Audience reviews
6 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Chuy_diazz
Journey Through Madhouse Episode 13: An Attempt at Space Opera That Didn't Quite Come to Fruition.
The story is a classic "hero's journey," unfolding step by step. A protagonist living a quiet life encounters a spaceship, and its pilot, before dying, involves the boy in an intergalactic conflict. The story is kept simple to fit into an hour and a half. In fact, this ends up taking its toll because the grandeur of the universe isn't felt. Only two planets are visited, we see a couple of alien races, and you're grateful they showed you something like that.
It's painfully obvious that a sequel was never planned. They try to introduce, develop, and conclude everything in a single installment. The lack of space is a problem. They try to introduce so many characters, ideas, and subplots that e…
Read at the sourceAlolanroy
I found it gorgeous and was really wowed by the sound track. However, the overall package feels pretty flat. It comes very close to saying something a few times, but by the end our gallant hero just kinda...wins. It has the general shape of a heroes journey, but without any of the beats past his home being destroyed. We never get to see the titular lens do anything either, or the huge space battle that happens off-screen. I see why people compare it to Star Wars, because it has all of the interstitial moments, but none of the big 'WOW' factor.
But there is something in there to enjoy, and it might be worth watching for the discerning viewer.
Read at the sourceElNapalmo
C'mon, it was not that bad. This can be seen as a Star Wars rip-off, but it was actually based on Edward E Smith's "Lensman" books. Therefore, Star Wars was also ripping-off those books.
A father and son are farmers in a small planet. The kid wants to get out of that planet. He's actually handy with flying machines and spaceships.
He's chosen to be the new Lensman. You see, "Lens" is something akin to the "Force". Or viceversa, considering the aforementioned books?
Lensmans (or is it Lensmen?) are basically Jedis.
There's no Han Solo and Chewbacca, but there's a sympathetic hairy guy called Buskirk. There's also a girl. She's not a princess she's a nurse and part of the rebellion. The Gallactic Alliance that is.
The kid has to deliver some important plans of a fortress. Sounds intriguing,…
Read at the sourceChronuss
First, some education. Even though this was made in 1984, the source material was published in 1939. For those that can do simple maths, you should also be able to tell this is 38 years before Star Wars. So whom borrowed from whom? Unfortunately, the movie is only loosely based on the source material, and the author, E. E. Smith, completely distanced himself from this movie and the 25 episode series.
Also, there are technically THREE versions of Lensman. There is the original Harmony Gold dub from 1988 that was edited, the Streamline dub from 1990 that was unedited (about 18 minutes longer), AND a completely different version called The Secret of the Lens. The Secret of the Lens is technically the first four episodes from the series sort of mashed together. The Streamline dub is has the s…
Read at the sourceBowlingJD
Lensman (1984)
1984 brought many sci-fi oriented stories. One of which was Lensman, directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Memories, X) and Shinya Ohira (Gundam sequels, Akira), so there is some strength here. Unfortunately, the script is weak, the music is pretty much absent, and the voice acting (Japanese and English dub) is sub-par at best.
The story is about a farm boy named Kimball whom dreams of life bigger than is country lifestyle. Well, it just so happens that an intergalactic war is going on simply between good and evil. During some battle somewhere, Kimball comes across a runaway spaceship, finds an important guy, and gets this glass-thing called a “lens” transferred onto him. The backstory of the lens is weird and does not seem to make much sense. All that’s important is the lens co…
Read at the sourcebedheadred
A young man aims to do something more exciting than farming. His homeland is destroyed by an evil Galactic enemy and he is given super-human powers by which to save the galaxy. His comrades are a sarcastic, hairy alien and a beautiful female in white with a braided bun on the side of her head. Do you recognize any similarities here to an American pop culture icon?
This mid 80′s film has aged pretty well, excepting the CGI which was laughable (though not as laughable as Golgo 13.) I had fun just watching and picking up stolen Star Wars references with a Japanese twist (tentacles!) If you aren’t a Star Wars fan, enjoy a decent sci-fi story and the miners’ disco.
Read at the source
