Mobile Suit Gundam: Il contrattacco di Char

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (1988) is a powerful and emotional conclusion to the epic rivalry between Amuro Ray and Char Aznable. Directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, the film masterfully combines high-stakes action with deeper themes of war, idealism, and the complexities of human nature. Set in the Universal Century timeline, Char leads the Neo Zeon movement, while Amuro represents the Federation's final defense, setting the stage for a monumental showdown.

The film excels in its portrayal of the two protagonists' contrasting ideals, making their final confrontation deeply personal and impactful. The animation, especially during the intense mecha battles, is top-tier for its time, with beautifully designed mobile suits like the Nu Gundam and Sazabi. The action is complemented by an unforgettable soundtrack, heightening both the emotional and battle sequences.

While Char's Counterattack is a visual and thematic triumph, its pacing can feel uneven at times, and the film's serious, somber tone may not appeal to everyone. However, these minor flaws don't diminish its significance in the Gundam saga. It's a perfect culmination for long-time fans and an essential watch for those seeking a deeper, more mature take on the mecha genre.

With its thrilling combat, memorable characters, and thought-provoking narrative, Char's Counterattack earns a solid 9/10.

After watching the first three Gundam films, along with all of Zeta Gundam and ZZ Gundam, Char's Counterattack didn't build off everything before as well as I would have hoped. It starts off with a deluge of exposition, adding new characters that are central to the plot and ignoring many from the previous shows that could have worked here.

Char's character feels rather different than when we last saw him an entire show ago. It seems like there's a really, really good series (or even a film) in between this and when we last saw him and Amuro. Plausibly even during ZZ Gundam.

Char could definitely be what he is here - he was on the road to being so - but I don't think the events of Zeta Gundam were enough of a catalyst for his actions in this particular film.

Fortunately, nearly everything else about Char's Counterattack is excellent.

The hand-drawn animation is stunning and from an era I love. The little CG we do get is very well done, especially for the time.

After the beginning the pacing improves, as we see the philosophies of the two leads clash spectacularly.

The music is fantastic, and the ending is certainly the biggest thing in scope the series has seen so far. It's fortunately all driven by the themes that Gundam wears on its sleeve, with environmentalism, empathy and understanding playing big roles.

So I have to say overall this film was quite satisfying as a conclusion to the first few films, not so much the shows. As I said before, there's a very good story in between this and Zeta, either during or right after ZZ. If that does actually happen, this film can only be improved by it. I will have to watch it again very soon though, it is incredibly dense.

First of all, you can't see this film unless you've seen all Gundam movies and series until then. I watched the 1979 series (in the format of three films) and I still couldn't get a lot of the premise of the film.

Then there are a lot of characters that behave like mad people, politics that make no sense and a lot of characters that are dropped there for their names, but unless you're a fan, you have no idea why they are named dropped.

Bottom line: couldn't finish watching it. I found it both badly edited and incomprehensible.

This is without a doubt the best Gundam ever.I have seen some of the original series but I did not see Zeta Gundam since it was never released in North America(which makes me wonder how people write reviews about it) I think the story could not have worked without Quess. It could have worked without Rezin Schneider, Kayra and Astonage. This is the best movie I ever saw. See it, if the romance annoys you at least you'll like the animation.

The movie adaptation of "Char's Counterattack: Beltorchika's Children", follows the novel almost to the letter. There are only a few minor differences in both versions created by Yoshiyuki Tomino. 1-Amuro Ray is engaged to Beltorchika Irma (Chien Agi in the movie) who also appears in Z Gundam. 2-Some names differ from the movie: Gyunei Guss (Glab Gas in novel), Nanai Miguel (Mesuta Mesua in novel). 3-The origin of the psycoframe is different in the novel as from the movie. The rest of the movie is pretty much exactly like the novel. In the novel Amuro's girlfriend Beltorchika is expecting a baby and the baby plays an important part in the story. In the movie it's the psycoframe Chien Agi uses that is an important part of the story. There are more things explained clearly in the book and are missed in the movie.