G-Saviour - The Movie

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Not much love from Gundam fans but on its own, it's an ok sci-fi film, 2008-08-08
With my goal to watch everything related to Mobile Suit Gundam and the Universal Century on DVD for 2008, I realized that there was a film released in 2000 (DVD released in 2002) to celebrate the Gundam 20th Anniversary. br / br /In a collaboration with Sunrise, Inc. and Polestar Television, "G-SAVIOUR THE MOVIE" was released. br / br /With a budget of nearly $9 million, the film would combine live action with CGI with the majority of the film in live action. br / br /The film would take place in the Universal Century 223, way past the storyline of the anime series and there is no mention of Gundam in this film. br / br /If anything, this film could be seen as one of those films you would catch on the Sci-Fi channel and realize that it has mecha and kick back and enjoy it. br / br /I know this film is not accepted by Gundam fans, not accepted by Gundam co-creator Tomino Yoshiyuki but being the sci-fi fan that I am, I wanted to give this film the benefit of the doubt. br / br /The film revolves around CONSENT (Congress of Settlement Nations) officer Mark Curran and one night, his ship was infiltrated by some unknown group who are looking for some type of lab samples. A gun fight ensues and CONSENT military led by Lt. Colonel Jack Halle (Curran's rival) ends up killing some of the people of this group. br / br /Mark Curran then does his investigation and through interrogation, realizes that this group were actually scientists who were after something in the lab that would lead to the benefit of mankind. br / br /Of course, Curran, being the optimist agrees to help the scientist, Cynthia Graves which automatically puts him in odds against CONSENT and ends up helping the group of scientists and puts him on the wanted list of CONSENT and becomes a cat and mouse film with the military trying to capture Curran and the rebel scientists. br / br /As for how it relates to anything Gundam. Aside from the date which is "Universal Century 229, there is a mobile suit that the opposition to CONSENT has in its disposal called "G-Saviour". Also, the mention of colonies such as "Side-x" were used in the film but no mention of Gundam at all. br / br /I suppose back in 2000, the CGI for the mechas were top notch but the majority of the film doesn't feature too much CGI and I guess that would be a positive thing now because of CGI advances since then. br / br /As for the voice acting, compared to the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation or Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to the first season of the modern "Battlestar Galactica" and even Sci-Fi channel films, "G-Saviour" is not a horribly acted film. br / br /Actually, Brennan Elliott does a good job playing CONSENT officer Mark Curran and rival/enemy Lt. Col. Jack Halle plays a good bad guy. The others in the film were not bad as well. I've watched a lot of sci-fi films and by no means is this film terribly acted or the worse one ever created. br / br /The DVD also features a dubbed Japanese track and even though you have talent like Shinohara Ryoko playing the voice of Graves, as much as I enjoy watching Japanese anime with English subtitles, I didn't want to watch an English film dubbed in Japanese with English subtitles. br / br /So, with that being said, I was not disappointed with this film at all. Was it wonderful? No. But it wasn't terrible either. br / br /I had some problems with the pacing of the film. How Curran and Graves start to fall for each other... it just seemed a bit rushed. Also, when I see someone being shot multiple times, I would expect that person to not live through that. But who knows, maybe weapons were set at stun or something. br / br /Another was how Curran became the main pilot of the G-Saviour. A former military officer/friend of Curran says of the G-Saviour, "this was built for you". It was one of those "rolling my eyes" moments in the film and next thing you know, Curran becomes a pro in piloting the G-Saviour and ready to take on colliding objects, space junk, etc. with no practical experience with G-Saviour. Sure, he's piloted many mobile suites and aircraft but for him to master G-Saviour so quickly... that's a big stretch. br / br /The CGI didn't bug me all that much, since its a bit dated and the battle between G-Saviour and other mobile suits were cool to watch. Facial expressions/emotions after a battle were sometimes cheesy but all in all, the balance between CGI and real life actors worked well. br / br /Personally, with the storyline taking place nearly 250 years later after the original "Mobile Suit Gundam" series, personally I didn't think too much after I watched it of how it affects the Gundam universe. If anything, I was more concerned about the Earth Federation collapsing and the emergence of CONSENT. But it would be interesting if Sunrise would create another anime series that did take place in this timeline. br / br /As for special features, there was like CGI and artwork from and for the film. Even the special feature was a let down because there were less than ten images. br / br /It would have been nice to watch a featurette with interviews with the cast or even behind-the-scenes filming. After all, this is the celebration of Gundam's 20th Anniversary at that time. So, you would have expected to see something in relation to that. Maybe even the Japanese premiere. br / br /A lot of people made their judgment to not see this film and some who have seen it enjoyed it or disliked it. br / br /For me, I found it as essential to have in my collection because I'm watching and owning everything "Universal Century" related in the Gundam universe. br / br /I didn't dislike the film, I enjoyed it and for me, it was like catching a sci-fi movie special and that was it. br / br /As for the DVD is concerned, for a 20th Anniversary Project celebrating Gundam, you would have expected more on this DVD and that is where this DVD fails in that there are hardly anything in regards to Gundam or even this film in terms of featurettes, interviews or anything else except CG and hand drawn artwork. And surprisingly, there is not much there for that either. br / br /Fortunately, you can find this DVD around $5 online.

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Thanks for Nothing., 2008-08-03
You gotta hand it to `em, they try. But what do western filmmakers know about Japanese anime? Judging from this movie, a low-budget live-action adaptation of the "Mobile Suit Gundam" franchise, not a whole lot. br / br /Created to kick off Gundam's 20th anniversary, "G-Saviour," while not the worst Gundam product ever produced (I hear there's a new winner), makes you wonder if it deserves to even be associated with the franchise. The plot--which seems to be less about the war for a glowing enzyme that could end global hunger, and more about that war being started by the hero's jealous girlfriend--makes the film feel like something out of the SCIFI Channel, or rather, the Lifetime Movie Network! br / br /It's worth noting that some members of the cast like Brennan Elliot and Enuka Okuma (who lent her voice for the English dub of "Gundam Wing") hold their own while the CGI used to create the giant robots and other vehicles are decent. But that's not enough to condone the random silliness of some scenes, the outdated technology, and even the costume designs (the soldiers' uniforms were taken straight from "Starship Troopers"). And I'll spare the details of the inaccuracies so as not to sound like a bratty fanboy. Just consider this a reason why anime and showbiz don't mix. DVD features include a Japanese audio track (with no subtitles), an art gallery, credits, and trailers for the Gundam shows you should watch. br / br /This film is recommended for ages 13 and up: Violence, Adult Language.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Nothing special , 2008-01-05
I give this movie 3 stars because It has a good plot, and I'm not complaining about the CGI, I mean, come on, it was made in like 2000, and the special effects aren't that bad. br /The movie was ok, although it didn't really seem like a Gundam movie. br /And the actors could have been better. br /I just hope if bandai or somebody ever makes another Gundam movie they will do better than this.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Disappointed., 2006-12-26
I was ,overall, disappointed by this film. The plot should have been more detailed. If you look at any of the episodes of the gundam series you will see that they all have intriguing, provacotive, and detailed plots. The plot on this movie was not up to par for a gundam movie. There were times when I was watching this movie when I couldn't tell whether it was about the war of the colonies or the main characters' love story with the scientist. Although, I will admit the gundam fight scene in the end was pretty good. But thats about all I can say. The acting was near terrible, the special effects were sub-par, and the whole thing was just too predictable. In conclusion, this is DEFINITELY NOT a buy, barely even a rent. I only paid $1.99 for it, I feel as though I got my moneys' worth. You can buy it if you want to see the fight scene at the end but I implore you to not pay more than 5 or 6 dollars for it. If you do, you will probably feel like you were cheated. In my humble opinion that is.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Good, Bad, Cheesy..., 2005-09-18
First off, I'm a HUGE Gundam fan. I'm collecting all the series, and I had to get this. (How could I pass up a live action Gundam movie?!) br / br /The movie was well made, but it had a lot of sequences that reminded me of the more... cheesy moments of SeaQuest DSV. br / br /Basically, I feel that the graphics and the story were a little half-assed. I mean, while you see 2 Mobile Suits for about 4 mins (MAX) near the beginning of the movie, and two other quick shots a bit later, you don't see any more until near the end! Isn't this a Gundam Movie? Shouldn't the Gundam, or other Mobile Suits be in this a lot more? I think that in the entire film, there's maybe 10-15 minutes of Mobile Suits, and this is a 2 hour movie! br / br /The story... (SPOILERS INSIDE THIS PARAGRAPH!) Basically, it's Universal Century 223. Earth is on the edge of famine, and two scientists may be on the virge of a breakthrough that could solve this problem, once and for all. The Earth Alliance, (or certian factions within the Earth Alliance) decided that such a breakthrough is not needed, as without it, power will be given to those who can provide food. Now while this may sound like a nice concept, things get worse... One pilot, who was in the military a number of years back, is framed as a killer and is labeled a traitor when he helps free one of the scientists with the breakthrough, eventually getting her off of Earth, and to the colonies. Now the only way to stop the scientist from finishing the breakthrough is the declare war on the Colonies. (Although, like the rest of the film, this is done by making the Colony shoot at them first, making their "war" a retalitory act. -_-' ) br / br /The execution of the story is just plain predictable, and not very invocative. br / br /The Gundam and Mobile Suits aren't that good either. The 3D looks like graphics that belong in The Last Starfighter, which had the first computer graphics meant to be real-life visuals. (It was released in 1986. This film is 2000. That 14 years!!) Basically, this film looks like it was made on a shoe-string budget, and has absolutly no visual resemblence to any of the Gundam series, aside from the design of the G-Savior, AKA The Gundam, and the basic design of the Earth Alliance uniforms. (Oh, the Earth Alliance soldier/marine outfits look like they were taken straight off the Starship Troopers set...) br / br /Now while I may have just really badmouthed this film, it's not without it's good points. The 15-minute battle at the end of the film is rather good, even if the graphics aren't up to par. The execution of the non-MS sections were well done, and the concept for the whole thing had a lot of potential. br / br /In many ways, I feel that this had the chance to be something wonderful, and it ended up being a home-made cheesy film. br / br /Honestly, I think this could of been done better, even for the time. But at the same time, I think it's kinda cool to see something like this done. br / br /Overall rating: 21/2 out of 5 stars.