M.D. Geist

Original Title: 装鬼兵MDガイスト
Romanized: Soukihei MD Gaisuto
Literal: Demon-garbed Soldier MD Geist

Plot Synopsis

In the distant future, war between the Earth government and the Nexrom followed humanity to the distant worlds it colonized. On an isolated planet called Jerra, this battle was so brutal the Earth government created the "M.D."--Most Dangerous--soldiers, bio-engineered to be perfect fighting machines. But one of them--Geist--was too dangerous and bloodthirsty even for those who created him. M.D. Geist was imprisoned in stasis on a satellite while the war on Jerra ravaged the surface below.

When the satellite crashes and brings Geist back to the desolate planet, he hooks up with a gang of ruffians headed by Vaiya. Then they run into some remnants of the regular army, and Geist is enlisted into a desperate mission: Stop the Death Force, a final doomsday device, from being activated.

Quick Review

Rating: 0.5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2006-06-27

M.D. Geist (Director's Cut or not) is a cheesy '80s action flick, and not even a very good one. It has an abysmal plot, weak, entirely unsympathetic characters, ugly visuals, and is generally uninteresting to boot. The relative bright points are a moderate amount of decent post-apocalyptic gory action and some relatively cool Mad Max-esque mechanical design. If only it took itself a little less seriously, it might have been fun in a gleefully violent Fist of the North Star sort of way... but no. At least the inconclusive ending isn't, if you include the sequel.

Unless you're very into old-school post-apocalyptic gore, it's not worth the time.

US DVD Review

The (now very inexpensive) "Collector's Series" DVD includes both the directors cut of M.D. Geist and it's sequel, Death Force, plus a bonus disc of extras. In addition to hybrid stereo audio and of course an English subtitle track, the set claims a heap of special features. Among them: An "alternate angle graphic novel," commentary tracks, interviews, storyboards, galleries, trailers, conceptual art of all sorts, and more.

Content Guide

Violent and gory, definitely qualifies as 16-up.

Violence: 4 - Plenty of gory violence.

Nudity: 2 - One scene.

Sex/Mature Themes: 1 - One failed attempt.

Language: 1 - Not much.

Notes and Trivia

The director's cut version (the shorter version isn't even available anymore, in the US or elsewhere) was created about a decade after the original, with funding (and co-production) by Central Park Media itself. It's sold in Japan as the "Perfect Collection."

The full Japanese title, "Soukihei MD Geist" uses the made-up word "Soukihei", which means something roughly along the lines of "Soldier Disguised as a Demon." Not having seen any notes on this, I'm not sure if this is a reference to how frightening the M.D. soldiers are supposed to be, or to their flashy armor.

Geist, as mentioned above, has been US Manga Corp's "Spokesmecha" since the company's inception.

M.D. Geist does, interestingly, qualify as an early example of subtitled anime on US TV; the cable network Bravo showed the subtitled version once in a while around the turn of the millennium, along with Grave of the Fireflies (why is another question).

Availability

Available in the US from US Manga Corps combined with the sequel on a hybrid DVD, re-released after a while at a budget price of about $10. Was previously available on subtitled and dubbed VHS, and going even farther back the original pre-director's cut version was also available on subtitled and dubbed VHS. All the VHS versions have been out of print for a very long time.

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