Product Description

In 2040, on the colonial planet Eden, the Ministry of Defense is developing a transforming super-stealth aircraft, a new advanced defense vehicle to counter alien attacks. An extrovert jet fighter maverick is assigned as the new test pilot on the project but competition heats up when he discovers that his old rival is a test pilot for a competing aircraft. The arrival of a mutal ex-girlfriend adds more tension to their conflict. This dramatic, visuallly superb and critically acclaimed 4 part anime series is now available in one complete box set and specially priced for its 10th Anniversary re-release.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43177 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-06-14
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Animated, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English, Japanese
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 180 minutes

Amazon.com
A recut version of the four-part OAV (1994), the Macross Plus movie plays like a mixture of Top Gun, Gundam Wing, and Key the Metal Idol. It's 2040 on the planet Eden: former high school rivals Isamu Dyson and half-human/half-Zentraedi Guld Goa Bowman have become rival mecha test pilots. They're also still competing for the affection of Myung Lone, the producer for cybernetic singing sensation Sharon Apple. When an illegal "bio-neural" chip is implanted into the computer that generates Sharon, she becomes sentient, attacking Myung and attempting to lure Isamu to his death. Wild and crazy Isamu and serious Guld defeat the plot with their hotshot piloting. The film boasts elaborate computer-animated special effects and exceptionally well choreographed aerial battles, but director Shoji Kawamori correctly summed up Macross Plus as "a serious story with a silly plot." Unrated; suitable for ages 16 and up: Nudity, violence, sexual situations. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

A sub-par DVD for the Movie Edition
I've heard good things about the movie edition for Macross Plus for a while. How it's better then the 4 part OVA. I've never gotten to see it until now, and IMO it isn't better. It feels a little choppy in the pacing department. The new music for the montages wasn't as good as the music they had in the OVA. I don't like that the battle scene with the VF-11B Thunderbolt and the board meeting talking about the YF-19 and YF-21 tests were cut but I like what they did with the rest. The ending is worth (at the very least renting) the Movie Edition of Macross Plus.

My biggest problem is with the picture. The video for the DVD releases for the OVA looks great. But for the movie it looks like a VHS tape. It's not like another company released the movie edition. I know it was put out for the Macross fans but it doesn't mean the video has to look as bad is it does, esp. when the OVA looked so good. I don't think it can be blamed on source material. What is up with the video quality? No one is going to be using this as a demo disc.

My next problem is with the Subtitles. From what I've read there never was an English dub recorded for the Movie Edition and of course to do it for the dvd would cost more money (and I have a feeling it wouldn't be that inspired anyway). I'm fine with it only being in Japanese. What I do hate is burnt in subtitles. Why oh why? It looks tacky and makes the video quality look a little worst. Again, they were going for the VHS look I guess. The audio does sound good though.

The extras are a laugh. The character bio's would have been better if a fan of the the series wrote them, the photo gallery isn't that great and the rest of the extras are just commericals for Manga. But I guess that's what is to be expected as they are pretty much the same (if not the same, but I don't feel like checking) extras for the OVA dvds. Still, Macross is pretty big and it would have been nice to see at least an interview with the director.

Overall I can't recommend this disc. There is no excuse for the bad video and the burnt in subtitles. They must have ported the movie from a VHS tape and re-mixed the sound. If you like Macross I'd recommend picking up the OVA. If you are a Macross region 1 dvd completist then you'll pick this up no matter what, just like me.

Great OVA, but Manga Video has to step it up
The best Macross since the original. Kawamori can do no wrong(*cough*Arjuna*hack*). This is probably the best non-epic story he's ever told. And the animation is some of the best, if not the best, I've seen outside of a feature film(even after 11 years). What I can't understand is why Manga Video has not added anything to the DVD for this great anime, yet this is the "10th Anniversary Edition". The original Ghost in the Shell release by Manga Video had few extras and no 5.1 surround track in Japanese. Their new GitS 10th aniversary release had many more extras and a great new 5.1 surround track in japanese. Why hasn't Macross Plus seen this kind of treatment? Apparently they just threw both volumes of the OVA into a box, cut a few bucks off the original price and called it a special anniverary edition. I already own the original DVD releases of this show and would have eagerly forked over another $40 to get them in full japanese language surround. C'Mon Manga Video, you've had 10 years to improve the DVD's for this show. What's the deal?

Well Worth It...
Macross Plus is the first Macross project that came from it's original creators after the Macross movie back in 1984. It is a side story to the Macross universe which pits two former friends as test pilots against each other in a heated variable fighter competition where the winning design becomes the next UN Spacy transforming fighter.

Thus is the backdrop for the ensuing Macross story which delves deeper than just two pilots trying to out-perform each other both in the air, and on the ground trying to obtain the affections of their former friend, Myung, who is now the producer for a virtual music idol. Macross Plus has often been compared to "Top Gun" as it does in fact share some similarities, namely the hot shot pilots.

Most people have seen the Macross Plus OVA. The movie edition simply edits out parts from it and has a slightly different ending along with scenes that did not appear in the 4 part OVA. Thus, many will ask, why get this when I have already seen the OVA?

The reason is that the movie edition has a different feeling than the OVA. Particularly the ending, which felt a little rushed in the original 4 part series. You still have the great music by Yoko Kanno and great mecha design by Kawamori (The YF-19 and YF-21 competing almost echoes the real life F-22/F-23 fighter trials). The trademark Macross love triangle is here, and music indeed plays a major role in the storyline.

If you enjoyed the Macross Plus story as much as I have, getting this disc will make you a happy fan indeed.