Product Details

• Actors: Kaneto Shiozawa, Brian Brite, Jack Cardwell, Shigeru Chiba, Toshio Furukawa
• Directors: Hisayuki Toriumi
• Writers: Akiyoshi Sakai, Kaoru Shintani
• Producers: Ren Usami, Yûji Nunokawa
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Adv Films
• DVD Release Date: July 25, 2006
• Run Time: 195 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000FII248
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,012 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Japanese ace Shin Kazuma was staring at cozy future at Yamato Airlines, where he was dating the president’s daughter. Instead, he’s tricked into signing on as a mercenary and now must serve a three year hitch or raise $1.5 million to buy his way out!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Passionate and realistic, May 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Area 88 Act 1: Blue Skies Betrayal [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Area 88 is a excellent film, showing the power of war, the pain and the results of how a young man is ripped from the normalacy of life, and dropped into a war zone. It shows how the guilt and pain of causing death eventually becomes normal life, how it is a dog eat dog world and if he wants to survive to go home he must become top dog, no matter what the costs

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sleeper anime, February 7, 2001

By	Rod Allison (Detroit) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Area 88 - Blue Skies of Betrayal (Vol. 1) (DVD)

This is an outstaning movie. A young pilot is romantically involved with the daughter of an airlines owner. His greedy and jealous "freind" tricks him into signing up as a mercenary fighter pilot for a middle eastern country involved in a civil war. He can't get out of the contract, punishable by death, until he registers enough kills in battle. He proves to be a highly skilled pilot, but he can't stand all the death and destruction he inflicts.

The battle sequences are awesome. The young pilot bonds with fellow mercenary pilots, who come from all over the world, and there is strong character development. There is a particularly poignant story involving a Russian mercenary who is afraid of the dark.

Any anime fan would enjoy Area 88. For those who prefer more realistic anime - that is without the supernatural, indestructable monsters, or way out fututistic themes - this should be at the top of the recommendation list.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Area 88 OVA is a Masterpiece, July 17, 2006

By	Peter Tilton (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This anime is called Area 88 and is a 3 part anime (4 hours long). It was made in 1985 and is one of the best anime to be released outside Japan. It's one of the deepest and most emotionally moving anime to ever grace our shores. It has everything from action to drama to romance.

Apart from geting all 3 episodes on dvd for the first time. The best part of this dvd is the fact that video been remastered and looks simply stunning compared to the old dvd and vhs release by Central Park Media.

ADV have also translated all the songs and left the credits untouched for all those purists who hate when companies edit things. ADV have also provided a new english dub by the same voice actors that did the tv series.

As if to charm us more, ADV have also given us all the original Japanese extras including an interview with the original manga artist and a documentary featuring all the fighter jets featured in this anime.

Conclusion - This dvd is simply a must buy for any anime fan. This is up there with classics such as Gunbuster, Akira and Wings of Honneamise. They really don't make them like these anymore.