Miller's Report is an unusual release for the U.S. market, which shows that Bandai is interested in taking some risks to see what will be successful. Miller's Report was released in Japanese theaters as part of a double-feature. The 50-minute movie re-uses significant footage from the first half of The 08th Mobile Suit Team and throws in a little new footage to sweeten the deal.

The story covers the investigation around Shiro Amada and his interactions with a female enemy pilot. Parts of the Federation believe that Shiro may be a spy and that his intent in the battle was to provide the enemy Zeon with a working RX-79(G) Gundam. Alice Miller is the main investigator and her philosophy is in direct opposition to Shiro's.

This "episode" takes place between episodes 7 and 8 of the series. The question comes down to being whether there is enough here to warrant a purchase, since it mainly recounts the first half of the series. Content-wise, while it is sparse on plot, the show does add significant depth to the character of Shiro. During the court scene in the OAV release, Shiro makes a comment about fighting for love. Overly melodramatic, yes, but the writers balanced that by having the guards and inquisitors break into laughter at his corny statement. As a viewer, you could only imagine him being really naive.

In this movie, Shiro must face up against a board of inquiry to account for his actions.	As the title suggests, Shiro's actions are being investigated by Miller, who doesn't exactly see eye to eye with Shiro.

Enter Miller. She's in the darkness as he gives his testimony. Now the statement is more of a battle-line drawn in the sand. Shiro is digging in with his beliefs in direct opposition to Miller. She is the only one who understands why he made the statement, and it angers her to no end.

These little items make the whole of the series much more complete and add depth to the characters. Also on the plus side, the movie can actually do pretty well as a stand-alone film. If you didn't know the rest of the series, you could still enjoy Miller's Report.

While the quality of the new animation is pretty much the same as the rest of the series, there are no new combat sequences. This begins the list of what will be negatives for some people. Many die-hard fans watch the Gundam series for the politics, drama, and character interactions. But, the reality is, probably a good majority watch it for kick-butt action sequences. There are no new ones to be had here. No new mecha, and very little extra story.

The tone of this episode is definitely darker, more of A Few Good Men sort of tone. The music is equally dramatic for the new sequences, and it is periodically missing in order to heighten the dramatic tension.

You will find some extras on this disc, but they are very strange. The major extra is the inclusion of all the cut scenes from Mobile Suit Gundam: Journey to Jaburo. Yes, the Playstation 2 game. Personally, I have no idea why this was included. It's bizarre, strange, and really isn't that much fun to watch. The only use I can figure is for someone who couldn't unlock everything to have the chance to see it. Most of the cut scenes are stills with voice, anyway.

Miller's Report is a very nice DVD that unfortunately loses some value because of the re-used footage. Bandai has graced anime fans with a nice little special as a reward for supporting the series, but whether the cost is appropriate for you depends on what you want. If you are a major Gundam fan, fixated with the stories and politics, get it. It will add depth to your understanding of the 08th Team. If you are not a Gundam fan at all, but you're looking for some action and some military intrigue, this is a great value also. If you're just a big robot fan who likes to see them fight, and you already own the whole 08th Team series, you might want to pass.

Overall, a great title, but not for everyone -- and not even for every Gundam fan.

Note: It was reported a recent con that this title is selling very well for Bandai, so we might expect to see some more "special" DVDs of this nature that otherwise would not be released in the US.

Distributor: Bandai
Creator: Sunrise / Sotsu Agency
Released: 1995

Video Quality: A
Audio Quality: A-
Presentation: B+
Content: A
Overall: B+