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Macross II The Movie

Macross II The Movie

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $26.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Don't believe the bad reviews
Review: There are many who say Macross II is not a good sequel. I beg to differ.

Of all the Macross sequels, I find that this retains the original Macross formula, but adds a twist to it which really does set it apart from the original. This time idols are in the military, the main character is far from being a hero and the hero is actually a heroine. Most importantly, the action was linked to the music, and this is where the main female character comes in,

As for the love story, it is hard to actually say if there is one, and if there was, it seemed to take a back seat to other elemetns fo the story. However there were elements of love in the story, such as trust and devotion, but affection is not evident for most part of the movie, and you would be surpirised to find out who actually loves who.

The art in the movies is typical 90's art. The animators make use of bold and bright colours. The colouring is a lot more uniform than older anime, to the point where art seems a bit 'sterile'. one thing which I disliked was the way the clothes were presented. The artists seem to have this fascination with oversized wrinkly clothing. The animation, was good for the most part, but not as impressive as the original.

The extra DVD features are a bit scant. The only extra I was happy to see was the ending animation of episodes 1-5 without the credits. I was disspointed that the very first oppening with sound effects was not fetured on the disc. The DVD itself is zoned for areas 1, 2 and 4, BUT it is in the NTSC format so buyers still need to have a TV capable of NTSC playback to watch (or else it is in black and white).

I would say I enjoyed this movie/series more than any other Macross sequel mainly because it is faithful to the original. Any loyal Macross follower would look more behind the action to realise this.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Macross lives on!
Review: This is a must have for Macross fans. This movie, all the episodes together. Brings life back to the Macross. The story line is excelent and the animation is just a good. With out giving away the movie, I would have to say it is a must see.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: don't waste your time
Review: this is the WORST of the macross world. it's boring and the animation is not all that great. skip this one and go to macross plus.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Entertaining anime.
Review: This movie isn't really a "movie" in the traditional sense, its really a short OVA compiled onto once DVD (complete with commercial break animations). It has generally decent animation (the most spectacular is definitely saved for last) albeit the odd frame rate drop here and there, which is survivable. The designs are great, and as for the characters, some like them, some don't, so its really a matter of taste. I personally enjoyed the main characters, they were different from the usual anime characters (eg: mysterious forgotten pasts, or recovering from flashbacks/memories etc etc), they had stronger personalities. It does have a few arguably hokey moments (as in j-pop helping them win the battles near the beginning of the movie) but those are understandable.. and are redeemed by the other 95% of the movie. As far as the english voice acting... if you don't like it.. the nice thing about DVD is that one can switch it to subtitled mode and watch it in the original japanese.

If you've only seen Macross Plus this movie will explain a lot of things for you. Comparing the two.. I don't think this movie was of the same calibre as Macross Plus, but it was still very entertaining. As far as "nobody likes this movie" goes... all the friends I know who are into lots of animé and have seen this movie, enjoyed it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Entertaining anime.
Review: This movie isn't really a "movie" in the traditional sense, its really a short OVA compiled onto once DVD (complete with commercial break animations). It has generally decent animation (the most spectacular is definitely saved for last) albeit the odd frame rate drop here and there, which is survivable. The designs are great, and as for the characters, some like them, some don't, so its really a matter of taste. I personally enjoyed the main characters, they were different from the usual anime characters (eg: mysterious forgotten pasts, or recovering from flashbacks/memories etc etc), they had stronger personalities. It does have a few arguably hokey moments (as in j-pop helping them win the battles near the beginning of the movie) but those are understandable.. and are redeemed by the other 95% of the movie. As far as the english voice acting... if you don't like it.. the nice thing about DVD is that one can switch it to subtitled mode and watch it in the original japanese.

If you've only seen Macross Plus this movie will explain a lot of things for you. Comparing the two.. I don't think this movie was of the same calibre as Macross Plus, but it was still very entertaining. As far as "nobody likes this movie" goes... all the friends I know who are into lots of animé and have seen this movie, enjoyed it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Decent, but in no way excellent.
Review: When I first saw this movie, it was my first introduction into the world of "Macross". It wasn't as good as it could've been. But after seeing more "Macross" titles like "Macross Plus" and "Robotech" and doing a little research on this film, I quickly realized how low it really was in the world of anime.

"Macross II: The Movie" (also known as "Macross II: Lovers Again") is a classic example of how a franchise can be milked out for all of its worth. Many problems plagued this movie from the start, including the overall "silliness" of the film and the "bluntness" of the characters' features (face shapes, noses, etc.) that was at the time being replaced by more sharper features in anime. The movie was originally set several years after the last "Macross" series, but because of the lackluster appeal of this movie, it was eventually discarded as an alternate universe.

Although it does put out a decent effort on its part, "Macross II" somehow manages to contain a flaw in every aspect. The plot is quite original, although in the end it's one of the movie's main pitfalls. The characters, while not completely stereotypical, aren't well fleshed out and at times act like cardboard cutouts. This can be attributed to the less-than-bearable English voice acting, which often is flat, emotionless, and even laughable.

I will give the film credit for one thing, however. For the English release of the movie, the invaders use the movie's original Japanese track as their "alien language," quite an original idea I have yet to see elsewhere. Even so, while I haven't seen "Macross II" in Japanese, the Japanese voice acting in the English version often at times sounds as flat as the English voice acting. The animation, while probably good enough for its time, is nothing special. Movements, particularly speaking, appear choppy and oftentimes unnatural.

Even the two major factors that define a "Macross" world - fighting and music - fall short. The fighting in "Macross II", while plentiful, makes the viewer feel he's watching uninspired vintage footage. And the singing, while done rather well, consists mostly of bubblegum pop that isn't anything to talk about.

All in all, "Macross II" made a decent effort yet couldn't live up to the standards of the rest of the "Macross" series. If watched on its own without any previous knowledge of the Macross universe, it might be seen in a better light. But with the name of "Macross" attached to its title, and with everything that defines a "Macross" series/movie falling short in this film, "Macross II: Lovers Again" isn't a good choice for serious anime fans.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Decent, but in no way excellent.
Review: When I first saw this movie, it was my first introduction into the world of "Macross". It wasn't as good as it could've been. But after seeing more "Macross" titles like "Macross Plus" and "Robotech" and doing a little research on this film, I quickly realized how low it really was in the world of anime.

"Macross II: The Movie" (also known as "Macross II: Lovers Again") is a classic example of how a franchise can be milked out for all of its worth. Many problems plagued this movie from the start, including the overall "silliness" of the film and the "bluntness" of the characters' features (face shapes, noses, etc.) that was at the time being replaced by more sharper features in anime. The movie was originally set several years after the last "Macross" series, but because of the lackluster appeal of this movie, it was eventually discarded as an alternate universe.

Although it does put out a decent effort on its part, "Macross II" somehow manages to contain a flaw in every aspect. The plot is quite original, although in the end it's one of the movie's main pitfalls. The characters, while not completely stereotypical, aren't well fleshed out and at times act like cardboard cutouts. This can be attributed to the less-than-bearable English voice acting, which often is flat, emotionless, and even laughable.

I will give the film credit for one thing, however. For the English release of the movie, the invaders use the movie's original Japanese track as their "alien language," quite an original idea I have yet to see elsewhere. Even so, while I haven't seen "Macross II" in Japanese, the Japanese voice acting in the English version often at times sounds as flat as the English voice acting. The animation, while probably good enough for its time, is nothing special. Movements, particularly speaking, appear choppy and oftentimes unnatural.

Even the two major factors that define a "Macross" world - fighting and music - fall short. The fighting in "Macross II", while plentiful, makes the viewer feel he's watching uninspired vintage footage. And the singing, while done rather well, consists mostly of bubblegum pop that isn't anything to talk about.

All in all, "Macross II" made a decent effort yet couldn't live up to the standards of the rest of the "Macross" series. If watched on its own without any previous knowledge of the Macross universe, it might be seen in a better light. But with the name of "Macross" attached to its title, and with everything that defines a "Macross" series/movie falling short in this film, "Macross II: Lovers Again" isn't a good choice for serious anime fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Touching and Beautiful
Review: When I first watched this movie I was caught by surprise that a movie with robots blowing up one another could have such a great romantic storyline-in this case a love triangle. It's appealing for those looking for great action scenes set in space and for those looking for a tear-creating storyline. Even if you have never seen any Robotech or Macross episodes, this movie sets anyone watching it out on a solid foot and doesn't loose them simply because it's all set in the future and they slowly have to explain everything anyways. The music is also very beautiful and it includes some Japanese songs translated into English. As far as the story goes, the main character being a young reporter named Hibiki, finds himself in the center of a war when he rescues a young woman named Ishtar from her ship and takes her back to Earth. Luck being against him of course that her race, the Marduk, are just interested in destroying and conquering Earth and every other planet that exists without compromise. Fortunately, Hibiki soon discovers that the Ishtar he has with him just happens to be an Emulator for the Marduk and in short is very important and indispensable to them. After an almost deadly encounter with Ishtar's previous boyfriend his sights begin to focus more on keeping Earth in one piece rather than making his last love affair jealous. If you like Gundam Wing then you should already have this movie in your collection. Definitely a collector's item, Macross II: The Movie is money well spent.


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