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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A misunderstood section of Robotech, November 28, 2001
This review is from: Robotech - Masters - Legacy Collection 5 (DVD)
Most reviewers will get tired of the plot of these episodes, understandibly. What they do not understand is that these episodes (the re-thought series forced to fit in the American Robotech storyline) are not at all about fighting an attacking enemy race, but instead seeing the folly of the military power, as the earth becomes the real antagonists and bullies, who attack an unknown enemy who have actually come to protect the human race from the massive imminent invasion of the Invid, who are in search of the flower of life. The Robotech Masters are a dying race, the last thing they want is to fight humans--but they need protoculture to survive, and the humans do everything possible to stop them. The bittersweet ending of the series should have made people understand that this section is not about heroes and crusades for peace, it is about war for the sake of war and the evils of such warfare (the supreme commander is exemplary of this). At the end, it is clear that the foolish destruction of the Robotech Masters will lead to earth's invasion and decimation, enter the Invid. The series features the deepest questions about us as humans in the Robotech series. It lacks the immaturity of the first series (Dana's immaturity is mocked and quickly confronted, as is Bobby's). Reviewers who have attacked the plot problems (like the returning ship from the REF forces) forget that it was not originally created as part of the Macross universe, and elements were conveniently adjusted to fit it in (such as constant references to Zentraedi of which there are none, only 15 years after the original series!!!). If such depth is not your style, wait until the Invid invasion series, which feature the most interesting battle scenes and mecha in Robotech, but perhaps the worst plot and characterization. A fan of the Macross series will likely dislike Southern Cross, but a fan of the Robotech re-creation will admire the much more complex, deeper (and granted imperfect) plot. Great mecha animation coupled with stunning musical pieces makes this as well as the remainder of the Southern Cross series a must-have.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A necessary purchace beyond its nostalgic value, October 16, 2001
This review is from: Robotech - Masters - Legacy Collection 5 (DVD)
All of the Robotech DVD's are worth owning just for the experience of reliving childhood memories. I have purchaced all of the DVD boxed sets so far and have not been disappointed and do not expect to be disappointed by this one either. For most of us, Robotech was our first introduction to dramatic episodic television and 15 years later it does not lose any of its magic or any of its power. Beyond its nostalgic value, the story is still superior science fiction/space opera and will be as good today as it was when you were a kid. If you have never seen Robotech - SEE IT. Start at the begining and watch it all, you will not be disappointed. Sure, there is some cheeze involoved - but, hey - it was the 80's. There is nowhere else that you can get the kind of action, comedy, and drama that Robotech holds. You will identify with the characters and struggle with them as they try to understand what is going on around them. Robotech is vastly superior to any Japanese Anime on television currently because the characters are realistic and mortal. You learn about the horrors of war and learn that people are not immortal. (unlike cartoon like Gi Joe, where no matter how many bullets were on the field somehow the heroes made it out safely) The Robotech Masters saga will give you the meat of the story and explain many plot points that might have been bothering you since you watched the Macross Saga. So, put away your Pokemon trading cards and go out and get a toy hovertank (one of the coolest mecha in the saga) and put the Robotech Masters DVD in your player today.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The second box set of the Southern Cross episodes of Robotech, February 10, 2009
This review is from: Robotech - Masters - Legacy Collection 5 (DVD)
Robotech: Masters - Legacy Collection 5 is a three-disc DVD box set that was released in 2001 by ADV Films. The first disc contains the episodes: "A New Recruit," "Triumvirate," "Clone Chamber," "Love Song," "The Hunters," and "Mind Game." The second disc contains the episodes: "Dana in Wonderland," "Crisis Point," "Day Dreamer," "Final Nightmare," "The Invid Connection," and "Catastrophe."
The third DVD in the set is labeled as "Extra Masters 2 - Elements of Robotechnology V." This DVD contains all the special features included in this box set. The first extra is the original English pilot for Macross. This pilot was produced by Carl Macek before the idea of Robotech came to fruition. The theme song took the original music and wrote new English words for it. However, the English lyrics were pretty bad, and the singer on the theme wasn't very good, either. I also didn't like the narrator on this pilot; he was "over the top," and it gave the episode a cheesy feel. Most of the dialogue in this pilot is used in the first episode of Robotech; the main changes to the dialogue had to be made due to name changes (most notably, Rick Hunter was Rick Yamada in this pilot). Most of the voice actors were also the same, although the voice for Macross City's mayor was notably different. After seeing this, I know that this treatment would never have worked for Macross, and that it ultimately worked better when it was part of Robotech.
There is also "Pre-Production Art." There is thirty-one pages of line art for The Sentinels, and twenty-two pages of line art for unproduced Southern Cross designs. Next is "Movie Supplementals." In this menu, you can see the trailer for Robotech: The Movie. A video for Three Dog's Night "In My Heart" is included (although it should be noted that while the song was recorded for Robotech: The Movie, all the footage that appears in the video is for the Southern Cross portion of Robotech). Under "Movie Supplementals," you can also see twenty-two pages of original storyboard drawings by Paul S. Power, and you can watch an animatic for Robotech: The Movie.
The final extra on the third DVD is the "International Clips." The first clip is when Marie Crystal and Sean Phillips have a confrontation at a restaurant. The second clip is when the Fifteenth Squadron smuggles Musica past Nova Satori. Both of the clips are available in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portugese. I'm disappointed that the original Japanese versions of these clips weren't included.
Overall, this is a decent DVD box set. Even though I wish ADV Films had gone to more effort to remaster the video for this release, I would still recommend this box set.
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