Uchuu Senshi Baldios (Movie)

Plot/Story: 8/10
The plot of this film takes viewers on an exciting journey from start to finish. Without giving away spoilers, I can confidently say that it is well-written for its time of production.

Animation/Design: 7/10
While it's evident that this film wasn't made in 2020, the animation is still impressive considering its era. The mecha sequences are particularly stunning, and after the first 30 minutes, viewers can easily adapt to the film's style. Don't let the older animation discourage you from watching.

Characters: 7/10
The characters in this film follow the familiar tropes of a sci-fi adventure but with a few intriguing twists. The protagonist stands out and effectively ... keeps the audience engaged. The pacing is consistent throughout.

Audio/Soundtrack: 8.5/10
The soundtrack is the film's highlight. It enhances the scenes and effectively conveys the drama and impact of the characters' actions. It is a remarkable artistic achievement.

Honorable Mentions:

Great Mecha sequences
Well-illustrated fight scenes
Review Conclusion:
I highly recommend watching this movie, especially for fans of mecha and anime. It offers a classic interstellar adventure that will not disappoint.

FUN FACT:
The film is a compressed version of what was originally intended to be a 39-episode series. Only 34 episodes were finished, with 31 airing on TV. Some events from the remaining 5 episodes were incorporated into the film.

Baldios the movie is a good opportunity to experience a long gone era of anime in a convenient way. It hooks you in by collecting all the storytelling tools known at that time in the genre and tying them into a picture that is simply beautiful in its sadness and tragedy.

It is worth seeing. In a nutshell - for the sake of mood and, excuse me for being so trivial, strong drama. Due to the extraordinary atmosphere of inevitability and sadness interwoven with the message of attention to our planet. The war and the tragic love story of people who, by the will of ... fate, find themselves on opposite sides of the barricades. The main character, fighting on the side of the Earth against the invaders from his abandoned home planet and the female commander of these troops, who are looking for a new home after the severe pollution of their old one.

The internal conflict of the female antagonist makes the romantic subplot special in its own way. She is torn between her feminine, secretly romantic personality that wishes to be loved, and between the role of a ruthless executioner. The film can be praised for a well-planned risk of trying to make you sympathize with someone as heartless as her. Especially taking into account the musical insert in the middle, very sincere and sensual.

An emotional burden would be the perfect description of the film. But we need such burdens in media sometimes. The film does not try to force you pitying someone with cheap shots, but gazes at you with a sorrowful look, so to speak. There's no direct bashing of humanity akin to what Matsumoto does, only an observation of the inevitable from the outside. Political strife, war and disaster. People dying, dying en masse and in vain. It feels sorry for them, just like a normal human being would, but there is nothing left but to stand by the shore and look at the sea.

It's not perfect, and could've been shorter and a bit brighter in terms of action scenes with the robot (his name is in the title after all). Regardless of imperfection it simply deserves a chance. Maybe you'll get engrossed in its charming atmosphere of sorrow just like I was.

First let me start off by saying that I am judging this anime the same way I would any modern anime. I feel it is important to hold an anime up to the standards of the time. It is possible for movie’s to hold up over time, just look at Wizard of Oz. Anyway, on with the review!

Synopsis:
President Gattler orders the Emperor’s death, along with all the scientists working on a way to revitalize the planet they are currently living on. Instead Gattler is going to take 100 million people to another planet to live, even though the scientists are on ... the brink of finding a way to save the planet. The protagonist, Marin Reagan, finds his father has been killed, who manages to get up seconds later, shoving his son into an escape hatch big enough to hold 100 people. But of course he decides to stay behind, because he is an idiot. They somehow find earth about 2 minutes into their search of a new planet (I say 2 minutes because all the same people are in charge and no one has aged a day). So Earth and the new people are fighting, recruit Marin who somehow got to earth as well, this is cleverly shown by having the shop he is on spin. (Ah, the old “Spin Technique”, how you have managed to start to many plots by spinning around and around.) Anyway, after crying like a bitch when he sees the blue sky, he teams up with Bimbo Slut, Black Dude*, and White Afro. Together they form Team Ridiculous. They also meet David later who seems to have a strong infatuation for Marin. You can feel the sexual tension is strong with them, but damn Bimbo Slut manages to ruin everything by always showing up at the perfect time so nothing happens. We also get to see Aphrowhore (the sister of the dude that “killed” Marin’s father) have some moment with the President. She goes to bed after showing her loyalty to the man, and we learn that her parents died and the President took her in as a child, and Marin appears in her dream. (Dum Dum Dummm! The plot thickens!) After an intense car, space, airplane, dog fight, thing, Marin is confronted by a man sent by the President himself! He tries to persuade him to join the dark side, and after some yelling and screaming he does what Luke should have done. Said “Meh, why not?” and goes along. This is when the story gets good! Elevator music begins to play as we go to meet the President. They meet eyes, gazing into each others souls. Each admires the others beauty, yearning for the other, knowing it could never be. Aphrowhore interrupts the two, slapping Marin, already knowing that the writer is going to force her to have sex with him later. So then some important people, but no one that we care about appear on the screen. I pressed to hit fast-forward, and get up to get myself a drink, hoping by the time I come back the movie is over. After effectively shaving off 10 minutes of the movie I find our hero running from pink laser beams. I can only assume he was found sleeping with the President’s Aid, causing him to be infuriated and forcing Marin to run, and in the process kill as many guards as he can. I turned out to be wrong, as he goes to the President’s office to settle things. Aphrowhore throws herself into the President’s pants, but before she gets there to fulfill a lifetime of wishes, Marin grabs her, whisking her off to safety (I don’t know either alright, just go with it). They crash (good job moron) and some more people do some things that are probably important to something in the story but I just stopped caring at this point. Some explosions go off, ice caps begin to melt, polar bears die (no I am serious about this part, its in the movie), rocks explode into unsuspecting people, cities flood, omg the pyramids just got swept away by a tsunami. Maybe this movie ain’t so bad after all. Bimbo Slut gets a call from her dad, who doesn’t really say anything important, then dies, she cries, and the cake is a lie. Sorry, back to the story. More tsunamis. And somehow the tsunami busts through the metal walls that looked like they were made to withstand explosions. Marin and Aphrowhore are back. No idea how they got into the metal building or ship they are in. I saw them crash-land. Some music video begins to play, I fastforward. Looks like Marin is the man of her dreams! Literally. And it seems anytime she remembers Marin being a kind lover, flowers appear and the President gets pissed, killing babies in the process. She wakes up, decides to kill Marin. Well, she actually didn’t, but I like to think she did. So she kills Marin. Goes back to the President, kills him. “Why!” the president asks. “Because you killed my father!”. With his dying breath “No, Aphrowhore. I am your father!” The End.

Art:
It’s pretty terrible in today’s terms. For 1980, I am guessing pretty damn good. But don’t expect anything different than what you have seen in TV shows of anime for this time period.

Sound:
I am pretty sure the sound is Mono, and all the ships that fly sound like someone has a full time job in the engine saying “Tshew!” when they fly past. Even the music they use is inappropriate for situations. Sometimes its not so bad, but other times you just can’t help but wonder if whoever setup the score was watching something else at the time.

Character:
Now the characters in this anime aren’t that bad. This is actually the most redeeming quality of the entire anime. I only found the Bimbo Slut to be the only annoying one. Many of the characters we have all seen before and are nothing new, but that turns out to be a good thing in my opinion.

Enjoyment:
Okay, this is where it gets confusing. Although I completely hated the plot for a good hour and a half, it did seem to get better near the end. The story was not completely unoriginal (even though I am sure it was new for the time), and it still held my attention for a good majority (given I was writing that synopsis while I watched it to help me). I still managed to enjoy a lot about what I saw.

Overall:
Not for everyone. If you grew up on 80’s anime, and love to watch the original idea of over used concepts now days, then I am sure you will love this anime. If you are younger and really only focus on the new stuff, but enjoyed Akira, thinking if maybe this one could be good, it is not. It probably isn’t even fair to lump Akira into the same category as this movie. If you are looking for a decent Mecha anime, from the 1980’s, that is no longer original, than this would be a good choice, but at the same time I doubt someone like that is out there.

One last thing, to be fair. My synopsis is not an accurate representation of what this movie is about. I only wrote it to help me get through it.

*He isn’t actually Black, I just like to think of him as that.