G-Saviour: The Movie is an oddity: an American live-action film made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Gundam, one of the most popular and successful franchises in anime history. Although Yoshiyuki Tomino's mecha show a... more »ctually debuted on Japanese television in 1979, it was the three feature-length compilations of the series released in 1981-82 that made Gundam a hit. The programs that followed are sprawling sci-fi epics that focus on teenagers whose psychic abilities enable them to pilot the splendidly designed robot-suits. The plot of G-Saviour, in which an evil general tries to destroy a mysterious enzyme that could end world hunger, is no hokier than many of the animated Gundam adventures. But the characters are all adults, and the turgid romance, in which a woman precipitates a war over her pilot-boyfriend's affections, lands with a thud. The film lacks the scope and brilliant design work of the anime series: despite the numerous CG effects by Digital Muse, G-Saviour feels like an undistinguished movie-of-the-week. Rated 13 Up: Violence, minor profanity. --Charles Solomon« less
cowboy_bebop | Pleasant Hill, CA United States | 09/15/2002
(1 out of 5 stars)
"I am a die hard Gundam fan. Everything from the 0079 series to Turn A and even Wing. Gundam has a very big cult following and for us fans it is an animated world full of action, drama, mystery and suspense. It is sad to see how G-Saviour bastardized the Gundam universe. The only thing worth watching is the 5 minutes of CG which isn't really all that great. The plot is REALLY bad, the acting is horrible, the characters are VERY plain and one dimensional. If you are a Gundam fan please don't purchase this lame excuse for a movie...if you do they'll only start making more garbage like this. Unfortunately this was an impulse buy and I am stuck with it (the people I have offered to give it away to don't want it). Spend your money elsewhere...perhaps start exploring other Anime/Mecha titles such as Getter Robo or Big O. If not go ahead and burn your money...it's probably more enjoyable to watch than this movie."
Live Action Gundam
Alfonso P. Posadas Jr. | Green Valley, CA United States | 11/29/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The year is Universal Century 223 and the Congress of Settlement Nations, or CONSENT, controls the Earth Sphere. At this time, the world is plagued with global famine that is taken the notice of everyone. Mark Curran, an ex-consent soldier, is forced to become the pilot of the Gundam G-Savior and to protect the discovery of a new type of Bioluminescence that could solve the world hungar crisis found by the Gaian Cynthia Graves and Dr. Reva from a conspiracy to have selective famine around the world by the corrupt Consent. They head towards the colony of Gaia where there will be a clash between Consent forces, Gaian defence forces, and the rebel faction called the Illuminati. The Mobile suits look as if they were made from the One Year War Era and the plot seems to be slow in development. The only advanced technology that this movie has are the Beam Shield element from the series V Gundam. It is an okay movie, but it is suggested that you should be at least familiar with the world of Gundam or you will be completely lost in this world of giant robots, space ships, human emotion and trials, and corrupt world governments."
Too little too late
mangaman@garlic.com | Hollister, CA United States | 07/22/2002
(2 out of 5 stars)
"Lets get right to it:The Good:1) Nice mecha designs and the CG looked good.
2) Good (but too brief) battle scene towards the end.The Bad:1) Wooden characters. Ironic that the the first 3D version of Gundam would have such 1D characters. Besides the Mecha, Gundam has always had great characters and this movie had none.
2) Slow pacing. It takes way to long to get to the big Mecha battle at the end and then its over much too quickly.The Ugly:1) This should have been a Japanese production. In Western hands it just came out unimaginative and boring. It happened with Godzilla (which luckily is back in Japanese hands) and its happened here with Gundam."
Gundams with Power Ranger pilots?!
BLACKMASTER | HOUSTON, TEXAS United States | 05/01/2002
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Definitely a movie for children who love Power Rangers, but a disappointment to Hardcore Gundam fans who had anticipated a live action addition to the Gundam saga. The casting for this movie was OK, however, the plot was virtually non-existant, and the writers need to be lined up in front of the Gundam Heavy Arms & let Trowa have a go at them. I actually would have given this movie 2.5 stars if I it was possible. The one highlight of the movie was in fact the CGI scenes, but even the quality of those varied throughout the movie. I recommend this movie for the library of any Gundam fan if only to insure the completeness of your collection, and for all those in love with those sappy Power Rangers."
Better than you'd think.
Brent E. Augustine | Muskego, WI United States | 03/08/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I know what you're thinking. "Lovely, a live action version of anime. Could it get any worse?" Yes, it could. However, in my opinion, it wasn't as bad as it could've been. This movie was done fairly well, and the acting was decent. No big names, but I wasn't expecting any. The best part, of course, is the big battle between the colony Gaia and the Earth forces. All suits are done exceptionally well in CGI, and even show off some suits I don't think are in any of the anime. Save for the colonies (Sides) and the design of the mobile suits (the word "Gundam" is never said in the course of the movie), the story, while good, has nothing to do with either the Mobile Suit Gundam series or the Gundam Wing series. It's completely out on its own. Definitly worth the time it takes to watch it. Though, I would've only given it 3.5 stars, but there's no halves here."