The absolute show of shows. It was number one in syndication for its first season, it had strong ratings. Yet some BS at the time about "violence in cartoons" killed it. Then they put Teen Titans on the air from the same basic company under the new owner. TEEN TITANS WAS A LOT MORE VIOLENT! Especially in season four arc! And it was STILL not as good as Swat Kats was. SWAT Kats FOREVER, they need to get it back on the air immediately if not sooner! 24 episodes, and it's still remembered by a heck of a lot of people. It had that kind of staying power. Someone needs to get the license away from the morons at Turner/Warner and get it back going. I can almost GUARANTEE it would still have the audience. Seriously...
Reviews
3 Reviews
Fantastic.
4 September 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Robotech is always about characters as much as the mecha battles. Some people complain about the CGI Battles, but having watched it a couple times, I'll say that I was happy with the mecha and their transformations.
Some will say it totally revised history from Symphony of Light (final episode of New Generation). The question becomes, was the Regess really 'there' entirely, in one place or another? Or just as much as she needed to be? If the latter, she could easily be having the same kind of discussion with Ariel as she was having with the others at the time.
Which is point three. Characterization from the old show, and new directions for chars. Ariel in particular was fantastic! They recaptured her when Scott left to find the SDF-3 perfectly, clothes and all, right from Symphony of Light. And even if people complain about 'boobs' in later parts , I thought the character looked fine. Fascinating new direction, as well. (Though Ariel is not, and should not be treated, as a Star Trek transporter. :p) The animation changed, yes. After the early stages, Ariel did look a bit different, Bernard all the way. But they were still recognizable as themselves.
For continuity, no matter how you regard it as 'canon', reading The Sentinels book series from Del Ray is VERY recommended, at least by me. That allowed for much more perspective on the 'Children of the Shadow' among other things.
Some I've heard elsewhere complained about the changed premise of when the Regis left. That they turned her from the 'great evil' into someone who saved the Earth. She still did a lot of bad stuff, it makes sense that she saved it for her 'daughter'.
I saw someone scream about it starting after Invid Invasion and having some of the same stuff. Well, news flash: ALL THE MECHA IN INVID INVASION WERE FROM THE REF RETAKING ATTEMPTS. Unless they somehow switched mecha overnight, those are the ones that'll still be there, not hovertanks, or elderly Macross Valkyries. The older VF series is totally outmoded by that point, and the Hovertanks mentioned in novels/RPG were only there for Wolff. And he was taken out of the picture long before.
Even the anti-alien prejudice is there in the right spots, though a little rushed at points. Maia should have said "half-Zentraedi" instead of "half-alien", but that's a nitpick. Love the scene with Marcus meeting Ariel and finding out what she is. My only nitpick about being 'rushed' is how suddenly people seem to go from lack of trust to right in the heart of the sensitive spot. Though they did try to explain it enough. Ariel and Janice with bridge spots on the Ark Angel... Wow.
All the nods to the old show were right. The SDF-3's situation made /some/ sense, though it was a terrible military decision to send along a weapon that hadn't been field tested, then field test it when it might get used before the test.
The SDF-3 certainly isn't like the Sentinels RPG artwork, but meh. No complaint. The ships all looked good. Especially the Invid Clams in the Reflex Point battle! Seeing that in CGI was FANTASTIC! While 2D and 3D animation didn't always blend 'perfectly', it was pretty easy to get used to it. The storyline absorbed me enough to not notice after a while. Beware Trojans bearing gifts! Heehee.
The sequel is already in production, reportedly. This movie has done deservedly well on DVD (I'm buying the 2 disk set in November when it comes out), so they're justified in making more. The next one I'm hoping will satisfy some of the complainers more, if they pick up where this one left off. They're going after the SDF-3. And all the people that the complaints come about not seeing.
Some will say it totally revised history from Symphony of Light (final episode of New Generation). The question becomes, was the Regess really 'there' entirely, in one place or another? Or just as much as she needed to be? If the latter, she could easily be having the same kind of discussion with Ariel as she was having with the others at the time.
Which is point three. Characterization from the old show, and new directions for chars. Ariel in particular was fantastic! They recaptured her when Scott left to find the SDF-3 perfectly, clothes and all, right from Symphony of Light. And even if people complain about 'boobs' in later parts , I thought the character looked fine. Fascinating new direction, as well. (Though Ariel is not, and should not be treated, as a Star Trek transporter. :p) The animation changed, yes. After the early stages, Ariel did look a bit different, Bernard all the way. But they were still recognizable as themselves.
For continuity, no matter how you regard it as 'canon', reading The Sentinels book series from Del Ray is VERY recommended, at least by me. That allowed for much more perspective on the 'Children of the Shadow' among other things.
Some I've heard elsewhere complained about the changed premise of when the Regis left. That they turned her from the 'great evil' into someone who saved the Earth. She still did a lot of bad stuff, it makes sense that she saved it for her 'daughter'.
I saw someone scream about it starting after Invid Invasion and having some of the same stuff. Well, news flash: ALL THE MECHA IN INVID INVASION WERE FROM THE REF RETAKING ATTEMPTS. Unless they somehow switched mecha overnight, those are the ones that'll still be there, not hovertanks, or elderly Macross Valkyries. The older VF series is totally outmoded by that point, and the Hovertanks mentioned in novels/RPG were only there for Wolff. And he was taken out of the picture long before.
Even the anti-alien prejudice is there in the right spots, though a little rushed at points. Maia should have said "half-Zentraedi" instead of "half-alien", but that's a nitpick. Love the scene with Marcus meeting Ariel and finding out what she is. My only nitpick about being 'rushed' is how suddenly people seem to go from lack of trust to right in the heart of the sensitive spot. Though they did try to explain it enough. Ariel and Janice with bridge spots on the Ark Angel... Wow.
All the nods to the old show were right. The SDF-3's situation made /some/ sense, though it was a terrible military decision to send along a weapon that hadn't been field tested, then field test it when it might get used before the test.
The SDF-3 certainly isn't like the Sentinels RPG artwork, but meh. No complaint. The ships all looked good. Especially the Invid Clams in the Reflex Point battle! Seeing that in CGI was FANTASTIC! While 2D and 3D animation didn't always blend 'perfectly', it was pretty easy to get used to it. The storyline absorbed me enough to not notice after a while. Beware Trojans bearing gifts! Heehee.
The sequel is already in production, reportedly. This movie has done deservedly well on DVD (I'm buying the 2 disk set in November when it comes out), so they're justified in making more. The next one I'm hoping will satisfy some of the complainers more, if they pick up where this one left off. They're going after the SDF-3. And all the people that the complaints come about not seeing.
Great, but with a few minor rants.
20 May 2005
Warning: Spoilers
First off, don't let the title of this post fool you, I loved the movie, I'm going back to see it again sometime today, most likely.
Two minor rants: Palpatine: McDiarmid is GREAT as Palpatine in this movie, there's no disputing that. But whoever did the makeup for his disfiguration... well, they didn't quite live up to that. It doesn't look as real in this round.
The Death Star: Wow, it took them how many more years to get the first DS done after this movie, when the basic frame was already laid out? Compare that to the time it took to get the second one done enough to fire for Return of the Jedi, and it's an eyeblink-worthy.
One thing I found very /very/ interesting about this movie is that it possibly expands the definition of what is considered canon gospel in Star Wars. Not in and of itself, but: The Clone Wars cartoons on Cartoon Network (especically the second run of episodes) is essentially declared to be canon by this movie. I'm almost certain that some people might enjoy this a little bit more once it and Clone Wars Season 2 are out on DVD. The CN series did General Grevious /far/ more justice than the movie did, and in fact ends with the kidnapping of Palpatine, which the movie starts out on. (also why I call it canonized)
Two minor rants: Palpatine: McDiarmid is GREAT as Palpatine in this movie, there's no disputing that. But whoever did the makeup for his disfiguration... well, they didn't quite live up to that. It doesn't look as real in this round.
The Death Star: Wow, it took them how many more years to get the first DS done after this movie, when the basic frame was already laid out? Compare that to the time it took to get the second one done enough to fire for Return of the Jedi, and it's an eyeblink-worthy.
One thing I found very /very/ interesting about this movie is that it possibly expands the definition of what is considered canon gospel in Star Wars. Not in and of itself, but: The Clone Wars cartoons on Cartoon Network (especically the second run of episodes) is essentially declared to be canon by this movie. I'm almost certain that some people might enjoy this a little bit more once it and Clone Wars Season 2 are out on DVD. The CN series did General Grevious /far/ more justice than the movie did, and in fact ends with the kidnapping of Palpatine, which the movie starts out on. (also why I call it canonized)
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