Customer Reviews

Star Blazers Series 3: The Bolar Wars (6pc) (Coll) [VHS]

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

 

 

The plot is sort of a rehash of the Quest for Iscandar. Two alien space fleets(The Bolar Federation and the Galman Empire) are fighting it out on the outside of Earth's solar system. Both fleets are equiped with planet destroying Proton Missiles. During the battle a Proton Missile is misfired and goes astray plunging into the sun causing a nuclear fussion reaction. This causes the heat to intensify on Earth day by day and the task of finding a new planet before the sun goes supernova has become a priority. Ready for the rehash part? Earth has "only 1 year" to find a new planet suitable for colonization. The Star Force led by Commander Wildstar is assigned the task. They even tell you how many days are left at the end of every episode. LOL

Voyager Entertainment Inc. (VEI) has packaged this series as being the "Lost Episodes." To American TV audiences who loved the first two series, these episodes were indeed "lost." This 3rd series was created in Japan in 1981 and was dubbed into English for American audiences in 1985 (but had VERY limited distribution). Unfortunatly the original voice cast for the first two seasons due to being non-union and uncredited for their work on those series in 1979 could not be found to return to their old roles. So, the Speed Racer cast of Peter Fernandez, Corinne Orr, Jack Grimes, etc. voiced the 3rd series. So you can imagine my disappointment when Leader Desslok spoke his first words and instead of that pompus evil Gamilon dictator I'd come to know and love he sounded more like Mr. Peabody the dog from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons...

Because the 3rd series was dubbed so long after the first two (which were dubbed at the same time) there were errors in character names and continuity problems. Due to poor research Leader Desslok's aide General Talan was carelessly renamed Sgt. Masterson.
The biggest inconsistancy for me was the the use of the name "Star Force." In the first two seasons Desslok, Lysis, Zordar, Captain Gideon, you name it! They all called the crew of the Argo the "Star Force." When the Argo was appraoching a Gamilon base or a Comet Empire Fleet they were refered to as, "the Star Force is approaching!" Not, "the Argo is coming." Not the case in this 3rd season. While the name "Argo" was rarley heard in seasons 1+2, "Star Force" was always used. In the 3rd season, the opposite. "Argo" is used a LOT more than "Star Force." I think a lot of the charm was lost in season 3 because of that.

The biggest error was not so much an error but a real tacky way for them(the American company that dubbed the 3rd series) to cover up the huge story gap between series 2: "The Comet Empire" and series 3. Two movies were released in Japan that took place between the two TV series; "Space Battleship Yamato: The New Voyage/Journey" and "Be Forever Yamato." In these movies Earth is threatened by yet another enemy, the Dark Nebula Empire. In the New Voyage we find out the fate of Queen Starsha and Alex Wildstar on Iscandar and where the Gamilons and Earth stood after the Comet Empire was defeated. Here's the cover up; in the middle of this 3rd series when the Argo.. ahem STAR FORCE reaches planet Galman they are reunited with their former foe Desslok. A flash back sequence is shown of Desslok and the Star Force first as enemies and later progressing as allies in fighting off a Dark Nebula Gorba Space fortress. In this American dubbed version of Bolar Wars, the Dark Nebula craft is wrongfully named the Comet Empire because the comapny that dubbed this series felt that since the two movies that followed Series 2 were never shown to American audiences, they wouldn't know who the Dark Nebulans were in this 3rd series flashback. Confused? I hope not, or I'm a lousy storyteller. LOL

In fact here is the order to watch the Star Blazers/Yamato universe:
1. Series 1: The Quest for Iscandar
(you can also watch the 1st Space Battleship Yamato movie)
2. Series 2: The Comet Empire
3. Space Battleship Yamato: The New Voyage
4. Be Forever Yamato
5. Series 3: The Bolar Wars
6. Final Yamato

Because this series was dubbed by a different company than that of the one that dubbed the first two series, the violence was left alone and casualties were aplenty. But don't think that this series was the most violent. The first two just had theirs sanitized. Yet another inconsistancy... Now if they'd left the first 2 seasons uncut and used the original English voice cast for season 3 we would finally be able to have our cake and eat it too. :)

The "Wildstar" character has matured and developed for this series. He is now officially the commander of the Argo. Emperor Desslok is actually a better ally than a foe. The other main characters from the series one and two are back except for Orion, the chief engineer. Most of the English voices are new ones, which gives the series a different feel altogether. The Bolars initially appear to be friendly towards the Argo, which has a new look and more weapons, but the Bolars are evil. Desslok is a show stopper in all three series and will not disappoint anyone. The mission of the Argo in this series is to stop Earth's sun from going nova, and trying to find a possible new home for the people of Earth. Like series one it has a countdown to annihilation. The peaceful planet Gardiana has the key which might save the day or will it? Buy it, watch it and find out.

Let me start by saying that I have watched the original US Star Blazers (series 1 and 2) when it was televised, and now I currently own all 3 series. There are a lot of reviews about Series 1 and 2 already, my summary on those is that they were as good as I remembered when I saw them televised - good drama, good story, somewhat inconsistent yet decent animation (excellent back in those days - yes I am that old). But when I started watching Series 3 and have viewed most of the episodes so far. It is BORING compared by far to Series 1 and 2. The voices of some of the main characters have changed to be more "wimpy", definitely not the voices of heroes that are suppose to protect the Earth. Most of the episodes are drawn out and lack any real plot. There is very little relevant story connection between this series and the others before it. You will not be missing out on anything about Star Blazers by skipping series 3, the Bolar Wars.

the third series of this show is just as good if not better than the first two. At first the voice change got in my way of enjoying it, but I continued watching it, and also noticed the slight lack of care as far as the animation was concerned. But Once that wonderful ship got off of Earth and that familiar Wave Motion engine sound started going, I was in the show. The story is very good, Desslock as usual IS THE MAN. For those of you watching this, do not let the over acting get to you, later on they work and the story is one faithful to Star Blazer/Yamato storyline. Enjoy

Although the animation and storyline faithfully follow along the same timeline. This production was made without any of the original voices from the previous two series so I felt like these were strangers. Like many people, I have fond memories as a child watching this cartoon series but as I watched the Bolar Wars series, I couldn't get into it because I didn't believe I was watching the adventures of Wildstar, Venture, Sandor, Nova and the rest of the crew. END

the material is great (the animation) but their are no subtitles.
the voice acting is poor. unlike that of the first two series, which was excellent. I had to turn up the volume on my t.v. almost all the way to hear the dialogue, narration, voice acting. It was fairly mute. The Theme song was in Japanese instead of English. What happened to the classic Star Blazers theme song? the story plot is completely un-original. The sun is destroyed so they have to search for a "NEW EARTH". If it was'nt for the fact that the material was great, this should deserve a zero. The voice acting is so horrible that i'll probably have to get the Japanese version from Bandai of Japan.
Voyager Entertainment should have given the star Blazers/Yamato T.V. and film series the royal treatment it deserves.

The first two Star Blazers series' are disgraced by this addition to the collection. The dreadful voice characterizations, along with the inane dialogue, ruined the already weak plot. It's not just that the voices are different from the original cast...it's that they are BAD voices period! Poorly chosen voices made this almost unwatchable. Not even worth renting!

Star Blazers - The Bolar Wars - The Complete Series 3 Collection is a DVD box set that contains six DVDs. All twenty-five episodes that comprise this rarely-seen third Star Blazers series are included. There are five episodes on the first disc, and then four episodes on each of the remaining five DVDs in the set.

There are a number of special features spread out between the six DVDs. There is a spaceship database for the Star Force, the Galman Empire, the Bolar Federation, as well as Earth and Others. There is character data for the Star Force, the Galman Empire, the Bolar Federation, and others. There is a mecha database for the Star Force, the Galman Empire, and the Bolar Federation. There are stellar maps and episode guides for the episodes that appear on each disc; the stellar maps show where the Argo has traveled to on each disc. There are even "Hidden Features" (these are basically deleted scenes from the episodes).

If you're a fan of Star Blazers and want to get all of the Bolar Wars series on DVD, then I would recommend purchasing this set. While the voices may be different from the first two series, this series has a good storyline going for it.

Animation is great. Color and detail very good. Music good although theme song is Japanese. Difficult to get used to new character voices. Story line is inaccurate. Just okay for me.

I resisted getting the Bolar Wars because I really didn't want to listen to English voices that were different from the ones I am used to from the first two series [also because of the negative feedback I have read on the voice acting]. So, I decided to get the original version with English subtitles.

I figured that would be easier for me to cope with, plus I was curious how the look and feel would differ in this form. Well, I love it! Just love it! Reading subtitles took some getting used to [as well as navigating the menu], but once I did, it was great viewing.

The Bolar Wars is a great story. The characters we know and love are far more developed and I fell in love with the new ones introduced. The animation is vastly improved from the first two series.

I am very happy I purchased this. Maybe someday I will also get the English version just to compare.