Big Wars Anime Movie Review

Big Wars
Central Park Media
Movie - 70 min. - 1 disc
$9.95 (2003)
$29.99 (1998)
ISBN 014381441024
Japanese/English Audio - English Subtitles
Director - Issei Kume/Toshifumi Takizawa
Studio - Magic Bus

Synopsis: In the early 25th century the human race is losing a war with an alien race called 'The Gods'.  These beings seek to halt human expansion and the primary battleground is the previously terraformed planet Mars.  Humanity had colonized the Red Planet several hundred years earlier, but the Gods superior technology and mental subversion tactics were slowly winning the war.

The Gods fighter craft battle a land ship

Massive anti-gravity land ships carrying squadrons of fighters are the primary offensive and defensive tools of the human military.  These giant ships roam the deserts of Mars fighting the Gods when they can find them.  The Gods possess an invincible stealth ship dubbed 'Hell' which travels under cover of an artificial sandstorm.  Nothing man-made can stop Hell and the military needs a counter-weapon to turn the tide of the war.

Captain Akuh arrives and runs into his girlfriend

The most insidious weapon of the Gods is their ability to psychologically subvert humans.  Subverted humans align themselves with the Gods and display a cult-like mentality.  One of the first symptoms of subversion is an enhanced libido or nymphomania.  Rampant terrorism has become a major concern.

It is revealed the Gods are humanoid

Captain Akuh returns to military duty after several months spent recovering from a devastating battle where his ship the Aoba was destroyed.  He is assigned to command a powerful new ship which is nearing completion of its construction.  This new ship is faster and tougher than any which has come before it. Akuh arrives in the city where the ship is being covertly built and reunites with his former girlfriend.  She is an intelligence officer who interrogated one of the Gods who was captured.

Akuh and his crew get a tour of the new Aoba with its designer

The ship's doctor has developed a detection device for subverted humans utilizing hypnosis.   As the new ship is almost complete, Akuh faces a dilemma - his girlfriend is really horny!  Will he be able to deal with her while trying to save humanity by discovering a weakness in Hell?  It's a battle to the finish on Mars!

Akuh's girlfriend reveals her alignment with the Gods

Pros: The Gods' fighter craft sound just like land-speeders from Star Wars, some interesting mechanical designs - particularly the land ships and power suits, some nudity and sexual situations, Captain Akuh's girlfriend is a nymphomaniac

The Aoba's doctor uses a hypno-ray to test for subversion

Cons: Animation is inconsistent with some sloppy/lazy shots (i.e. using camera panning instead of actual movement for characters), weak attempt to link biblical events with the Gods by showing a bunch of angels, plot resolution at the end was pretty weak

Captain Akuh starts having crazy visions

Mike Tells It Straight: I was expecting Big Wars to have more action based on the title, but it had a lot of science fiction setup and not much payoff.  The nymphomania by Captain Akuh's girlfriend was a thinly veiled attempt to gain attention by including nudity and a few sex scenes.  These were probably the best parts of the movie.  Not to say the premise wasn't good - aliens watching over humanity and attempting to halt us when we got too advanced is a neat idea.  I thought parts of the story and animation were actually pretty good.

Akuh and his crew prepare to infiltrate Hell!

The animation was inconsistent and the ending didn't finish the story adequately.  It seemed like there could have been more story to tell after the finale, but we'll never see it.  The Gods concept was interesting and could have been fleshed out much further.  Overall Big Wars was a decent movie, but neither compelling nor memorable.

TO BUY and Recommendations: