Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Marcus James I grew up watching this anime in Arabic and I can still watch it today. Please note that the English dubbed version of this anime is horrible and I would claim it is unwatchable. It was so bad that the translations were canceled after about 8 episodes (out of 72) I believe. If you want to see this anime, get the original Japanese with English subtitles and avoid the dubbed version like the plague. I really believe that this cartoon helped shape my personality somewhat because it introduced me to the idea of heroes in a clear and direct way. Daisuki is a clean cut hero similar to Superman in the Western world, except in a giant robot. He always did good and never wavered which I believe is a good lesson to teach kids. Unlike Supes however, Daisuki had to get his hands dirty and there was a lot of killing in this show. The deaths usually happen during battle with the bad guys getting blown up. There is nothing overly gross or graphic so don't worry about questionable content however bad guys do die in this show as do some not so bad guys. I don't know about you, but I hate how western cartoons have degenerated to be politically correct. They end up breeding sissy kids who are easy prey for bullies and whatnot. I don't think there is anything politically correct about avoiding human violence to a minimal degree and if anything it is good to show how a hero should behave in the face of wrong. Note that I am about as liberal a person as you will find and I think that this show is perfect for kids. People are too quick to forget that nations are founded by those who fight, not those who get run over or run away. The world has been run over by underachieving ninny whiners and I am tired of it. Its important that we remember how to fight and not be so passive in the face of evil people so you can bet your petuty that my kids will be watching this anime as they get older.Grendizer is a lot better than modern anime and cartoons in all ways except its age. This was made in the 70's so you cannot expect modern quality animation. The show is also a bit repetitive but so are many other TV shows, cartoons and anime so I don't didn't knock it down too much for that. I really do wish that this anime is remade to modern technology and with deeper script but for now, this gets the job done.

bbally81 One of my all time favourites! It was between the late 70's or the early 80's. A special cartoon show from Japan came out of nowhere and quickly won the hearts of Arab children everywhere, that show was UFO Robot Grendizer.From the mind of Mazinger Z, Cutey Honey, Getter Robo and Devilman creator Go Nagai, comes a story that chronicles the tale of Duke Fleed, a young alien prince from a now destroyed alien planet who lands on planet Earth and landed in Mount Fuji, Japan. Wounded, he was rescued by Dr. Umon of The Space Science Lab. Taking up the name Daisuke Umon, he began working in a ranch near the Lab helping out Hikaru Makiba an ordinary girl who helps out in Shirakaba farm with her UFO obsessed father Danbi Makiba and her little brother Goro. Duke Freed wanted to live a peaceful life, but when he realised that the Vegans, the same alien force that conquered his home planet have selected Earth as their next target, he is forced to use Grendizer, a robot built on planet Freed and which helped escape from his home planet to fight against the Vegan invasion. He isn't alone in his battle, joining him is Mazinger Z's Kouji Kabuto who unfortunately doesn't use Mazinger in this show, Hikaru joins in the fight and near the end he is joined by his long lost sister Maria Freed.If you're expecting this to be another campy Go Nagai super robot show, well prepare to be surprised, this 72 episode anime made in 1975 has a lot of great drama, wonderful character development and beautiful music score especially the ones used to give the perfect atmosphere for a tragic scene which occurs a lot in the show. One of the many reasons why Grendizer became such an enormous hit in Arabic speaking countries was because it was the first "Serious" cartoon Arabs have ever seen and something different to other cartoons that were shown at that time like Disney, Looney Toons, Popeye and Tom & Jerry.UFO Robot Grendizer could be seen as an Anti-War cartoon as it shows the horrors of wars (Not as shocking as Gundam shows or Ideon)as Duke Fleed hates war, fighting, and destruction.Mazinger Z and Mazinkaiser fans would be disappointed that Kouji isn't using Mazinger Z in his battle but he is still an important character, him and Daisuke started on the wrong foot but then became a reliable friend and has helped out Daisuke/Duke when he needed help. Hikaru started out as a usual damsel in distress type of role but with more character but then she becomes a member of the team and gets her own ship and is quite the fighter. Maria, Duke's lost sister appears in the later half of the show then developed feelings for Kouji and was also hinted that he became attracted to her as well. This become a running gag in many Super Robot Wars games as well in the Dynamic Heroes e-click manga that Maria and main female Mazinger Z character and Diana A pilot Sayaka Yumi are rivals for Kouji's attention.The other characters are great Umon and his crew at the centre serve as the men behind the gadgets as well as Umon plays something as a father figure to Daisuke. Hikaru's father Danbi serves as a great comic relief of the show, who started from UFO freak to a caring father who would do anything to save his family while still being the comic relief.The Vegan empire had a lot of great villains like Lord Vega who is your usual Galactic dictator, but not all of them are pure evil, some do it because of their loyalty to their empire like General Zuril, while were forced to fight believing that Grendizer was an evil threat to their planet like in the episode when Vegan assigned a group of young Vegans mostly children who were trained to be fight and who were learnt to believe from Vega that Grendizer was an evil force bent on destroying the Galaxy. While did because they were either brainwashed or doing it to save their planets from an Vegan attack.Although not as popular in Japan as Go Nagai's other Super Robot classics Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger and Getter Robo, Grendizer is often credited as one of the major contributors to popularising Anime in Central Europe (particularly in France and Italy) where it was called Goldrake. I hear it also holds a strong following in the Quebec part of Canada, Russia and Malta. 26 episodes of the anime were shown on American TV as part of the multi-mecha show Force Five. However, it wasn't a big success in the US.With all the remakes of Go Nagai works that came out recently, I've been waiting forever for a Grendizer remake. Well, I guess the original anime is satisfying enough.This anime is a MUST SEE for Mecha, anime and cartoon fans.

lefrelonvert OK, the animation may be stiff and the characters cardboard, but this show carries great memories for thousands of people around the world. Mildly successful in Japan, "Grendizer" aka "Goldorak" or "Goldrake" was one of the first Japanese cartoons to achieve such great success and retain a cult following for such a long time. Even today, the struggle of the hero Actarus (aka Duke Fleed) against the evil hordes of "Great Strateguerre" Vega give me shivers down my spine! BTW, among the corny aspects of the show, which add to its appeal : why the heck does Vega keep sending his giant robots ONE BY ONE (gettings their asses kicked by Grendizer episode after episode) instead of sending them all in one big assault? Beats me. Talk about a lousy galactic overlord! Seeing a Grendizer episode is like a fountain of youth to me ! I just can't get enough of its cheesy charm!

bebebert Cult series across France, Belgium, Italy, Quebec, as well as some part of the Arabic world, like Tunisia. The show was a huge hit for children growing in the late 70s or early 80s. Adults may find it somewhat repetitive, unless they have an interest for anime and mangas. It has been designed with a target audience of 5 and 6 y.o. boys in mind.Crappy English tranlastions can account for part of its lack of success in the English-speak world. One UK translation is supposed to be correct, more respectful of the original.A web search should reveal more than a few fan sites. The series ran on French tv (FR2, FR3 and TVA) from 1978 to 1989.A lot more imaginative than what most shows offer today--although its not a family show, just a children show. ;-)))