Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie

Production and release

The film is based on Buichi Terasawa's 1978 manga Cobra, specifically on Cobra involvement with the Royal Sisters, and his fight against Crystal Boy, which was the first major arc of manga. It was theatrically released on July 23, 1982, in Japan. In Japan, the film was first released in December 1991 in VHS format. It was released on DVD on June 25, 2001 by Digital Site, and re-released by Happinet on August 29, 2008. Manga Entertainment released the film in British theaters in 1995. The Manga Entertainment version's dub had an alternate soundtrack performed by the pop group Yello. An American dub was created by Carl Macek's Streamline Pictures, and was released in American theaters on August 20, 1995, by Tara, and was later distributed by Urban Vision on VHS format on June 16, 1998. The film was released in the Australasian region by Madman Entertainment on December 5, 2007. On April 8, 2008, Manga Entertainment released it on DVD. On January 3, 2012, Hulu started to host the English dubbed version of the film after an agreement with TMS. Discotek Media released the film in the United States on DVD on August 21, 2012.

Reception and legacy

Otaku USA's Daryl Surat wrote that Cobra is a type of classical pulp series. While declared its protagonist is "part Han Solo and part Sean Connery-era James Bond" who does not fit the modern-day anime hero standard. Surat also said, "when people speak of the 1980s as 'the golden age of anime sci-fi, it's because of things like Space Adventure Cobra". Sandra Scholes of Active Anime commented it reminded "Barbarella, Zardoz and Star Wars all mixed together." Writing in the Fandom Post, Darius Washington thought it was "more like the Derek Flint films" than James Bond and that Cobra's adventures "could be comparable to worlds depicted in Outlaw Star and Bodacious Space Pirates." T. Strife from Anime News Network praised it for staying true to the manga and "holding its own with a modern audience". Strife stated that the series carries a theme of "love as a power beyond compare", which battles with the main character's playboyish air. Overall, Strife said the movie is a masterpiece and classic that is worth viewing to know the medium's foundations. On the other hand, Charles Packer of Sci-Fi Online called the plot pure nonsense and the dialogue almost laughable. He said that the animation looks like a Saturday morning cartoon, stating it crosses between that of an old anime and a new one, complete with interesting "psychedelic moments".

Matthew Sweet's 1991 music video "Girlfriend" used excerpts from the film, and become one of the most-watched videos on MTV.