35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic anime trilogy that is a must-have for Gundam fans, June 29, 2004
This review is from: Mobile Suit Gundam: The Movie Box Set (DVD)
Mobile Suit Gundam is the series that started the wildly popular Gundam series as well as the realistic robot anime genre. It was originally planned as a 50-episode TV series, but it was canceled due to low ratings and its creator, Tomino, was forced to create an ending for the series after 43 episodes. However, the show became very popular after reruns and in large part due to the movie compilations released a couple years after the original series. This movie trilogy condensed the story of Mobile Suit Gundam into three roughly two-and-a-half hour movies, with somewhat improved animation and a few edits to eliminate the more hokey, unrealistic aspects of the series. These movies were among the first Gundam merchandise released in America, and I must say, they are still impressive despite their age.
The first thing that struck me about the trilogy is the exceptional packaging. Everything about this set screams quality. The movies come in a blue box, with a cover showing the main characters of the series, as well as the Gundam's head. This image, which is on both sides of the box, has a very nice foil finish, so it shines and glows, a nice touch. The movies themselves have very well-drawn covers, and they too have the wonderful foil finish on both the front and back. All in all, the box set looks classy and will make your other anime DVDs hide in shame.
The movies themselves outshine the spectacular packaging. These movies are truly anime classics. The animation is a bit dated, but if you can get over that, you'll find yourself engrossed in the world of Gundam. The first two movies are a bit slow, as they develop the characters and show how they mature from being young, everyday people to soldiers who fight to survive. The third movie is easily the best of the three, as it is incredibly fast-paced, more than making up for the slow nature of the other two movies. The final movie is a breathtaking work rivaling even the best war stories.
But what really make the movie trilogy, as well as the original series, great are the characters. Gundam has probably the most realistic characters in all of anime. With the exception of (most) Newtypes, the characters are all very vernerable and in no way superhuman. They all react very realistically to war and the horrors it brings. The characters also behave realistically in that the soldiers on the "bad" side (the Principality of Zeon) do not act evil. Instead, they are just regular, everyday people who fight because they have to.
One of the biggest joys I got out of this set was the music. The original Gundam series did not have very impressive music or sound. However, the movie trilogy includes updated music from the original series as well as brand new sound effects that sound far better than their TV series counterparts. But the music is what really impressed me. It still sounds very much like the music from the original series, yet the quality is far higher, and the result is a very pleasing musical score, though not quite up to par with the likes of Char's Counterattack.
As well as having new music, there is also new animation. The original series did not age too well, and the animation is pretty crude. However, much of the series has been overhauled, with new animation for the Guntank and Guncannon in the first movie, as well as 30% of the animation being new in Movie II and 70% in Movie III. The new animation remains faithful to the original series, and does not look grossly out of place.
Some plot points have been changed in the movies, for better or worse. One of the great changes was the replacement of the rediculous G-Armor with the sleak and smart Core Booster, a machine resembling a fighter with large laser cannons. However, by watching the movies, you will not be getting the full story of the One Year War, as some of the finer points of the plot had to be cut to keep the movie at a reasonable length. One of my major gripes is that White Base fails to fight in Operation Odessa in the movies, whereas it was instrumental in the Federation's victory in the original series. For the most part, the plot works and still retains the essense of Gundam without some of the more rediculous plot arcs, but it also leaves out some important events.
There are no extras to speak of, other than an informational booklet that talks about changes made to the original series for the movie compilations. The book is pretty informative, but it contains massive spoilers, so I recommend watching the movies before checking out the booklet.
The Mobile Suit Gundam trilogy is truly a masterpiece. It is an incredible story of war, but moreso it focuses on the very human aspects of war, and that is one of the reasons it is such a timeless series. The Gundam Movie Trilogy truly deserves a place among more well-known trilogies, such as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. It delivers a mix of plot and action that you will be hard-pressed to find in any other films.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Now on DVD but all the original sound effects are gone!, January 19, 2005
This review is from: Mobile Suit Gundam: The Movie Box Set (DVD)
These movies are required viewing if you are interested in the Gundam canon. It's where the series began and is what revolutionized the big robot anime genre. I never watch dubs, they just can't seem to get the right emotions or tone of the original japanese. Also, about 90 percent of dubs are from Canadian studios, so you get an all Canadian cast accents and all. My biggest gripe of this set is the original sound fx have been replaced with generic explosions and other nondescript sounds. This may sound trivial at first, but imagine if the Star Wars DVD set came out and the TIE fighters sounded like f-16 as they flew by. Or all the laser blasts sounded like electric arcs rather than that familiar ping sound. This is what the all important "5.1" remix did for this set. As someone who watched the movies on tape with the original sound effects before DVD, the whole experience is ruined by this new mix. The studio should have included an alternate audio track with the old mix on it. There is a stereo mix, but it's just the new 5.1 mixed down to 2.0. The same thing happened with Robotech Remastered by the way. If you don't care about the sound effects being different then go ahead and pick it up. I'll be selling my set cheap.
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