Customer Reviews

Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers Collection Vol. 2

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Koch Vision and Gaylord Productions presents "ADVENTURES OF THE GALAXY RANGERS: THE COLLECTION VOL. 2" (1986.1989) (774 mins/Color) (Dolby Digital) --- The final 33 episodes of anime space western "Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers" are included in this volume, featuring the voice work of Jerry Orbach (LAW & ORDER) and Corrine Orr (SPEED RACER) --- Created by the famed anime studio Tokyo Movie Shinsha, the series follows a quirky team of intergalactic rangers who fight for justice on the frontiers of the future.

In 2086, two peaceful aliens journey to Earth seeking our help. In return, they gave us the plans for our first hyperdrive, allowing mankind to open the doors to the stars. We have assembled a team of unique individuals to protect Earth and our allies. Courageous pioneers committed to the highest ideals of justice and dedicated to preserving law and order across the new frontier --- The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (1986-1989) was an animated Space Western television series created by Robert Mandell and Gaylord Entertainment Company. The series combined sci-fi stories with a typical wild-west-"feel", elements of a space opera and with the traditional fantasy elements of sword and sorcery. It was one of the first anime-style shows to be primarily created in the US, although the actual animation was done in Japan by the famed Tokyo Movie Shinsha, and at the time it was aired, it was a revolutionary children's show --- When the series originally aired, episodes were aired five days a week until all sixty five episodes were shown, with the episodes largely being aired out of order.

Under the production staff of:
Robert Mandell - producer & created by
Abe Mandell - executive producer
Bob Chrestani - producer
Eleanor Kearney - associate producer
Phil Galdston - Original Music
John Van Tongeren - Original Music

Story line set after the year 2086, when two aliens from the planets Andor and Kirwin travelled to Earth to search for allies against the ruthless and expansionist Crown Empire led by the Queen of the Crown. In return for the help, mankind was given construction plans for an FTL-drive (hyperdrive). After this key-event in human history, interstellar travel flourished and a huge number of colonies were built on distant star-systems. Alongside the growth of human activities in space, criminal activities also grew and the new colonies had to be defended against various threats, including the Crown Empire. BETA (Bureau for Extra-Terrestrial Affairs) was founded to cope with these tasks, the "Ranger"-division being a part of it. Most of the colonies portrayed in the show are either specialized in agriculture (by growing genetically engineered crops or breeding genetically engineered cattle) or mining star stones. Many of the planets have names that evoke Western settings; Nebraska, Mesa, Ozark, Prairie.(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

the cast includes:
Jerry Orbach ... Zachary Foxx (voice)
Doug Preis ... Shane 'Goose' Gooseman / Mogel the Space Sorcerer / The General / Nimrod / Jackie Subtract / Bubblehead the Memory Bird (voice)
Laura Dean ... Nikko / Aliza Foxx / Jessica Foxx (voice)
Hubert Kelly ... Walther 'Doc' Hartford (voice)
Earl Hammond ... Commander Joseph Walsh / Lazarus Slade / Captain Kidd / Wildfire Cody / King Spartos (voice)
Bob Bottone ... Zozo / Squeegie / GV / Little Zach Foxx / Brappo (voice)
Maia Danziger ... Maya of Tarkon / Annie Oh / Mistwalker (voice)
Henry Mandell ... Waldo / Geezi the Pedulont / Q Ball / Larry / Scarecrow / Kilbane / Crown Agent (voice)
Sandy Marshall ... Buzzwang (voice)
Corinne Orr ... Kiwi Kids / Queen of the Crown (voice)
Ray Owens ... Macross (1986) (voice)

SPECIAL FEATURES
1. On-camera interviews with series creator Robert Mandell
and writers Dan Florella and John Rawlins.
2. Select episode audio commentary with Robert Mandell,
story editor Christopher Rowley and voice talent Henry Mandell.
3. Memories of Jerry Orbach and Kids meal "show and tell' segments.
4. Original music tracks from the underscore
5. Slideshow of Galaxy Rangers character art by Justin Norman.
6. 28-page "Visual Guide to Vehicles and Technology" collectible booklet.

Great job by Koch Vision --- looking forward to more high quality titles from the BBC Collection film market --- order your copy now from Amazon or Koch Vision where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch releases --- where they are experts in releasing long forgotten films and treasures to the collector.

Total Time: 774 mins on DVD ~ Koch Vision KOCV-6547 ~ (8/19/2008)

Years before Firefly, there was a one-season wonder of a Space Western. A brief but glorious run led to a fandom that persists to this day. This underrated little gem would make a fine live-action movie, but until then, we have this collection.

To say GR is a cult classic is understating things a bit. It's in the top 100 cartoon section at fanfiction.net, it has a surprisingly dedicated fanbase (despite our small size), and plenty of critical acclaim from anime fans despite an American origin. It was groundbreaking at the time for its integration of CGI and cel animation, the casting of character actors for voice talent, its nascent use of mytharc structures, and its better-developed character and story structure than its toy-advert peers.

It took over 20 years, three production companies and...let's face it...plenty of groveling by fans like me in order to get this done. Kosh really went out of their way to do this right. Commentary tracks are on the high-end episodes; Christopher Rowley is awesome at deadpan snark, Henry Mandell has a lot to say about the challenge of voicing so many characters, and Robert Mandell sticks mostly to comments about production hell). There are bonus features of artwork and notes about the ships and technology.

Oh, and there are music tracks. The music was an early outing of John van Tongeren (composer for the 1990's Outer Limits, Thelma and Louise, and The 4400) and Peter Wetzler, with tracks sung by rockers Steve Overland and Myles Hunter. Yes, it's 80's rock - AWESOME 80's rock.

Like any 80's series, it has its share of cheese and a couple of true stinkers. most Rangers fans will tell you that "Mothmoose" is mind-bogglingly bad, and anything starring Buzzwang is best watched with your MST3K filters on. What makes up for it are dramatic entries like "Psychocrypt," "Scarecrow," and the Supertrooper duology (the latter half being a loving homage to Clint Eastwood flicks).

Highly recommended to Children of the 80's, anime watchers, animation history buffs...and ESPECIALLY Browncoats. I wouldn't have become a Firefly fan if it weren't for this and Saber Rider.

I used to watch this when I was a kid, and it is a blast to watch it again. Not super by today's standards, very campy and stuff, but still fun to watch, especially for fans of the series. And the video/audio quality are excellent, far above what I expected.

I was extremely happy to discover that they had finally released the complete collection of the GALAXY RANGERS besides the 4 DVDs released a couple years ago.

This cartoon shown on weekdays in the late 80s was IMO one of the most underrated and ahead of its time cartoons at the time.

With an actual story, character development and backstories, interesting support characters and universe, surround sound, computer graphics, etc.......I could go on and on. It wasn't just for selling toys.

I loved this show so much that I actually kept my BETA player around just so I could watch the episodes I recorded.

If you appreciate animated series and science fiction.....you will not be disappointed in this series.

Don't you dare pick up volume 1 without picking up volume 2, as well. Some of my favorite episodes are in this package.

As I was saying...

Mature viewers, such as my friends and I, weren't the intended audience. On the whole, the writers actually wrote up to their viewers, as opposed to everyone else at the time, creating 30 minute toy commercials, and writing down to them.

Reclaiming a lost wife, coming to grips with a past life, and other advanced storylines ran through the series like a golden thread, in stark contrast to the childish and predictable plots in other cartoons at the time.

So many great characters, and great stories. I've already watched, and rewatched every episode that delt with the Super Troopers, and some of Goose's other issues. I wish the character of Niko had been explored furthur, but I'll take what I can get.

I was surprised to see this collection finally come to light. No, that's wrong, I was extatic. This isn't a shoddy slap together product, either. It's crammed full of artwork, info, and bonus materials on the DVD itself.

What's more, you can play the 'Galaxy Rangers theme', and 'Rangers are forever', until you can't see straight. All these years, and those songs are still hardwired into my brain. Yes, the cartoon had fantastic music, as well.

So, why are you still reading this? Show some support, and maybe a future movie or two will be based off of a good cartoon for a change.

No guts, no glory!

For me, Galaxy Rangers is the best animation ever. I have been, for years, hoping for the launch of the complete series in VHS and, later, in DVD. And this package surprises for offering state-of-the-art finish plus delightful bonus material, in addition to the finally available full list of episodes. A must have.

I love this series as a kid and am so thrilled that it is finally on dvd.

I bought this for a gift and was told that these are good quality DVD's with special features included. This was a great show and I would recommend to people who like action cartoons.

This a great for fans of the show. I have watched most of the episodes on tv back in the day but was pleasantly surprised by the ones that I have missed. The episodes are in the actual order so you'll get to watch the story as the creators meant for them to be aired. Both Vol. 1&2 have these detailed booklets of bios of the characters (Vol. 1) & info on the technological equipment (Vol.2) used in the show. Definitely more than just your average silly repeated pictures & listing of episodes that other DVD collections provide. Certain discs have extra commentaries from the writers for selected episodes. The animation is consistent throughout the series & the episodes are packed with music, even additional pop songs. There is also an extra feature in one of the discs in Vol.1 that has complete tracks of songs featured in the show. I highly recommend this to all fans & anyone who is looking for a show of great imagination, action, music & depth. They truly don't make shows today like they used to.

It was 1986. I remember that year well, because it was the same year Star Trek: The Next Generation hit the syndication airwaves. To make a long story short, the producers wrote more adult material and didn't appeal to the lowest common denomenator. That's why there was never a great toy line based on the characters. There was one. However, it was more popular overseas. This second volume has interviews with two of the writers and the show's main producer. You won't be dissapointed with Robert Mandel and his talk about how they struggled to stay on the air. The only parallel they share with Star Trek; was the 65 episodes became popular after they left the air.

If your a fan of animation and science fiction adventure; Galaxy Rangers is a sure bet. Most veiwers don't know that the lead ranger was voiced by Jerry (Law and Order) Orbach. That alone made me want to check out this incredible show.