Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie / YMMV

Angst? What Angst?: Nobody seems to care that Metal saves both the President and Old Man before sacrificing himself. Sonic, the only one who saw any potential good in him, is briefly mournful, but is right back to his usual smarmy hijinks once Eggman returns.
Awesome Music: The entire soundtrack, really! Highlights include:
- South Island, that is all.
- The Land of Darkness is a foreboding, but insanely catchy and memorable track that wouldn't feel too out of place in Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
- "Look-a-Like," despite its Word Salad Lyrics, is deliciously 90s techno. Unedited version here.
- In 2020, all of the production demo recordings for the OVA were publicly released, finally giving viewers the chance to appreciate the awesome music without the sound effects getting in the way.
Base-Breaking Character: Sara. Her shamelessly bratty attitude is either hilarious or deeply obnoxious.
Common Knowledge: The film has become somewhat infamous amongst the fandom thanks to a scene in which Sonic gives Metal Robotnik the middle finger as a taunt. However, this is not the case, as he was actually flipping his index finger (doing a inverse variation of his iconic finger wag) as opposed to his middle finger. The reason for this misconception comes from the way his hand is positioned, on top of the poor quality of the frame.
Cult Classic: Although the film is very obscure and is long out of print, it has garnered a following amongst the Sonic fandom for being one of the more faithful adaptations featuring the blue hedgehog, on top of being an amazingly adequate film in its own right (yes, that's a compliment). Its sustaining popularity since going out of print has led to it earning it hefty prices on Amazon and eBay as a result.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Old Man Owl has a low amount of screen-time, but has his share of fans for being a hilarious Scatterbrained Senior, as well as the scene of him wearing Sonic's "favourite clothes".
Evil Is Cool: Hyper Metal Sonic, of course. Already a beloved character in the games, this is considered one of his crowning moments, showing off just how intimidating he is as a silent robot who rivals and nearly surpasses Sonic.
Fan Nickname: Many fans tend to simply refer to the film as the "Sonic OVA" instead of any of its official titles, likely for simplicity and more recently, to avoid confusion with Sonic the Hedgehog (2020).
Hilarious in Hindsight:
- Sara looks an awful lot like Aerith Gainsborough.
- The OVA starts with an elderly owl character interacting with Sonic on his island home, and later on, a joke scene is focused on a turtle being slow. In the Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) film, it starts with Sonic raised by a female elderly owl, Longclaw, and later on there is an extended comedy scene involving a turtle being slow.
- Knuckles would define himself as Sonic's best friend in this incarnation, which was an odd adaptation at the time in the games (they were friendly rivals), and even in the future games (where they are buddies but Tails remains Sonic's best buddy). In Sonic Boom, they would be best friends again.
- Slightly more than 10 years later, Sonic would have another human love interest in Elise which goes further to a Kiss of Life, though said relationship would end up taking a Cosmic Retcon out of existence.
Memetic Mutation:
- "SHUT UP, TAILS!"^Explanation
- "AAH! I'm afraid of lightning!"^Explanation
- Sonic Flipping the Bird and Tails' Eyelid Pull Taunt is frequently used as a negatory reaction image.
- "You might know everything I'm going to do, but that's not going to help you, since I know everything you're going to do! Straaaaange, isn't it?! GRRRRRAAAGH!"^Explanation
- "MY HAT'S ON FIRE! HELP!"^Explanation
Narm Charm: The English dub is considered very cheesy, due in part to the questionable casting choices for Sonic and Tails, but it still considered an entertaining dub for lack of anything else, and some of the actors (particularly Eggman's) do turn in a decent performance.
No Yay: Likely an Intended Audience Reaction, but most everyone is disturbed by Eggman — normally a chivalrous character in the games — trying to elope with Sara (who is much younger than him) in an attempt to invoke an Adam and Eve Plot.
Signature Scene: Sonic attempting to reach out to Metal Sonic as he slowly sinks into lava is far and away the most well-known scene in the OVA, with multiple homages over the years.
So Okay, It's Average:
- Consensus of the movie is that the music and art direction are great, the animation is fine, and it has entertaining moments, but it suffers from a weak story and a rather questionable English dub. That being said, it was intended to be a two-episode pilot for a full-fledged anime, so it's unknown how the flaws would be ironed out in future episodes.
- It does stand out for being very faithful to the games in tone, given that other adaptations of the series tend to diverge more wildly. And while the animation is generally considered to be sub-par, the setting and overall visual aesthetic are great matches for Sonic. It also integrates human characters in a more natural way than later installments like Sonic X and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), preferring to use demi-humans on an alternate, futuristic version of Earth, rather than having perfectly standard humans (other than Eggman) in a normal city. The just-okay-at-worst quality is such a rarity in video game movies that this is considered an impressive achievement, even if the film isn't anything to write home about otherwise.
Tear Jerker: Metal Sonic's death by melting in a volcano, after he gains a conscience and uses the last of his energy to save the President and Old Man Owl from their crashed spaceship. Made even worse by Sonic immediately diving down the fissure and trying — but failing — to save him:
Sonic: (climbs down the magma chamber to reach Metal Sonic) Try to grab hold of my hand!
Knuckles: Wait! Don't do it, Sonic! He'll drag you under with him!
Metal: (briefly considers taking Sonic's hand, before slapping it away as he begins to sink into the magma) There is only one Sonic.
Sonic: NO! NO! (tries to reach in further)
Knuckles: (holds him back) Don't do it, Sonic!
Sonic: (watches Metal Sonic short-circuit and slowly melt in the magma) METAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL!
Values Dissonance: While it wasn't presented in a positive light to begin with, it is safe to say that there is no way the entire subplot of Eggman planning to elope with Sara, nor the gag with Tails accidentally groping Sara, would fly in a contemporary kids anime or a big mainstream kids' franchise like Sonic nowadays.
What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: While it's an adaptation of the family-friendly Sonic games, there are a few crude and bawdy elements in the movie (Sonic appearing to flip the bird,^note Eggman and Tails groping Sara, accidentally in the latter's case). Advertisers seem to consider it a teens-and-up release, as the DVD version included trailers for other ADV releases such as Burn Up W, an OVA with a trailer that features a buxom woman performing a naked bungie-jump; Battle Angel Alita, which is filled to the brim with Gorn and even a sex scene; and Neon Genesis Evangelion, an incredibly dark and violent Mecha series. The UK VHS release, which had a PG rating, included trailers for Dirty Pair Flash, the UK dub of Street Fighter II V and Tekken: The Motion Picture, three anime which had ratings of 12 for the former two, and 15 for the latter, whilst the UK DVD featured trailers for the PG-rated Voices of a Distant Star, and the 12-rated RahXephon, King of Bandit Jing, and Zone of the Enders: Dolores, I.

YMMV / Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie

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