Director: Robert V. Barron
Starring: Jean-Claude Ballard
Number of discs: 17
Rated: Unrated
Studio: A&E Entertainment
DVD Release Date: October 18, 2011
Run Time: 2028 minutes
Our Score: 3.5 out 5 stars
Original started in 1985, “Robotech” definitely has the 80’s anime feel. It was never one of my favorites but who can turn down an 85-episode space opera. Even though it is a bit confusion and repetitive throughout the series, this sci-fi series is one of the first-ever animes to import in the US. It contains the remastered versions from the three “Robotech Wars: The Macross Saga, The Robotech Masters and the New Generation” newly titled as “The First-Third Robotech War”. The real star of this set is the disc of special features. There are hours of additional footage that really makes this worth the purchase. If you are fan of Japanese anime, epsecially 80’s then this is the purchase for you this Holiday season.
“The First Robotech War” starts the series in 1999 when a gigantic spaceship crashes on Earth. The world tries to unlock the secrets of this technology, known as Robotech. They get a lot more then they expect when the alien Zentraedi attack and the war begins. This remastered version of “The Macross Saga” contains 36 episodes of the series. It starts off slow but once it gets started towards the end is where the fun begins. “The Second Robotech War” aka “Masters Saga” picks up 15 years following the annihilation of the Earth, the human survivors are try to rebuild their planet, only to be faced with a new threat. This second chapter of the “Robotech” saga includes 24 episodes from the series. “The Third Robotech War” aka “New Generation” take off when the alien Invid have conquered Earth under the Regis. Their greatest hope for saving Earth lies with the return of Admiral Hunter’s Expeditionary Force. This thrilling conclusion of the saga includes the last 25 episodes in the series.
There are a bunch of new special features that are new to DVD, including “The Making of Robotech Documentary”, new Music Videos for “Robotech”, an overview of Robotech, alternate versions of select Robotech episodes, there is also new supplementals from the “Robotech: The Movie. Also includes is the original pilot for Macross and lastly there is promotional reel of Robotech launch in China. These features alone are worth the purchase for sure, but there are still MANY more left. If you are fan of deleted scenes, there are over 2.5 hours (if you can make sense of them). “Robotech: The Sentinels” includes the first 3 episodes were then spliced together into one movie along with promotional video. Not really needed unless you want to watch the first three episode in one shot. There is the original part 1 of the pilot for “Mospeada”. There are original opening and closing animations, always a favorite of mine. The promotional reel to Galaxy of the Stars – Harmony gold and presentation reels for toy commercial and videogame are also included. These is pretty cool to check out, especially due to the age of the series and its impact on the industry. International clips for all three Robotech Wars are also including. Lastly there are many stills containing character bios, model sheets, pre-production art, comic book covers, and merchandise galleries and much more.