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Animation > Feature Film
Lensman

It is the Twenty-Fifth Century and humankind has established a foothold in the stars, protected by the Galactic Alliance and the Lensmen. However, the evil Boskone Empire, led by the powerful tyrant Helmuth, is close to annihilating the dwindling Galactic Alliance. A suicidal mission to find the Boskone’s hidden base planet ends in a lens being mysteriously transferred to the hand of farmhand Kimball Kinnison. Leaving his home world, Kim and his friend Buskirk try to find their way to the Galactic Alliance’s Headquarters, hunted by the Boskone forces every step of the way.

Of Interest:

One of the earliest animes to Mix traditional cel animation with computer generated special effects.

There are two separate English dubs of the movie, one by Streamline picture and another by Harmony Gold, the later has been cut from its 107 minute runtime; this re-dubbed version is known as Lensman: Secret of The Lens.

The anime bases its world around the work of Smith’s novels, but borrows elements from the original Star Wars; such as changing Kim from an elite Lensmen agent in the novels into a naïve farmhand. It was heavily criticized at the time for its dumbing down of the original novels, in particular by the Smith Estate, who had little say in the anime’s production.