Lensman (1984) Reviews

In the era of U.S. pulp novels, basically between the 1920s and 1950s, "space operas" emerged as some of the most popular fiction going. Few authors had more success selling these improbable tales than E.E. (Doc) Smith, and his "Lensman" series remained popular well into the 1970s. This Japanese animated feature, begun in 1979, is based on those novels and was not released in its final form until 1984. It was not seen in the West until 1991. During a war between the Bosconian War Lords (the bad guys) and the Galactic Alliance, Kim becomes a lensman, and wields the unusual powers granted by that transformation to fight for the right. Even with his new powers, he barely escapes alive in his numerous engagements with the bad guys. An unusual amount of work went into this feature's highly detailed animation, the voiceovers (for the American version) are competently done, and the film features a score which includes disco and "new age" music. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi