Sonic The Hedgehog: The Movie (1999) | History, Promo, Commentary and Full Review (Sonic OVA) 

Sonic was cool, confident, and caring. Tails was inventive, loyal, and brave. Robotnik was a serious threat but still had comedic moments. Metal Sonic was Robotnik's servant. Knuckles wasn't a dumb bodybuilder. The visuals were pleasing. The fights were impressive. And the music sounded awesome. I give it a 4/5.

The OVA was something I was always so fascinated with as a kid and I still enjoy going back to it, quirky voice acting and all! I’ll also always stand by the idea that Knuckles should’ve been given the hat permanently in the mainline series, it’s so dang cool

I absolutely love the OVA, it's so fun and cool, and I think the silly parts are actually part of its charm.

I also always wondered whether Sara was in on Robotnik's plan or not when I watched this OVA at age 12. I think based on the rest of the movie the implication is that she didn't and that the line about "I'll stop being your hostage" was more about threatening to give Robotnik a hard time which as the rest of the movie evidences she's quite capable of given how many times she kicks the snot out of him. Good review by the way. Fun fact this OVA was actually supposed to be the pilot episode for a Sonic TV series but never got picked either because of poor sales or disagreement between Sega and the show makers. Would have been interesting to see how the show would have compared with OVA.

Honestly out of the 4 90s Sonic animation that came out, this feels the most Sonic like ever with its weird part, something about the plot and how the characters are shown feel closer to the games then AOSTH, Satam, and Underground. Also are we the only one who thinks it was weird that this was Metal's only animated appearance until Sonic Boom came out?

I had the original VHS tape from 1999. Those were the early days of DVDs and eventually I got the the DVD. The soundtrack is what makes the movie good.

I guess the reason knuckles defying gravity is a reference to his gliding even though it looks like he’s plain flying I think it’s him gliding

I’m surprised looking back that they didn’t actually use the Adventure voice cast for the Dub of the OVA.

I was introduced to this a decade or so ago by the 'Strange, isn't it?' meme. I always really enjoyed it.

This movie & my Dreamcast wit SA was all I needed back in the day! I miss my childhood! Like damn if only we can go back to the good days!

I remember seeing this VHS at Electronics Boutique in the mall ages ago. My takeaway was that Knuckles had a sweet hat.

I always found the land of the sky concept to be really fascinating. It's a shame it's never brought up again.

An hd re-dubbed version would be pretty sick! I hope a project on a newer version starts sometime. As long as it doesn’t take away the feelin the original has

The hat gives knuckles power. It’s an ancient echidna relic. The hat of hat.

Honestly the OVA is such an interesting universe and I wished it acted as a pilot to a tv series so we could explore the universe more. Like we didn’t really get to see the city where the White House is or Sonic and Sara’s relationship expanded upon as I’m one of the few to find there relationship cute. Also it’s interesting how Knuckles is able to repair the tornado in the OVA like how he was able to repair and work on the blue typhoon in season 3 of sonic X (which you should totally cover season 3 as its so good!)

this OVA has a special place in my heart, it was one of my first introductions to Sonic when i was growing up. happy to see that you made a video on it!

In my opinion this sonic movie seemed to have done a better job at world building than the 2020 sonic movie I swear old man owl felt better developed than longclaw

Once of my favorite scenes in that had to be when sonic said, SHUT UP TAILS! (That’s what I would say to him in lost world)

Fun Fact: the English Dub was done by the same studio that did Ghost Stories.... let that sink in

These two episodes were how I learned what an OVA was. Such a cool concept, halfway between a movie and a series, like a miniseries with the budget of a movie. Quite a difference from the reputation of direct-to-video media in the US, where it was usually reserved for cheapo movies or indie series, and bad Disney sequels

The OVA believe it or not was my 1st real introduction to Sonic as a character and as a franchise… I personally really enjoyed it (Quirks and all)!!!

I loved how sonic adventure actually references the movie with the tornados runway coming out the ground and using this movies homing attack instead on the sonic 3d blast homing attack.

One of my favorite sonic adaptations.

I like Knuckles’s cowboy hat. And his first animated sonic appearance was actually sonic Underground which game out a little bit before the OVA.

I Was Born on The Same Year Since Sonic 1999 Movie Was Came out!!

I recalled first hearing about the OVA in an issue from Sonic the Comic. I liked the dark vibe I got from the 2 screenshots they showed, but this was during my phase of losing interest in Sonic due to not own a SEGA console at all. I eventually got it around 2001 for my birthday where my interest in Sonic peeked again as he was coming to Nintendo. Still have the VHS tape, but has seen better days, so eventually got the DVD copy not long after. My friend who made the Sonic OVA in Minutes cartoon decided to make Sara a bad guy that leaves everyone confused who the main villain is in this story and Eggman getting frustrated with her for stealing his spotlight.

The one thing I wish is a collection of sonic games from the dreamcast to Wii(SA1 to Sonic and the Black Knight) and did was Sonic Jam had a 3D environment to play around, listen to the music from Sonic’s games, character gallery for the cast and even scrapped characters, easter eggs and even a theater

I first got the vhs at Christmas 1999 when I was 12 years old I absolutely loved it and still do to this day. I’m so glad I still own it also the dvd copy

I remember seeing this on DVD on a shelf at On Cue (if anyone remembers that xD) in the late 90s and wanting it so much, but they only had the DVD, which at the time was I believe around $30, far outside kid me's budget. I did eventually watch it years later, and I gotta say, it's probably one of my all time favorite takes on Sonic outside the games. It really has that sense of high adventure and whimsy, but still able to carry out serious moments, that 90s anime and series like Megaman Legends just do so well. It's a certain kind of magic that's hard to explain

Also one thing about the review is that every time knuckles is there he says a hat wearing knuckles and when he’s wearing glasses he says he not wearing the hat (yeah we can see that) and than again he says the hat wearing knuckles and when it finally gets destroyed he finally just says knuckles. The point is me saying, OK I GET IT HE HAS A COOL HAT! YOU DON’T NEED TO REPEAT THAT THOUSANDS OF TIMES lol 😂 . I will admit it’s funny but saying it once is enough. I still love this video it’s great

For those who cant find this movie on RU-vid, there exist a version on internet archive.

I'd like to point out an Easter egg for anyone who has ever edited footage from this movie, back when I was a teen and obsessed over this movie I made a ton of AMVs about sonic from this very movie! And in it I found that in the scene where the plane is crashed and you can see the plane in frame if you step back and look at the frame it is clearly made to resemble a close up of Knuckles face. Can't remember the exact frame but I found it by accident while editing, you should check it out!

I think the whole thing with Sara is more or less meant to be one of those awkward 'love triangle' things, the story seems to imply Robotnik, Sara and Sonic have some weird thing going on as Robotnik likes Sara, but Sara likes Sonic, and Sonic doesn't want to be tied down, but still feels inclined to help people so Robotnik kidnaps Sara to lure him into danger; but taken to the goofy extreme, evidenced by the ending sequence where Sara jumps into the Egg-O-Matic and demands Robotnik chase down Sonic. But I think the whole thing with the hostage situation, was a joke. Sara is described as always wanting to follow Sonic around. So odds are, normally she is a handful, and when Robotnik just showed up at the President's place and requested they bring Sonic in primarily for his trap, he lied to the President about the generator and insisted he needs Sonic's help, to make Sonic think he was more desperate then usual. But the whole Sara knew about Robotnik's plan (she admits this when Knuckles accuses her, that the Robot Generator going haywire was all his plot); what's more likely going on there; is when Robotnik and her go for a Drive in Metal Robotnik, he basically kidnaps her, and tries to kill Sonic and Tails. While doing this, he probably blabbed his plan to her while they were fighting, because we know Robotnik loves hearing the sound of his own voice. When she says "I'll stop being your hostage" it's more likely because she never considered herself in Robotnik's captivity. Much like Sonic, she probably views Robotnik as a buffoon. In Addition, as we learn from Knuckles; Robotnik's plan is to use Metal to destroy the land of the Sky. Knuckles explains that if a certain structure was damaged; the Land of the Sky would be hurled off into space; where they would collapse due to the pressure. If you watch the footage; the Land of the Sky breaks off, leaving only the Land of Darkness; so by destroying the land of the Sky, Robotnik would kill essentially everyone. There's... also the matter of him pointing out that only him and Sara would survive (meaning he MEANS to kill everyone), and that his intention is to destroy the world, and theoretically repopulate the land of Darkness with Sara... that's pretty... messed up; but that does sound like the type of crazy thing Robotnik would think of, since he's kind of insane like that. Sonic also didn't smash his genitalia on the front of the ship. What's happening there is, as Robotnik puts it "Sonic is synchronizing himself with Metal." so, while Sara is kicking Metal in the head, and accusing him of looking up her skirt; The movie seems to operate on the logic, that Sonic and Metal share the same mind, so because Metal is peeping up Sara's dress, Sonic is too...? This movie is such a weird trip, and was kind of amazing. But I absolutely find this series showed Knuckles as his best. Still a strong, reliable friend, and actually referred to as a Treasure Hunter (interesting, if such a thing was used now; he'd have a better rivalry with Rouge) but in general, while the voices are hit and miss; it's still a great film to behold.

I had it on dvd when I was a kid, it was great

This channel is underrated as hell, like this channel has such great editing and shit, yet it only has 1k subs

Finally letting your sub count visible, huh? Now I can say for sure that you're underated, watched some of your videos and found awesome, I'll stay for future endeavors. I consider myself lucky to have watched this Movie Subbed btw

I heard a Theory that the mayor of planet freedom is actually Alex kidd as an adult so sara is sara kidd

This movie is the one VHS I can't bring myself to throw away. I was a huge fan of the Genesis but none of the animated series seemed to do Sonic right. Only this movie seemed to capture the Sonic from Genesis. Its a very easy watch too and a good way to kick back.

Hill Top Terbi:"Eww, 90s anime was weird..." Me(having grown up with 90s anime):"You. don't. know. the. half. of. it."

Awesome video, I really loved this movie. I have watched the shit out of my copy which I still have today :)

Loved this ova as a kid especially the music

I first discovered it at my local Hastings on DVD (very rare btw). I would end up renting all the time since I loved Sonic. It became my favorite movie. Would even explore the menus and saw the trailer for other anime dubbed by ADV and was so fascinated by them. I discovered the Slayers OVA, the Tekken OVA, Those Who Hunt Elves, Neon Genesis Evengalion, Bubblegum Crisis, and others I can't really remember. If I could just find a copy of that DVD, that would be amazing.

The part where sonic Is on Eggman ship after him and metal run into it during there fight, it took a couple of watches as a kid to understand sonic is enjoying looking at Sarah's kitty. It makes sense, he is still a teenager.

I get the impression that Knuckles is wearing a hat in this video. Not sure though. XD

Well I Enjoyed Watching This Movie 20 Years Ago Yeah Since 2019 That's too Long to Start Watching it!!

It´s a great movie and HYPER METAL SONIC is just cool!!!!

I actually watch the OVA for the first time Via DVD of the uncensored version so I saw the….breastfeeding image.

22:26 Actually, he acts like that because of Sara, because he sees the same thing that metal

planet freedom sounds like Alrest from Xenoblade chronicles 2. with another world shrouded in darkness below the clouds

What the fuck is going on with the bluray version of this? Have they lost the original? Is it licensing. We need to get Discotek in on this.

The voice actor there is so underrated not my favorite voice that goes to Deem Bristow (rest In Peace you truly are the eggman) but the intro for him I live and shows eggman a lot

I had this on VHS and actively hunted down the 1st edition DVD later, because only the 1st edition DVD had dual audio in the U.S. and I wanted to compare the sub to the dub. Having compared the two it's now my headcanon that the director played the original for the actors and told them to _mimic_ the Japanese voice cast. I have no evidence of this, but it explains the questionable choices... I will say, as nostalgic as the dub is for me, the sub is actually better in case. (Tails actually calls Sonic idiot instead of shouting "You're no HELP!" 🤣)

From what I understood, this was animated by pierrot

I subbed

I enjoyed it when I first saw it but couldn't get along with Tails' nasal voice. Luckily, there's a fandub here on YT and the voices are great. It even has an alternate soundtrack in the download version though the file is pretty huge (nearly 11 gigs!). I recommend it if you haven't seen it. It's my preferred way of watching the OVA nowadays.

Man, I forget if knuckles had a hat in this one... I wish someone pointed it out for me.

We'll all mourn that trendy looking hat

i unironically consider this to be better than the new movies. IN THE DUB.

Why did I think this was a PatMac video when it appeared in my recommendations

❤

In a diffrent timeline

I always wanted to know who is the dude on the staff who said you know what knuckles needs a hat I would love to shake that man’s hand

The beginning of the end. for first gen.

Sonic’s 15 years old so Sara is probably around 15-17 herself and Robotnik is an adult so that’s….creepy to say the least….

I'm not crazy on Knuckles voice in this. Idris Elba was far superior

wasnt it 1996?

It was a weird movie, yet for some reason all i can think is its funny that iv met women irl who are every bit as messed up as sarah is XD

A pretty cool lil' movie with a lot of japanese humour that Brits might find confusing XD I think the accent change is on purpose and part of the jokes... And Sarah is pretty much only a jerk in the english dub

They had Virgin Mega Stores in the U.K.? I thought those shops only existed in the U.S.

This Sonic is not 99' it was released in 96'

bruh this was released in 1996 not 1999 😑

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Am I The Only One Who Hates This Movie