View source for G-Saviour

{{short description|1999 television film directed by Graeme Campbell}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox television
| image                = G-Saviour Cover Art.jpg
| image_size           =
| image_alt            = 
| caption              = ''G-Saviour'' poster and DVD cover
| genre                = [[Military science fiction]]
| creator              = 
| based_on             = {{Based on|''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]''|[[Yoshiyuki Tomino]]<br />& [[Hajime Yatate]]}}
| writer               = 
| screenplay           = Mark Amato<br />Stephanie Pena-Sy
| story                = Stephanie Pena-Sy
| director             = [[Graeme Campbell (director)|Graeme Campbell]]
| starring             = [[Brennan Elliott]]<br />[[Enuka Okuma]]<br />Catharina Conti<br />[[David Lovgren]]
| narrator             = 
| theme_music_composer = [[John Debney]]<br />[[Louis Febre]]
| country              = United States<br />Japan
| language             = English
| num_episodes         = 
| producer             = Kouichi Inoue<br />Chris Dobbs
| editor               = Rick Martin
| cinematography       = Joel Ransom
| runtime              = 93 minutes
| company              = Polestar Entertainment<br>[[Sunrise (company)|Sunrise]]
| budget               = 
| network              = [[TV Asahi]]
| first_aired          = {{start date|2000|12|29}}
| last_aired           =
}}
{{nihongo|'''''G-Saviour'''''|{{Ruby|G|ジー}}セイバー|Jī-Seibā}} is a 1999 American live-action [[television film]] created as part of the ''[[Gundam]]'' [[anime|anime franchise]], produced by Polestar Entertainment under the supervision of [[Bandai Namco Filmworks|Sunrise]] and distributed by [[Bandai Visual]].

The film was produced as part of the "Gundam Big Bang Project", which was a series of works made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the ''Gundam'' franchise. Set in the [[Universal Century]] timeline,<ref>{{cite web |last1=McPherson |first1=Mark |title=G-SAVIOUR: A Japanese TV Special Made In Canada |url=https://www.filminquiry.com/g-saviour-2000-review/ |website=Film Inquiry |access-date=November 22, 2019 |date=May 24, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mechatalk.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12622&start=0#p275674|title=Universal Century, Post V Gundam? - Mecha Talk|website=www.mechatalk.net|access-date=2019-11-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sunrise-inc.co.jp/work/detail.php?cid=252|title=作品情報 G－セイバー|website=www.sunrise-inc.co.jp|access-date=2020-10-24}}</ref> ''G-Saviour'' was produced as a joint effort between the animation studio and creator of Gundam, Sunrise, and an independent film production company, Polestar Entertainment. The film was theatrically screened at a festival in [[Japan]] on June 18, 1999,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.shortshorts.org/1999/htm/fi-j.htm|title=festival info|website=www.shortshorts.org|access-date=2020-10-24}}</ref> and was first broadcast on December 29, 2000, from 16:00 to 17:25 on [[TV Asahi]] and its affiliate [[All-Nippon News Network|ANN]] stations.

==Plot==
The year is [[Universal Century]] 0223. The former Earth Federation has collapsed, and the space colonies have shaken off their colonial pasts and now refer to themselves as independent space "Settlements". In this new power scheme two factions have emerged: the Congress of Settlement Nations (CONSENT), which is largely made up of the former Earth Federation government and Sides 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and the Settlement Freedom League, composed of Sides 1, 4, and the Lunar Cities.

Mark Curran is an ex-CONSENT pilot who now works for Hydro-Gen, an independent research facility located at the [[Atlantic Ocean|Deep Face Trench]]. While out on a harvesting run, Mark saves CONSENT lieutenant Tim Holloway. Shortly after the lieutenant is saved, the lab is commandeered by the Congressional Armed Forces, led by Mark's former superior, Jack Halle. As the facility's security system is triggered, Mark goes off to investigate. Mark saves one of the intruders, Cynthia Graves, from Jack's firing squad after she surrenders, while another intruder is killed by the gunfire.

The CONSENT is in the midst of a global food shortage, with its military leaders threatening force to take over the neutral Side 8 Settlement of Gaea. General Garneuax asks Mark to interrogate Cynthia, who is revealed to be a Gaean rebel. Mark helps Cynthia escape, who shows him an enzyme that allows food to grow underwater, which can solve the food shortage. The two meet up with Cynthia's interns, Franz Dieter and Kobi, and the group escape into space along with Mark's fiancée Mimi Devere. Meanwhile, Jack frames Mark for the murder of a CONSENT soldier, whom Jack had killed himself. The group arrives at the Side 4 Settlement of New Manhattan, meeting with Philippe San Simeone, an old acquaintance of Mark, and a member of the Illuminati, a private paramilitary organization. Philippe entrusts Mark with a new prototype mobile suit, the G-Saviour, but he refuses to pilot it. Mark changes his mind to help clear a path through a debris field on the way to Gaea.

Arriving at Gaea, Mark and Cynthia meet with Chief Councilor Graves, Cynthia's father. Graves tell them that a Congressional Armed Forces fleet is on its way to Gaea, looking to apprehend the two and the enzyme sample. After seeing Mark and Cynthia share a kiss, Mimi hacks into Gaea's defense system, causing debris clearing guns to fire at a CONSENT ship. After Mark concludes that a mobile suit carrier is on its way to attack Gaea, Cynthia asks Mark to lead Gaea's mobile suit force against the approaching CONSENT forces. Both sides launch their mobile suit forces, with CONSENT greatly outmatching Gaea's obsolete RGM-196 Freedom mobile suits. Jack sorties out in the CAMS-13 MS-Rai, with Mark engaging him in battle with the G-Saviour. Congressional Armed Forces enter Gaea, with Kobi being critically wounded while trying to protect the enzyme sample. After retrieving the sample, Garneuax reveals his true intentions to destroy the sample and implement a policy of selective starvation across the CONSENT. With Gaea's forces dwindling, Philippe and the Illuminati's forces arrive and push back the CONSENT attack. Jack is defeated by Mark and the G-Saviour, who enter Gaea to disable the remaining CONSENT forces.

Garneuax and his forces, along with Mimi, escape from the Settlement in a Gaean space shuttle. Mimi reveals that she switched out the enzyme sample, which is back in the possession of Cynthia, as the shuttle is shot down by CONSENT forces. With Garneuax dead and Jack incapacitated, the Congressional Armed Forces withdraw from Gaea. Councilor Graves gives a speech stating that Side 8 will stay independent, while Mark returns to Earth with Cynthia.

==Cast==
{| border="1" style="border-collapse:collapse;" class="wikitable"
|- style="background-color:rgb(255,85,0);"
! Character
! Canadian actor
! Japanese voice actor
|-
|Mark Curran
|[[Brennan Elliott]]
|[[Masato Hagiwara]]
|-
|Cynthia Graves
|[[Enuka Okuma]]
|[[Ryoko Shinohara]]
|-
|Mimi Devere
|Catarina Conti
|[[Yumi Takada]]
|-
|Lieutenant Colonel Jack Halle
|[[David Lovgren]]
|[[Takaya Hashi]]
|-
|General Garneaux
|[[Kenneth Welsh]]
|Russell Ishii
|-
|Franz Dieter
|Alfonso Quijada
|Takayasu Komiya
|-
|Kobi
|Taayla Markell
|[[Rei Sakuma]]
|-
|Chief Councilor Graves
|Blu Mankuma
|[[Kenji Utsumi]]
|-
|Philippe San Simeone
|[[Hrothgar Mathews]]
|[[Toshihiko Kojima]]
|-
|Simmons
|[[Brendan Beiser]]
|[[Kenichi Ono]]
|-
|Dagget
|Marlowe Dawn
|[[Emi Shinohara]]
|-
|Lieutenant Tim Holloway
|[[Peter Williams (actor)|Peter Williams]]
|[[Naoki Bandō]]
|-
|Barkeep
|Christopher Shyer
|[[Kiyoyuki Yanada]]
|}

==Production==
In October 1995, work began on the ''G-Saviour'' [[multimedia]] project, beginning with the production of a promotional trailer to pitch the film to Sunrise. This promotional trailer was completed in March 1997.

Production on the film began in June 1998<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.zeonic-republic.net/?p=5396|title=G-SAVIOUR PROMOTIONAL TRAILER {{!}} Zeonic{{!}}Scanlations|language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-23}}</ref> and was intended, along with the ''[[Turn-A Gundam]]'' television series, to be the centerpiece of the "Gundam Big Bang Project", which was the 20th [[anniversary]] celebration for the popular ''Gundam'' metaseries. The ''G-Saviour'' film is part of the ''G-Saviour'' multimedia project, which encompasses several forms of media, including a radio drama, novel, and video game. ''Gundam'' co-creator [[Yoshiyuki Tomino]] was not involved in this production.

The film's actors are predominantly from Canada, and the [[Japanese language]] version has Japanese dubbed into the film. Most of the set locations, such as the [[Orpheum (Vancouver)|Orpheum Theatre]] and [[Simon Fraser University]] [[Burnaby]] campus, were located in the [[Metro Vancouver]] area in British Columbia, Canada.

''G-Saviour'' is unique among ''Gundam'' animated and live-action properties in that the word "Gundam" is not in the title, or used at all throughout the film's run. It was the second attempt at producing a live-action ''Gundam'' feature, after the 1997 interactive video game ''[[Gundam 0079: The War for Earth]]''.<ref>[http://www.ex.org/1.2/32-gundam0079.html EX.org - Gundam 0079: The War for Earth] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204100855/http://www.ex.org/1.2/32-gundam0079.html|date=December 4, 2008}}</ref>

==Home video==
The film was released on VHS on May 25, 2001.

The film was released on DVD on January 22, 2002.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011005/50580_1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011102104051/http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/011005/50580_1.html|title=Bandai Entertainment Announces The Release of Sci-Fi Action Film|website=[[Business Wire]]|publisher=[[Berkshire Hathaway]]|via=[[Yahoo! Finance|Yahoo.com]]|archive-date=November 2, 2001|date=October 5, 2001|access-date=June 14, 2019}}</ref>

==Media==
===Radio drama===
Prior to the television broadcasting, a radio drama series which takes place before the events of the film was broadcast on Japanese FM radio stations. These radio dramas were subsequently released on CD in December 2000 onward as part of a "Sound Cinema" series by [[Pioneer LDC]].<ref>[http://www.sybpress.com/Gundam/gundam_music_G-Saviour.htm Gundam Master Music List]</ref>
# G-Saviour Sound Cinema 01: Red Wings of Icarus
# G-Saviour Sound Cinema 02: Before the Mission
# G-Saviour Sound Cinema 03: Deep Sea Prometheus

===Novelisation===
A novelisation of the film's events was released across two volumes as part of the [[Shueisha]] D Superdash Bunko series. The novelisation was released in Japan during December 2000 and was written by Yoshie Kawahara with illustrations by Masahisa Suzuki.<ref>[https://www.abebooks.co.uk/9784086300186/G-SAVIOUR-Shueisha-Super-Dash-Bunko-4086300184/plp AbeBooks]</ref>

===Video game===
[[Sunrise Interactive]] published the ''G-Saviour'' video game, which was an [[action game]] developed by Atelier Sai, for the [[PlayStation 2]] on September 14, 2000. The game's story takes place after the events of the film with new characters continuing the overall story arc from the movie as well as featuring Mobile Suits that are exclusive to the game .<ref>[https://www.famitsu.com/game/daily/2000/m07/d14/sw04.html ファミ通]</ref> This game was the first ''Gundam'' game released for the PlayStation 2.

A three part manga was serialised in [[Famitsu]] which elaborated upon the story during the first two stages of the game. This manga has not subsequently been collected in any compilation volume.<ref>[http://www.ne.jp/asahi/g-book/zousho/material/02.html Gundam Zushou]</ref>

===Music===
{{Infobox album
| name       = G-Saviour Original Soundtrack
| type       = soundtrack
| artist     = Various
| cover      =
| alt        =
| released   = {{Start date|2001|01|24}}
| recorded   =
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = Orchestral
| length     = 1:14:44
| label      = [[JVC Victor]]
| producer   = [[Sotsu|Sotsu Agency]]
| prev_title =
| prev_year  =
| next_title =
| next_year  =
}}

{{Track listing
|total_length = 1:14:44
|title1 = G-Saviour Theme
|music1 = Ikihiro
|length1 = 2:37
|title2 = Main Theme
|music2 = [[John Debney]] and Louis Febre
|length2 = 3:50
|title3 = Rescue
|music3 = [[John Debney]] and Louis Febre
|length3 = 5:35
|title4 = Invader
|music4 = [[John Debney]] and Louis Febre
|length4 = 4:56
|title5 = Bio-Luminescence
|music5 = [[John Debney]] and Louis Febre
|length5 = 5:23
|title6 = Flight
|music6 = [[John Debney]] and Louis Febre
|length6 = 3:11
|title7 = Escape
|music7 = [[John Debney]] and Louis Febre
|length7 = 4:29
|title8 = Illuminati
|music8 = [[John Debney]] and Louis Febre
|length8 = 3:11
|title9 = G-Saviour
|music9 = [[John Debney]] and Louis Febre
|length9 = 1:10
|title10 = Wounded Heart
|music10 = [[John Debney]] and Louis Febre
|length10 = 6:17
|title11 = Romance
|music11 = [[John Debney]] and Louis Febre
|length11 = 1:27
|title12 = Misfire
|music12 = [[John Debney]] and Louis Febre
|length12 = 2:54
|title13 = MS Battle
|music13 = [[John Debney]] and Louis Febre
|length13 = 6:36
|title14 = G-Saviour Advance
|music14 = [[John Debney]] and Louis Febre
|length14 = 10:57
|title15 = Declaration of Independence
|music15 = [[John Debney]] and Louis Febre
|length15 = 2:33
|title16 = To Earth
|length16 = 1:57
|title17 = New History
|music17 = [[John Debney]] and Louis Febre
|length17 = 3:06
|title18 = Orb
|music18 = Emily
|length18 = 4:25
}}

==Reception==
''G-Saviour'' has received a mixed reception. An [[Anime News Network]] review calls the film "a pleasing mix of both science fiction and adventure"<ref>[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/g-saviour-dvd?ann-edition=uk ANN G-Saviour DVD Review]</ref> while MAHQ, a dedicated [[mecha]] website, was critical of the "extremely clichéd Hollywood-style writing".<ref>[http://www.mahq.net/animation/gundam/g-saviour/gsavmain.htm MAHQ.net G-Saviour Review]</ref> Criticism has been levelled at the application of the titular mobile suits during the film, with one review stating "while the CGI effects look great, most familiar with the anime series on which this was based will complain the 'suits' were not utilized as well as they might have been".<ref>[https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/12/12274.phtml RPG.net Review of G-Saviour: The Movie]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal bar|Canada|Film|Anime and manga|Science fiction}}
*{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/20021016075905/http://www.gundamofficial.com/www_gs/ |date=October 16, 2002 |title=Official G-Saviour website }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930152503/http://product.bandaivisual.co.jp/web_service/shop_product_info.asp?item_no=BCBF-0807 Bandai Visual's ''G-Saviour'' DVD page] {{in lang|ja}}
*{{anime News Network|anime|283}}
*{{IMDb title|0198123}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box|before=''[[Turn A Gundam]]''|title=''[[Gundam]]'' metaseries (production order)|years=1999|after=''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED]]''}}
{{succession box|before= ''[[Mobile Suit Victory Gundam]]''| title = ''Gundam'' [[Universal Century]] timeline | years = U.C. 0223 | after = ''N/A''}}

{{s-end}}
{{Gundam}}
{{Sunrise OVAs}}

[[Category:1999 television films]]
[[Category:1999 films]]
[[Category:1999 science fiction films]]
[[Category:1990s Canadian films]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:1990s dystopian films]]
[[Category:Bandai Visual]]
[[Category:Bandai Entertainment anime titles]]
[[Category:Canadian science fiction television films]]
[[Category:English-language Canadian films]]
[[Category:Films about Japanese Canadians]]
[[Category:Films based on animated television series]]
[[Category:Films directed by Graeme Campbell (director)]]
[[Category:Films scored by John Debney]]
[[Category:Films scored by Louis Febre]]
[[Category:Films shot in Vancouver]]
[[Category:Gundam]]
[[Category:Space adventure films]]
[[Category:Super Dash Bunko]]
[[Category:TV Asahi original programming]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction films]]
[[Category:Canadian dystopian films]]