Search - Gun Frontier: Gun Pack on DVD


Gun Frontier: Gun Pack
Gun Frontier Gun Pack
Actors: Paul St. Peter, Eiji Takemoto, Kappei Yamaguchi, Rica Matsumoto, Kiyoyuki Yanada
Directors: Kristi Reed, Sôichirô Zen
Genres: Westerns, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Television, Anime & Manga, Animation
UR     2004     5hr 20min

Although it wasn't animated until 2003, Gun Frontier began as a manga Leiji Matsumoto drew from 1972 to 1975 that transported two of his most popular characters from the frontiers of space to the American Frontier. The "ha...  more »

     
4

Larger Image

Movie Details

Actors: Paul St. Peter, Eiji Takemoto, Kappei Yamaguchi, Rica Matsumoto, Kiyoyuki Yanada
Directors: Kristi Reed, Sôichirô Zen
Creators: Kristi Reed, Leiji Matsumoto, Kenichi Araki, Mugi Kamio
Genres: Westerns, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Television, Anime & Manga, Animation
Sub-Genres: Westerns, Animation, Television, Anime & Manga, Animation
Studio: Anime Works
Format: DVD - Color - Animated,Dubbed,Subtitled
DVD Release Date: 03/30/2004
Release Year: 2004
Run Time: 5hr 20min
Screens: Color
Number of Discs: 4
SwapaDVD Credits: 4
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 1
Edition: Box set
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Languages: English, Japanese, English
Subtitles: English

Similar Movies

Cosmo Warrior Zero Collected Edition
3
   UR   2003   5hr 25min
Queen Emeraldas
Director: Yuji Asada
7
   UR   1999   1hr 0min
 

Movie Reviews

Spaghetti Western Japanese Anime style
W. Hohauser | NYC | 12/31/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the best Harlock offerings out there and a very good western besides. After seeing a number of Matsumoto based animes not living up to their potential, this is a great treat.

Ignore the description provided by the US distributor, this is NOT a Captain Harlock Space Pirate sci-fi story! The main characters are apparently distant ancestors of Space Pirate Harlock and his best friend Tochiro who happen to also be best friends. The story is set in the late 1800's in the wild west of the United States, a very strange wild west. The two are on a quest and get shadowed by a mysterious woman and the criminal organization that hired her.

The animation is limited but done well. The design is very good. The scripts as seen through the subtitles are way above average for any anime. The Western themed music (except for the opening and close) is very simple but really fits the atmosphere of the show. The pacing is very close to the great spaghetti westerns of the 1960's. The entire show is a mix of existential philosophy, odd humor and spaghetti western violence. This is a real joy to watch but I recommend watching one episode at a time.

Two notes for anyone thinking of Gun Frontier:

1) This is an adult themed anime and has a lot of hard violence at times. Also there is quite a bit of female nudity. It's that weird Japanese nudity where the women have no nipples and look like store window dummies. It's happens too much in the course of the program. These things and the repeated rape threats on the main female character make this series unsuitable for children.

2) This 13 episode series is part of a larger story so the last episode is a major cliffhanger. Hopefully Matsumoto will get chance to finish the story."
A decent flick for adult Matsumoto fans.
J. Kucera | 10/13/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)

"Being a long time Matsumoto fan, I was excited when I heard that a new series, Gun Frontier, had come out. And so I bought the DVD set shortly after.

I enjoyed the series quite a lot, but there was one thing that really bothered me: the descrimination towards women. There's too much nudity, and women are personified as objects of lust...

I think the series would've gained more praise had it done away with some of the repeated themes as well.

But all in all, I'd recomend it to any adult Matsumoto fan."
Bad Cowboys And Lots Of Fun
coopertex | CA United States | 09/19/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)

"The editorial review shown above, written by Charles Solomon, is very accurate and I agree with him for the most part. The story is very vague in the beggining as we follow Tochiro and Harlock's characters looking for the last survivors of Samuria Creek. They travel from town to town and encounter lots of opposition from the townsfolks who are either, corrupt, crazy, racist and stupid. There are lots of racists remarks made through out and this may offend some viewers (and because of this very fact) I cannot recoommend it to children. This is an adult themed anime with lots of shoot-outs, hangings and even the the threat of rape and violence to women. The violence is not gory at all. The sex it mainly implied and nudity is very weak but it is all there. As an adult anime it fails because it lacks the intensity that makes the sex and action sequences have more impact. The charcter designs are unattractive and lack detail. The animation quality comes close to a saturday morning cartoon (not good). Despite my many complaints I enjoyed the anime overall, because of Tochiro and Harlock were always getting into and out of trouble, it had that cliffhanger flare to it; like a comic book. Also many of the episodes were self contained so you didn't have to worry too much about continuity. The whole western theme with gunslingers and bounty hunters always facinated me and this series just pours it on. I also enjoyed the pacing of the the show; it was slow paced but contained the right blend of action. I know that the creators spent a great deal of time trying to get the look, feel and sounds of the western world done correctly and I think they did a great job on that aspect. But in order to make this series better it needs to change; the racist remarks, the constant threat of characters being hanged and finish the storyline with a conclusion. There were thirteen episodes of Gun Frontier and eposide thirteen leaves you hanging (no pun intended). Good for adults. I recommend this anime to anyone that likes action/ westerns and this is one of the few western anime series that I know of. Some people tell me about Trigun being better and that is true but Trigun is more of Sci-Fi genre.

"
Criminally Bad
E. A. Montgomery | Florida, USA | 10/22/2007
(1 out of 5 stars)

"This makes me rethink my Harlock allegiance. I've heard there was a project so bad that Matsumoto disowned it before he ever finished it. If it's not Gun Frontier, then I hope I never see what it was. My husband and brother, also Matsumoto fans, spent most of the third episode creating new phrases to describe the quality. (The winner was 'Schlock and Awe' followed closely by 'Crapulent') Apparently the West was won by the rape of good women, the killing of bad women, mass murder and fear of homosexuality. My overwhelming feeling was that Matsumoto wondered if he could do anything like Monkey Punch's Lupin series, found he couldn't, and moved on. A few sample plot points - one women is gang raped while Harlock and Tochiro are tied and unable to help her. She sacrifices her life to save theirs, because she can't go back to her family so defiled. They seem pretty ok with all of this, which is a good thing since shortly they will be tied again for another rape (which doesn't actually happen) after which they will whine about how the rape affects them, as the 'victim' jokes about making them raise any offspring. Because rape is funny. Unless it's not, in which case the woman should end her life saving people who did nothing to help her. Later, they arrive at a town which thinks it's a pattern card of morality. In truth, the town is a cover for the gang rapists, who frame the Native Americans for their actions. When the Natives kill the entire town as payment for their leader's crimes, Harlock and Tochiro are ok with that too. There is no heroism in Gun Frontier. It's a western without a cause, unless that cause is 'fan service' for the damaged. Deeply disappointing, with none of the charm of his other works."