Product Details

• Actors: Eddie Allen, Michael Bertolini, Amy Howard Wilson, Lydia Leeds, Kenneth Meseroll
• Directors: Leiji Matsumoto
• Producers: Yoshinobu Nishizaki
• Format: Animated, Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Voyager
• DVD Release Date: September 26, 2001
• Run Time: 598 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005QCWK
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #20,331 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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• For more information about "Star Blazers - The Quest for Iscandar - The Complete Series I Collection (Episodes 1- 26)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The first animated work from Leiji Matsumoto, who would create the popular Captain Harlock saga, Star Blazers (Uchu Senkan Yamato or Space Cruiser Yamato, 1974) was a landmark program in Japan and America. When it aired in syndication in the U.S. in 1979, the character names were anglicized (Susumu Kodai became Derek Wildstar; Admiral Okita, Captain Avatar, etc.), the violence and drinking were heavily censored, and the World War II connections of the Yamato were tactfully downplayed. The Quest for Iscandar comprises the first 26-episode continuity; two additional TV series and several features would follow. In the year 2199, the war with the planet Gamilon has turned the Earth's surface into a radioactive desert. The radiation will penetrate the bedrock protecting humanity's underground cities in another year, destroying all remaining life. A message arrives from Queen Starsha of the planet Iscandar, offering a way to eliminate the deadly radiation and providing plans for an engine that can power a ship across the 148,000 light-year gap. Scientists convert the ruined shell of the battleship Yamato into a starship in a desperate attempt to save the planet, and the perilous voyage begins. The animation and character designs look very dated, but Gen-Xers who grew up watching it remember Star Blazers vividly. The bonus materials include a virtual tour of the Argo, an interactive map of the journey to Iscandar, and some footage deleted from the American broadcast version. Unrated; suitable for ages 8 and up: Violence largely restricted to spaceship and robot attacks. --Charles Solomon

Product Description

The original Sci-Fi adventure series that created a generation of anime fans-and still stands at the head of the pack-is finally available on DVD! The star blazers series 1 DVD collection contains the entire 26-episode series on 6 DVDs, each in its own package and loaded with bonuses, from deleted scenes to music tracks to brand new image galleries. Relive all the drama and excitement as the star force launches for the first time in the space battleship Argo on their epic 148,000 light year quest for Iscandar! Standing against them is Desslock and the might of the Gamilon Empire... and the fate of Earth hangs in the balance!

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

175 of 175 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still stunning, May 30, 2002

By	Michael H. Siegel (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought these disks with some trepidation. I was about ten years old when Star Blazers seared across my conciousness. I loved the show deeply at that time. I finally decided to go ahead and splurge on the DVD's, nervous that I was wasting my money on a half-remembered show that would no longer be impressive to a 30-year old.

I was wrong. Wonderfully wrong.

Sure, the animation is crude. You can actually see marks and debris on the glass plates used for the animation. Sure, some parts are cheesy. Sure, some of the violence was mitigated for the American version. Sure the science varies from wonderfully accurate to ludicrous. But this is still an amazing series -- one of the best pieces of sci-fi to ever reach the small screen. I watched the last ten episodes in one night.

In brief, this DVD covers the first season of the Americanized version of the classic Japanese anime series Space Battleship Yamato (itself an expansion of a movie). Earth is under attack by the mysterious Gamilons, who are bombarding the planet with lethal radiation bombs. The planet has one year of life left. But a call from a distant planet in the Magellanic Clouds promises a cure to the radiation and provides them with new technology to make the journey. The star blazers board the resurrected battleship Yamato (rechristened Argo for the American version) and make a desperate trip to save the human race.

I guess the reason this had such appeal to me as a kid and I still love it is that it never talks down. The characters develop over 26 episodes into fully realized characters. Complex plotlines (Wildstar's loss of his family, Avatar's sickeness, Wildstar's and Nova's budding romance) develop gently. Characters have a realistic chance of being killed (many die). It turns out the Gamilons have reason of their own for invading Earth -- they're not just evil monsters. And the finale - a desperate battle in the Magellanic Clouds, the arrival at Iscandar, the return to Earth -- is stunning.

This series combines action with drama. One particularly good episode shows the crew bidding their last farewells to Earth as they leave the solar system. Another simply details their homesickness. These episodes exists side by side with a 3-part battle at Pluto, a massive confrontation halfway along the journey and two awesome battles at the conclusion of the journey.

The DVD's come with plenty of interesting extras -- a history of Gamilon, a tour of the Argo, etc. But that's gravy.

If you've never seen Star Blazers before, you might want to rent the series or buy one disk before making a big financial commitment. If, like me, you have vague but happy memories of the show, go ahead and splurge. You won't be sorry.

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make Mine Manga!, May 6, 2002

By	Jeffrey A. Veyera "Jeff Veyera" (Matthews, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you were being packed off to school on innumerable mornings in the late 70s/early 80s, chances are you woke up extra early some mornings to the rousing tones of the "Star Blazers" theme:

"We're off to outer space,
Leaving Mother Earth,
To save the human race
Our Star Blazers!"

The half-hour cartoons which ensued were nothing short of miraculous to kids weaned on Looney Tunes: furiously intense little snippets of a small band of heroes in a tricked-out World War Two battleship in a desperate struggle against evil aliens.

This was no "G.I. Joe," folks---the stakes were high, and people got hurt. The captain of the Argo spent much of the trip battling radiation poisoning, the heroes were invariably placed in precarious situations and occasionally were lost. While the Star Force won most of the battles, these victories were dearly bought; many episodes ended with the ship limping along leaving enormous smoke trails in its wake.

Now "Star Blazers" has finally arrived on DVD.

I started watching the first episode, and wound up sitting in front of the TV oblivious to everything around me until I watched all 6 DVDs (about 12 hrs in all). Despite a transfer showing no improvement over the muddy images which danced across my 13" color screen all those years ago, this series STILL has the power to hook the unwary.

In addition to the 26 first series episodes, the DVD edition also includes a ton of nifty special features providing a wealth of background information. My particular favorite is the interactive mission map detailing the Argo's entire journey to Iscandar and back with episode-specific summaries of key events.

I've seen a lot of Japanese manga since "Star Blazers" first bombarded my eyeballs, but slick production and hard-boiled storylines pale in comparison to the ominous warning at the end of each episode: "Hurry, Star Force! Earth has only 256 days left!"

Buy this set. Consider it Cosmo-DNA for the soul.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Anime - Super Storyline - Great Color !, June 19, 2004

By	turtlex "turtlex" (PA USA) - See all my reviews

.
This is it, people, the Starblazers Series One set. It's the "Quest for Iscandar" storyline and its just as fun to watch now as it was when you were a kid.

Starblazers was a very popular series when shown in the United States in the 1970's. It's very colorfully drawn and importantly, it has a good story to tell.

Basically, the story is this - Earth is attacked and only has one year until it will be destroyed unless the Star Force can fly to a distant planet (Iscandar) and retrieve the machine necessary to removing deadly radiation.

Its just the kind of stuff you want to worry about when you're a kid watching cartoons, right? That's the wonderful thing about anime. It doesn't write "down" to its audience. It's as much adult entertainment as it is for the kids.

And this is a special series, because it also has the coolest opening title song ever - its impossible to get out of your head - and I know you're looking for the lyrics so here you go - sing along with the DVDs.

We're off to outer space, we're leaving Mother Earth
To save the human race. Our Star Blazers.
Searching for a distant star, heading off to Iscandar
Leaving all we love behind, who knows what dangers we'll find?
We must be strong and brave, our home we've got to save.
If we don't, in just one year, Mother Earth will disappear
Fighting with the Gamalons, we won't stop until we've won
Then we'll return, and when we arrive
The Earth will survive with our Star Blazers.

I highly recommend this set. Its a must have for any Anime fan.

Regards,
turtlex