Mobile Suit Gundam - Movie II (Soldiers of Sorrow)
Soldiers of Sorrow(1981) is the second of the three features that launched the landmarkGundamfranchise: about two-thirds of the film is footage from episodes 16 to 30 of the TV seriesMobile Suit Gundam(1979) intercut with new animation. Because so much material had to be condensed into two and a half hours, Amuro's relationships with Lt. Matilda and Ms. Hamon end before they really begin. Amuro wrestles with his new identity as a soldier and the fact that he is a "NewType," a human with psychic abilities that may represent an evolutionary jump. His problems are played out against the ongoing war between the Earth Federation and the space-based Principality of Zeon. Although Earth commands vastly superior resources, Zeon commander Char Aznable seems to have an unending supply of ships and mobile suits for attacks on Amuro's ship, theWhite Base. Rated 13 Up: Minor profanity, violence.--Charles Solomon