Space Adventure Cobra

Japan / Japan • 1982 • 99m •

• Directed by: Osamu Dezaki. • Starring: Shigeru Matsuzaki, Akiko Nakamura, Toshiko Fujita, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Akira Kume, Gorô Mutsumi, Reiko Tajima, Ken'ichi Ogata, Norio Wakamoto, Yûji Fujishiro, Seiichi Suzuki, Keiko Erikawa, Yû Shimaka. • Music by: Kentaro Haneda, Osamu Shoji, Yûji Ôno.

In deep Space, the United Galaxies Federation of Justice set bounties over all kinds of criminals. Cobra is back in action to help bounty-hunter June find her two sisters, and save planet Myras. But Lord Nekron, leader of the Galactic Guild, a powerful criminal organization, is following their track with the same goal ...

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Image from: Space Adventure Cobra (1982)

The most remarkable thing about the movie version of Cobra (as opposed to the series or the comic) is the credit of the Key Animator: Hayao Miyazaki himself was an animator for this film. One of the most talented directors of out time (probably in all categories, not just animation) was on the staff of that movie. Also, it tells basically the same story as the first season of the TV series; but the TV series was a melodramatic comedy, whereas the film has a claim to seriousness.

One thing the Japanese do better than most others, I think, is going over the top. In this film, there are always planets floating in the background. (Yes, actual planets.) "Love is tangible," as one of the characters say. The galaxy is only one in several in the Universe, so it is disposable. (Yes, the galaxy is disposable.) I don't think it's fair to say that this movie goes too far. It's made to test our suspension of belief. Some stories ask that from us.

The movie is more like a pretentious "artsy" film and not much of an action-adventure movie. It can afford to be pretentious. The scenery is beautiful during most of the film; the music is very anti-climatic, Jazzy and romantic; the story is very abstract. By this, I mean that the story is not about getting a treasure, saving the world or saving the girl. All this things do happen, but that's not the main point.

It's more like artsy sci-fi meets Last Year in Marienbad. The strange part is that the movie is based on a series that's much more like Spaceballs than like Star Wars. I'm not sure how "good" it is, but it doesn't make much sense to judge it as an action flick.

What I liked most about it is that it does not show a tiny universe. Most sci-fi stories only take place on one or on a few planets, and each only seems to have one environment and one city. Not much more is shown in Cobra, but there are constant references as to how there is an entire known and inhabited universe out there. Unlike the bluntness of the Star Wars prequels, for example, the way it is just taken for granted in Cobra makes it more believable and makes my mind wander.

Review by Emmanuel Eytan from the Internet Movie Database.

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