Product Details

• Actors: Deborah Sale Butler, Doug Erholtz, Aliki Theofilopoulos, Yello Lollicups, Danny Katiana
• Writers: Ardwight Chamberlain, Jeff Nimoy, Steve Kramer, Tom Wyner
• Producers: Takayuki Yoshii
• Format: Animated, Color, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Live, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Bandai Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: February 3, 2004
• Run Time: 75 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00012FX5Y
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #130,140 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "SD Gundam Force - The Hero Arrives (Vol. 1)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The first Gundam series to air in the U.S. (on the Cartoon Network's "Toonami" bloc) before Japan focuses on Shute, a spunky boy living in the idyllic realm of Neotopia. When the evil but inept forces from Dark Axis commanded by Zapper Zaku invade Neotopia, Shute meets the defender-robot Captain Gundam. Their friendship fuels Captain's Soul Drive, enabling him to defeat the invaders easily. "SD" stands for "Superior Defender," but in anime, it usually means "super deformed"--a term used to describe these diminutive figures with large heads and small bodies. SD Gundam Force is a heavy-handed, American-style kidvid adventure, in which the hero yells, "Way to go, Robot-Dude!" and the villain shouts empty threats. The unexpressive CG animation has the weightless, floaty feel of motion capture, and the result suggests a mecha version of Reboot. The disc has no menus. (Rated 7 and older: minor robot vs. robot violence) --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Deformed to Defend, March 9, 2004

By	G White (Bedford, Bedfordshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Most anime fans will be familiar with Gundam, the popular anime franchise which sparked the equally popular real robot genre. What slightly less may be aware of is SD Gundam, a comedy sub-franchise starting in the late 1980's which poked fun at the main Gundam franchise and presented the characters and mecha as squashed down, cuter versions. Whilst there have been games, model kits, etc the SD Gundam anime was short lived. With the normal series performing well in America, Bandai have chosen to bring SD back to animated form...with a slight twist.

An evolution of a cancelled made-for-the-US show called Doozybots, Superiour Defender Gundam Force aims itself for the market more likely to play Pokemon and buy Yu-Gi-Oh cards. The basic story is simple yet enjoyable- in the not too distant future, humanity and robots have managed to turn Earth into a utopian paradise free of war, violence and poverty. Its for this reason that the central city of Neotopia falls under the evil mono-eye of the Dark Axis, resource stealing robots who plunder other worlds via a dimensional gate. The Dark Axis advance force is discovered by a young boy named Shute and they attempt to silence him. However, Shute is saved by a mysterious robot hero. Called Captain Gundam, he is Neotopia's first line of defense in the secret war against the Dark Axis...
These early episodes are pretty simple- Shute and Captain are minding their own business/Dark Axis forces arrive/the two sides fight/Captain activates his Soul Drive and knocks them back to their own dimension. The enjoyment factor more comes from the various parodies and homages within. The average Neotopian and Dark Axis robots are based on the classic series GMs and Zakus, wheras the more central heroes and villains are based on Gundams and some of the more advanced Zeon mobile suits. The idea of alternate dimensions is used quite nicely to follow the idea of alternate, standalone series that has kept Gundam alive for the last few years (on this disc, we see that Neotopia is based on the classic Gundam series and another world full of pretty-boy robot knights is based on the popular Gundam Wing).

As said above, the show is really targetting a younger crowd as evidenced by the numerous robots and a kid sidekick in the form of Shute. But the show is so well handled that you won't really care. I was suprised to find moments of long silence in the dub, since most such anime available in English is full of constantly thumping music or non-stop talking. The voice cast are great and all fit and play their roles perfectly (Deborah Sale Butler should give Zoe Slusar lessons on how to sound like a young boy).

This show really isn't for everyone. If you don't mind parodies and can except that Gundam is just a TV show and not some religious scripture, you should enjoy this show. Others should just stick to the more traditional Gundam.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GUNDAM V.S. GUNDAM. THE GUNDAM FORCE ALWAYS WINS!, October 3, 2005

By	S.L.J.C.O.A.A.A.T.R. "SCOTTY" (IN YOUR MOTHER'S STOMACH) - See all my reviews

THERE'S SO MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF GUNDAM.PERSONLY I'D HAVE TO SAY THAT SD GUNDAM FORCE IS MY FAVORITE.THERE'S SO MANY CHARACTERS.THE SHOW UNFORTUNEANTLY ONLY HAS ABOUT 28 EPISODES.THE SHOW IS ABOUT AN EVIL FORCE CALLED THE DARK AXIS TRYING TO TAKE OVER ALL THE PLANETS THAT EXIST.WHEN THEY REACH NEOTOPIA THEY REALLY HAVE TO BRING IN THEIR TOUGHEST WEAPONS.CAPTAIN GUNDAM AND ZAPPER ZAKU WERE THE ORIGANAL CHARACTERS.AS THE SHOW GOT FARTHER INTO THE SERIES THEY BROUGHT IN A WHOLE LOT MORE CHARATERS.ALSO SOME OF THE HEROES WERE SOME HOW TRANSPORTED TO NEOTOPIA.ONCE YOU WATCH THIS SHOW YOU'RE LIKE OH THIS IS STUPID,BUT ONCE YOU SEE A FEW EPISODES YOU GET HOOKED ON THE SHOW.THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED TO ME.I'D LIST ALL THE CHARACTERS,BUT IT'S BEEN SO LONG SCINCE SD GUNDAM FORCE HAS BEEN ON T.V. THAT I FORGOT ALMOST EVERYBODYS NAMES!ON THE FINAL 5 EPISODES THE ENTIRE DARK AXIS ATTACKED NEOTOPIA!MOST OF THE CHARACTERS WERE KILLED IN THE WAR THOUH.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars My 5- and 9-year olds LOVE SD Gundam!!!, March 10, 2004

By	Gordon M. Wagner (Suburbia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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The animation is beautifully fluid, definitely not el-cheapo Korean animation. The stories seem to keep the kids totally riveted. I found some SD Gundam toys at T*rget which delighted the kids.

Buy both DVD volumes AT ONCE and hope and pray that more SD Gundam episodes are produced!

There is no "dark" side to SD Gundam -- a really nice change from some of the other weird animation I've seen over the years. I like this show. My kids LOVE this show.