SF Shinseiki Lensman (1984)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Directors:

Kazuyuki Hirokawa
Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Writers:

Edward E. Smith (novel)
Soji Yoshikawa (writer)

Release Date:

31 August 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Action | Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Kimball Kinnison, a young man from the agricultural planet Mquie and his Valerian companinon, Buscirk...

Plot Keywords:

Crystal | Anarchy | Anime | Suicide Mission | Anti Drugs

Cast

Toshio Furukawa	...	Kimball Kinnison (voice)
Mami Koyama	...	Clarissa MacDougall (voice)
Chikao Ôtsuka	...	Peter Van Buscirk (voice)
Nachi Nozawa	...	Worsel (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yôko Asagami	...	Sol / Greedle (voice: Japanese version)
Robert Axelrod	...	Sol (voice: English version)
Richard Barnes	...	Zuiik (voice: English version) (as Milton James)
Michael Forest	...	Adm. Haines (voice: English version)
Alexandra Kenworthy	...	Lens (voice: English version)
Steve Kramer	...	Worsel (voice: English version)
Kerrigan Mahan	...	Kimball Kinnison (voice: English version)
Dave Mallow	...	Thorndyke (voice: English version)
Michael McConnohie	...	Van Buskirk (voice: English version)
Edie Mirman	...	Clarisse (voice: English version)
Mugihito	...	Lord Helmuth (voice: Japanese version)
Kei'ichi Noda	...	Worsel
Kenji Nomura	...	Blakslee (voice: Japanese version)
Mike Reynolds	...	Gary Kinnison (voice: English version)
Kaneto Shiozawa	...	St.Andre (voice: Japanese version)
Gregory Snegoff	...	Adm. Haynes (voice: English version)
Doug Stone	...	Lekesly, Patrol Captain (voice: English version)
Akimitsu Takase	...	Zwilk (voice: Japanese version)
Kôji Totani	...	DJ Bill (voice: Japanese version)
Tom Wyner	...	Lord Helmuth (voice: English version)

Also Known As:

Lensman
Lensman: Secret of the Lens

Runtime:

USA:107 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:LH | USA:PG-13 | Australia:PG | Denmark:7 | New Zealand:PG

Company:

EE Doc Smith MK Company

Trivia:

Debut roles for Akimitsu Takase and Kenji Nomura.

Quotes:

Buzz: Look, it's not that I don't like you. It's just that I don't like you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Titan A.E. (2000)

Unbelievable effects for the year it was made. Superb

People don't seem to be giving Lensman enough credit where its due. A few issues have been overlooked which are key to understanding the Lensman experience.

The Year: For the year it was made in (1984) Lensman features some of the most stunning effects I've ever seen. As a person who watches a lot of early 80's animation Lensman is unique in it's use of what appears to be computer-generated imagery at a time when computers were extremely primitive. Kim's battle against the geometric cutter pods in the laser maze can be taken as an excellent example of this. Every time I watch that I have to keep repeating to myself that it was 1984 when it was made.

The Soundtrack: Lensman has one of the most insane soundtracks that I've heard, and this mad hysterical beat permeates every corner of the film. Lensman borrowed heavily on two western mistakes and managed to somewhat deal with the first one - the need to fill in every second of silence in a film with music and the need for a heroine. While the music is attuned well and galvanizes scenes such as the motorcycle battle in the Thionite Factory on Radelyx, the heroine theme fails due to the sheer annoyance value of Chris. It's interesting to note that the constant music thwarted my attempts at noise removal when I was archiving lensman over from analog tape to digital format - since there wasn't a single second of silence available to use as a reference point.

Western Influences: Helmut - sounds like "helmet" and has roughly the same voice as Darth Vader. Clarissa Fairborn - has the same hairstyle as the princess of SW and her name sounds suspiciously similar to Marissa Fairborn of Transformers. Takes over Han Solos role by flying the ship and having some technical expertise. Buzzkirk - a definite improvement on Chewbaka. The lens - a nice concrete copy of the force that comes across less as a chance to preach Christianity at the audience than in the original SW. While the force relied on belief far more than concentration, the lens is a pure concentration tool. Theoretically, anyone could wield the lens. The lens is far more limited than the Force - being purely a defensive/offensive weapon.

Technology: The boskone alliance have interesting meatball sponge ships. They look like stormtroopers only with red uniforms instead of white. The idea of a DNA weapon was nice if only it had been developed. The Galactic Alliance looked like Starblazers (or whatever it was called - that 60's series where they were battling the Xylons). There weren't enough ship to ship battles for me - this is much improved upon in the second Lensman film.

Finally a note on Worzel. This character is a unique and very interesting character-design who fortunately continues on to the second film.