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Project Blue Earth SOS
Anime DVD Review
I dare say just about anyone reading this website is probably too young to remember the "The Donny and Marie Show". It was a 70's variety show starring the two teenage Osmonds and one of their segments was "I'm a little bit country, ...and I'm a little bit rock and roll".
Well, that's what Project Blue Earth SOS is... Except it's a little bit "Independence Day", a little bit "Futurama", a little bit "Captain Scarlet", and a little bit too serious as an homage to incredibly bad 50's alien-invasion "B-Movies".
 Nevertheless, the retro-futuristic design is wonderful, evoking Giant Robo, Tetsujin 28, and a plethora of other anime 'reboots', that take a look at how our future might have been, had we simply kept up with Fritz Lang's "Metropolis", and not stagnated in the 70's. In this future, ray-guns look like brightly colored toy pistols that shoot circular beams, and the design of (human) spacecraft reminds us of a cross between a V2 and the Hindenburg. We were particularly amused that cars can fly, but the printed newspaper is still king, and people listen to dramas on the "wireless".
 If you secretly thought "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" was a hoot, and you get excited by the spaceship sequences in "Destroy All Monsters" (or any other Kaiju flick), then you'll find that this is right up your alley. This film has everything you'd expect from a "Gee-Wiz, technology can solve every problem of mankind" throwback to the hopelessly optimistic atomic-powered films of the 50's, plus we guarantee that the plot twist near the end isn't what you'd expect.
 Boy geniuses Billy Kamura and Penny Carter work together via rivalry and friendly competition, but each comes to face their personal demons while solving the mystery of the alien invasion, and trying to cope with the fact that the enemy has vastly superior technology. It's only with the help of a cast of intrepid (and amazingly unkillable) companions that they manage to succeed (oops, did I give away that the good guys win, come on, this is a B-Movie!). Overall, it has the whiz-bang feel of an E.E. "Doc" Smith or Robert Heinlein sci-fi adventure novel, replete with an Ian Flemming-esque supporting cast.
Nevertheless, despite playing it straight and keeping the tone a little too serious in the midst of a completely ludicrous set-up, the action never ceases, so, it's a thoroughly enjoyable romp through an age that was more innocent, where we really thought that this was our future... cute, sweet, sterile, goofy and a little boring. It really is the "Donny and Marie" of Sci-Fi.... and it's a little bit rock and roll.
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick, July 2009
Below: Scenes from Project Blue Earth SOS.
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