Search - Robotech - First Contact (Vol. 1) on DVD

The Greatest Anime Series Ever, on DVD

Mr. JKW | Honolulu, Hawai'i | 07/02/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Robotech - The Macross Saga 1: First Contact, contains the first six episodes of the legendary anime series from the mid 1980s.For the uninitiated, Robotech was the most popular of the Americanized Japanese anime series to hit American TV waves during the 1970s and 1980s (along with Star Blazers, Voltron, Transor Z, etc.) Known for its cutting edge animation, thrilling battle scenes, futuristic techonology (planes, tanks, motorcyles that transform into robots), cool alien invaders, and realistic and compelling storylines, Robotech swept an entire generation and helped put Japanese Anime forever on the map of American pop culture.Robotech's sweeping saga spanned three seasons and weaved together three actual separate storylines based on Japanese anime: The Macross Saga (Season 1), The Robotech Masters (The Southern Cross in Japan) (Season 2), and The New Generation (Mospeada in Japan) (Season 3). The basic story premise is that the earth became forever changed in 1999 when a mysterious alien battleship crashes on earth. The people of the world, now knowing that they are not alone in the universe, end all wars and unite to understand and assimilate the advanced technology and prepare for the inevitable alien invasion that is sure to come. As the story unfolds mankind would go on to battle three separate alien races over the next three seasons. The sweeping intergalactic war saga itself though, merely becomes the backdrop of a more deeper "human" saga.Included on this first volume are these first six episodes:Episode 1 - Booby Trap: Introduction to the Robotech world. In 1999 an alien battleship crashes on Earth, uniting all of mankind as one to figure out its awesome technology and to prepare itself against potential alien threats. Ten years later, the ship is renovated. Young Rick Hunter, a civilian pilot visiting his friend Roy Fokker (a commander in the earth forces) during the grand launching ceremony for the space ship becomes an unwilling fighter pilot caught right in the middle of an alien invasion!!!Episode 2 - Countdown: During the Zentraedi invasion Capt. Gloval must contend with the fact that he and his inexperienced crew are commanding an alien vessel that they barely comprehend how to operate. Plus, Rick Hunter aimlessly tries to operate the strange transforming fighter plane he is stuck in while trying to save the beautiful young girl Minmei.Episode 3 - Space Fold: After launching the SD-F1 to lure away the alien invaders Capt. Gloval orders a "Space Fold" to the moon to escape the bombardment from the Zentraedi battleships. Unknowingly, the Space Fold not only DOES NOT take them to moon, but it also winds up taking Macross Island with them - all the way out to Pluto. Plus, Rick and Minmei try to make a break for it and wind up lost in the depths of the SD-F1.Episode 4 - The Long Wait: Rick and Minmei are trapped in the depths of the massive SD-F1 and must battle psychological and physical hardships. Also, the SD-F1 takes on 70,000 refugees from Macross Island. Plus, The Giant Tuna!!!Episode 5 - Transformation: The Battle of Pluto!!! Under attack by Zentraedi forces Capt. Gloval's only hope of saving the ship is to transform the SD-F1 into batteloid mode - at the potential cost of thousands of civilian lives that may potentially get hurt during the transformation. Also, Rick is utterly confused about his feelings toward Minmei.Episode 6 - Blitzkrieg: The Battle of Saturn!!! After much soul searching Rick decides to enlist and become a Veritech Fighter Pilot. Making their way back to earth the SD-F1 takes on the Zentraedi near Saturn. Plus, Rick crashes into the Zentraedi ship coming face-to-face with their mysterious foes.In addition to these episodes the DVD also contains trailer ads for other anime series coming out on DVD from ADV.Here's my assessment of the DVD itself:Great: ROBOTECH ON DVD!!! 'Nuff said.Good: Awesome production. The design, navigation, video and audio are all top-notch.Okay: The trailers for the other DVD anime series from ADV were well done, but of course are just shameless plugs...Incidentally, these volumes DO NOT have special DVD features. While on its own this may be considered a crime, not to fear. If you purchase the boxed set collections, each boxed set collection will come with an "Extra: Elements of Robotechnology" DVD special which will contain all the DVD special features you could want on DVD: interviews, trailers, specs, etc... So by all means, get the boxed set if you are planning on buying.Personally, I'm very happy that ADV and Harmony Gold have finally released this series on DVD. This is BY FAR one of my favorite cartoons from childhood. If you've never seen Robotech, simply put YOU MUST. It is the series that forever set the standard for Japanese anime. If you did grow up with Robotech, give these a watch again. They're great for a trip down memory lane. Watching these episodes again now, I can honestly say that they are better than I remember. Give this (and all the other volumes, current and future releases) a watch. You won't be disappointed.Highest Recommendation possible."

If you want to know where this series all began....

slidude | Canada | 06/10/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Then get the Animeigo version since it will be all in Japanese, and have subtitles (since there can be only one dubbed version of the series, and it has to be the the originally dubbed Robotech:Macross that was originally released in the early 80's. Yes, anime has to be edited for it to be shown here in North America, and in some cases, heavily edited. The wonderful guys at Harmony Gold and Carl Macek did their best with what they were given. 3 series, (since the one series of 36 episodes wasn't enough for North American standards for a full t.v. series they had to combine the 3 Macross, Mosapeda, and southern cross) built into one for the North American audience. This is strictly for the buffs who enjoyed this series when it was originally released to North American audiences back in the 80's. So, if you've never seen this series, and want to know where it all began, yes, buy the Animeigo version with the uncut violence and subtitles with no english dub. If you want to see the edited North American version with english dubbed voices, combining all 3 series into one terrific story that's somewhat edited, get this version. You won't be sorry either way."

Top-notch Anime :-)

James M. Stafford III | Houston, TX USA | 01/22/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Worst picture I have ever seen on dvd

Cedd Dogg | stockton, ca. United States | 06/22/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"robotech is by far my favorite anime series and when I heard it was comming to dvd I was very excited,I couldn't wait,robotech on dvd tight!!It is even a great deal $12.99 for 6 episodes.But the value stops there the picture is the worst I have ever seen on a dvd grainy,faded downwright horrible absalutly no remastering here!If you are a robotech fan get it but don't expect great dvd quality video."