The Venus Wars 1998 Horror Movie Review

Yoshikazu Yasuhiko directed this 1989 feature based on his own manga. 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-cyles that are the Aphrodians’ secret weapon in the key battle. Venus Wars holds better than many early anime features. The American-influenced designs may annoy purists, but the characters are well developed and the battle scenes well staged, despite the limited technological resources available at the time. (Rated 13 and older: violence,  profanity, alcohol use, risqué humor) —Charles Solomon