In 1979, the first MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM animated show premiered in Japan. Over the course of 20 years, several different versions of the series have shown up garnering the franchise millions of fans. Thanks to the efforts of Bandai and the Cartoon Network, MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM is now a common word in U.S. households. For the Twentieth Anniversary of the franchise, the Japanese production house Sunrise announced the first live-action MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM movie. They partnered with Canadian production company Polestar Entertainment to bring their first live action picture to fruition. That’s right, a purely Japanese influenced product brought to life by English speaking countries. Perhaps that explained why the movie (dubbed G-SAVIOUR) bombed when it was finally released in Japan. Folks around the globe who grew up with the MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM franchise were quite ecstatic when the project was announced, but the producers failed to properly promote and distribute it. In North America, even less was heard or mentioned about the movie. The Cartoon Network or the Sci-Fi Channel never aired it. Finally, Pioneer released it on DVD in 2002 with little fanfare. I had never seen or heard about this movie going into it, and assumed G-SAVIOUR was a terrible, low-budget Hollywood knock-off intended for cable TV. The real surprise turned out that the movie was much better than expected!

G-SAVIOUR takes place in Universal Century 0223, after the ever-controlling Earth Federation has been broken up and replaced by the Congress of Settlement Nations (CONSENT). In spite of the changes, the conflict remains much the same: Earth still wants political and economic control over its space-borne satellite settlements. Ex-CONSENT military pilot Mark Curran (Elliott) is unexpectedly caught up in the conflict when rebels from Side 8 (a space settlement called Gaea) invade the undersea research center where he works. Mark is present when one of the unarmed rebels is gunned down by a team operating under his evil ex-commander, Jack Halle (Lovgren), and he intervenes to keep another rebel (Okuma) from being killed as well. Later, he interrogates her in prison, and learns that her name is Cynthia Graves, and she's a Gaean scientist whose top-secret collaborative project has been threatened by CONSENT's interference. From there, Mark is pulled into a conspiracy that involves repeatedly bucking the will of CONSENT, fighting his predictably mercenary girlfriend, Mimi (Conti), and throwing his weight around among the Gaeans. And along the line, he also has to face his traumatic past, in the form of a career-crippling conflict with Jack, whose callousness in a critical situation made Mark unwilling to go back into space combat. Not that he'll have much choice, once things start getting dangerous and CONSENT launches it’s attack.

I can see why anime fans detest this movie. Never mind that hard-core anime fans consider any live action property inferior; it didn’t help that the filmmakers left out the characters and history of the previous MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM shows. The whole movie was given a distinct American flair, which didn’t sit to well with the Japanese audience or the purists. That’s not to say G-SAVIOUR is a complete waste. G-SAVIOUR actually has a lot in common with FARSCAPE, STARSHIP TROOPERS CHRONICLES, SEAQUEST DSV, and other modern Sci-Fi shows currently making the rounds on the Sci-Fi Channel. Director Graeme Cambell keep the camera focused on the actors and with less emphasis on the CGI effects. Yes, this technique saves them money, but the visual effects remain secondary, while being completely convincing. Sure the story is cliché-ridden, but so is it’s anime counterpart. I was expecting the acting to be of the worst caliber, but it’s actually better than normal for this type of film. The protagonist, Casper Van Dien look-alike Brennan Elliot is sincere in his larger than life role (G-SAVIOUR borrows liberally from STARSHIP TROOPERS, yet we don’t have to sit through another Denise Richards performance!). Elliot and fellow cast members Enuka Okuma, David Lovegren, Catherina Conti, and Kenneth Walsh (of TWIN PEAKS) keep things interesting between the action scenes and space battles. Many of the actors make up for the lack of depth, such as the evil character of Jack whose motivation is never explored. With a bigger budget and better science fiction scriptwriter and director, this movie could have been truly special and that’s probably what MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM fans were hoping for. To Sunrise Productions: Its never too late to correct a mistake.

G-SAVIOUR was originally intended as a TV movie, and thus was filmed with 1.33.1 in mind. Pioneer’s DVD transfer capably preserves the eye-candy. Sunrise apparently spent a lot of money on this feature, as the sets are as good as anything on SEAQUEST DSV or BABYLON 5. The overall glossy look to the show allows the viewer to appreciate the fine details of the production design. The digital special effects look even better, especially the scenes that take place in space. One such moment involves our heroes evading their enemies by traveling through a storm of space debris. Excellent color and delineation, and the blacks are at absolute zero. Skin tones are fully realized. The Earth fauna of planet Gaea are appropriately green. G-SAVIOUR looks like a million dollars thanks to Pioneer’s stellar transfer. The soundtrack is Dolby Digital 5.1 and is sadly the big letdown of the disc. G-SAVIOUR is essentially a science fiction war story with plenty of opportunities to test your home theater system. Pioneer’s soundtrack misses every opportunity. For instance, during a huge space ship launch sequence, there is barely a trickle of base or surround activity from the sound field. While the electronic score is prominent in the mix, the dialog is way too high, and often drowns out the other sound elements. There is a Japanese dubbed version, but no English subtitles. From the Special Features menu, you can access character and mecha designs from the Art Gallery. There are also trailers for these other Bandai GUNDAM properties currently available on DVD:

• MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM (FF, DD 2.0, 1:08)
• GUNDAM WING ENDLESS WALTZ (FF, DD 2.0, 1:44)
• GUNDAM: THE 08^TH MS TEAM (FF, DD 2.0, :55)
• GUNDAM 0083 (FF, DD 2.0, 1:02)

G-SAVIOUR is certainly not what the anime purists were expecting, and I can see why they rejected it. While I agree as a MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM movie, it should be done in Japan with local talent for best results. However, at the very least, G-SAVIOUR offers some stunning special effects sequences that warrant a viewing for science fiction fans. If you enjoyed FINAL FANTASY, STARSHIP TROOPERS, and FARSCAPE, you should definitely rent it. Even though Pioneer included Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, don’t be expecting a fully immersive sound field. And what is what these weak extras? Only 7 pictures in the Art Gallery is pathetic. Why even bother?

G- SAVIOUR is available from DVDEmpire.com

                                                 Rating (out of 5):