Product Details

• Actors: Bryan Cranston, Takumi Yamazaki, Richard Epcar, Unshô Ishizuka, Anne Sherman
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Manga Video
• DVD Release Date: November 28, 2000
• Run Time: 160 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000051YJY
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #83,704 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Macross II The Movie" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

MACROSS II:MOVIE - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Decent, but in no way excellent., October 1, 2001

By 

"arxane" (Oklahoma City, OK United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macross II The Movie (DVD)

When I first saw this movie, it was my first introduction into the world of "Macross". It wasn't as good as it could've been. But after seeing more "Macross" titles like "Macross Plus" and "Robotech" and doing a little research on this film, I quickly realized how low it really was in the world of anime.

"Macross II: The Movie" (also known as "Macross II: Lovers Again") is a classic example of how a franchise can be milked out for all of its worth. Many problems plagued this movie from the start, including the overall "silliness" of the film and the "bluntness" of the characters' features (face shapes, noses, etc.) that was at the time being replaced by more sharper features in anime. The movie was originally set several years after the last "Macross" series, but because of the lackluster appeal of this movie, it was eventually discarded as an alternate universe.

Although it does put out a decent effort on its part, "Macross II" somehow manages to contain a flaw in every aspect. The plot is quite original, although in the end it's one of the movie's main pitfalls. The characters, while not completely stereotypical, aren't well fleshed out and at times act like cardboard cutouts. This can be attributed to the less-than-bearable English voice acting, which often is flat, emotionless, and even laughable.

I will give the film credit for one thing, however. For the English release of the movie, the invaders use the movie's original Japanese track as their "alien language," quite an original idea I have yet to see elsewhere. Even so, while I haven't seen "Macross II" in Japanese, the Japanese voice acting in the English version often at times sounds as flat as the English voice acting. The animation, while probably good enough for its time, is nothing special. Movements, particularly speaking, appear choppy and oftentimes unnatural.

Even the two major factors that define a "Macross" world - fighting and music - fall short. The fighting in "Macross II", while plentiful, makes the viewer feel he's watching uninspired vintage footage. And the singing, while done rather well, consists mostly of bubblegum pop that isn't anything to talk about.

All in all, "Macross II" made a decent effort yet couldn't live up to the standards of the rest of the "Macross" series. If watched on its own without any previous knowledge of the Macross universe, it might be seen in a better light. But with the name of "Macross" attached to its title, and with everything that defines a "Macross" series/movie falling short in this film, "Macross II: Lovers Again" isn't a good choice for serious anime fans.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely underrated excellence, April 7, 2002

By 

godsmurf (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macross II The Movie (DVD)

I've been a fan of the Macross universe since the beginning of time (for the Macross Universe anyway). Recently I ran across this little gem of an anime that was bashed by almost every reviewer in professional sites. The truth is, this title not only delivers excellent animation, but also quality entertainment for all ages.

The story opens with an ambitious reporter for the SNN uncovering alleged scandals drawing from his inspiration formed when he saw the war report from the first Zentraedi war. In a series of events, Hibiki, the main character, runs across an alien girl, who at first is Hibiki's "scoope" but later becomes more. As the story progressed, the movie uses the theme of love and music to begin tying up loose ends in the movie, and ultimately agrees with the proverb "Love conquers all".

This movie has many underlying social comments, including human rights(or Marduk rights), handling responsibilities, government censorship of the media.

All in all, this movie's animation quality is extremely well-done. The characters definitely follow the style of the Macross series. Transformations of mechas are done with extra detail. Action sequences are done with impressive cinematography complete with crisp animation and timely perspective changes, as well as excellent camera work.

The English dubbing as well as the localisation of the script are not among the best in the anime genre, but they are nothing terrible either. On top of all that, if you truly do not like dubbing, you could always turn on the subtitles and switch the audio to Japanese track. There are awkward pauses every now and then, however.

This movie is extremely highly recommended, and unlike most other anime DVD releases, this one actually contains a respectful amount of extra goodies outside of the featured film and previews for other animes.

If you are a fan of the Macross universe, snatch this one up with extra greed in your eyes and drool in your mouth. If you're not ... well, buy it anyway... or I will tell the Marduk Emulators to sing the song of death as I unleash my Zentraedi warriors upon you...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good for what it is...., January 7, 2005

By 

nurseboy (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macross II The Movie (DVD)

First off, I want to say that this work is nowhere near as good as the rest of the Macross sequel offerings (Macross Plus, Macross Zero, Macross 7, etc).

That being said, I think that this series is unfairly being compared to it's siblings, that are paradigms of the genre (kinda like Alien 3, which in and of itself, was a good movie, but paled in comparison to it's predecessors). But if you look at it by itself, you'll find that it's a pretty fun story with really good animation. Again, not up to par with the rest of the family, but still able to knock the socks off of a lot of other anime offerings out there.