Macross II The Movie (1995)

Despite its title, Macross II: The Movie is not a feature but the six-part 1992 OAV without the title sequences. One of several sequels to Superdimensional Fortress Macross (known in the U.S. as a component series of Robotech), Macross II is set 80 years after the initial adventure. For decades, alien invaders have been kept from Earth by holograms of teen-age singers performing pop songs. Then the Marduk, who controls their Zentraedi warriors with the songs of "emulators," appear. The nature of the Marduk threat is discovered by brash journalist Hibiki Kanzaki and ace mecha pilot Silvie Gena, who form an odd romantic triangle with the emulator Ishtar. Fans of the Macross continuity tend to love or hate Macross II with little middle ground. Unrated; suitable for ages 12 and older; contains violence, minor profanity. --Charles Solomon Amazon.com

a wonderful story of the search for peace at the end of war

I found this movie to be full of action and true life experiences. A truly great story. July 21, 2008

A spin-off that's better than the original (in some respects)

I purchased this originally on VHS when Manga released it on 4 VHS tapes 1995-1996. This DVD provides nothing new. There is no commentary or behind-the-scenes featurette. The old 'next episode' previews and previews of 'coming soon' releases (from 1996 - many of the previewed titles have been out for a decade) are the special features. These can be found on the old VHS tapes too.

The real advantages to buying this DVD collection are the lower cost and that you get both the sub and the dub.

The lack of special features is more than made up for by the 4-part OVA. This is a side story. The original Macross was the story of how humanity survived an encounter with highly advanced giant soldiers. This story is set decades after Macross. It's about a design competition between two companies to build the next Valkyrie (a jet that transforms into a giant robot). The two opposing test pilots have a shared past - and an intense rivalry.


The mecha fight scenes are very fast, highly detailed, and even somewhat realistic (for a sci-fi show about transforming airplanes made with alien technology that borders on high fantasy). The characters have quite a bit of depth. They aren't relatively innocent kids taking the final step into adulthood, as in the Macross TV series. These characters are definitely adults with quite a bit of emotional baggage.

The tension is quite high - I still remember the very sharp cliff-hangers at then end of each part. In the VHS days, you had to wait 4 or 5 months for the next volume to be released. grrr

The music is excellent. These aren't songs and instrumental tracks you listen to without the movie. The music really supports the movie. It supports, and sometimes creates the emotional tone for the scene. There are also very unique - and odd sound choices.


The cover bills it as 'the top-gun of anime'. As cheesy as it sounds, they're right. I'd even recommend this to people who don't normally watch anime. July 14, 2008

Awesome, but only as a supplement to the OVA.

Macross Plus is Robotech at it's best: cool mechs, love triangles, ultimate sacrifice, and fantastic music.

This version, however, cuts much of the OVA's great story and as a result it's not as good.....BUT-- the movie edition also has new footage and new story archs, most of which are very enjoyable. The movie edition is worth it if for nothing more then the final battle (longer and better then the OVA).

Bottom line: until they make a new version with all the movie edition changes and additions plus the longer story of the OVA (obviously some story elements wouldn't work perfectly), the fan has no choice but to own them both. May 5, 2008

Worst DVD transfer ever!

What were Manga thinking releasing this? Hands down this is the grainiest, spottiest, mind-shatteringly terrible transfer I have ever seen. Read the review over at AnimeOnDVD to see what I'm talking about, wish I had read that first before purchasing. As for the movie? Going by some of the reviews here I expected this to be a classic anime the likes of Ghost In The Shell et al. Talk about Robotech/Macross fans seeing things through rose colored glasses. This film is all over the place, granted it was culled from a four part OVA, but even so, it truly is bad. I love mecha anime as much as the next guy, but there is little to recommend here. Go ahead and purchase based on the glowing reviews, but don't say you weren't warned. April 21, 2008

A supposed sequel to the original Macross series

This DVD is the North American release of the six-volume OVA release; this film edits the six episodes into a compilation movie. Since the creators of the original Macross series had no involvement with this project, this sequel series is usually considered an "alternate timeline" story. By the time I finished watching this film, I had a hard time believing it was an actual sequel to Macross. Even though the story is set 80 years into the future, there was very little that I saw or heard in the movie that tied this back to the original Macross series.

This DVD is also rather skimpy when it comes to special features. It felt like more of this area was devoted to trailers and advertisements for Manga Entertainment (the company that released this DVD) than on providing actual special features for the movie.

If you're a Macross fan that wants everything Macross-related, then this DVD would be for you. However, if you're a Macross fan that's not interested in seeing an "alternate timeline" story for the franchise, then you're probably better off not watching this DVD. March 26, 2008

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