Venus Wars (1989) User Reviews

Stone cold anime!

[Torgo_Approves · 7/10 · 1 April 2007]

This was a very pleasant surprise and an unexpectedly cool movie! I had never heard of Venus Wars before and I think it's a shame that the flick hasn't got more recognition, because it really is one good film. The action sequences are spectacular, the characters are interesting and the animation is fantastic. The dubbing on my version was actually not half bad although I would have preferred the Japanese version.

Venus Wars is an original and very entertaining mix of over-the-top battles, politics and a love story, stylishly directed with both traditional animation and live action blending seamlessly. Top it all off with a soundtrack from Japan's answer to Dokken and lots and lots of gunfire and you have this fun and imaginative anime which deserves to be seen and recognized.

Classic teens save the world film

[siderite · 7/10 · 5 November 2012]

The animation is good for 1989, but the plot is nothing more than an idealized war story with kids. And it is all happening on Venus of all places. The heroes are a bunch of motorcycle kids who want to save their city from the invaders. They are not even alien invaders, just a bunch of other people. They get some weapons, mount a rebellion which amounts to little, but in the process they get the attention of the army proper and they are conscripted. The day is saved.

The problem with the characters is that they are all teens. However annoying they may be, they are acting according to their role. Damn unsympathetic, though. The glory of war pop music on the background was also irritating. Bottom line: lame story, but good animation.

This sci-fi adventure is a fine example of the extraordinary artistry of Japanese animation.

[toqtaqiya2 · 8/10 · 9 October 2010]

When he wrote this adaptation of his own manga Yoshikazu Yasuhiko was already renowned as a manga creator, illustrator, character designer and director. Joe Hisaishi wrote the stirring score, and he had worked musical magic for Studio Ghibli on My Neighbor Totoro (1988) the previous year. The rest of the senior staff brought solid reputations and worked in top form to make Venus Wars a glossily produced, well-designed, exciting piece of science-fiction. The mecha designs are excellent and the moody, deep-toned backdrop paintings set the tone for a bleak war story where youthful passion runs into reality with devastating consequences.

This movie stuck with me...

[valcom17485-1 · 30 January 2002]

I first saw this back on the Sci-Fi Channel when they used to show Anime on Saturday morning at 9 pm. I may have been 15, and it was my first exposure to anime, and I watched every single week. One week they showed Venus Wars, and I loved it when I first saw it. Something about it really stuck with me, atmosphere, story... I never forgot about it. Then recently I had an opportunity to order a copy and I did. I popped it into the DVD player, hoping that it would be as good as I had imagined it... it was. This movie just plain rocks. Every character is textured and believable, and the animation, while not being mind-blowing, is just perfect... it relays the grim reality of war time on Venus perfectly and the atmosphere it generates is what I remembered the most about it.

If you like anime that has an awesome story, good animation, I would suggest tracking this down.

It's pretty good, but it lags in some parts.

[JG2001 · 7/10 · 3 October 1999]

Uinasu senki, a.k.a. Venus Wars, is a pretty good war film. However, I find it lags in some spots, and I never really was a fan of animated characters on a moving live-action backdrop. Other than these minor complaints, the movie is enjoyable.

Commentary by a longtime buyer of laserdiscs and DVD

[Kimagure-3 · 10/10 · 4 October 1998]

In The Venus Wars, mankind now resides on two planets: civilized Earth and fractious terra-formed Venus. In the midst of fighting between the two nation-colonies of Ishtar and Aphrodia, a group of monocycle racers accidentally befriends a feisty reporter (Susan Somers) who hopes to advance her career through gritty reports on the war from the Aphrodian side. There are plenty of opportunities for the characters to demonstrate their different attitudes and spirit. It is nice to see characters that are true to their natures and which do not exhibit that nasty tendency to change personalities in midstream just because it was convenient to give a shortcut to the plot. There are no shortcuts in the plot and it is a fast moving action-filled drama in true grand anime style.

The characters have genuine quality character designs and the mecha designs are detailed and innovative. The director was also willing to experiment with different artistic filming styles. As subtitles go, Studio Nemo (an Arizona group) was competent and placed the titles so that the action was not obscured.

Some people may compare this movie to Akira in grandeur, but there are differences. This movie is darker in color (more tones instead of bright colors), grittier in plotting whereas Akira used shock value instead, and has a stronger moving plot than does Akira with a definite goal in mind. A telling difference is that the soundtrack of Venus Wars is much more listenable with strong catchy vocals and epic background music for the sequences that need it. What's similar? Both have lavish budgets used to develop high quality detailed animation for theatre release. This movie has a timeless animation style and fluid plotline which makes it worthwhile in any anime collection.

Descent anime until the homophobic trash.

[zogarreal · 2/10 · 11 December 2022]

Venus Wars focuses on a group of motorcycle racers caught up in a war on Venus in the future. The protagonist Hiro sees through the hypocrisy of the war machine and is forced into fighting to survive. The premise is pretty good and the animation is excellent for 80s anime but in the third act the movie falls down with a ridiculous homophobic cliche. A soldier that is gay is portrayed as a lazy, sexual predator, pasafist who dies in an explosion before refusing to fight. To add insult to injury the huge tank he's on crashes into another named "MARY". A pity this anti-gay trash ruined a good anime.

A delightful animated movie for adults

[niki87 · 10/10 · 22 July 2000]

I only bought this video to hear the voice of Bradley Cole who does Will, but to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. They are the most interesting little animated characters I've ever seen. It was easy to forget that they were animated at all. Sci-fi is not on my priority list but I've already watched this video 4 times.

This was just painful

[TheOneThatYouWanted · 2/10 · 13 September 2020]

How in the heck can anyone rate this higher than a 5 stars out of 10? I was only able to watch maybe 40 minutes of it before I threw in the towel. The animation is well done, it has a good soundtrack. Nothing wrong with the voice actors but the problem lies in the action. I never thought I would be saying something like this but there is just too much action! But the action is random cr$P you don't care about. It was like filler action or something. You just can't care about it. I don't want to waste anymore of my time. End review!

Nice Piece of Anime

[The_Missus · 19 October 2002]

It's 2089 and Venus is a thriving Earth colony, but it strives for independance and wars with Earth breaks out. Venus is split into two parts, and we follow a group of friends living on one side of the divide who before the war spent their time racing motor bikes, but they end up fighting in the war. A young reporter from Earth follows them around and eventually becomes part of the Venusian resistance.

Nice animation, well developed characters and plenty of love loss and struggle ,makes for a great film, worth watching if you're an anime fan :)

Nothing Less Than Perfection!

[Phantasy_star_4 · 10/10 · 8 January 2008]

I saw this movie when it first came out. All i can say is that this movie is what movies are all about, catching your eye, the characters interaction with the environment around them. Suspense, action, Romance, horror, its all here. A story which shows us the trials of finding yourself, and what you have to do when it is time, will you sit there when problems arise or will you fight!? These are the kinds of questions Hiro the main character in this story is asked multiple times throughout the film. Bascically, everything is flawless in this delightful fast paced brilliant movie, Everything from the Characters, colors, trials, scenery to the Music score.

I don't know what the other people are talking about with how it sums up next to Akira, as it is a totally different movie with different choices and situations taking place. Sure it came out around the same time lots of other Anime's came out on sci-fi channel back in the day. Hard to say it is the same kind of film as i don't see any indication of similarity in it. It was a very popular movie for its time as well, not in the US but in Japan, Following many comics re-written to English by dark horse comics and soon following the Venus wars strategy game on the Regular Nintendo system. The fans of this series (movie and comic) could not get enough as I'm sure you will feel the same after seeing this Masterpiece. I still find it to be the greatest 80's anime of all time perfection.

If you like this sort of thing, you'll like this sort of thing.

[michellez-82344 · 2/10 · 15 March 2020]

Acceptable Sci-Fi Fantasy set on a future Venus capable of sustaining human colonization after a freak interstellar accident, roiled in civil war, spoiled by seemingly unnecessary side stories to include some airhead bimbo from Earth reporting on the tragedy of death and conflict for kicks. Tee-hee!

Meanwhile participants in a complete Rip-Off of Rollerball imagine themselves fully capable of defeating an invading army. Even better, their military thinks so too! To the point that one of the leaders of said military decides to take time off from trying to defeat the invaders who have completely taken over for a cool bike race with one of the "Roller-Ballers" to prove who has the biggest dick.

The setting is pretty good. It's the future! It's Freaking Venus! There's steam-punky warmachines! But the blonde reporter is idiotic. That might be part of this style of animation. Every story, no matter how serious or intense has to have comic relief but she is just annoying. I don't believe she's a reporter. I think she's some spoiled rich brat, run away from Daddy to prove what a big girl she is! RollerBall Action Heroes seems a bit of a stretch too but at least they do some stunts, whereas Cub Reporter Braindead mostly makes goo-goo eyes at the camera.

As I said above, if you like this style, you'll like this. But that's it's redeeming feature. It's ancient and it looks it. It's completely cornball if you don't get it and the music is so meh. Backgrounds are well done, even the machines and gadgets look good if implausible, the characters appear drawn by a child. Not worth the time if you don't like everything "Anime" butsolid for the audience it's shooting for.

The future looks excellent.

[benshinobi · 10/10 · 27 March 2003]

One of my personal favorites... can't beat the classics, eh? This film is hard to come by these days but it is a definite "gotta-see-it." Apparently an icy comet hit Venus around about now and made the planet habitable. The planet contains a population of relatively disillusioned human beings who, when not complaining or uni-bike racing, raise armies to try and control the planet. Bleak, eh? Our heroes are a bunch of hot-shot biker punks who team up with some rebels to fight the evil warlords... Good stuff. The animation is fluid and lovingly rendered... the sort of quality that made "Akira" so popular. Occasionally, live-action shots of what I assume are Arizona are incorporated into the backgrounds to give the whole film a "real feel." Do not miss this film. Get it get it get it. There's next to nil in the way of flesh, but that's not important. Great plot, great action, great characters... not to mention some hilarious lines here and there for fun. This film makes a powerful statement about human nature.

Good solid sci-fi Anime

[Blueghost · 19 January 2013]

I remember seeing this title in the Anime section at Tower Records years ago, and loosely recall reading about it and maybe seeing a preview or two.

So I bought a copy and was very pleased with a very solid story about a colonized Venus that proved to be an allegory for turmoil in the middle east, complete with massive fire fights, daring heroics, and fanatical religious overtones.

Venus, as some of you may know, is world embroiled by a massive greenhouse effect by sulfuric acid clouds, creating molten like heat on the surface. This film shows us a terra-formed Venus suitable for human habitation. But, humans being humans, they bring their ways, good and bad, with them to the worlds they form to call home.

There's the dashing loner teenager who races bikes for a living, his caring love interest who helps harbor him during times of crisis, the spunky and energetic reporter who is also a one-woman video crew, and the older and wiser veteran bikers and pit crew chief. Then there's the malevolent and monomaniacal Saddam Hussein type who has initiated the entire political conflagration on colonized Venus.

Race scenes, battle scenes, massive tanks and air ships, tracers shooting through the air, espionage--it's all here. The voice acting in the original Japanese language is typical Japanese; marginally over the top, but all the while complimenting the film at the same time. The music is okay (though I can't remember much of it), the translated and dubbed English dialogue is okay, but the restraints and compactness of the Japanese language as usual give the English translation a rushed feel (nothing new to anime fans, or anyone who's seen a dubbed Japanese film).

The animation is above normal for a Japanese feature, but isn't quite up to Disney specs. Still, it's very watchable and entertaining.

Nothing deep here. This is a good simple action film with some comments on the situation in the middle east. Good action and battle sequences, as well as romance and heroics. If you're an anime fan, then give it a shot.

Enjoy.

what can I say...that's manga

[Aprodia · 9/10 · 10 October 2004]

This is the first manga film that I watched, and the reason to develop my interest and look for more movies. And thanks to this baby I found "AKIRA", for which I won't stop being grateful. The movie, simply said, has it all. there's action, thrill, criticizing general issues, a bit of romance. The big influence comes from Hiro - he's a boy, deeply interested and amazed by all the unfairness in this world, and as we can see, does everything in his powers to fix it all. Even though he is still a teenager, his seriousness and bravery make his a truly amazing character.

a perfect movie, worth the time 10 out of 10

Outstanding old-school anime

[dominion76251 · 10/10 · 2 February 2012]

I have been a fan of anime since the mid 90s, and therefore I am hooked on the old-school (pre-CGI) titles. This is one of the best, and a personal favorite. To me, the CGI flicks just lack the artistic soul of good old fashioned anime where talented cell artists drew EVERYTHING. There really is no comparison, in my book. If I wanted something that looked like Metal Gear Solid, I would just stick with video games. But, back to the Venus Wars…

This is sci-fi done right: after years of terraforming (and a comet strike), Venus has a breathable atmosphere and can be colonized by man. Unfortunately, he brought with him his constant bickering which leads to the inevitable war. A group of motorcycle racers becomes caught up in a fight for freedom from a neighbor turned oppressor. The story is complete: it has the small human drama and the high-level political intrigue. The battle scenes are fantastic and the future-war machines look incredible. As with most anime, this one is geared for the adult audience, with violence and swearing, but nothing beyond PG-13 territory. I have the English language dub version (I just don't like subtitles). The actors are great and music is superior. The story is smart and will appeal to the older audience. One outstanding idea is the monobikes they ride; one-wheeled motorcycles with gyro-stabilization. All motorcycles they have follow that basic design. They are used for basic transportation, racing, and for combat. Far out!

All in all, you would be hard pressed to find a better sci-fi anime, and I have dozens in my collection. Also, check out Bounty Dog, Appleseed, Vampire Wars, and Angel Cop.

A good 80's anime with well-done animation and amazing OST

[TooKakkoiiforYou_321 · 8/10 · 9 July 2020]

Recommended to any space opera lovers with no reservations.

Great film which surpassed my expectations

[raggyrogers · 9/10 · 18 October 2022]

I tacked this cheap Blu-ray onto a Sentai Filmworks order for free shipping, hoping just for a coherent plot, knowing nothing about it. Boy was I in for a surprise! As the intro credits start rolling, I noticed the mention of composer Joe Hisaishi who would later do the scores for enormous films such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke. I was quickly drawn in by the visuals and surprisingly decent voice acting; I often start an anime in English but if it sounds too poorly executed I'll switch to Japanese. Influences such as Akira, Megazone 23, and Madox-01 are readily apparent with the major difference being that Venus has a dystopian Mad Max law system which allows for activities such as gambling on dangerous monocycle racing. The illegal monocycle racing is extremely fun and I believe it made an impact on later film and games such as Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, Square Enix, Poet Anderson, and perhaps even Star Wars Podracing. It just has that neat vibe you really didn't see much back then or even now for that matter. To top it off, one of the main characters is a reporter from Earth, hoping for an exclusive story but she's slowly finding out that life on Venus is rough. At one point she's in a sewer with her videocamera and I realized that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had come out just two years prior. I'm not saying she's April O' Neil but it's an interesting potential nod to the Western animated series. My biggest letdown was expecting to hear Cam Clarke at some point, given that he'd been in Akira and Ninja Turtles, but it's a silly one. This film has a lot to offer and while the action can get over-the-top, it's drawing beautifully well. If the soundtrack, visuals, plot, and voice actors don't interest you, I'd be surprised. In such a case, count how many times SONY is deliberately spelled wrong on electronics featured to avoid trademark infringement.

Cool anime, but the Venus setting seems a bit unnecessary.

[Aaron1375 · 8/10 · 17 December 2009]

This film is a bit strange, it features a futuristic setting on the planet of Venus. Why Venus, I can not really answer that. Seemed like the story could have been set on Earth, but I guess you need the isolation only being on another planet can offer. On the planet of Venus there is a bit of a power struggle going on. Seems like some sort of group wants to take control of the planet. Well oblivious to this are a group of bikers who are racing and not really worried about the dire situation that the planet is going through. That is until the power struggle turns into a war that engulfs the planet and shuts down their track. They are in lock down and unable to leave their homes thanks to a curfew. Well they decide to fight back and go after a tank stationed at their track. They take it out and end up fighting for a group of rebels that are out to stop this take over. The film is at its best before the group joins the rebel force as the story seems better developed during this stage of the film while the part with them being in the rebel group seems rushed. Before you get the coolness of seeing them do their daily lives, the take over, and a nice chase scene involving one of the group. There is also a touching scene involving the main boy and a girl. There is also a reporter who is more important during the first stretch. Not that the second half is all bad, most of the action takes place during this time and the final fight is rather good too. Just needs a bit more development during the second half and this film would have been super success.