Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie

Space Adventure Cobra

Theatrical film poster
Japanese スペースアドベンチャーコブラ
Hepburn Supēsu Adobenchā Kobura
Directed by Osamu Dezaki
Written by
Based on Cobra
by Buichi Terasawa
Starring
Music by Osamu Shoji
Cinematography Takahashi Hiroshikata
Production
company
Distributed by Toho
Release dates
  • July 3, 1982 (1982-07-03)
Running time
 99 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie (Japanese: スペースアドベンチャーコブラ Hepburn: Supēsu Adobenchā Kobura) is a 1982 science fiction anime film directed by Osamu Dezaki based on Buichi Terasawa's 1978 manga Cobra.

Cast

Character name Japanese voice actor[1] Streamline Pictures dub[2] Manga Entertainment dub[3]
Cobra Shigeru Matsuzaki Dan Woren John Guerrasio
Lady Armaroid/Lady Andromeda Yoshiko Sakakibara Joan-Carol O'Connell Tamsin Hollo
Crystal Boy/Lord Necron Gorō Mutsumi Jeff Winkless David McAlister
Jane Akiko Nakamura Barbara Goodson Lorelei King
Catherine Toshiko Fujita Mari Devon
Dominique Jun Fubuki Wendee Lee
Sandra/Nadia Reiko Tajima Catherine Battistone Shelley Thompson[4]

Production and release

The film is based on Buichi Terasawa's 1978 manga Cobra, specifically on Cobra involvement with the Royal Sisters, and his fight against Crystal Boy, which was the first major arc of manga.[5] It was theatrically released on July 23, 1982, in Japan.[1] In Japan, the film was first released in December 1991 in VHS format.[6] It was released on DVD on June 25, 2001 by Digital Site, and re-released by Happinet on August 29, 2008.[7] Manga Entertainment released the film in British theaters in 1995.[3] The Manga Entertainment version's dub had an alternate soundtrack performed by the pop group Yello.[8][9] An American dub was created by Carl Macek's Streamline Pictures,[5] and was released in American theaters on August 20, 1995, by Tara,[10] and was later distributed by Urban Vision on VHS format on June 16, 1998.[11] The film was released in the Australasian region by Madman Entertainment on December 5, 2007.[12] On April 8, 2008, Manga Entertainment released it on DVD.[13] On January 3, 2012, Hulu started to host the English dubbed version of the film after an agreement with TMS.[14] Discotek Media released the film in the United States on DVD on August 21, 2012.[15]

Reception and legacy

Otaku USA's Daryl Surat wrote that Cobra is a type of classical pulp series. While declared its protagonist is "part Han Solo and part Sean Connery-era James Bond" who does not fit the modern-day anime hero standard. Surat also said, "when people speak of the 1980s as 'the golden age of anime sci-fi, it's because of things like Space Adventure Cobra".[16] Sandra Scholes of Active Anime commented it reminded "Barbarella, Zardoz and Star Wars all mixed together."[17] Writing in the Fandom Post, Darius Washington thought it was "more like the Derek Flint films" than James Bond and that Cobra's adventures "could be comparable to worlds depicted in Outlaw Star and Bodacious Space Pirates."[18] T. Strife from Anime News Network praised it for staying true to the manga and "holding its own with a modern audience". Strife stated that the series carries a theme of "love as a power beyond compare", which battles with the main character's playboyish air. Overall, Strife said the movie is a masterpiece and classic that is worth viewing to know the medium's foundations.[19] On the other hand, Charles Packer of Sci-Fi Online called the plot pure nonsense and the dialogue almost laughable. He said that the animation looks like a Saturday morning cartoon, stating it crosses between that of an old anime and a new one, complete with interesting "psychedelic moments".[20]

Matthew Sweet's 1991 music video "Girlfriend" used excerpts from the film, and become one of the most-watched videos on MTV.[5][21]

References

  1. 1 2 コブラ劇場版 (in Japanese). Movie Square. Archived from the original on March 4, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Space Adventure Cobra". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on August 5, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Space Adventure Cobra". Film Review. Orpheus Publishing. 1995.
  4. ↑ "Voice of Sandra". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved May 14, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Misiroglu, Gina Renée; Roach, David A. (January 1, 2004). The Superhero Book: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Comic-Book Icons and Hollywood Heroes. Visible Ink Press. pp. 147–150. ISBN 978-1-57859-154-1.
  6. ↑ "GOODS >> DVD・ミュージッCD >> VHSビデオ" (in Japanese). Buichi.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  7. ↑ "GOODS >> DVD・ミュージックCD >> DVD" (in Japanese). Buichi.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2014. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
  8. ↑ Muir, Bob (February 16, 2012). "Discotek licenses Space Adventure Cobra movie for the US". Japanator. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  9. ↑ "MTV's Primestar Boost; Japanimation Rocks". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media (107): 47. August 19, 1995. ISSN 0006-2510.
  10. ↑ Beck, Jerry (October 1, 2005). The Animated Movie Guide. Chicago Review Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-56976-222-6.
  11. ↑ "Space Adventure Cobra (VHS) (1995)". Amazon.com. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Space Adventure Cobra the Movie". Madman Entertainment. Archived from the original on August 5, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Space Adventure Cobra the Movie". Manga Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 8, 2008. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Hulu Streams Lupin III: The Secret of Mamo, Cobra Films". Anime News Network. January 3, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Space Adventure Cobra". Discotek Media. Archived from the original on August 5, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  16. ↑ Surat, Daryl (September 4, 2010). "Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie". Otaku USA. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  17. ↑ Scholes, Sandra (July 20, 2008). "Space Adventure Cobra (Advance Review)". Active Anime. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  18. ↑ Washington, Darius (August 10, 2012). "Space Adventure Cobra The Movie Anime DVD Review". The Fandom Post. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  19. ↑ Strife, T (June 16, 2008). "Space Adventure Cobra the Movie". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
  20. ↑ Packer, Charles (August 4, 2008). "Space Adventure Cobra". Sci-Fi Online. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
  21. ↑ "Michael Jackson (1958–2009) & the Zillion Anime Connections". Anime News Network. June 26, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
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