Review of Mobile Suit Gundam I

It's always difficult to discuss a compilation film as it's own work because, fundamentally, it's impossible to divorce from whatever piece of media it's originally condensing. And I don't think any other "recap" anime film, something that has been industry practice for a very long time, is a difficult itself to talk about then the original Gundam trilogy. These aren't just recaps, at least not in the traditional sense. This one mostly is, as it's the least changed and screwed with of the original series, but even so it has the air of reimagining all over it. Gone are the smaller character moments that were themeat that held much of this cast together, and the majority of the battles have either been rearranged or deleted entirely. Instead, this really feels like a complete streamline of Tomino's original work, stripped down to it's bare essentials and basics while also bringing in more of the relative realism that was so key to the original series' success.

Is it better? Is it worse? I don't really know. On the one hand, I do think there is a relentless pace to this that does emphasize the constant state of peril and danger the cast is in, and it does means that Amuro's condition feels tangible and understandable. After around three battles in a row, seemingly within less then 48 hours, one would get exhausted. On the other though, one of the things I adore about the original series was it's willingness to have conflicts peppered in rather then these big confrontations all the time; supply runs would become important targets and logistical nightmares, while something as easy as hiding in the shadows become a full game of cat and mouse.

It's really lucky that, despite the clear shift in priorities, the film itself is still so good and so well crafted these are mostly just minor nitpicks in the grand scheme of things. The new sound mix and orchestral arrangements of the score are just sublime, the voice work is impeccable for the time, and the revised script feels tailored made to streamline itself for a newer, more widespread audience in a way that doesn't feel like it's ever dumbing down the material in any way. Introducing the idea of Newtypes early on here as opposed to how late the original series does it is probably the single best change these movies do.

I don't know if I fully recommend these over the show these - the show has gone up in stature in my books in terms of quality - but I still find these to be a fascinating chapter of history in the medium and also remarkably important for the perception of the series in Japan. As such, they are still absolutely worth watching, even if I do think they are best served as more fanservice for long time fans rather then the definitive first watches for newcomers.