Rating: 
Summary: THE Mech movie!
Review: 1979-1993 or so was probably the Golden Era of the Mobile Suit Gundam Franchise, (Not to say I do not like the ones beyond 1993's "Victory Gundam.) in that time the all time classic "Mobile Suit Gundam" and the dark sequal "Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeta" and its Sequal "Mobile Suit ZZ (Double Zeta) Gundam" came out.Following right behind the 47 (Or so) episode series "ZZ Gundam" the epic motion picture "Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counter Attack" came out. I personally think no Mech anime fan should go without the Classic Gundam and this film. The motion picture is really a 2 and a half hour space battle, but considering the film is about as long as 4 or 5 episodes they managed to devolop characters in that time, such as Gyunei, who tries to win the affection of Quess Pyra, who craves a father figure so she joins the Neo Zeon. At times CCA seems more like a space drama then a mech anime, how ever CCA has the emotional and great fight scenes to go with it, now while the fight does not seem as "full scale" as some of the fight scenes in "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" the fights do carry them selves very well, but they do not get to the point where the entire movie is just fight. As I mentiond characters before I must state that the rivalry between Char Aznable and Amuro Rei is amazing and you get a real sense of conflict between the two. The music helps a lot! It makes the fight scenese truley amazing, and I almost cried at the end when the amazing track "Beyond the Time" began to play. The DVD features I love, there is a Biblography of all the novels anime and other things Tomino, the creator of the franchise has worked on, the DVD comes with a slip cover, and a fancy booklet with the history of the events leading up to the film. Would I suguest this? Of course, how ever I think that it may be best to watch Mobile Suit Gundam, and maybe Zeta Gundam before this, just so you can get a real sense of the existing characters.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent conclusion to a legendary rivalry
Review: Mobile Suit Gundam - Char's Counterattack is an anime masterpiece. It is the final chapter in the feud between the legendary Newtype Amuro Ray and the former Zeon Newtype ace, Char Aznable. The movie lives up to all the expectations a Gundam fan would have about this epic conclusion, and it is a film every Gundam fan must have in their DVD library. First of all, the packaging is very nice. The DVD comes with a dark red slipcover featuring a golden Neo Zeon emblem on one side and the head of the Nu Gundam on the other. It looks great and gives the DVD a classy look. The cover on the DVD case itself features a dueling Nu Gundam and Sazabi, and it looks good as well. But, the cover is reverseable and features the Japanese cover on the other side, which depicts Amuro Ray, Char Aznable, and Lalah Sune, and it looks even better than the default cover. The DVD itself has a Neo Zeon emblem on it as well as the title of the movie. A small booklet outlining the events of Gundam series leading up to Char's Counterattack can be found in the case, and it also provides insight to battle tactics and Gundam devices. It isn't terribly informative, but it is still nice to have for those relatively unfamiliar with the Gundam series. A word of warning: if you have not watched the original Mobile Suit Gundam, do not bother with this movie, as the original series sets the stage for this monumental duel between Amuro and Char. The main problem with this movie is that you really need to have a passing familiarity with Zeta Gundam, the sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam which has not yet been released in America. However, if you have seen the original series, you can understand the basic storyline, but the finer points may be lost. The storyline itself is very complex and rich. As with any Gundam series, there is an equal amount of mobile suit combat and political intrigue. The movie begins with a large battle above Earth where Char is attempting to drop an asteroid on Earth in order to pass judgement on the elitist Earth inhabitants who tend to treat the Spacenoids unfairly. We are quickly introduced to the movie's two main players: Char Aznable, an arrogant ace pilot who has become the head of the Neo Zeon organization, and Amuro Ray, a powerful Newtype pilot who is a member of the elite Federation Londo Bell taskforce. We are also introduced to Quess Paraya, a whiny, annoying blue-haired girl who will play a major role later in the movie. The movie begins with a bang, but the middle of the movie is comprised mostly of political games and plot development. However, if you can sit through this relatively slow portion, you will be treated to a final third of nearly nonstop action. The animation in the movie is remarkably well-done for a late 80's animated work. The animation is very fluid. It isn't quite as good as recent Gundam series, but it is much better than the animation in the original series, and it is still very watchable. In fact, it is very easy to forget the series age since the animation is pulled off so well. The music and sound is equally great. The musical score is absolutely wonderful. From the heroic theme of Londo Bell to the slightly melancholy theme of Neo Zeon, all the music is a pleasure to listen to. The sound effects are also well-done, from the mechanical sounds of the mobile suits to the great explosions. The dub is also done pretty well, and it doesn't sound corny like so many anime dubs tend to. The Japanese voices are also present on the disc, so if you simply can't stand the dub, you can watch the Japanese version with subtitles. There's not much in the way of extras on the DVD other than a bizarre music video showing the making of Gundam models and a brief overview of the Gundam series' creator. But, the movie itself more than makes up for this lack of extra features. In the end, if you love Gundam, you can't help but love this movie. It is full of all the things that make Gundam a timeless series, and it is a fitting conclusion to one of the most famous rivalries in anime history. Don't miss this excellent movie.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent conclusion to a legendary rivalry
Review: Mobile Suit Gundam - Char's Counterattack is an anime masterpiece. It is the final chapter in the feud between the legendary Newtype Amuro Ray and the former Zeon Newtype ace, Char Aznable. The movie lives up to all the expectations a Gundam fan would have about this epic conclusion, and it is a film every Gundam fan must have in their DVD library. First of all, the packaging is very nice. The DVD comes with a dark red slipcover featuring a golden Neo Zeon emblem on one side and the head of the Nu Gundam on the other. It looks great and gives the DVD a classy look. The cover on the DVD case itself features a dueling Nu Gundam and Sazabi, and it looks good as well. But, the cover is reverseable and features the Japanese cover on the other side, which depicts Amuro Ray, Char Aznable, and Lalah Sune, and it looks even better than the default cover. The DVD itself has a Neo Zeon emblem on it as well as the title of the movie. A small booklet outlining the events of Gundam series leading up to Char's Counterattack can be found in the case, and it also provides insight to battle tactics and Gundam devices. It isn't terribly informative, but it is still nice to have for those relatively unfamiliar with the Gundam series. A word of warning: if you have not watched the original Mobile Suit Gundam, do not bother with this movie, as the original series sets the stage for this monumental duel between Amuro and Char. The main problem with this movie is that you really need to have a passing familiarity with Zeta Gundam, the sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam which has not yet been released in America. However, if you have seen the original series, you can understand the basic storyline, but the finer points may be lost. The storyline itself is very complex and rich. As with any Gundam series, there is an equal amount of mobile suit combat and political intrigue. The movie begins with a large battle above Earth where Char is attempting to drop an asteroid on Earth in order to pass judgement on the elitist Earth inhabitants who tend to treat the Spacenoids unfairly. We are quickly introduced to the movie's two main players: Char Aznable, an arrogant ace pilot who has become the head of the Neo Zeon organization, and Amuro Ray, a powerful Newtype pilot who is a member of the elite Federation Londo Bell taskforce. We are also introduced to Quess Paraya, a whiny, annoying blue-haired girl who will play a major role later in the movie. The movie begins with a bang, but the middle of the movie is comprised mostly of political games and plot development. However, if you can sit through this relatively slow portion, you will be treated to a final third of nearly nonstop action. The animation in the movie is remarkably well-done for a late 80's animated work. The animation is very fluid. It isn't quite as good as recent Gundam series, but it is much better than the animation in the original series, and it is still very watchable. In fact, it is very easy to forget the series age since the animation is pulled off so well. The music and sound is equally great. The musical score is absolutely wonderful. From the heroic theme of Londo Bell to the slightly melancholy theme of Neo Zeon, all the music is a pleasure to listen to. The sound effects are also well-done, from the mechanical sounds of the mobile suits to the great explosions. The dub is also done pretty well, and it doesn't sound corny like so many anime dubs tend to. The Japanese voices are also present on the disc, so if you simply can't stand the dub, you can watch the Japanese version with subtitles. There's not much in the way of extras on the DVD other than a bizarre music video showing the making of Gundam models and a brief overview of the Gundam series' creator. But, the movie itself more than makes up for this lack of extra features. In the end, if you love Gundam, you can't help but love this movie. It is full of all the things that make Gundam a timeless series, and it is a fitting conclusion to one of the most famous rivalries in anime history. Don't miss this excellent movie.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: As the legendary rivalry between Amuro Ray and Char Asanable respark in this legendary movie, The people are sure to get what they want. After aiding the AEUG (Mobile Suit Z Gundam) The great Zeon ace "Red Comet" returns to the enemy and now with an even more devious scheme. After months of fighting the Earth Federation's Londo Bell Unit, Neo Zeon has decided to take controll of the Asteroid Axis. Having just dropped the storage asteroid "Fifth Luna" On the earth, the final blow is about to be struck. They have moved the Federation forces away from Axis, and have now begun their advance to set the earth into a nuculear winter. Also, the true feelings of Char reveal themselves finally in this, what i'm proud to call, Anime Epic. I extremely reccomend this movie to any Anime lover, Mecha lover, Gundam lover or even James Cameron.(About three people will get that joke.) Will Char slam the asteroid into the earth? Who will win? Who will lose? Who.....will survive?
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated, but still good
Review: While a good movie, I think that CCA had a lot of potential but did not fully use it. First off, I think that they should have released Zeta and ZZ before this movie, since I see a lot of reviews here complaining about things that have an explanation in Zeta or ZZ, such as why Hayato Kobayashi is not in this movie. I would highly recommend watching at least Zeta first; and since it will soon be released that shouldn't be too much of a problem! Anywho, my main problem with this movie are the characters. Char and Amuro seem horribly out-of-character; in fact, it's as if they switched personalities. Char becomes whiney, and Amuro becomes mature and calculated. It's nice to see Bright back to his old authoritative self (after that embarassing role in ZZ), and Astonauge is always welcome in a Gundam series. Someone said that CCA is too focused around the stupid annoying kids, and I'll agree there. Quess is annoying, and not even that pretty, and Hathaway just makes me want to slap him (even his own father can't resist!) Although someone earlier called Hathaway unimportant, which is simply not true: he is the star of a novel that takes place when he is older, and these events in CCA inspire his behaviour in said novel. Hathaway may not have been one, but CCA did have its throwaway characters. Gyunei, for example, who may have been cute but was absolutely useless; as well as Rezin (the girl who hates Newtypes) and Chan/Chein. Don't get me started on her; her only personality was that she loved Amuro. I much preferred Beltochika from Zeta, who was Amuro's love interest in the CCA novels. Even Nanai's existence was pretty pointless... and I hate to include Mirai in this list, but they did not have to show her that much. In fact, I wish that they could come up with something more creative than "Mirai tries to get to the colonies due to impending problems on Earth" since that was done in Zeta as well. A little upsetting, considering that she piloted a war ship in her younger years. Cameron shows up though, which is greatly amusing since he seems rather bitter towards Bright. Hehe. I'd call Kaira useless, since it seems like they only made her so they could cause tragedy for Astonauge. Which is just mean; Astonauge has been through enough! Did anyone else find Lalah haunting Char and Amuro weird.. 'cause I sure as heck did. I didn't see her ghost before then, did she just get bored in the afterlife and decide to start? Anyway, every UC fan should see this movie at least once, but it is rather disappointing if you are expecting another MSG or Zeta.
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