Forum - View topicThe Anime Backlog - Mobile Suit Gundam - The Movie Trilogy
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Nionel
 Posts: 459 Location: Nebraska |
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Anime Limited has region free 4K Blu-rays that are in print and can be found on eBay in the $30-$40 range, but they separated the movies into three separate releases, so it's still a bit pricey.
That aside, while Gundam Wing was my introduction to the franchise, these movies were my introduction to the Universal Century. My brother and I bought the old VHS releases that Bandai released back in 1999 and watched these movies multiple times. They hold up really well and I consider them a must watch for fans of Gundam. |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8519 Location: Penguinopolis |
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Everybody should watch the original TV series at least once, but the movies make a good substitute for rewatches. I like how they streamline the main plot, get rid of some of the sillier bits of the show, like the G-Parts, and introduce the Newtype element sooner, giving the concept room to breathe.
It's too bad they didn't redub the movies for the Blu-Ray release. They didn't even include the old (crappy) one. |
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Beltane70
 Posts: 4056 |
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Welcome to the world of Universal Century Gundam, Lynzee! I hope that you enjoy the sequel series that comes after as well as the myriad of alternate universe Gundam series out there!
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RiderMurdock
Posts: 13 |
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Amazon USA has a link to the Amazon Japan listing for "UC Gundam Blu-ray Libraries Theatrical Feature Mobile Suit Gundam JAPANESE EDITION" -- This contains the movie trilogy with English Subtitles + 1980s Theatrical Audio (There are two versions of the Japanese audio track, 1980s original Mono theatrical and 1990s 5.1 complete redub by original cast). At $62+Free Shipping on Amazon USA / 8800yen+Shipping on Amazon Japan, it's probably the best way to pick up the original Gundam Movie trilogy |
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EmeraldSaucer
 Posts: 160 |
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The movies are really no substitute for the show. Besides getting rid of the best episode of the whole series (Time Be Still), the attempts to introduce Newtypes earlier are clunky, repetitive, and also replace conversations featuring actual character development (such as the dialogue between Bright and Matilda) with dry exposition
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mdo7
 Posts: 7191 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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I got chance to watched the TV series (haven't finished it though), and have watched the first movie myself. I'm going to say this for anyone that was born after 1996/2000's who are planning to watch the first Gundam TV series or the film trilogy:
Yes, Mobile Suit Gundam was pretty much groundbreaking for it's time because of the creation of real robot genre, and probably without it, no Macross franchise, and no other real robot anime series you can think of. The story/plotline itself is still groundbreaking for it's time and still today. But here's the caveat about this series (and the film trilogy): The animation in the anime has not aged well, and there are clunky and inconsistent animation in the 1979 anime. So trying to watch this anime despite the groundbreaking plotline/story for it's time, the animation is going to be an acquired taste depend on how you view older animation. Now I myself grew up watching a lot of older animation (i.e. Looney Tunes, older Disney animation, Hanna Barbera's cartoon from another decade, Tom & Jerry, etc...) so the animation even though it's old, I can handle it but there are people that might not be turned off from the aged animation. So it's up to you if you want to watch either the TV series or the film trilogy, that's your perrogative. But please be aware the animation has not aged well and not stood the test of time compared to modern animation in anime or some beautiful well-animated older animation (ie: any anime films directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri).
Well, you're not wrong that the film trilogy are no substitute to the TV series, and I'll somewhat agree with this. But please remember there are people out there that don't have time to watch 42 episodes, so they may resort to watching the trilogy film to cut and save time and also might not have the mental strength to absorb every little detail like the way you pointed out, so yeah I can understand why some folks may choose the film version over the TV series. Although I would advise for people that are going to watch the first Gundam entry for the first time, start with the TV series first. Last edited by mdo7 on Fri Apr 18, 2025 5:52 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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db999
Posts: 373 |
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Yeah the show, and movies, really do hold up, provided you don’t have an aversion to older looking anime, and while yes I would recommend the series over the compilation movies, I wouldn’t point anyone away from it either. In fact, the movie trilogy is one of the only compilation movies to be a legitimate substitute for a tv series, especially if you don’t have the time to sit through a 43 episode show, or have an issue with how dated the animation looks.
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tintor2
 Posts: 2303 |
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Yeah. I watched the movies thanks to Netflix but before watching the Cucuruz Doan's Island movie I decided to watch the TV series to see what was left behind:
*The TV series was realistic when dealing with robots fighting until the introduction of the Newtype concept in the second half to make Amuro a stronger pilot. The movies made Amuro a Newtype from the get go probably to dive earlier into his strange mental state. In fact, Amuro's relationship with Lalah was always forced due to the whole Newtype interactions when compared to Sayla who was initimate with him in the novels. *Amuro has more obvious love interests in the TV series as Tomino and others once said they had different opinions with who should Amuro end. Still, the movies still kept a narration where Amuro was first charmed by seeing a woman working for the military, kinda giving the story a comingofage story where Amuro faces several parts about growth. *There is a character whose death is not that explored in the movies but it's very important because he is a member of White Base so it's a big loss. *The music. Some songs used in the TV series appealed to Char's character but were removed from the movies. *Amuro's relationship with his parents have some parallels with Evangelion but it feels forced how they are introduced and never seen again. His father was kinda crazy and the mother doesn't like the idea of him killing a single person. I can see why the main animator wanted to expand the story by writing the Origin though I don't have much knowledge of its manga as I only watched the OVAs. |
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Amuro1X
Posts: 225 |
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One of us. One of us.
Always super satisfying to see someone jump in and just GET IT. Speaking of the shipping, there's no doubt in my mind that Challia Bull was (who's only in a single episode of the TV show and NOT the movie versions) was made HOT and Char's explicit partner in combat so that shippers would have a horse in the race, so to speak. |
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Wyvern
 Posts: 1647 |
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Time, Be Still is the kind of episode that actually makes me miss when anime used to have filler episodes. It might not contribute to the plot in any major way but it's such a tense and well-plotted story that gives us insight into our main cast and also humanizes the opposition by fleshing out the Zeon soldiers involved in the plan to take out the Gundam. That said, the movies are still a good way to experience this story, albeit not the best way. I watched through it a few weeks ago, and while the animation certainly feels old, you get used to it remarkably fast. And the writing still holds up even 46 years later. The Gundam crew didn't just create something groundbreaking, they made something timeless. |
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Triltaison
 Posts: 840 |
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Mm, that Garma.
I'm a latecomer overall to Gundam, but I started picking up the physical releases when Nozomi started its DVD release and have been doing a casual Gundamathon over the years where I've been watching the entire franchise in broadcast order. So I guess I became a fan somewhere along the way. I'm up to October of '04 if anyone cares. The movies are fine, but I do really prefer the TV series I think. Some of my fave bits are side character interactions and there's just so much plot to go through that those get left behind. Kinda like how I find it hard to watch the theatrical version of Lord of the Rings instead of the extended cuts since I'd be missing favorite scenes that helped flesh the story out. |
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Covnam
 Posts: 3952 |
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I got the movie trilogy, but held off on the TV series for a good price since it was mostly to have on the shelf rather than a re-watch, but then they were gone. Oh well, that's how it goes some times.
Oh, those are very nice looking sets. I don't think I'll be replacing what I have, but good to know they're out there if I want to fill in what's missing. |
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MagicianMan
Posts: 132 |
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Honestly, every time a pang of human empathy for Zeon soldiers and their fight for independence in the One Year War sparks off the edge of my cold, flinty heart I find it really hard to look past Operation British. They destroyed most of the Side 2 colony group with nuclear weapons for not siding with them, killed the entire civilian population of their capital colony with nerve gas, and used that colony to kill half the population of earth. Billions of innocent people killed, intentionally, in a matter of weeks. Including tens of millions of people living in space, the very people who their rhetoric clamed to be fighting for. That's not even their only act of genocide, just the worst one. The Titans were at least an abnormal radical takeover of the Federation military. Zeon does this shit every time there's a war. Last edited by MagicianMan on Sat Apr 19, 2025 7:07 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Fluwm
 Posts: 1152 |
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Gotta echo the sentiment that "the movies are no substitute for the show," but insofar as compilation movies go, they're some of the best out there. Really makes me scratch my head and wonder what, exactly, went wrong with the Zeta movies -- which almost certainly had a lot more money behind them, and higher studio expectations.
That said, I do think the Origin manga is a good substitute for the anime (mostly) -- shame we'll probably never see it fully adapted. |
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