Mobile Suit Gundam F91

The durable Mobile Suit Gundam franchise was launched in 1979 by writer/director Yoshiyuki Tomino, who also helmed this standalone film set decades after the events of the original movies. Teenagers Seabook Arno and Cecily Fairchild live in the Frontier IV space colony orbiting the Earth. When the colony is attacked by a group called the Crossbone Vanguard and Cecily is kidnapped, Seabook and a band of refugees escape, and find a robot battlesuit (the F91), which Seabook pilots against the Crossbone. Meanwhile, Cecily not only discovers that the invasion was masterminded by her estranged father, the iron-masked Carozzo Ronah, but that the Ronahs intend to set themselves up as aristocrats of a new order, and want Cecily to join them. Overall, Mobile Suit Gundam F91 nicely balances emotional character scenes together with the many fast-paced, well-rendered battles between impressively designed robots, and while some characters' motivations and allegiances are not fully explained ( and the story features some confusing discontinuities), most fans of sci-fi adventure will enjoy this dual-language two-disc set, rated PG-13, that includes a new Dolby Digital 5.1-backed version along with a worthwhile commentary track by Japanese and American staff. A strong optional purchase. Aud: P. (S. Raiteri)