Customer Reviews

Robotech - The Macross Saga - Complete Collection

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

With a stroke of success in the 80's, the Robotech: Macross series still has a place for many fans today and shares a strong cult following. Being a fan of the series as a kid, I decided to buy the whole Robotech: Macross series, but I came across the overwelming amount of editions to the series. I didn't know which to buy, so I watched them all. Here are the differences between to different boxsets (all offered through Amazon):

Robotech: the Complete Macross Series
One Boxset: 6 disc

Sells for around $60-$65
Nothing special, picture quality is not great, but bearable. Comes in one compact boxset with all the disc in it. Would not reccomend getting this edition unless you just want a copy of the series and want to spend the least possible amount of money.

Robotech: The Legacy Collection: Macross Saga (Collections 1-3)
Three Boxsets: with 3 disc in each
Sells for around $40 each boxset, entire set around $120-$130
Same picture quality as the above set, but with addtional features. Comes with the most extras out of any current sets, but even then, they are so-so. I would actually recommend getting the above edition as I was not impressed with the extras, some were interesting, but it definately didn't justify the price. Your paying almost twice the price.

Robotech Remastered: The Macross Saga (Volumes 1-3)
Three Boxsets: Two disc each boxset
Sells for around $25 each boxset, entire set around $75-$80
Remastered picture quality superior to both sets above, sound quality much improved. This is the set that I would recommend. The price is affordable and well worth the extra money compared to the first set. Also includes a few bonus footage.

Macross: Super Dimensional Fortress (Sets 1-3)
Three Boxsets: Three discs each boxset
Sells for around $60-$70 each boxset, entire series around $180-200
Macross is the original Japanese series of the Robotech: Macross Saga. The storyline is slightly different with different music and sounds. When it was brought to the US, Harmony Gold added the Macross material with two other Japanese series to make Robotech. Macross is more "mature" and includes several scenes taken out of Robotech. Picture quality is even more crisp than the Remastered Series. I would reccomend only to die-hard Robotech fans. It's pretty expensive and lacks really any real extra features.

What you see here is pretty much what you get, and I'm not complaining. It's not elegantly packaged or loaded with extras, but this collection of Robotech's Macross episodes (all of them, 1-36) has one of the most addictive mixes of character, plot, and outright action ever to grace after-school cartoons.

I bought this 6-DVD collection just days ago to scratch a lingering itch for a show that I was obsessed with when I was 9 or 10 years old. I'm 29 now, but Robotech still hasn't lost its ability to suck you right in: A spaceship crashes onto a small island and the world comes together trying to figure out how to restore it; aliens come after the ship and intergalactic hell breaks loose, leading us on a space-epic of whose emotional detail and energy Tolstoy or Hugo would definitely have approved. You've got a rising pop chanteuse, the boys who love her, the prissy administrator who'll charm you later, the fighter jocks, the Star Search moments... Ah, it's grand. Yeah, of course, it's kitschy, and in a way no 9 year old would have grasped, but it's still hours (about FIFTEEN hours, if you can handle it!) of fun.

The only annoying thing--but some might not find this annoying--is that the commercial-break announcements are still there. It's nice that the commercials aren't, but they're still distracting, as are the credits at the beginning and end of each episode. Since it's a DVD, you can of course punch your way through it with ease, but it would have been nicer just to be able to float in one seamless 900-minute stream of Robotech.

If you're a hardcore fan, you might do well to buy the more completely and minutely detailed Legacy Collection box sets. I've got one of them, and it's nicely packaged and full of extras (like technology sketches, plot outlines, etc.), but I'll likely be selling it now. What got me addicted to Robotech in the first place, back when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, wasn't the planes, it was the people. This Complete Collection has everything I need: 900 minutes of sheer anime bliss, at a great, compact price.

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I was hesitant in buying this due to the many similar reviews complaining about DVD quality. Here's what you will (or will not) expect from the Robotech DVDs:

1. Do not expect high quality DVD video or audio found in remastered movies like Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
2. It is a little grainy (but sharp) with a lot of artifacts (dust and such).
3. Color quality is somewhat "light", as if a little too bright.
4. Sound quality is TV quality.
5. In short, if you watched it on TV back in the 80s, then expect similar 1980s TV quality. In this aspect, it is similar to watching a VHS recording of your favorite prime time show.
6. If you have seen HK DVD bootlegs of 1980s anime (like Kimagure Orange Road -KOR), I'd say they are pretty much of the same audio-video quality.
7. Would I still have bought it? Now that I have seen it for myself?

YES SIREEE! Overall, the quality is still acceptable (to me at least): It is TV quality. Just imagine, you are watching a TV show as you were back in the 80s. It is still better than my old Robotech VHS from F.H.E.

The box set contains 6 discs with all the episodes (48) of the macross saga of the robotech series. It also contains various previews for other anime movies of note. The picture quality on the dvds is not great for todays standards but still very watchable, the sound is also lacking but this is all secondary to the fact that the story line and the action on most of the episodes is ultra involving and is still fresh and original. Episodes like 'battle Hymn' are unforgetabble and will be watched again and again. I am a big fan of the series but still believe that even those who have not even heard of robotech would enjoy this dvd box set wich is one of the jewels of my DVD collection (expanding some 200 DVD)

The quality of this DVD set is very good. You have to keep in mind that Robotech was made in the mid 1980's. One reviewer went as far as to say that his recorded VHS tapes from 86 had better quality than this DVD set. My recorded VHS tapes from early 1998 when it was on cartoon network have much poorer quality than that of the DVD set. He couldn't possibly have been bieng honest because his tapes are 12 years older than mine.

I bought this set expecting it to have poor quality and sound, but i really wanted all the episodes. I bought it and to my delight it was WAY better than some people made it out to be. Maybe people dont understand that this is from 85 and animation quality from that era isn't very impressive. It looks exactly like it did when it was created.

I think one thing most of these reviewers neglected to mention is that this is an extremely well-written narrative. It's kind of "Stanley Kubrik meets Voltron".

This is a lot more than your usual anime "Evil demon must be slain" and it's certainly not cartoon demon porn. This is a bona-fide epic. One that most Westerners will find much more satisfying and palatable than the artsy high-stylization of something like Vampire Hunter D.

In addition to some KILLER battle scenes that have never been matched in any cartoon since (you literally cannot comprehend the number of projectiles and combatants that are moving in some of these sequences), this show dealt with the issues of war, comraderie, death, rebirth, love, humanity and sacrifice in a complex and textured way. How many cartoons have you seen where they show the entire earth getting wiped out from ground level? Picture this: a little girl innocently talking to a smiling policeman a split second before they (and the entire population of the earth)are vaporized by a Zentradi weapon of mass destruction RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES. Can you say, "Nipponese grappling with culture defined by two atomic blasts"? I can't think of a cinematic treatment of nuclear war more horrifying than that.

Let me say it one more time: IT HAS A GOOD PLOT. YOU WILL BE ENTERTAINED EVEN AS A SOCIALLY-FUNCTIONAL ADULT.

If you were a fan of Starblazers or G-Force when you were a kid, then this is the masterpiece of that genre you've been waiting for.

I cannot express the disappointment I felt viewing this DVD set. When Robotech first came out I rushed home furiously from school to watch it and then later on automatically record it when I bought a VCR. The story is all there and the dialogue but the main thing that is missing is Image quality. At first I thought I had a bad disk set or broken DVD player. This to my horror was not the case. My friend had just bought it also and I asked him about the image quality. I can't tell you what he said in this review for fear of offending. Needless to say he did not like it. I stuck in a VHS tape from 1986 of the old series and sure enough it even looked better then the DVD set. The DVD set is highly compressed and pixilated with film flaws and all plainly and easily seen. I looked at the back of the DVD set box and saw clear and crisp images shown from the series. One thing is for sure the manufacturers of this disc set didn't get their art from the discs they are selling. That much is clear. Frankly they should be ashamed of themselves. This is clearly a case of false advertising and delivering a defective product to the consumer. Bottom line here is do not get this disc set. If you're even expecting an ok picture then you will be disappointed.

I received this dvd collection almost 20 days ago and I just completed the 6 disc collection and let me tell you that I'm very impressed of the quality this collection has! It's...perfect! The quality, the sound, the presentation...I wonder why in god's name this collection took so long to be offered, but this collection is worth the wait. I am 26 years old and back in the mid 80's I was hooked to every cartoon I could muster! He-Man, G.I.Joe (my very favorite), Transformers and of course, Robotech. Buy this collection, enjoy many of the things you were too young to understand and feel like a kid again with this excellent anime of Robotech: Macross Saga!

Robotech is by far the most complete anime I've ever seen. Yes, the animation itself wasn't so impressive, but the synchronization between the American voice overs and Japanese mouths actually go together well.

the main plot is not anything new, but it's well told and amazingly threaded together. (especially considering this is a translated piece, from the original Japanese series, Macross Mosepeda). If any young writers or movie-script writers want to learn about how to make plots and subplots work--this is the anime show to see!

the characters are moving, and they actually grow, unlike many cartoons and or anime. I mean, the main hero, Rick Hunter was a brash 19 year old from the beginning of the series; and turned into a serious, take-charge ace pilot when he turned older. IT was believable and incredibly well thought out. The range of emotions from each charater (even the minor ones) make you believe they are fully human beings. The voice acting projects it to the point where it enhances their movements and emotions already.

The action, of course, is intense, and creative. Every scene you would wish to replay and pause just to see how many ships were blown up, or what's the "score" count of the invariable human and Zentrani aces.

The typical romance plot, however sickening to watch as a kid, was convicing and deeply sad. I felt most sorry for Minmei, but I am glad Lisa Hayes found someone to love her.

The best thing about Robotech is, the music. Each scene, chacter literally had its own score. Each alien had its own theme, Carl Macek and the music director got it right--whenever someone sits down to WATCH something, the MUSIC has to be as intense as the show itself. (that's why Star Wars, and Indiana Jones will always be remembered too).

The down side of course, is that the plot of the "robotechnology" and "Flowers of Life" could have been explained further in detail and with more ease.

But, besides that, it's well worth the money and as a kid in the 80s brings back a lot of memories.


I wish I could give this a 10 star rating.

I bought this box set and got rid of my individual dvd collection I bought before. Basically its the same DVDs with different packaging. The episodes and DVDs look exactly the same. I've been reading a lot of reviews for this series. Basically I'm convinced that ADV Films makes most of their money off this series. They did everything they can to change the look and feel for the boxset so it would be another purchase! Guess what? It worked. I bought this boxset even though I had the series already.

One thing worth considering is, you won't get a copies of the E DVDs. The extra footage DVDs aren't part of the collections. Oh, a lot of us want a copy of Robotech II the Sentinals. ...

But if you're a DVD collector. This is a no brainer. If you watched the series as a kid, you'll purchase this regardless.