User Reviews

I've grown up with anime and I still watch it to this day. I heard of the manga and show of Space Adventure Cobra but I did not know there was a movie till recently. This movie is only for those who like anime, this in no way will convince people that are not into this stuff to start watching it.

The feel of this movie is a ton like others like Golgo 13: The Professional, which is a good thing for a action fan. The atmosphere in this movie is extremely 80's and the plot can be a bit weird at times, but this does not create much of a problem because it adds to the bizarreness of the galaxy the movie takes place in. This film does contain brief nudity, so if your weird-ed out by that sort of stuff then you have been warned.

All in All, this movie is a good action flick in its own universe and is worth a watch.

This 1982 anime based on the comic books by Buichi Terasawa centres around the adventures of the infamous Space Pirate Cobra. After Cobra falls for the sultry bounty hunter Jane, he finds himself embroiled in an intergalactic power struggle. This film is best known for its attempt to re-create the 3D movie experience without the need for cardboard glasses. While this process makes for a few amazing and interesting shots, you can hardly tell the difference. The 3D effect may be limited, but the attempt makes for interesting cinematography. Director Osamu Dezaki can be applauded for combining the involving story and the stunning visuals, without letting one element drown out the other. If a few of the shots look familiar, it's because the film was showcased in Matthew Sweet's video for his song "Girlfriend." You can also look for quite a few references to 'Star Wars,' 'Star Trek,' '2001,' and a rip off of the 'Superman' theme during a heated battle scene. 'Space Adventure Cobra' is best recommended for those already familiar with this genre, as it provides an excellent example of the beginnings of modern Anime.

On a scale of 1 to 11, 11 being an example of "taking it up a notch," 'Cobra' gets a 7.

Based on the Japanese manga, Space Adventure Cobra is an animated feature from 1982 following the exploits of Cobra, a blond, cigar-smoking Han Solo type with a "Psycho-Gun" embedded into his arm who goes around fighting evil space Guilds and such.

Space Adventure Cobra is a surreal action flick that could be described as kind of a cross between some cheesy 70's cop show, Zardoz, Flash Gordon, Barbarella, Space Pirate Captain Harlock and Star Wars. The character of Cobra was inspired by French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, who was mostly famous in the 1970's for over-the-top French action thrillers. Cobra's partner is a mouthless robot gal called Lady Armaroid. She's usually in charge of piloting the ship and secretly lusts after Cobra, when she's not delivering exposition. There's an obvious charm to Space Adventure Cobra: it's corny as hell but in exactly the right way.

You've got the cool tough guy hero who spouts out corny one-liners, sexy space ladies wearing not very much at all when they are wearing something, a Yoda-style mentor in a bubble, snow gorillas, a James Bond opening title sequence, funky music and an arch-enemy amusingly called Crystal Boy, easily one of the least threatening bad guy names ever. The latter's character design is creative, though, as he's made of glass, gold, claws, guns, just about anything you can think of. To give you an idea of what you can expect from this movie in terms of tone, think the anime series Space Dandy if it was tongue-in-cheek by accident.

The plot is appropriately ludicrous and somewhat confusing unless you've read the manga but it essentially boils down to a treasure hunt, the search for some Ultimate Weapon, Crystal Boy wanting to destroy an entire galaxy and Cobra butting heads with snow gorillas (don't ask) while getting friendly with the Royal triplets. "Royal" being the ladies' last name, except in the English dub where it's Flower. This feature isn't particularly kid friendly as, apart from the action sequences and the light-hearted, wise-cracking Lupin The Third-style protagonist, it's mostly a trippy, busy and gratuitous romp. With the amount of random nudity this movie has and the random violent moments, plus the fact that Crystal Boy is genuinely creepy, this is one for older viewers.

That said, it is a funny flick and the adventure itself is effortlessly engaging so anyone can get a kick out of it. What lets the film down a bit is its animation which feels a little too much like a lower budget saturday morning cartoon at times. However, even this added layer of cheesiness works quite well in combination with the trashy vibe of it all. Unless you're a fan of pulpy, goofy 70's/80's sci-fi, then you'll probably write this one off as too silly. Indeed, this falls quite easily under the guilty pleasure banner in that respect but there's definitely a simple charm to it and, as a good old-fashioned piece of space-set nonsense, it works.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy Space Adventure Cobra. It may look and sound a bit clunky at times and it's all rather ridiculous but it's also tons of fun. Worst comes to worst, you'll get a good laugh out of it so why not check it out?

Enjoyably camp space opera.

A movie I have found in the dark year of 2021 with truly strong female characters.

With AMAZING animation, beautiful soundtrack composed of hidden references (did somebody say "Superman" by Richard Donner) and highly influential, since somebody that goes with the name of James Cameron must have noticed the scene with Crystal Boy walking into the flames and then translated it four years after into an actual live-action movie named Terminator. It's incredible how many of these Hollywood directors copied or "were influenced" by anime, isn't it?

This anime was underrated and still is. Hardly the dorky kids movie as noted, i still come back to this 10 years after i first saw it. One of the better movies released.

The animation while not perfect is good, camera tricks give it a 3D feel and the story is still as good today even after i grew up and saw ground-breakers like Neon Genesis Evangelion and RahXephon. It has nowhere near the depth obviously but try to see it from a lighthearted view. It's a story to entertain, not to question.

Still one of my favourites I come back too when i feel like a giggle on over more lighthearted animes. Not to say its a childish movies, there are surprisingly sad moments in this and you need a sense of humour to see it all.

Potentially this was a great anime. Some interesting themes were up for exploration: a hero must do battle with death incarnate to save the woman (women?) he loves. The individual vs. the corrupt state.

But it's a bit of a let-down. The hero is just too indestructible and and in the English language version at least, seems emotionally disengaged from what's going on around him. The soft-porn card gets overplayed, too. Sexy girls with sexy guns? Yup. Some great visuals, as you would expect from Japanese anime, but not a great example of the genre.

"Space Adventure Cobra" isn't as entertaining as I remembered. It's too good-natured to dislike openly, and I appreciated the fact that the hero is actually very unusual for an adventuresome protagonist. But I also found it impossible to follow or care about.

The movie begins with a pre-credits sequence showing Cobra performing some heroic action. The credits come on with music and slow visuals that are straight out of any James Bond movie. So I thought, oh, I get it, Cobra is like a spacefaring James Bond. When the Bond-girl stand in, a female bounty hunter was introduced, that seemed a safe bet.

But then the duo were attacked by a flying alien head, and Cobra's efforts to stop it were a failure - the bounty hunter lady saved the day. And she wasn't interested in Cobra, although he was interested in her. But when she realised who he was, she seduced him, rather than the other way around.

Cobra is actually a pretty hapless character, not suave at all, though he is charismatic. The movie is probably more about the lady and her sisters, who are imprisoned on a planet somewhere, and she wants Cobra to help her save them - although she hardly seems to need his help.

I wasn't able to interest myself in any of this, and nor could I focus on it for long. It's pretty boring and confusing, and just seems like style over anything else - and the style isn't even that great.

This I tell you, is something for kids in the beginning of their teens, of how the future is about. Yes, it's SciFi, but it's oh sooo cool. atleast when you're a kid..

I still remembered when I was a little dorky little kid, I adore this movies.. Hey, at the age of 10yrs of age, DO NOT FEEL ASHAME!!!! It's friggen natural! I know I didn't feel any realness at that age, and I was set aside, a little under developed when compared to other kidz, when it came to anim cartoons. DO NOT CARE ABOUT WHAT ANY DUDE SAYS! You need this if you're anything like me, a fututristic designer, a dreamer, someone who has a feeling for design in a futuristic maner.. This thing is for your own development! Believe me... I'm one of you guys...

Buichi Terasawa's manga, "Cobra", about a Belmondo-like pirate roaming space with his android sidekick proved such a big success when released that it was adapted to a series and a film with little time separating the two. While the series has retained all of its cult charm, possibly owing to the fact that Cobra's charisma is evident throughout his adventures, the movie, "Space adventure Cobra" feels unneeded, since, while ostensibly centered on Cobra, uses him just as a pretence to explore visually stunning universes. It is cinéma du look made in Japan, but with little of the slickness of its French counterparts to make up for the ridiculous plot and characters.

Preceding the series by some months, "Space adventure Cobra" is completely based on the manta's first arc, in which the pirate and his sidekick team up with a bounty hunter, Jane Royal, in order to fight the leader of a crime syndicate called the Galactic Guild, who goes by the name of Crystal Boy. Kind of a C-3PO imitator but with sinister intentions, he wants to destroy Jane's home, the planet Miros, and only Cobra with his Psychogun, a ray gun under his left arm, can stop him.

So are we supposed to believe, but from the moment that Jane shows up, one thing I sure; this dynamic, independent heroine is capable to defeat this villain all by herself. Possessing a talent for martial arts, not to mention an irresistible seductiveness - this, of course, is what draws Cobra to her - she can fight all alone. It is through Cobra's clumsiness, though, that the two heroes find help in the face of Captain Sandra, the leader of an all-female force. In an age of female characters often only present for their sex appeal, the developed, interesting heroines of "Space adventure Cobra" seem pioneering, and Cobra, more of a womaniser than a warrior, seems totally unnecessary.

Perhaps it would have been beneficial to the protagonist if the makers of the film had checked out some of Belmondo's action comedies. There, not only his charm and humour, but also his talent for stunts, were exploited, making for an excellent combination of awe-inspiring action and sweet, gentle comedy. Unfortunately, "Space adventure Cobra" prefers to play it like a serious space opera, leaving no space for the character to express his goofiness and special kind of action in a way that fits into the plot without being utterly comedic, and thus a parody of Terasawa's creation. Cobra is like Belmondo in "L'alpagueur" - trapped in a role that doesn't fit him, too serious and lacking in human qualities to make his always triumphant one-man stands worth watching. At least Belmondo had acting talent to save him. Cobra, in his animated nature, has none such traits. In the hands of Osamu Dezaki, he becomes nothing more than a two-dimensional imitator of his French idol, without the qualities that gave the other his uniqueness. Only the goofy stuntman has remained of the original Belmondo in Cobra.

If the protagonist feels like a failed version of Belmondo, then the settings seem like Beneix on drugs. Bright colours, large spaceships designed in every detail - this is more like Besson - and different planets are there for us to admire. The film begins with a sequence full of psychedelic colours, in which a little tour of the planets of this cinematic universe is combined with the image of naked women inside water. Beneix in Woodstock, on stimulants. Fortunately, the setting becomes more modern as the film progresses, although, even in its neon, New Wavy moments, doesn't lose its desire to experiment with psychedelic art elements. It is a film made in the eighties, with nostalgia for the seventies. What if Crystal Boy's dark, distant, cold headquarters could've been pulled off a Besson feature? The film prefers to travel back in time for visual inspiration, thus losing its cinéma du look character. The only way it resembles the original cinéma du look films is that it uses the setting to complement a weak plot. But this is unintentional. The director doesn't seem to know that his story is weak and so doesn't deliberately highlight the film's visual aspect. The visual result is only an experiment.

To my dismay, the whole feature seems like an experiment in testing the protagonist's film potential. It just pushes him to the limits, making him play in a serious story, when only a brand of ironic, funny action could have saved him. Without a good lead character, the movie falls apart. Cobra was no professional. In fact, in his effort to distinguish himself as an action hero he just lost his way, and ended up in an environment that didn't suit him. He resembled more a child, one whose goal was to discover adventure, when he wasn't made for that. Cobra was a lovable character in the series. But in the film, this charm of his found no real use. And this is the most unfortunate thing about "Space adventure Cobra", a space opera with a lead actor missing all the right notes.