Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

robotbling (www.plasticpals.com) Back when the original animation series Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still was new on VHS, I rented each episode in succession and was enjoying them up until episode 6 ended on one hell of a cliffhanger. Unfortunately for me and many other fans, the 7th and final episode in the series wasn't out — and wouldn't be out for almost three years! In the meantime I lost track of things amidst the likes of Neon Genesis Evangelion and school.I've just spent the last week watching the whole series, more than a decade after its completion, and I'm pleased to say Yasuhiro Imagawa's mid-'90s re-imagining of Mitsuteru Yokoyama's '60s manga series hasn't aged a day. The animation quality is top notch, and the accompanying orchestral score is still one of the best to grace an anime, with even each credit roll getting its own unique composition.The story is set in the near future with the third energy revolution only 10 years old. Petroleum and nuclear power have been replaced by the seemingly perfect Shizuma Drive; a non-polluting energy canister-type device that now powers virtually everything on the planet. Mixed with the high tech are turn of the century design motifs like air ships, and characters which seem to have time-travelled from a fantasy medieval China, inspired by Yokoyama's Romance of the Three Kingdoms manga. This concoction is a bit bizarre but works, and though the late episodes throw new characters into the mix at an insane pace, the early episodes manage to sketch in the key players well enough that you'll care about them.The only catch with the Shizuma Drive is the Tragedy of Bashtarle: a catastrophic explosion that wiped out nearly a third of the world's population during a botched experiment with the drive's prototype. The accident was blamed on Professor Vogler, one of the scientists who worked with Dr. Shizuma on the drive. The series starts as the late Professor's spirit reappears to take vengeance on the world, backed by the terrorist organization bent on world domination; Big Fire. The only thing standing in their way is Interpol's Experts of Justice; super-human special agents that take on Big Fire's Magnificent Ten in wild kung-fu-inspired fight scenes. Among the Experts of Justice is Daisaku Kusama, heir to his father's masterpiece, Giant Robo.Despite its title and genre, there are surprisingly few fights involving Giant Robo, let alone giant robots. The main characters do most of the fighting in hand-to-hand combat that would make the X-Men blush. There's enough Giant Robo to satisfy fans, but the story doesn't really revolve around him, or the ones that appear in brief cameos in the introduction. Giant Robo is an excellent example of direct-to-video productions, and despite the somewhat rushed and dissatisfying ending, the road there is worth taking. Some characters and seemingly important elements get tossed aside in the finale without a second thought, such as Big Fire's robot Poseidon. This is probably due to director Yasuhiro Imagawa's plan for a saga comprised of many such episodes, with this particular series taking place near the end. It's a damn shame the eluded-to series that would have preceded and continued the adventures of Daisaku and his giant robot never materialized.

evilasahobby Giant Robo should have really sucked. It had a retro-futuristic style (think Astro-Boy), it has some really cliched characters and the story doesn't start out in any exceptional way. Except... as the story progresses, these things start to change. Characters lose their one dimensionality and start to have human motivations. Plot twists drive shake everything the narrative has led you to believe. There are times when it appears the story just can't get any bigger, but it does! What makes this series great is giant cast of characters (each with unique abilities, some of which are very original), the twisting of convential anime plot lines and that it doesn't rely purely on shock value or huge explosions to keep you interested. Having seen a lot of the MD Geist-style anime (read: very very bad anime in regards to plot or characterisation), it is great to see a series that doesn't insult my intelligence.There are some negatives to this series - the whiny boy who controls Giant Robo, the voice acting for some of the characters (I saw a dubbed version), there are some really cheesy moments and some anime conventions are still followed religiously (eg the girl (Ginrei sp?) is mostly useless... except when she isn't). A big let-down is the additional episode on the final tape - because there are 7 one-hour episodes, a filler episode called "Barefoot Ginrei" was after the final episode. It doesn't really add anything to the story, and the fact that Ginrei's feet aren't the only things that are bare may have been the reason it was included.Despite this, Giant Robo deserves any accolades it gets. Go out and see it.

madman_miles WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS The Short Version-Giant Robo is one of the Greatest Anime Works ever.The Long Version-Giant Robo is a 90's Anime with a 70's Heart. Everything apart from the Story is Retro in some way, the Shizuma Drize-the Ultimate Enegy Source could be from the old Pulp Sci-Fi Magazines of the 40's. The Characters themselves are the set in the Good/Evil Archtypes of Star Wars and Japanese Shows such as 'Gigantor' (who also created the original Giant Robo Comic back in the 70's, which is more Gigantor.) Archtypes such as Young Boy with Special Responsibilities, Father Figure, Genius Scientist, Big Tough Guy who has little respect for the Young Boy etc, we've seen them all before.The Titlelar Robot-Giant Robo is a good example of Retro Designs, unlike the Giant Streamlined, sleek Piloted Robots of Go Nagi's oeuvre, with their Rocket Punches, and the gritty realism and more scientificly probable Robots from the 'Gundam' Series. GR looks like it was built in a factory with it's rivited together steel and muscular power, even better is that the Young Boy Daisaku controls Robo with his watch (again shades of Gigantor!)But with all these elements making GIANT ROBO seem like a cut 'n' paste effort, let me tell you-IT ISN'T! The Animation is mind blowing and an obviously hard working creative team, (The Final Episode no 7 took several years to complete and it shows.) The Story improves with each episode and makes us care for the Charecters, we like/hate them, feel sad when the Heroes die (which happens several times)all this makes for a defining animation point of the 90's. A True ClassicLOOK JUST WATCH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Desslok Witness now the dawning of our tomorrow. Shining brighter than the daybreak of light is the brilliance of the Shizuma Drive. Our only reliable future of energy, which includes dependability in every home and the Earth's only answer to the waste of atomic and oil energy.But beware, for our shining future has also cast a dark shadow of revenge - BIG FIRE, an underworld organization, who's only goal is absolute world domination!Do not panic, for we are protected by the international police organization formed by the Experts of Justice, keeping our world safe from the evils of Big Fire. Amongst their ranks is the bravery of one boy who commands the mightiest robot of all - a young boy called Daisaku Kusama. ..The set up and intro may sound cheesy, but it's far from it. I am shocked - nay, stunned that it took me this long to get around to watching this series. Everyone should immediately drop whatever they are doing at this moment and watch Giant Robo. It's that cool.The more observant of the crowd might notice that GR looks a LOT like a series called Johnny Socko and his Flying Robot. Or one might dismiss it out of hand as just another "Giant Mecha fighting" series. Giant Robo is neither. It is very loosely based on that Johhny Socko - but very, very loosely, and it is SO much more than just Big Robots beating the hell out of each other.The plot revolves around the last sample of the prototype Shizuma drive, Big Fire's efforts to obtain the sample, and the Experts of Justice's attempts to keep it out of their hands. Along the way, villains turn out to be not quite what they appear to be, good guys die, the golden egg that is the Shizuma drive isnt quite the blessing that everyone expected - basically the plot undergoes so many twists and turns, that the view ends up is nowhere near where they started. It's like Babylon 5, but animated - and better.The animation is a cool retro look, like the animated Batman series. The music is a grand symphonic score, worthy of John Williams, the story - I cant get enough of it. It's a bit confusing when characters get introduced in waves - you cant tell 'em apart sometimes without a score card. But stick it out - this series is WELL worth the trouble.It's a nearly all ages film - no sex or nudity, plenty of violence - but it's all cartoon-ish, and way over the top (like a Jackie Chan movie). Some swearing, but not excessively so.