Sonic the Hedgehog: Movie (Dub)

First off, let me warn you: GET THE DVD AND ONLY PLAY THE JAPANESE VERSION! The dub will literally hurt your ears. The seiyuu picked for the Japanese voices, however, are excellent. (Especially for Knux!) Never watch the dub unless you need a spiteful laugh. I don't know what they were trying to do, but both Sonic and Tails sound like they have nasal problems. Knuckles' voice is just wrong. The only reason I did not detract stars is because I never need to listen to the dub again. The Japanese version is music to my ears.

And about the music... It's great! The general SEGA style, upbeat, technoish, fast and fun. It's all too catchy. The animation is a bit DBZish. (That's not a compliment) I guess it most reminds me of Final Fantasy Unlimited because there are very few shadows that define the characters... They look a bit two dimensional. Surprisingly, it improves a bit during the second half of the movie.

The characters in it are: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Eggman, Sarah, Old Man (Some owl), and the President who is father of Sarah. None others. (Sorry comic and cartoon fans, no freedom fighters besides the blue blur and flying fox) I don't mind, though, because for the condenced and isolated story, it works to have only the main characters. And while it doesn't follow nearly the same way, it does remind me of the games.

I highly recommend this to Sonic fans, but like I said, keep it Japanese. Hey, it IS anime, afterall.


It was okay, but not great   January 31, 2003
17 out of 21 found this review helpful

Pros:

1. The music is great
2. It's pretty funny
3. The battle scenes were really good

Cons:

1. The voices are HORRIBLE!
2. The artwork could've been better
3. It needed a better storyline
4. Sara, the person that they have to save is an indrecibly annoying idiot, and it's a wonder why Sonic didn't just throw her off a cliff
~~~~~~~
Well, here's a brief description. Eggman threatens to kidnap Sara, the presidents daughter if Sonic doesn't save "the land of Darkness" from this reactor blowing up. So Sonic goes to "the land of Darkness", and it turns out to be a trap, and so, Sonic has to fight "Hyper Metal Sonic". It's basically like the video game - Run around. Blow up robots. Yay. It's good for a game, but not for a movie. I wouldn't really reccomend this, unless you're a kid. (I think it was just made for kids, so pre-teens, teenagers and adults think it's a waste of time)


The best sonic movie (or show) ever?   April 29, 2004
Strategos (In Space above Planet Earth)
11 out of 13 found this review helpful

While there has never in my opinion been a cartoon that fully captures the spirit of speed and adventure found in the best Sonic games, this movie probably does the best job I've seen so far. Is the voice acting stupendous? No, more like hilariously cheesy (in a good way). Is the animation incredibly life-like and fluid. Not really, more like Saturday morning cartoons. And the characterization? The video games are deeper.

Why is it so great then?

SPEED.

This movie is fast, fast, fast. If you like the motion-blue zip-zagging that many anime are famous for you'll probably love the action sequences (I know I did). If you love the idea of sonic fighting metal sonic you'll love their fights in particular. And if you can get into the spirit of the whole thing (it is MEANT to be funny and DEFINITELY not to be taken seriously) you'll have a great time. I especially love the music, and the weird jokes like Robotnik and Sara playing a fighting game and her losing over and over.

Overall, this is definitely one worth checking out if you are a big video game or sonic fan, or if you've exhausted all the well-known action anime and are looking for something fresh and different (and maybe something cheesy like some of the great movies from the 80's).

Oh, and you've got to love the springboards and spikes! Right out of the video games...


Great job! This is a excellent movie.   August 3, 2001
Devon Lozano (Fort Worth, TX USA)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

This movie is fantastic! Although they cut out the 2 parts shown only in the Japenese version of Sonic flipping Dr. Robotnik off, and where Knuckles says "S**t", its still a great movie! It revolves around Dr. Robotnik tricking Sonic into going to an island, where he has to fight a robot that is exactly like him in every way! Even his heart is in the right place. And the end theme "Look-a-like" goes so well with the movie that its not even funny! Ofcourse it would have been a little better had it of been a little longer, the action and the graphics are great! This is why I must give it 4 stars. Except, well...Sonic/Tails/Knuckles's voices are a little messed up...Tails sounds like he has a cold, Sonic sounds like a brittish guy trying to have a American accent, and Knuckles is kind of bland..


Yeah it's great...if you're 10.   January 25, 2006
A.N. Roman (Hillsboro, OR)
9 out of 14 found this review helpful

Nearly every Sonic fan out there praises the heck out of this movie. People saying that this is the only one that matters, that even the animated series that ran on ABC paled to it, and how it's like a cartoon version of one of the games says a lot. Unfortunately, the movie does none of the above, and is one of the worst animated movies I've seen. Had I seen this movie when I was a kid, I probably would've liked it. It captures the speed of the Sonic games, has colorful locations, a fair cast of characters including Knuckles, and a good soundtrack. You'd think that'd give it some reason to watch. But also included is a boring plot and inconsistencies. I don't even know why I went into this with high expectations now- fanboys are always over hyping anything they like. Again, kids under the age of 12 will enjoy this movie, anyone else...not so much.

The story (I use that term loosely here) starts out with Dr. Eggman working on a new creation for a few minutes. It's called Hyper Metal Sonic, and apparently, it's cool because he chose to give it Hyper in the title. Eggman lives in the Land of Darkness, which is the inner world of Planet Freedom. Sonic and the others, however, live in the more peaceful part of the world. Sonic and Tails get news to see the President from a clumsy secondary character that serves no other purpose, and head off to do so. When they arrive, they see that Eggman has the President and his daughter captive. He wants Sonic to go to the Land of Darkness where Black Eggman (original, ain't it?) supposedly kicked him out and took over Eggman Land. For some reason or another, Sonic agrees to take care of the problem- mostly because there's a huge power build up there, which could cause the world to explode. When they arrive, Black Eggman wipes the floor with them until Knuckles busts in. Together, they fend off Black Eggman, but in turn reveal another enemy- Hyper Metal Sonic. Sonic taking on Hyper Metal Sonic, Tails and Knuckles trying to save the President and his daughter from Eggman, how's it all going to end? Oh, I think you know. This is a 53 minute movie after all.

While it sounds interesting, the movie's pacing is tedious, and made me not care about what happened. Most of the characters were annoying, so I was glad when one of them got hurt. The mot interesting thing that happened was Knuckles making an appearence...with a hat. I don't know why he's wearing a hat, but I guess he's also a treasure hunter now, and wanders the world with a Ryu-like duffel bag. The President seems worthless, especially when he doesn't have guards that can take care of 5 robots. His daughter's the stereotypical anime girl- always screaming, crying, and then suddenly going chibi at inappropriate times. Metal Sonic at least doesn't say anything for the most part. He just runs around fighting like a Dragon Ball Z character. Then come the inconsistencies: Knuckles saying, "I've never seen anyone keep up with Sonic" right after he made it to Eggman Land first, beating Sonic in a race there. It didn't make sense. Then again, neither does the fight against Black Eggman- who claims his armor is made out of the strongest metal out there. Sonic's attacks don't dent it, but later on, he's able to cut an arm off and spin right through the entire robot. For anime fans that always go on about how subs are better than dubs, Sonic will prove you wrong. The original Japanese track is good as long as you don't watch it with subtitles on. "You may have the fastest feet in the world, but it you can't move...". I know it's usually the grammar or punctuation that suffers in subtitles, but this is just unacceptable. Anyone who knows Japanese will also laugh at some of the subtitles. Like when Tails shouts, "OJII-SAN!", the subtitle reads "Mister come back!". But a minute later when Sonic says the same word, the subtitle picks it up as "Gramps". That's a hell of a lot closer than what Tails was saying. And then there's the English track *shudder*. One of many things that irritated me about it was how the voice actors mispronounce English words. "Metal" is said as "meadow", and when they'd talk about Metal Sonic, I kept picturing an evil Sonic prancing about a meadow while looking angry and tossing flowers around. The voices are the worst part, of course. Sonic's voice isn't done by the same guy who did it in the animated series- it's worse. Tails sounds like a rejected mental patient with a lisp, Knuckles sounds like Johnny from Ed, Edd and Eddy, and the supporting cast is forgettable. All of these problems outweigh the lack of rings, Chaos Emeralds, imprisoned animals, and many more things normal in the Sonic world. Anyone who thinks this is a great movie must've never played a Sonic game, or is still stuck in the magical land of nostalgia, watching it once when they're young and then never again. Either that or they've convinced themselves that this is a good movie because it was the first thing they watched after being abused by their parents.

For a cartoon that was made in the early 90s, the transfer holds up pretty well. There are some interlacing errors and grain to be found, but it's not as bad as some others from the same era. Backgrounds look especially good. The audio is a tad quiet, and you'll probably have to turn it up a bit- especially if you watch it with the English track on. Sound effects are quieter than the Japanese track's for some reason, not that it matters much.

The only special features other than the Japanese language track are a slideshow, and a handful of character bios for the main characters. No story boards, interviews with the voice actors, interview with Sonic's creator, a look at the games, nothing. There's also a link to ADV Films' site, but I hardly consider that an extra. With this movie being out of print at the moment, it makes me wonder if a special edition's coming out in the future. Especially now that Sonic celebrated his 10th anniversary a while ago.

If you have young children that love the Sonic games, then this would be a good present for them. But if you're a longtime fan of the games and have grown up since enjoying them, you're better off sticking to the games. If anything, you'll feel embarrassed for watching this.