Crusher Joe (1983 - Movie, 1989 - OVA's)
Animation Production: Takachiho/Studio Nue/Sunrise
Running Time (movie): 125 minutes; OVA's: 113 minutes (combined)
Released by: Animeigo
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

It’s amazing to me when I think back to a time not too long ago when anime was still somewhat of an underground phenomenon (in the US anyway) that was largely restricted to those with the right connections. Even with good sources odds were that anything you managed to get would be a fourth or fifth generation video recording that most people would find unwatchable nowadays. So was the life of an anime fan in the mid 80’s and very early 90’s. In the present day shows are licensed and released on high quality DVDs at a rate that would have been unimaginable even just 10 years ago. Times are good for anime fans!

Unfortunately this “anime boom” has been for the majority of its duration limited to new shows or whatever happens to be popular with the masses at the time. Classic programs and movies from the sixties, seventies, and early eighties are seldom released alongside their newer counterparts, much to the dismay of the older fans who laid the foundation for the success that the current industry players enjoy.

However, with the never ending search for new shows to license and capitalize on becoming harder and more expensive anime companies are finally starting to shift their focus somewhat by taking a closer look at older series for possible domestic releases. Needless to say that this is a great development for people like myself who love these shows and would like to someday have them as part of their collections, much like today’s subject Crusher Joe!!

Story

The Movie
Joe and his team are hired to med-evac a cryogenically frozen heiress to the planet Miccola, only to have her kidnapped out from under their noses while in hyperspace! Before they know it, the team gets accused of space piracy by the United Space Force and suspended by Crusher HQ.

In order to clear their names, they'll have to travel to the most lawless planet in the galaxy and take on the notorious "Big Murphy," a pirate so nasty that his idea of a good time is blowing up entire planets! --Animeigo's Crusher Joe Page

OVA's - The Ice Prison and The Final Weapon:ASH
A double feature of derring-do! The team gets hired to adjust the orbit of a prison cometary core before it impacts on an inhabited planet, only to get caught up in a political double-cross of astronomical proportions. Then they take on the task of rescuing a military officer who is safeguarding an ultimate weapon that can destroy all the life on the planet while leaving the real-estate intact, only to find that the planet she's crash-landed on is infested with mutineers (not a problem) and self-replicating quasi-organic semi-intelligent kamikaze death-bots (big problem!). --Animeigo's Crusher Joe Page

Movie Review

The movie opens with a dangerous car chase as a truck carrying important cargo is being attacked and rammed mercilessly by a small convoy of cars. It barely escapes in one piece.

The car chase ended our attention now shifts to outer space where a group of space fighters is making its way through several narrow pathways inside a floating orbital structure. As each vehicle makes its run we are briefly introduced to its corresponding pilot: Joe,Talos, Alfin, Ricky, and Dongo.

After barely completing this mission they travel to the planet where the truck carrying the mysterious cargo was last seen. The people behind the transport vehicle want to hire Joe and his crew to help them complete their mission and safely deliver their package to its intended destination. After being told of the cargo and the circumstances behind it the team hesitantly accepts the mission.

Having made all the arrangements the Crushers dont waste any time getting on the move. Within hours they load the shipment and make their way into outer space where they will then accelerate to warp speed in order to get to their destination in time, however, while en route something strange happens and our heroes end up blacking out.

When they come to they find that the cargo they were transporting is now missing! With few clues to go on the team now embarks on a new mission to recover the cargo, discover what happened while they were traveling at warp speed, and who was behind it. What they end up discovering goes much deeper than they could have ever expected.

Man! This movie was so great I’m not even quite sure on where to start! Ok, let’s talk about the story and overall plot first. Featuring a story written by Haruka Takachio, Crusher Joe is from beginning to end a classic Space Opera that is influenced by many classic and modern (at the time) science fiction films like Star Wars.

From the minute the film starts to the last scene this is one action packed thrill ride! The story itself is very simple at the beginning as Joe and his team take on the mission that is being requested of them, but once things go wrong and they find enough information to find the people behind what happens to them this movie explodes with action and suspense.

The main characters are lively and filled with charm and unique traits. There isn’t a great deal of character development (My guess is that since the Crusher Joe manga/novels were so popular at the time the producers figured people would have some familiarity with them), but they do build them up through insightful dialogue, interaction, and subtle animation, such as when Alfin makes faces at Ricky in the Disco, while Joe is talking. By the end of the film you really feel like you’ve come to known them to some degree or the other.

The animation here is a rare treat for anime fans. While it could be said that it is somewhat dated the beauty it carries forth and the amount of energy inherent in every scene, every, character, and every animated background is second to none. While watching the movie I felt like things where always in constant motion because the characters seemed to always be moving and if they weren’t, background elements were, which I think stands in sharp contrast to today’s more detailed anime drawings that remain static during much of their on-screen time. Given the choice between highly detailed and static VS simple and constant movement I would tend to go with the latter

The music soundtrack here is the perfect accompaniment for the onscreen action with many different pieces that range from heroic to peaceful and fun. I especially enjoyed the action scene music tracks as they set the mood for a heroic battle charge each time Joe and the Crushers went after the bad guys.

The DVD itself is nicely put together, featuring a crystal clear transfer of the original 1983 video and a good sounding stereo track. Animeigo also saw fit to include an English dubbed track to complement the original Japanese soundtrack. Subtitles are crisp and easy on the eye.

OVA's Review

The two Crusher Joe OVA episodes on the second DVD include “The Ice Prison” and “The Ultimate Weapon: ASH”. The Ice Prison episode begins as an accident takes place inside a prison facility orbiting a nearby planet. The facility, which houses political prisoners that oppose planet Ooro’s government, has lost its orbit and will soon crash into the planet unless something is done. Not having the necessary resources to fix this large problem, Joe and his crew are recruited to help save the prisoners onboard the prison and to change the trajectory of the orbital structure so that it doesn’t crash down on Ooro. However, what initially seems like a goodwill mission on the behalf of the government to save those who oppose it might only be a smokescreen for a more sinister plot. Will Joe and his team be able to pull this one off and save the victims of the accident?

In the second episode, The Ultimate Weapon: ASH, the Crusher team is hired by the Republic of Bandor to help them dispose of their doomsday weapon, ASH. If this all-annihilating weapon is not destroyed, it could be used to kill all life in any planet. If Joe and the Crushers fail to recover this device the military rebels will use it to continue waging war against Bandor’s neighbor country, Carminas. The two countries are on the verge of a peace treaty so this would be disastrous.

The Crusher Joe OVA’s, which were produced in 1989, much like the 1983 movie are thrill-filled space opera adventures. Each story while not unique by any stretch of the imagination manages to put our heroes in the middle of some dangerous missions that are filled with mystery, adventure, and lots of explosive action that make for great popcorn anime.

There’s not much character development or revelations here and like with the movie I would suspect the producers counted on some type of familiarity on the part of the viewer with the characters and story background from the manga and novels. This doesn’t detract at all from what goes on in each episode though; the main focus here is to have fun with the action and current adventure at hand.

These episodes having been made in 1989 benefit from better animation and drawing techniques than the movie, however they don’t go overboard with any of the new stuff and manage to pull something that is somewhat consistent with the film. That is not to say that the character and mecha designs weren’t slightly updated, but rather, that they didn’t go crazy with it, like other series were the cast ends up being unrecognizable from their previous incarnations.

The overall production for the OVA's is very good (think of the first 3 Bubblegum Crisis OVA's for an idea of what to expect more or less), with drawings that move smoothly, a colorful color palette, and music that while not as good as the pieces featured in the movie, do add to the fun of each episode.

As with the movie's DVD the OVA disc features a sharp transfer with a high quality audio soundtrack and an English dubbed track. The subtitles, as with the movie were easy on the eye and never detracted from the on-screen action.

Final Thoughts

We really should commend Animeigo for their release of Crusher Joe. They could have easily package the movie and OVA’s separately, but instead opted to release everything together (almost 4 hours of action-packed anime!) in one single DVD offering for an amazingly low price! While the release may be free of extras, it is still one heck of a deal, especially for older anime fans like myself who eat up releases like this for breakfast.

Crusher Joe receives one of our highest recommendations for all anime fans. This really is one of those rare can’t-put-down anime packages that makes us love the hobby we’re in.

Jeffrey Couto