Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy (劇場版 機動戦士ガンダム, Gekijouban Kidō Senshi Gandamu) is a 1981-1982 original theatrical anime film series by studio Sunrise, and director/writer Yoshiyuki Tomino. It is a compilation of the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime series by the same studio and team.
Mobile Suit Gundam I (機動戦士ガンダム I, Kidō Senshi Gandamu I), Mobile Suit Gundam II: Soldiers of Sorrow (機動戦士ガンダムⅡ 哀・戦士編, Kidō Senshi Gandamu II: Ai Senshi-hen), and Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space (機動戦士ガンダムⅢ めぐりあい宇宙編, Kidō Senshi Gandamu III: Meguriai Sora-hen) were theatrically released in March 1981, July 1981, and March 1982 for Japan respectively.
Brief Unboxing Redux Note:
I first received Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy in March 2017 by pre-ordering the set through Anime Limited’s online store. This was unboxed over on my Normanic Vault blog via Blogger. This post is a remaster of that unboxing with better photos, updated information and any added extras. Enjoy!
Background:
“Universal Century 0079. Amuro Ray finds himself caught up in the war between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. He unwillingly becomes the pilot of a prototype Mobile Suit called the Gundam. Now he and the crew of the White Base will haver to fight for their very lives as the enemy attempts to destroy this new weapon at all costs.
Combatants will face triumph and turmoil as they battle their way through space to get to their final destination on Earth. The outcome of the war lies in the hands of the Newtype in the anime series that started it all.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, March 2017.
The original Mobile Suit Gundam series became a success and spawned many sequels, spin-offs, video games, toys and dozens of other things. One of those instances was a compilation movie series recapping the events of the original series with a few adjustments to the mix. This version is technically the canon route for the Universal Century storyline, which Zeta Gundam following the events of these films.
Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy was released by Bandai for the North American audiences many years ago and even got an English dub in 1999. Though because the English dub was considered “not very good” by Sunrise, the dub was never allowed to be brought back for future re-releases and that still continues for the recent ones done by Bandai Entertainment, Beez Entertainment, as well as Nozomi Entertainment and Anime Limited.
Because the films as a result had to be released subtitled only, Anime Limited weren’t sure if there was a market for them, especially as we already got the original Mobile Suit Gundam series brought over to the UK on Blu-ray. Thus, there was a special limited release which did better than expected and eventually years later was brought back so newcomers can still start with the films if they wish!
Collector’s Edition Contents:
This release is an interesting one. As I mentioned briefly earlier in this post, Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy received a special limited release which was a collector’s edition Blu-ray set that was only available to acquire through Anime Limited’s online webstore. In addition, the SRP was £34.99 and only received 500 units in total.
The packaging for the collector’s edition is larger than the usual Gundam box set but also has no additional content. You have the three films presented across three Amaray cases and that is it. No booklet, or art cards, or posters. On the upside, you do get the nice artwork that represents each film.
The regular edition which eventually did get a release a few years later, was released at a smaller SRP compared to the TV shows.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with amaray case packaging and clean artwork
- Info sheet for specs and sticker on wrapping for BBFC logo
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 20th March 2017
The collector’s edition release for Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy presents all three films across three Blu-ray discs using the French Anime Limited author. As mentioned earlier, the audio option available for the films is Japanese with English and French subtitles.
What’s interesting about this release is that Anime Limited released the films on Blu-ray before Nozomi did, and as such there were some differences. The big difference is the audio version itself. Nozomi used the 5.1 audio version, while Anime Limited was able to include both the 5.1 audio and the original theatrical mono audio for their release.
The white subtitles (for both subtitle languages) are locked during playback, and the regions are locked to B for Blu-ray.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | Japanese |
| Audio | Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 4:3 (anamorphic 16:9) aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English, French |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 3 BD-50s |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
No extras across all discs
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy is available to order through multiple retailers across the United Kingdom. The collector’s edition set sold out very early on, but you can still acquire the standard edition on Amazon UK.
The Normanic Vault 
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