Search - Giant Robo - The Day the Earth Stood Still (Vol. 1) on DVD

FInally on DVD...but all is not well...or good

A. Alcala | L.A., CA | 12/27/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First off I am a massive fan of the series so I am hyper critical of any version presented for public consumption.

This edition DOES have the old VHS voices but the track is ONLY selectable using your DVD players audio selection NOT the DVD itself...lame? Yes...but at least the track IS there.

The new dub...it's OK and does flesh out the story to a more understandable level for first time viewers...but it's nowhere near the passion and epic feel of the first dub. Lets face it the FIRST english dub surpasses even the Japanese track. It's simply perfect for the story and style.

Picture quality is great...TOO great...you can see all the detail in nearly every frame so in some cases you can see the watercolor brush strokes and imperfections in the print used to make the DVD's...It does surpass the "Imports" from Japan and China though so the DVD set is a must own...

But...it has two serious flaws for the collectors amoung us. The collectors edition comes in a great box...with a cheap plastic Eye of Vogler and get this...CD CASES FOR THE DVD'S!!!!! This is jsut WRONG...they are cheap cases at that. Only buy the Collectors Box if you are a HARDCORE fan.

The second flaw is more serious...the "special features" are FAR too excellent to be only in the collectors edition. This should have been in the normal edition and as a result makes fans of the series NEED to buy the awful collectors box to get them.

It's great to have the series FINALLY out...but sadly it's not put together in a sane and economical way. It's expensive as a collectors set and overpriced as a standard DVD due to the lack of the collectors editions extras...

Sadly for the TRUE fan you need to buy both...Collectors Edition for the extra's and the standard DVD for the TRUE Case."

An epic tale of fathers, sons and convenient plot lapses

01/23/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After one of the longest waits in cliffhanger history, Mitsuteru Yokoyama finally binds together the Byzantine plot twists, devious red herrings and artful feints of his magnum opus into a tidy, explosion-studded package of rubber science, revisionist history, lung-busting script exposition, dropped threads, scrubbed pay-offs, unmotivated violence and convenient, Deus-Ex-Machina appearances by characters who were either a) previously unintroduced or b) previously introduced, but dead. If you thought it was weird before, hang on to your dress shorts and radio-control wristwatch. Teen angst-master Daisaku ramps-up the Adolescent Torment Index by becoming hypnotically fixated on the pointless rhetorical question, "Can happiness be achieved without sacrifice?"; while Giant Robo develops the useful but highly suspect ability to become about five times bigger than he was the last time the Eye of Folger kicked his rivet-studded butt, without anyone else appearing to notice. Long time fans, especially, will pay good money to stand in line at the "Bitch-Slap Professor Go for a Dollar" concession, after holding his hand through :60 minutes of blubbering, whining guilt and scenery-chewing self-doubt. Nonetheless, it's worth the wait. Fabulous animation, soaring orchestral cuts and non-stop action keep the viewer adhesed to the screen, despite the fact that none of what's happening makes a lick of sense. The episode's self-aware humor and infectious, over-the-top brio are excellent compensation for its technical flaws, and even the flintiest critic would have to concede the impossibility of crafting a totally satisfying resolution to the Olympian expectations raised by the first six episodes. In the end, it doesn't matter. Buy it, load it, crank up the Surround-Sound and prepare to have your wires thoroughly tweaked. Finally, if there is an overarching moral lesson to the two-fold Tragedy at Bastarlle, it seems to be this: If your mortally-wounded/expiring-from-grief father lays an apocalyptic, life-altering death-bed rap on you, remember to ask questions before he cacks up the other lung. Or at least take good notes."

Absolutely Amazing Show

Jim | Brooklyn, NY United States | 10/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This anime is just great, one of my personal favorites. Even if you never saw japanese animation before this one you can't pass up on. I own japanese language DVD's, but I hear that for a change the dub is good. Originally a 7 part OVA series somehow turned to 6 parts going over the pacific. Animation is good, the characters are not very detailed. However for this anime it really didn't bother me since the story is just so very very good.Enter a world of prosperity. A long research by the world's best scientists has created "Shizuma Drive", which is 100% recycleable
and produces no polution or any other dangers associated with the power. However behind the shadows of such glorious peace lies deception. Dr. Shizuma who created this wounderful energy source was along with Dr. Vogler and 3 other scientists had a failed experiment with huge consequences. And now the crazed Dr. Vogler had recreated the samples that caused that tragedy and is destroying all Shizuma drives in the world sending it into chaos.Daisaku is a 12 year old boy, who has the ability to command Giant Robo, the mightest robot ever. Together with the international police he will try to stop the "Big Fire" organization. Who's aim is to take control over the world.Interesting, complex characters reveal their nature as the series progresses. And the plot twists will leave you wanting to know more. This series will not glue you to the screen in the first episode, you must watch it all to really appreciate it. And the final episode is to die for."

Giant Robo is a must see.

Jim | 03/29/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"No one who considers themselves a fan of anime, in other words no true Otaku, should miss this epic series. Dividing its energy equally well between over-the-top action and deeply personal character development, this first volume in a six tape series delivers in every department, capable of winning over even the most jaded animation enthusiast. After seeing the first, you will not want to miss any of the other, equally fantastic, episodes that build cliffhanger after cliffhanger to an explosive conclusion."