Voltron - Defender of the Universe - Collection One: Blue Lion
by Franklin Cofod
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jack Angel, Michael Bell, Neil Ross, Peter Cullen, Tress MacNeilleDirector: Franklin Cofod
Brand: Media Blasters
Producer: Franklin Cofod
Producer: John Teichman
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 375 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-09-26
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Anime Works
Movie Reviews of Voltron - Defender of the Universe - Collection One: Blue Lion
Movie Review: The Planned Releases for Voltron (English + Japan Versions)
Summary: 5 Stars
In September 2006, Media Blasters, in conjunction with World Events Productions, is releasing Voltron: Defender of the Universe on a series of Special Edition DVD boxed sets. Each set will contain about 15 episodes, all with a newly remastered 5.1 audio (created just for this release) and remastered video.
In addition to original character sketches, TV ads, and news footage, the DVDs will contain new extras created "with help from the original producers and staff." This will reportedly contain never-before-seen interviews that have been previously created over the years, but never made available to the public before.
In 2007, Media Blasters is also planning to release the original uncut Japanese version of Voltron, under the original translation title "Hundred Beast King GoLion" and the Japan-only sequel series under the translated name "Armored Squadron Dairugger XV" on DVD starting next year. They both will be uncut and subtitled - which is perfect for all of the hardcore anime fans out there. We get the original series they way we remembered it, and the way it appered on Japan TV - with subtitles - plus the official 52 episode sequal series to the original Voltron (which never was released outside of Japan in any form).
Originally, "Hyakujuu Ou Golion" ran in Japan for 52 episodes from 1981-82, but when it was released in the USA as Voltron in 1984, the show's popularity was so immense that World Events Productions commissioned Toei Animation (the original creators) to produce 20 more episodes exclusively for the western audience. I really can't say enough positive coments about Voltron, but it had me memorised as a kid. As popular as Transformers and G.I. Joe was, it was still produced by American companies trying to make money by marketing a toy-line with an inexpensively made cartoon program. I love both of those series, but it really was the more maturely-written anime programs that had stories and animation well beyond what was available in the USA at the time. Robotech might be more fondly rememberd on the websites nowadays, but Voltron will always be what started my love affair with Japanese animation -- even though I didn't even really know what "anime" was back then. I hope the diehard fans enjoy this DVD collection I much as I do. I even hear a new toy-line will make some kind of appearance along with the DVD release, and a possible marketing campain from Cartoon Network themselves (who will also show the series in some form). Also, please don't confuse this release with the rather bad CGI-based 26-episode "Voltron: The Third Dimension" (1998) that was only produced in the USA. The failure of this "new" Voltron franchise brought CGI animation studio Netter Digital to bankruptcy. If you never saw it -- it wasn't the worst thing around, but it was probably for the best.
Summary of Voltron - Defender of the Universe - Collection One: Blue Lion
From days of long ago, from uncharted regions of the universe, comes a legend. The legend of Voltron: Defender of the Universe! A mighty robot, loved by good, feared by evil. A force of space explorers, Kieth, Lance, Hunk, Pidge, and Sven are sent to find the last princess of planet Arus, Allura, and the keys to Voltron. Together they find the five robot lions that make up the legendary robot. King Zarkon, an evil warlord, rains down destruction across the universe. But our heroes form Voltron at the last moment, and begin a new war against his cruel empire.Like Robotech, Voltron is an anomaly: an anime series that never aired in Japan in this form. The program Americans know under that title is comprised of recut footage from Hyakujuo Go-Lion ("Hundred-Beast King Go-Lion") and Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV ("Armored Fleet Dairugger XV"). Voltron debuted in syndication in the US in September, 1984, with a completely new storyline. Five young pilots from the Galaxy Alliance, Keith, Lance, Sven, Hunk, and Pidge, crash on the planet Arus when they're attacked by the minions of the evil King Zarkon. In the ruins of an ancient castle, they learn the secret of recreating Voltron, the ancient robot "loved by the good and hated by the evil." Each of them must pilot one of five lion-mecha that link to form Voltron. They also befriend Princess Allura, who pilots of one of the lions after Sven is wounded in battle. Together, they fight Zarkon's robots and "ro-beasts," the witch Haggar and Zarkon's son Lotor. Obviously pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle, Voltron reuses some footage over and over, but leaves out big chunks of the narrative. When the five pilots initially crash on Arus, they stand at the edge of vast desert; after the commercial break, they're wandering through a fog-shrouded forest. These problems won't phase Gen-X'ers who grew up with Voltron and want to revisit this relic of their childhoods. The extras include a rather stilted documentary on the restoration of the series. (Rated 7 and older: violence)--Charles Solomon
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