Robotech - First Contact (Vol. 1)

Amazon.com

This early anime series that helped introduce the genre to the United States in the mid-1980s is a curious hybrid. Harmony Gold bought the rights to the 36-episode Super Dimension Fortress: Macross, in which an alien invasion was held at bay by the voice of a girl pop star, but executives felt that American viewers wouldn't accept that plot. Producer-story editor Carl Macek intercut sequences from Macross with two similar-looking sci-fi series from Tatsunoko Studios, Genesis Climber Mospeada and Super Dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross, creating a sprawling 85-episode space opera with a completely new story line. The story begins in 1999, when a gigantic spaceship strikes the Earth at Macross Island in the Pacific. After a decade of analysis, repair, and study, the Earth forces are ready to relaunch the gargantuan flying fortress, now called the SDF-1--just as the alien Zentraedi attack, hoping to capture it. The first six installments in the 85-episode series introduce the main characters during the initial battles, ambushes, feints, and counterattacks: ace pilot Rick Hunter; his best friend, dashing fighter commander Roy Fokker; SDF-1 captain Gloval; his straight-laced assistant Lisa Hayes; and aspiring singer Minmei. In retrospect, the circa-1980s series has a rather camp appeal: the stilted romance between Rick and Minmei unfolds as coyly as a prolonged episode of The Brady Bunch. Technically, the show looks very primitive, and the crudely drawn space battles and explosions reveal just how much computer animation has contributed to the look of contemporary anime. Contains the first six episodes: 1. "Booby Trap," 2. "Countdown," 3. "Space Fold," 4. "The Long Wait," 5. "Transformation," 6. "Blitzkrieg." Unrated; "contains mild animated violence." Suitable for ages 8 and up: violence is restricted to spaceship and robot battles. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews:

CHILDISH BUT GREAT FOR OLDER PEOPLE TO.......2003-07-25

nice action, ok story and nice work on the dvd six episodes, exciting. its not the original story of super dimensinol fortress macross i recomend this to add to ur collection ialso recomend samurai x the motion picture, patlabor 2 the movie, x (one), digimon the movie , legend of cristiana the motion picture, dragon ball z: the history of trunks and dragonballz:namek. suitable for all ages

Bulgeoned a song to death, all credits gluped.......2003-03-24

i just watched it recently with disgust, not for the show but how it is treated.
macross/robotech is a reputated series of animation from the 80s. the interview carl macek had makes it sound like the americans MADE robotech, that they CONCEPTUALIZED the entire series idea(is not the so-called 'movie' but snippets put together?). little appreciation is given to the original artists (i.e. japanese. duh? why do you think minmei has black hair? roy fokker having blonde hair does not mean he is american...why do people insist on OWNING things that are not theirs?), they then bulgeoned minmei's song with this bad interpretation of words that makes no sense(starlight starbright?) - sounded like a dead crow... so bad i had to mute the song (oh no, some american voice-over is gonna kill this song again, someone remove the screeching brakes)... the added so-called extra features provide a cause for good laugh. imagine - dana sterling "oh, i can't work all the time, i have to go to the gym too!" in her gym clothes..how barbie! let's mattel-ize everything. pluuusseessee... i cannot see how they are "added" features... a animagazine(protoculture addicts) gave great credit and great information ages ago... somewhere along the lines, everyone conveniently forgets everything else...

Just wonderful.......2002-05-24

This is the best cartoon ever created. pokemon and digimon and all those others are peons compared to this series.

OK, if the DVD Worked.......2002-03-13

One important caution -- the first DVD doesn't work on my Playstation 2. If your only DVD player is a PS2 or a similarly picky player, don't buy this on DVD. Buy it on VHS, if you can find it, or buy a ... DVD player that won't refuse to recognize the disk.

Assuming you've resolved that issue -- If you're a fan of 80s cartoons or americanized Anime, you've probably already seen Robotech. I never got a chance to see it all the way through, and it was definitely worth purchasing for me. If you are an Anime purist, you probably already know why you'll hate it. Go buy Macross Plus or something.

If you're an american wanting to get into Anime, this is a relatively painless way to do it -- its more understandable than many recent popular hits, in the same way that Point of No Return is easier for an American to understand than the original La Femme Nikita -- the script was re-written by an american, and the voice actors are all native english speakers. The story is about on par with Star Wars, the graphics amateurish by today's standards, but the movie is enjoyable for what it is.

Top-notch Anime :-).......2002-01-22

The first DVD volume of the Robotech series contains six excellent episodes, including the eyecatches to and from commercial breaks. In the late 1980s, F.H.E. had released a videotape of these same episodes edited together to form one "movie;" while that was okay, this presentation by ADV Films is far superior, allowing easy access to any particular episode on may wish to view.

This is one of my favorite anime series. However, I can only rate this PlayStation2-compatible DVD as a "4" due to its construction. The main menu begins with a brief clip from the series without any actual menu selections immediately available, which can cause confusion for some users.

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