Megazone 23 - Part 1 2004 Horror Movie Review

Originally released in 1985, Megazone 23 (a.k.a. The Robotech Movie) was one of the earliest anime features. Daredevil biker Shogo Yahagi is always getting into scrapes and asking his friends to bail him out. He’s drawn into a deadly governmental cover-up when he borrows the Garland, a top-secret motorcycle that turns into a battle robot. Pursued by B.D., the evil mastermind of the conspiracy, Shogo learns that the Earth was destroyed 500 years ago: humanity has actually been living in an enormous spaceship, Megazone 23, run by the supercomputer Bahamoud. The characters behave improbably, at best. In the midst of these life-and-death intrigues, Shogo finds the time to begin a romance with Yui and to appear with her in an amateur film. He waits until B.D. is about crack a vital computer code to go to bed with Yui—and talk about the developing crisis. Megazone 23 was the first installment of a three-part series, and it ends on a real cliffhanger. The artists were clearly learning their craft when they made the film: the motorcycle chases lack the skillful cutting and dramatic camera angles that would characterize later features. Unrated, but cartoon violence and sex are unsuitable for children. —Charles Solomon