Macross, Le Film

"Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?" is a cinematic rendition of the popular Japanese TV series "Macross", best remembered in the West as part of the "Robotech" series. A previous viewer maintains that this movie predates "Robotech". This may be true to the extent that "Robotech" began airing in the U.S. after the Japanese release of this movie, however the movie is based upon and postdates the Japanese series "Macross" which was the first saga of the "Robotech" trilogy.

Those fans of "Robotech" who've not seen this movie should remember that "Robotech" was actually a combination of three unrelated series cobbled together with a drastically altered plot so as to seem part of a trilogy. One must watch the movie without thinking of "Robotech. "Protoculture" is not some vague energy source. Minmei is not a complete airhead.

All that aside, this is an outstanding movie and is well worth seeking out.

"Macross: Do You Remember Love?" is set in the Macross universe of anime fame. "Macross: Super Dimensional Fortress" is the series off of which the first segment of "Robotech" is based, so any Robotech fan will recognize the characters, the battlefortress, the aliens, etc. Almost all of the characters in Robotech/Macross appear, with their original (mostly Japanese) names. The story is substantially changed as well, so it is really a fresh take on the saga, not just a rehash of twenty-some episodes.

Do You Remember Love (DYRL) was made way back in 1984, before Robotech was even introduced to American audiences. The story might be confusing to a viewer who has never watched Robotech or its Japanese predecessor, Macross. The animation is very, very crisp and colorful, considering the 20 year age. It looks better than most big-budget Hollywood science-fiction movies of the same time period. The music is great! A huge surprise, and a pleasant one, since the story revolves around music and love.

The overall story remains the same as in the two landmark TV series: Giant aliens have attacked the Earth for an unknown reason, and the last hope of mankind is a huge battlefortress carrying a city of people inside. The fortress is defended by the standard giant transforming robots that seem to be pervasive in many anime films. Although this is a movie about an intergalactic war, the underlying theme is how music and love are more powerful than aggression. That said, there is also a lot of violence, definitely not suitable for children.

I recommend anyone who is a fan of either Robotech or Macross to find this movie and check it out. You won't be disappointed.

If you get your hands on a decently-subtitled version, this movie plain rocks. Great animation, music, voice acting. The plot has a few flat spots, as expected in a movie that came as the summary of a series, but it's still one of anime's finest.

And to think that it was all drawn by hand. Excellent work.

Avoid "Clash of the Bionoids" at all costs. The dubbing is horrible.

I first saw this film in the late 80s. Like most anime in the US at the time, it was solely available in a grainy, much-duplicated VHS. Still, the film drew me in. Okay, I was a little confused when I finally saw the American adaptation of the Macross TV series, but what the heck....

It was very disappointing that for years the sole legit commercial copy in English was the bastardized Australian production, ATTACK OF THE BIOROIDS. Suffice it to say, if you want a good example of how NOT to adapt a foreign film, that is the example to study. I used to watch it with the sound mostly turned off.

When I got on the internet, an online acquaintance gave me a VCD of DO YOU REMEMBER LOVE. It was pretty nice, at least until the viewer program failed.

But now I FINALLY have a DVD of the film. I just finished watching it and.....oooooooooooooooooooooooh bliss!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As I said in my title, this is still the greatest SF animated film ever made!

And the DVD includes the final concert! This was originally planned for the film but cut due to budget constraints. It was finally made for the MACROSS FLASHBACK 2012 music compilation. But now it is where it belongs, backing up the closing credits.

happy, happy, joy, joy.....

It's nice to see so many Robotech fans, comment about the film.

Just wanted to share more facts about Macross:

There is an upcoming Gameboy Advance version coming out, which will add another great game based on Robotech.

This movie is still one of the best anime's ever made.