Customer Reviews

Robotech - First Contact (Vol. 1)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Robotech - The Macross Saga 1: First Contact, contains the first six episodes of the legendary anime series from the mid 1980s.

For the uninitiated, Robotech was the most popular of the Americanized Japanese anime series to hit American TV waves during the 1970s and 1980s (along with Star Blazers, Voltron, Transor Z, etc.) Known for its cutting edge animation, thrilling battle scenes, futuristic techonology (planes, tanks, motorcyles that transform into robots), cool alien invaders, and realistic and compelling storylines, Robotech swept an entire generation and helped put Japanese Anime forever on the map of American pop culture.

Robotech's sweeping saga spanned three seasons and weaved together three actual separate storylines based on Japanese anime: The Macross Saga (Season 1), The Robotech Masters (The Southern Cross in Japan) (Season 2), and The New Generation (Mospeada in Japan) (Season 3). The basic story premise is that the earth became forever changed in 1999 when a mysterious alien battleship crashes on earth. The people of the world, now knowing that they are not alone in the universe, end all wars and unite to understand and assimilate the advanced technology and prepare for the inevitable alien invasion that is sure to come. As the story unfolds mankind would go on to battle three separate alien races over the next three seasons. The sweeping intergalactic war saga itself though, merely becomes the backdrop of a more deeper "human" saga.

Included on this first volume are these first six episodes:

Episode 1 - Booby Trap: Introduction to the Robotech world. In 1999 an alien battleship crashes on Earth, uniting all of mankind as one to figure out its awesome technology and to prepare itself against potential alien threats. Ten years later, the ship is renovated. Young Rick Hunter, a civilian pilot visiting his friend Roy Fokker (a commander in the earth forces) during the grand launching ceremony for the space ship becomes an unwilling fighter pilot caught right in the middle of an alien invasion!!!

Episode 2 - Countdown: During the Zentraedi invasion Capt. Gloval must contend with the fact that he and his inexperienced crew are commanding an alien vessel that they barely comprehend how to operate. Plus, Rick Hunter aimlessly tries to operate the strange transforming fighter plane he is stuck in while trying to save the beautiful young girl Minmei.

Episode 3 - Space Fold: After launching the SD-F1 to lure away the alien invaders Capt. Gloval orders a "Space Fold" to the moon to escape the bombardment from the Zentraedi battleships. Unknowingly, the Space Fold not only DOES NOT take them to moon, but it also winds up taking Macross Island with them - all the way out to Pluto. Plus, Rick and Minmei try to make a break for it and wind up lost in the depths of the SD-F1.

Episode 4 - The Long Wait: Rick and Minmei are trapped in the depths of the massive SD-F1 and must battle psychological and physical hardships. Also, the SD-F1 takes on 70,000 refugees from Macross Island. Plus, The Giant Tuna!!!

Episode 5 - Transformation: The Battle of Pluto!!! Under attack by Zentraedi forces Capt. Gloval's only hope of saving the ship is to transform the SD-F1 into batteloid mode - at the potential cost of thousands of civilian lives that may potentially get hurt during the transformation. Also, Rick is utterly confused about his feelings toward Minmei.

Episode 6 - Blitzkrieg: The Battle of Saturn!!! After much soul searching Rick decides to enlist and become a Veritech Fighter Pilot. Making their way back to earth the SD-F1 takes on the Zentraedi near Saturn. Plus, Rick crashes into the Zentraedi ship coming face-to-face with their mysterious foes.

In addition to these episodes the DVD also contains trailer ads for other anime series coming out on DVD from ADV.

Here's my assessment of the DVD itself:

Great: ROBOTECH ON DVD!!! 'Nuff said.

Good: Awesome production. The design, navigation, video and audio are all top-notch.

Okay: The trailers for the other DVD anime series from ADV were well done, but of course are just shameless plugs...

Incidentally, these volumes DO NOT have special DVD features. While on its own this may be considered a crime, not to fear. If you purchase the boxed set collections, each boxed set collection will come with an "Extra: Elements of Robotechnology" DVD special which will contain all the DVD special features you could want on DVD: interviews, trailers, specs, etc... So by all means, get the boxed set if you are planning on buying.

Personally, I'm very happy that ADV and Harmony Gold have finally released this series on DVD. This is BY FAR one of my favorite cartoons from childhood. If you've never seen Robotech, simply put YOU MUST. It is the series that forever set the standard for Japanese anime. If you did grow up with Robotech, give these a watch again. They're great for a trip down memory lane. Watching these episodes again now, I can honestly say that they are better than I remember. Give this (and all the other volumes, current and future releases) a watch. You won't be disappointed.

Highest Recommendation possible.

Then get the Animeigo version since it will be all in Japanese, and have subtitles (since there can be only one dubbed version of the series, and it has to be the the originally dubbed Robotech:Macross that was originally released in the early 80's. Yes, anime has to be edited for it to be shown here in North America, and in some cases, heavily edited. The wonderful guys at Harmony Gold and Carl Macek did their best with what they were given. 3 series, (since the one series of 36 episodes wasn't enough for North American standards for a full t.v. series they had to combine the 3 Macross, Mosapeda, and southern cross) built into one for the North American audience. This is strictly for the buffs who enjoyed this series when it was originally released to North American audiences back in the 80's. So, if you've never seen this series, and want to know where it all began, yes, buy the Animeigo version with the uncut violence and subtitles with no english dub. If you want to see the edited North American version with english dubbed voices, combining all 3 series into one terrific story that's somewhat edited, get this version. You won't be sorry either way.

The first DVD volume of the Robotech series contains six excellent episodes, including the eyecatches to and from commercial breaks. In the late 1980s, F.H.E. had released a videotape of these same episodes edited together to form one "movie;" while that was okay, this presentation by ADV Films is far superior, allowing easy access to any particular episode on may wish to view.

This is one of my favorite anime series. However, I can only rate this PlayStation2-compatible DVD as a "4" due to its construction. The main menu begins with a brief clip from the series without any actual menu selections immediately available, which can cause confusion for some users.

robotech is by far my favorite anime series and when I heard it was comming to dvd I was very excited,I couldn't wait,robotech on dvd tight!!It is even a great deal $12.99 for 6 episodes.But the value stops there the picture is the worst I have ever seen on a dvd grainy,faded downwright horrible absalutly no remastering here!If you are a robotech fan get it but don't expect great dvd quality video.

THE DVDS: It's true. These dvds do not have any worthwhile special features (unless you buy the boxed sets) and the picture and sound quality on these dvds is not very impressive, but it's still better than watching a 15 year old VHS tape, AND you can skip to which ever episodes you like. All in all, it's still the best quality editions of Robotech available, and it costs about the same as the old tapes.
THE SERIES: Macross fans that keep comparing their favorite series to Robotech have too much time on their hands. While the animation and general plot are the same, the two stories take some very different directions, making them distinct from one another. Both are worth seeing. What makes Robotech such an amazing series is its ability to balance an engaging sci-fi war drama with a complicated interconnected web of characters that changes constantly. It's character drama without too much melodrama. Old characters die, sometimes unexpected and meaninglessly (as would happen in a real war), new characters appear, and favorite characters keep you watching. If the first episode seems too predictable to you (young boy becomes a hero and gets the girl) KEEP WATCHING! With the exception of only a few less than amazing episodes (4,14,17, and a few others) the series gets more complicated and fascinating with each episode.
Finally, since Robotech is actually made up of three animated series (Macross was only one of them) Robotech also gives a long-range account of Earth's first intersteller wars. Over the course of the series, you follow entire generations of characters involved in the Robotech saga. If you're looking to commit yourself to a rich and complex sci-fi legacy, ripe with countless heroes and countless stories, Robotech is the way to go.

The original Japanese "Macross" is not "Robotech". They are almost entirely different stories, both are highly enjoyable. If you are a so-called "anime purist", you probably won't like Robotech. Get over it. Personally, I plan to buy both the Robotech DVD series AND Animeigo's soon-to-be-released Macross DVD set.

When I first heard that Robotech was coming out on DVD, I flipped! Now that I have it in my hands, I am still doing cartwheels! This is incredible. I remember watching Robotech on TV in the 80's and it truly moved me then, and still does today! If you haven't ordered this yet, DO IT NOW!

In all of the Robotech series, this is probably the best DVD of them all. Because it unravels the precious story of Robotech, and tells the fantastic beginning! Plenty of comic reliefs, great fights, drama, music, and even on this DVD spectacular; nothing has been changed! They've kept it as original as "original" means! Yes!!

7 episodes of robotech wonder! If you just want one Robotech film, buy this one. Trust me, if you buy this one, it will NOT be your last.,

This is a wonderful dub from the 80's. It has no Japanese audio with English sub titles because robotech did not start out in Japanese. Yes, Robotech did come from Marcoss, but was made into a different series by adding 2 other anime shows. So the rewording had to be changed in order to piece together all 3 shows. If you want to hear Japanese go buy Macross, or Macross plus or something.

Anime purists will want the original "Macross" series and clamor on and on about how infinitely greater the original was and how vile it was to commercially graft three disparate anime series into one Robotech, but let me put my money worth in with the rest of the American kids and say, "Macross what?" Robotech is what I grew up. I only knew its soundtrack, its fantastic storyline, and its riotous comic script(it's quite funny, at times, the same way Woody Allen's "What's Up, Tiger Lily" is a crackup). Do yourself a favor and watch Robotech for the fourth time(I watched it 3 repeated seasons as a kid); you'll forget how damn old you are.