he climbed back onto the ship after telling Mustang to destroy the portal in Amestris. The brothers then decide to dismantle the portal together, despite not being able to use alchemy.

After attending Alfons' funeral, the Elrics then ride in a vehicle which contains multiple travelers (driven by the real world versions of Lust and Scar). The brothers decide to destroy the Uranium bomb, and choose to continue to live in their new world, regardless of rumors of a "second great war", as Earth has become their new home.

Trivia

 * The film takes place in a peaceful, yet shaky time in our world. The 1923 German republic was being riled with reparation payments from the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I, fueling a general feeling of discontent and political unrest.
 * This film also depicts the beginning of the Nazi Party within German politics; at this point, however, they were only an extremist group. Political success for the Nazis did not begin to occur until the Great Depression.
 * The film makes an attempt to describe the economic instability of Weimar, Germany through mention of inflation, though only directly references the Dolchstoss myth of the post-WWI period. The actual direct reason for inflation and economic strife was the French Occupation of the Ruhr and government mismanagement.
 * This film depicts Germany as the first country in the world at that time to have nuclear weapons.
 * Despite being deceased in Amestris, Maes Hughes' counterpart is still alive behind the gate in our world.
 * It's unclear if the Thule Society knew that Envy is a Homunculus or even one of Hohenheim's kids. It is also unclear if the Thule Society knew Envy was capable of human speech as a dragon (it's possible they more or less knew because Eckhart was eavesdropping when Edward activated the transmutation circle and Envy remarked derisively to Edward that he was "still just a puppet").
 * Even though Adolf Hitler was heavily mentioned, he was barely shown in the movie, except a speech, being only seen walking to the podium, and the end on a flyer stating "The Second World War".
 * Though alchemy is supposedly impossible on Earth, it has been shown when Ed used his blood on the transmutation circle, it opened the other side of The Gate. Though it also could be possible due to the unknowing assistance of Alphonse from Amestris.
 * Envy was the only homunculus able to cross the Gate, despite rumors of him (and other Homunculi for that matter) being dead if he were to crossover to Earth, mainly because Homunculi are resurrected through alchemy.
 * A bit of a stretch, it was never explored as to what would happen if other homunculi crossed over (like transforming, retaining their current appearance, could they survive their trip, etc.)
 * Both Envy and Wrath have lost their special abilities, the former is nullified, while the latter's arm and leg was ripped off by The Gate.
 * Roy didn't disclose Pride's fate to Edward, making it unknown that Ed is aware that Pride died.
 * When the Thule Society first tried entering the gate they were crushed from the pressure probably from not giving up a proper sacrifice or because of the suits of armor they were wearing.
 * Both Hohenheim and Wrath (ironically) met their end by not only by being fixed in the jaws of Envy and Gluttony but also by being transmuted along with them.

[[Category:Movies