Customer Reviews

Robotech - Masters - Legacy Collection 4

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Robotech Masters Legacy: Collection 4, a three disc collection, contains episodes 37 through 48 (and the first half of the second story arc, The Robotech Masters) of the legendary anime series Robotech from the mid 1980s. Also included in this boxed set is the fourth installment of the Elements of Robotechnology, special features DVD which includes the opening and closing sequences of the original Japanese series Robotech was based on.

For the uninitiated, Robotech was the most popular of the Americanized Japanese anime series to hit American TV waves during the 1970s and 1980s. Set in the 21st Century, it was known for its cutting edge animation, high-tech battle scenes, futuristic weapons (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.

Set 15 years after the events in the Macross Saga, The Robotech Masters story picks up with a new generation of Robotech defenders (in this case the heavily armored Armies of the Southern Cross) protecting the Earth as a new wave of Alien invaders, the Robotech Masters, descend upon the earth looking to reclaim the missing Protoculture factory hidden aboard the now derelict SD-F1. This story arc is the focal point of the entire Robotech series as the key plotlines and threads (the secrets of the mysterious Protoculture) that bind together the three story arcs are revealed and woven together here.

Here's the rundown of the episodes and content featured on each disc:

Disc 1: A New Threat

Episode 37 - Dana's Story: Dana relates to Bowie the story of how her parents, Max and Miriya, met and fell in love. Plus, the Robotech Masters attack Moon Base Luna.

Episode 38 - False Start: Dana and the 15th Squadron get into more mischief while out practicing maneuvers. Also, the Robotech Masters arrive in Earth's airspace.

Episode 39 - Southern Cross: It's all-out war as the Robotech Masters' Bioroid Army annihilates the main base, and only Dana and the 15th can stop them.

Episode 40 - Volunteers: Dana and Crystal lead a team on a dangerous shuttle mission to re-establish contact with Space Station Liberty, going directly up against the Robotech Masters ship. Plus, the menacing Red Bioroid.

Episode 41 - Half Moon: Bowie is captured by the Bioroids. Against orders Dana mobilizes the 15th to rescue him and comes face-to-face again with the mysterious Red Bioroid.

Episode 42 - Danger Zone: It's once again all-out war. The Earth Government wants Zor's ship destroyed at all costs; and they pay a high cost indeed!!! Plus, are these aliens human?

Disc 2: Revelations

Episode 43 - Prelude to Battle: The Earth forces plot their next move, infiltrating the downed Robotech Masters ship. Plus, Bowie's musical career lands him in trouble.

Episode 44 - The Trap: The 15th infiltrate and explore the downed Robotech Masters ship, confronting mysterious clones and falling right into the Robotech Masters' trap. Plus, Bowie meets a mysterious alien female musician.

Episode 45 - Metal Fire: More info about the Robotech Masters and the alien female musician, Musica, are revealed. The Earth forces make more discoveries through Bioroid research.

Episode 46 - Star Dust: The Robotech Masters mind probe their human captives and decide their next plan of action - sending an infiltrator in. Dana meets a charming singer with a plan to destroy the Robotech Masters ship.

Episode 47 - The Outsiders: A reinforcement unit from the SD-F3 arrives to help against the Robotech Masters. Meanwhile, Zor Prime is unleashed by the Masters and captured (and studied) by the Earth Forces.

Episode 48 - Déjà vu: Dana seeks answers about her strange fascination with Zor Prime (the Red Bioroid pilot), going to desperate lengths to find answers. Plus, Bowie's heartache and Sean visits Marie.

Disc 3: Elements of Robotechnology 4

Though a little "sparser" in terms of run-length than the other 3 earlier installments, this edition contains some cool gems in it, particularly the opening and closing sequences of the original Japanese anime series. Here are the contents:

1. Opening and closing sequences of the original Japanese anime series, Macross, Southern Cross and Genesis Climber: Mospeada, from which Robotech was made from. You can see where the images were edited together from the original series to form the Robotech opening and closing sequences, not to mention hearing the pretty cool Japanese theme songs. GREAT BONUS.

2. Animation model sheets for the characters and mecha of the Robotech Masters series. Cool stuff

3. Comic cover gallery for the 24 comic issues adapting the 24 episode Robotech Masters saga. Cool stuff

4. More International Robotech clips (in French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese) for 2 clips (Dana moving out the 15th for maneuvers and the 15th having there run-in with Crystal's squad). Neat stuff.

Though this particular arc of the Robotech saga is pointed to by many as the "low-point" of the series (and I felt the same way too as a kid), I must say that it's definitely A LOT better than I remember it being. The action still kicks butt even 15 years later.

If you've never seen Robotech, simply put YOU MUST. The action and the drama are compelling, clearly showing why Robotech became a pop culture icon. It is the series that forever put Japanese anime on the map in the US. If you did grow up with Robotech, give these a watch again. They're great for a trip down memory lane. You can't lose!!!

Highest Recommendation

By far and away, the best segment of Robotech, the Masters Saga is the linchpin of everything in Robotech. More visceral and adult than the pedantic Macross Saga, The Masters Saga focuses on the efforts of the Army of the Southern Cross to keep Earth from becoming a slave colony to the viscious and technologically superior Robotech Masters.

This will be the first of two boxed sets of the Robotech Masters Saga of Robotech on DVD

If you want to know why Robotech is Robotech...this is a must have. As with all the DVDs by A.D. Vision...it will be superb and bring back memories for those of us who loved Robotech during our adolescent angst-filled teen years.

Like many others, I also first saw the Robotech series as a kid. I tuned in to the Masters chapter first and saw Macross last. As such, Masters is my favorite. Maybe because I saw it first I'm a little bias, but I absolutly loved and cared about all the characters. Sean, Bowie, Louie...Even Angelo. Its a testament to the impact of the show that I even remember their names. The story was excellent, the backdrop of a devastated Earth fighting a dying race, Dana's social struggles as a half-human, and knowing a major character could actually die...you just didn't get this stuff with the other cartoons of the day. Anyway, I could talk about this for hours; let me just say that if you're a fan of the series, of course this is must-have. And that final episode...the way it sets up the Invid invasion...I've spent years wondering if Dana and the rest made it out alive or not...(the books aren't official...)

while the middle saga of the three tends to feel contrived, the characters are what keep it alive. Dana and her buddies are fun to watch as they argue, flirt, and fool around. Just get the whole thing...it is worth it.

This box set contains Robotech Vol. 7, Robotech Vol. 8 and Robotech Extra disc 4. Since Vol. 7 and 8 can be purchased seperately, my review will focus on the extras disc.

First, we get our first international clips from the Robotech Masters saga. Dana sounds great in both clips. Mostly in Italian. The main event on this disc however is the original Japanese opening and closings. So let me list them.

Macross Opening 1: Lots of action scenes as well as some shots of the crew.
Macross Opening 2: Same opening, but with some small differences.
Macross Ending 1: Just Rick's jet cruising along.
Macross Ending 2: Live-action ending of Lisa looking through Rick's book of Minmei.
Southern Cross Opening: Featuring soft music and Dana cruising around the screen.
Southern Cross Closing: Dana walking by a moon thinking.
Mospeda Opening: Hard rock with some good action! Kinda sounds like Meatloaf.
Mospeda Closing: The whole gang sitting around a fire.

The production sketches look pretty good as always. And finally, all the covers of the second saga of the Robotech comics.

Overall, not as dazzling as the last discs, but still pretty fun to check out. Even at this rate, this box is still worth buying.

Robotech: Masters - Legacy Collection 4 is a three-disc DVD box set that was released in 2001 by ADV Films. The first disc contains the episodes: "Dana's Story," "False Start," "Southern Cross," "Volunteers," "Half Moon," and "Danger Zone." The second disc contains the episodes: "Prelude to Battle," "The Trap," "Metal Fire," "Stardust," "Outsiders," and "Déjà Vu."

The third DVD in the set is labeled as "Extra Masters 1 - Elements of Robotechnology IV." This DVD contains all the special features included in this box set. The first extra is labeled as "Original Closing & Openings." This includes both of the openings and both of the closings for Super Dimension Fortress Macross, the opening and closing for Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross, the opening and closing for Genesis Climber Mospeada, and the opening and closing for Robotech. It should be noted that only the Robotech opening and closing are textless versions; all the others have their original Japanese text. However, it should be pointed out that the Robotech opening and closing do not have the sound effects that are included in the final product. That leads me to believe that Harmony Gold doesn't have a version of the opening and closing of Robotech that has sound effects, but no text.

The next extra is "Animation Model Sheets." There are twenty-nine pages of characters, twenty-nine pages of mecha, twenty-six pages of the Armies of the Southern Cross, and ten pages of backgrounds. The "Armies of the Southern Cross" model sheets include drawings for the various levels of the Southern Cross military, and highlighting their various insignias and their uniforms and/or battle armor.

Next, there is a gallery of "Masters Comic Covers." These are the covers for the comic books that were released to chronicle the Robotech Masters portion of the Robotech television series. There are twenty-four covers in all, and you can scroll through them at your own pace.

There are also two clips included in the "International Clips" feature. The first clip is when Dana first takes command of the 15th Squadron, and leads her troops out for a joyride. The second scene is when the 15th Squadron gets into a brawl with Marie Crystal's unit. The clips are included in English, French, Spanish, Portugese, and Italian. However, I am disappointed that the original Japanese versions weren't included.

Overall, this is a decent DVD box set.

I really enjoyed the series. I prefer this set over the remastered. Video and sound are great. Since I got my copy used, I am missing the chapter insert card that fits inside the jewel for Volume 8: Revelations. If anyone is willing to scan theirs in and email it to me... I would really appreciate it.

Thanks.

I got older and was able to follow the storyline much better, and this one totally blew me away.

* The nature of which they were fighting was sad for both sides. The Earth, because this was a pre-emptive strike out of fear, knowing what they went through with the Zentradi, they couldn't afford to see if they Zen's elder's The Robotech Masters came for diplomacy or just to say hi!!! The Robotech Masters manipulation on their people and the need to do anything it took to stay that way, was really depressing.

*Interaction between Dana, Nova, and Marie Crystal was funny, the tension between the three was entertaining.

*Southern Cross had it's cheesy moments and annoying characters (Dana, Bowie-Musica, Commander Leonard), but that's a far cry on what I had to endure when I watched Macross. The cheesiness and the annoyance didn't take away from the flow of things either, which I appreciated.

*The clone of Zor Prime brought out alot in these stories. His inner conflict is a thing a beauty.

I didn't like Southern Cross when I first watched it, but I was young and so caught up in Macross. The second time I watched it I gave it a chance, followed it thouroghly, and think that this one here is the strongest storywise of the three.

well i guess i'll blaspheme but these episodes are rough. i remember as a 14 year old nerd in the mid 80's watching these after school (no sports for me, thanks) and thinking robotech was (...)...but man these southern cross episodes i must have just blocked from memory or something. theyre awful...i remember the whole macross saga pretty well and enjoyed them but even those get pretty dull and meandering once they get back to earth..hey rick..make a decision already...minmay, lisa...i dont care..it's been 4 freakin years man!!!! maybe this love triangle scenario was more plausible as a 14 year old rather than a 30 year old, ya know, but it gets real irritating. and i remember the last segment pretty well with the invid and the cross dressing pop star (shudder) but these i barely remember...and for good reason. i just made it through the first disc of this set and consider that an acomplishment. meandering and slow with tons of filler. i thinks i'll skip the fifth set and go straight to the 6th and 7th when they come out next year. get this only if youre a copmpletist.

I know I'm in a distinct minority, but Masters is easily my favorite. It's true that the human characters were not as interesting, but:

1: There is much less "dead weight" than in Macross. A few whole episodes of Macross are a waste of time, such as "Gloval's Report," and many more have slow parts.

2: There is much less "fluff" than in either Macross or New Generation. It's the most serious saga.

3: It's the centerpiece of the protoculture plot.

4: The Masters and their bioroids were the coolest bad guys.

5: The humans have the coolest uniforms of the three generations, especially the helmets.

6: I'm also partial to the tragic ending, where the good guys lose - badly.