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Venus Senki (1989) Online

Venus Senki (1989) Online
Original Title :
Venus Senki
Genre :
Movie / Animation / Action / Drama / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Year :
1989
Directror :
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Cast :
Katsuhide Uekusa,Ben Fairman,Yûko Mizutani
Writer :
Yuichi Sasamoto,Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Type :
Movie
Time :
1h 42min
Rating :
6.7/10
Venus Senki (1989) Online

The new frontier of Venus has degenerated into a dystopia ravaged by the civil war between Ishtar and Aphrodia. Bubbly reporter Susan Sommers arrives in the capitol of Aphrodia just before it's captured by Ishtar. She falls in with a bunch of teen-agers who live for a sort of motorcycle version of Roller Derby. Daredevil rider Hiro and his friends reluctantly join the struggle to free Aphrodia from the invaders. Not surprisingly, Hiro proves an ace at piloting the mono-cycles that are the Aphrodians' secret weapon in the key battle.
Cast overview, first billed only:
Katsuhide Uekusa Katsuhide Uekusa - Hiro (voice)
Ben Fairman Ben Fairman - Hiro (voice)
Yûko Mizutani Yûko Mizutani - Maggie (voice)
Anna Alba Anna Alba - Maggie (voice)
Eriko Hara Eriko Hara - Sue (voice)
Denica Fairman Denica Fairman - Sue (voice)
Yûko Sasaki Yûko Sasaki - Miranda (voice)
Jocelyn Cunningham Jocelyn Cunningham - Miranda (voice)
Gorô Naya Gorô Naya - Gary (voice)
Bob Sessions Bob Sessions - Gary (voice)
Hôchû Ôtsuka Hôchû Ôtsuka - Will (voice)
Bradley Cole Bradley Cole - Will (voice)
Masami Kikuchi Masami Kikuchi - Rob (voice)
Michael Morris Michael Morris - Rob (voice)
Shûichi Ikeda Shûichi Ikeda - Kurtz (voice)

The cigarettes that Sue gives the bartender are Camel Cigarettes.

Popular boy-band member Katsuhide Uekusa (of the trio Shonentai) played the lead role of Hiro. Although, like most members of the boy band talent agency Johnny's Jimusho, Uekusa often acts in film and TV, this is his only known voice acting role.

Yoshikazu Yasuhiko who was the creator of the original manga, also did the character designs for the movie.


User reviews

Kahavor

Kahavor

I only bought this video to hear the voice of Bradley Cole who does Will, but to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. They are the most interesting little animated characters I've ever seen. It was easy to forget that they were animated at all. Sci-fi is not on my priority list but I've already watched this video 4 times.
elegant stranger

elegant stranger

I saw this movie when it first came out. All i can say is that this movie is what movies are all about, catching your eye, the characters interaction with the environment around them. Suspense, action, Romance, horror, its all here. A story which shows us the trials of finding yourself, and what you have to do when it is time, will you sit there when problems arise or will you fight!? These are the kinds of questions Hiro the main character in this story is asked multiple times throughout the film. Bascically, everything is flawless in this delightful fast paced brilliant movie, Everything from the Characters, colors, trials, scenery to the Music score.

I don't know what the other people are talking about with how it sums up next to Akira, as it is a totally different movie with different choices and situations taking place. Sure it came out around the same time lots of other Anime's came out on sci-fi channel back in the day. Hard to say it is the same kind of film as i don't see any indication of similarity in it. It was a very popular movie for its time as well, not in the US but in Japan, Following many comics re-written to English by dark horse comics and soon following the Venus wars strategy game on the Regular Nintendo system. The fans of this series (movie and comic) could not get enough as I'm sure you will feel the same after seeing this Masterpiece. I still find it to be the greatest 80's anime of all time perfection.
Kalrajas

Kalrajas

One of my personal favorites... can't beat the classics, eh? This film is hard to come by these days but it is a definite "gotta-see-it." Apparently an icy comet hit Venus around about now and made the planet habitable. The planet contains a population of relatively disillusioned human beings who, when not complaining or uni-bike racing, raise armies to try and control the planet. Bleak, eh? Our heroes are a bunch of hot-shot biker punks who team up with some rebels to fight the evil warlords... Good stuff. The animation is fluid and lovingly rendered... the sort of quality that made "Akira" so popular. Occasionally, live-action shots of what I assume are Arizona are incorporated into the backgrounds to give the whole film a "real feel." Do not miss this film. Get it get it get it. There's next to nil in the way of flesh, but that's not important. Great plot, great action, great characters... not to mention some hilarious lines here and there for fun. This film makes a powerful statement about human nature.
Ieslyaenn

Ieslyaenn

I first saw this back on the Sci-Fi Channel when they used to show Anime on Saturday morning at 9 pm. I may have been 15, and it was my first exposure to anime, and I watched every single week. One week they showed Venus Wars, and I loved it when I first saw it. Something about it really stuck with me, atmosphere, story... I never forgot about it. Then recently I had an opportunity to order a copy and I did. I popped it into the DVD player, hoping that it would be as good as I had imagined it... it was. This movie just plain rocks. Every character is textured and believable, and the animation, while not being mind-blowing, is just perfect... it relays the grim reality of war time on Venus perfectly and the atmosphere it generates is what I remembered the most about it.

If you like anime that has an awesome story, good animation, I would suggest tracking this down.
salivan

salivan

It's 2089 and Venus is a thriving Earth colony, but it strives for independance and wars with Earth breaks out. Venus is split into two parts, and we follow a group of friends living on one side of the divide who before the war spent their time racing motor bikes, but they end up fighting in the war. A young reporter from Earth follows them around and eventually becomes part of the Venusian resistance.

Nice animation, well developed characters and plenty of love loss and struggle ,makes for a great film, worth watching if you're an anime fan :)
dermeco

dermeco

In The Venus Wars, mankind now resides on two planets: civilized Earth and fractious terra-formed Venus. In the midst of fighting between the two nation-colonies of Ishtar and Aphrodia, a group of monocycle racers accidentally befriends a feisty reporter (Susan Somers) who hopes to advance her career through gritty reports on the war from the Aphrodian side. There are plenty of opportunities for the characters to demonstrate their different attitudes and spirit. It is nice to see characters that are true to their natures and which do not exhibit that nasty tendency to change personalities in midstream just because it was convenient to give a shortcut to the plot. There are no shortcuts in the plot and it is a fast moving action-filled drama in true grand anime style.

The characters have genuine quality character designs and the mecha designs are detailed and innovative. The director was also willing to experiment with different artistic filming styles. As subtitles go, Studio Nemo (an Arizona group) was competent and placed the titles so that the action was not obscured.

Some people may compare this movie to Akira in grandeur, but there are differences. This movie is darker in color (more tones instead of bright colors), grittier in plotting whereas Akira used shock value instead, and has a stronger moving plot than does Akira with a definite goal in mind. A telling difference is that the soundtrack of Venus Wars is much more listenable with strong catchy vocals and epic background music for the sequences that need it. What's similar? Both have lavish budgets used to develop high quality detailed animation for theatre release. This movie has a timeless animation style and fluid plotline which makes it worthwhile in any anime collection.
Meri

Meri

Uinasu senki, a.k.a. Venus Wars, is a pretty good war film. However, I find it lags in some spots, and I never really was a fan of animated characters on a moving live-action backdrop. Other than these minor complaints, the movie is enjoyable.
Soustil

Soustil

This was a very pleasant surprise and an unexpectedly cool movie! I had never heard of Venus Wars before and I think it's a shame that the flick hasn't got more recognition, because it really is one good film. The action sequences are spectacular, the characters are interesting and the animation is fantastic. The dubbing on my version was actually not half bad although I would have preferred the Japanese version.

Venus Wars is an original and very entertaining mix of over-the-top battles, politics and a love story, stylishly directed with both traditional animation and live action blending seamlessly. Top it all off with a soundtrack from Japan's answer to Dokken and lots and lots of gunfire and you have this fun and imaginative anime which deserves to be seen and recognized.
Whitebeard

Whitebeard

This is the first manga film that I watched, and the reason to develop my interest and look for more movies. And thanks to this baby I found "AKIRA", for which I won't stop being grateful. The movie, simply said, has it all. there's action, thrill, criticizing general issues, a bit of romance. The big influence comes from Hiro - he's a boy, deeply interested and amazed by all the unfairness in this world, and as we can see, does everything in his powers to fix it all. Even though he is still a teenager, his seriousness and bravery make his a truly amazing character.

a perfect movie, worth the time 10 out of 10
Wnex

Wnex

When he wrote this adaptation of his own manga Yoshikazu Yasuhiko was already renowned as a manga creator, illustrator, character designer and director. Joe Hisaishi wrote the stirring score, and he had worked musical magic for Studio Ghibli on My Neighbor Totoro (1988) the previous year. The rest of the senior staff brought solid reputations and worked in top form to make Venus Wars a glossily produced, well-designed, exciting piece of science-fiction. The mecha designs are excellent and the moody, deep-toned backdrop paintings set the tone for a bleak war story where youthful passion runs into reality with devastating consequences.
Phalaken

Phalaken

I remember seeing this title in the Anime section at Tower Records years ago, and loosely recall reading about it and maybe seeing a preview or two.

So I bought a copy and was very pleased with a very solid story about a colonized Venus that proved to be an allegory for turmoil in the middle east, complete with massive fire fights, daring heroics, and fanatical religious overtones.

Venus, as some of you may know, is world embroiled by a massive greenhouse effect by sulfuric acid clouds, creating molten like heat on the surface. This film shows us a terra-formed Venus suitable for human habitation. But, humans being humans, they bring their ways, good and bad, with them to the worlds they form to call home.

There's the dashing loner teenager who races bikes for a living, his caring love interest who helps harbor him during times of crisis, the spunky and energetic reporter who is also a one-woman video crew, and the older and wiser veteran bikers and pit crew chief. Then there's the malevolent and monomaniacal Saddam Hussein type who has initiated the entire political conflagration on colonized Venus.

Race scenes, battle scenes, massive tanks and air ships, tracers shooting through the air, espionage--it's all here. The voice acting in the original Japanese language is typical Japanese; marginally over the top, but all the while complimenting the film at the same time. The music is okay (though I can't remember much of it), the translated and dubbed English dialogue is okay, but the restraints and compactness of the Japanese language as usual give the English translation a rushed feel (nothing new to anime fans, or anyone who's seen a dubbed Japanese film).

The animation is above normal for a Japanese feature, but isn't quite up to Disney specs. Still, it's very watchable and entertaining.

Nothing deep here. This is a good simple action film with some comments on the situation in the middle east. Good action and battle sequences, as well as romance and heroics. If you're an anime fan, then give it a shot.

Enjoy.
Purebinder

Purebinder

The animation is good for 1989, but the plot is nothing more than an idealized war story with kids. And it is all happening on Venus of all places. The heroes are a bunch of motorcycle kids who want to save their city from the invaders. They are not even alien invaders, just a bunch of other people. They get some weapons, mount a rebellion which amounts to little, but in the process they get the attention of the army proper and they are conscripted. The day is saved.

The problem with the characters is that they are all teens. However annoying they may be, they are acting according to their role. Damn unsympathetic, though. The glory of war pop music on the background was also irritating. Bottom line: lame story, but good animation.
Jum

Jum

I have been a fan of anime since the mid 90s, and therefore I am hooked on the old-school (pre-CGI) titles. This is one of the best, and a personal favorite. To me, the CGI flicks just lack the artistic soul of good old fashioned anime where talented cell artists drew EVERYTHING. There really is no comparison, in my book. If I wanted something that looked like Metal Gear Solid, I would just stick with video games. But, back to the Venus Wars…

This is sci-fi done right: after years of terraforming (and a comet strike), Venus has a breathable atmosphere and can be colonized by man. Unfortunately, he brought with him his constant bickering which leads to the inevitable war. A group of motorcycle racers becomes caught up in a fight for freedom from a neighbor turned oppressor. The story is complete: it has the small human drama and the high-level political intrigue. The battle scenes are fantastic and the future-war machines look incredible. As with most anime, this one is geared for the adult audience, with violence and swearing, but nothing beyond PG-13 territory. I have the English language dub version (I just don't like subtitles). The actors are great and music is superior. The story is smart and will appeal to the older audience. One outstanding idea is the monobikes they ride; one-wheeled motorcycles with gyro-stabilization. All motorcycles they have follow that basic design. They are used for basic transportation, racing, and for combat. Far out!

All in all, you would be hard pressed to find a better sci-fi anime, and I have dozens in my collection. Also, check out Bounty Dog, Appleseed, Vampire Wars, and Angel Cop.
Xellerlu

Xellerlu

This film is a bit strange, it features a futuristic setting on the planet of Venus. Why Venus, I can not really answer that. Seemed like the story could have been set on Earth, but I guess you need the isolation only being on another planet can offer. On the planet of Venus there is a bit of a power struggle going on. Seems like some sort of group wants to take control of the planet. Well oblivious to this are a group of bikers who are racing and not really worried about the dire situation that the planet is going through. That is until the power struggle turns into a war that engulfs the planet and shuts down their track. They are in lock down and unable to leave their homes thanks to a curfew. Well they decide to fight back and go after a tank stationed at their track. They take it out and end up fighting for a group of rebels that are out to stop this take over. The film is at its best before the group joins the rebel force as the story seems better developed during this stage of the film while the part with them being in the rebel group seems rushed. Before you get the coolness of seeing them do their daily lives, the take over, and a nice chase scene involving one of the group. There is also a touching scene involving the main boy and a girl. There is also a reporter who is more important during the first stretch. Not that the second half is all bad, most of the action takes place during this time and the final fight is rather good too. Just needs a bit more development during the second half and this film would have been super success.