Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space

The war between the Principality of Zeon and the Earth Federation continues as the crew of the White Base and newtype Gundam pilot Amuro Ray return to space for a final confrontation with Zeon as the infighting among the Zabi family continues and Char Aznable intends to finish off Amuro and the Gundam once and for all.

The final film in the compilation film trilogy of Mobile Suit Gundam's first series, Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space is noted for containing the most new footage of the three films added by Yoshiyuki Tomino. The movie is the best of the of three Mobile Suit Gundam compilation films because it has the most "complete feeling" to it with adequately established stakes and a sense of finality that leaves it a satisfactory conclusion to the trilogy.

Pretty much every point established is paid off here from Amuro's conflict with Char, to Sayla Mass and her relationship with Char as her long lost brother, and Char's conflict with the Zabi family. All the primary and secondary characters feel like they've come full circle at this point with harrowing action sequences and striking moments of emotional resonance that kept me engaged throughout the 2 and ½ hour runtime. A solid inclusion to this movie is definitely in regards to the Zabi family who's backstabbing and conniving makes them really strong characters who feel like they could've been the basis of a series unto themselves, but we're just given tidbits as to what goes on with them unfortunately. Amuro and Char's conflict is also given more weight with the inclusion of another newtype named Lalah who like the Zabi family feels like she could've been further developed and established.

Encounters in Space does a mostly successful job of closing the book on the theatrical retelling of the original Mobile Suit Gundam series. There's a sense of desperation in the stakes as well as a sense of finality that makes this entry the most fully realized film of the trilogy and hits all the key points of Gundam and its foundations. While it does rely on you seeing the first two movies, it's a mostly successful payoff to two films worth of build-up.

Just as Part II was set almost exclusively on Earth, Part III takes the White Base and it's crew back to the stars to a final showdown with the Duchy of Zeon. Along the way, both Amuro and Char once again face each other, and events transpire they won't soon forget(and which carry on to the sequels Zeta Gundam and Char's Counterattack). Part III also has 75% new animation, so it appears more solid than it's predecessors, although the animation is still dated in most places(mostly during battle scenes). Overall, it's very good stuff.

Encounters in Space (bad name, but whatever) feels like an actual film much more than the other two entries. Perhaps because it *is* originally designed as an ending; it doesn't feel weirdly truncated like the prequels.

This entry also has by far the best animation of the three. The writing has been epic before, but here the visuals live up what was promised.

The level of brutality on display is also more in line with what's happening in the story, and a few of the deaths were quite impactful.

I'm moving onto Zeta Gundam now (the show, not the films this time) and am very excited to see where the franchise goes. This trilogy was a great foundation for a hopefully expansive universe.

A recyclying of the series material with the "Newtype" word thrown at the viewer with no subtetly, another guncannon in place of the guntank and some nonsensical plot changes just to give the idea that this retelling has a reason to exist. No, it doesn't. Skip all this 0079 compilation movie trilogy and go directly to Gundam Z after watching the original series, you won't miss anything.

The NewType concept takes away from the Gundam story. It has a lot of potential, but to me it distracts from the main message that war is hell and people are dumb. I would have loved, for example, to have this NewType thing being thrown around as a political token and as a genuine concern or fascination, only to discover that no, there is no new stage of human evolution, just some people who worked at it and some who didn't. But it wasn't to be. For the sake of this idea, poorly developed characters are introduced, given a lot of importance and then killed off. It did not help the story at all.

There are a lot more fights and there is some closure, but story-wise and on pure enjoyment level, I liked the second film in the series. I was about to look for the Gundam series only to discover that in fact this IS the series, reedited, quality improved and compressed into three films. They should do this with all anime :)