Positive Experience/Entertaining? Definitely, though it was hard to reconcile this with the series it’s based on. In someways I prefer the series-version of the story and in other ways the movie. Sheesh…
Technically any good? It’s definitely tighter than the series–it covers a lot of the most important ground from the series in just a couple hours. The series needed 26 episodes and meanders at times. However, predictably enough, there are nice subtleties that got lost in this movie–the story does feel stronger in general, though. As a purist, I say watch them both. But on a technical level, I think that Macross: Do You Remember Love is better made and it’s a standalone movie. The animation is also superior–I don’t believe anything was recycled from the series and while the animation isn’t quite Disney-class (even for 1984, when this movie hit theaters in Japan), it sure as hell beats animation on a TV budget! All the original voice actors reprise their roles, so you know the voice acting is great.
How did it leave me feeling? Definitely satisfied. The story goes further into the origins of Protoculture than the series does, so things are more clear in the end. However, I wonder why they didn’t just make a sequel movie to the series and cover that extra ground, rather than retelling everything. The climax also makes more sense than the series.
Final Rating? SIYL - See If You Like. Macross is iconic in Japan. It’s like Snow White or The Lion King only it involves aliens, a love triangle and epic space battles. If you’re interested in Japanese culture or sweeping space operas (or both) then you shouldn’t miss this movie. Of course, if you’re an anime fan it’s worth checking this out.
Sadly, Amazon.com doesn’t carry it, so I don’t know how easy it is to find it on DVD. I’d suggest checking your local mom n’ pop video store and see if they have any old VHSes of this laying around. Maybe you might get lucky and find an old DVD of it.
PS. This is NOT Robotech. Robotech is an Americanized series using the same animation and story elements of the original Macross series this movie was based on. There is an English-dubbed version of this movie floating around but it sucks. There is not Robotech-ized version of this movie, however.