Battle of the Planets - Guilty Nostalgic Pleasure Alert (1 Viewer)

[Ken_McAlinden]

Just yesterday, I was racking my brain trying to remember the name of this show and lo and behold, I discovered that Rhino is releasing two episode collections next week. For those in the know, it's a sci-fi Anime series that was altered almost beyond recognition for US broadcast in the late '70s. I know that its plot makes no sense as dubbed and edited and that it is not going to wow any modern anime fans, but I was 10 years old when this was first airing in 1978, and it and Star Wars were my two geek obsessions of the time. In its various incarnations and revivals, it has been known as "Battle of the Planets", "G-Force", and "Gatchaman". For better or worse, this and Speed Racer were the first views of Anime for a lot of American kids.
Has anyone seen the Rhino discs yet? I will probably purchase them just for the nostalgia factor, but would like fair warning if anything is especially bad. I understand that they will include a few of the unedited original Japanese "Gatchaman" episodes, as well as some episodes of the later revival series "G-Force".
Regards,
------------------
Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

 

[Jeff Kleist]

G-Force is the same series redubbed, less edited, and without 7-Zark-7, which was inserted by Sandy Frank's people
to cover all of the edits they did.
Make sure you watch Gatchaman, to see how the series SHOULD be, who can get that groovy theme song out of their head?
Ohhhh Gatchaman...GATCHAMAAAAANNN!
Jeff Kleist

 

[Dan Keefe]

I thought Battle had 7zark7. Which one is getting released, Battle or G-force? Anyone seen them online to preorder? These were my favorite cartoons as a kid, so this is a must have.
Thanks,
dan

 

[Jeff]

I read, on this or another forum, that each disc would have 2 episodes and both versions, G-Force (or Gottchaman) and Battle. I hope this is true.
Jeff
[Edited last by Jeff on October 17, 2001 at 05:57 AM]

 

[Anthony_J]

Remember the firey phoenix? Now that was a weapon.
I used to live for Battle of the Planets and StarBlazers after school, only to have them replaced by Voltron, Mask, Go-Bots, Transformers, Thunder Cats, Heathcliff, and GI Joe.
Truthfully, except for Heathcliff, I can't say that it was that bad of a trade.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I have not seen Volume one yet, but I noticed something strange with the "G-Force" (i.e. Turner-dubbed) episode on Volume 2. It sounds like the two audio channels are 100% out-of phase. The audio sounded fine on the "BotP" (5.1 remix and 2.0 mono) and original "Gatchaman" Japanese (2.0 mono) episodes. Has anyone else noticed this? This was either a defect or a very poor attempt to create fake stereo "presence" in the audio.
Regards,
------------------
Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA
[Edited last by Ken_McAlinden on October 30, 2001 at 01:38 PM]

 

[Gord Lacey]

Both volumes are supposed to be released on Nov 1st (a Thursday?) according to the Rhino website.
Each volume contains 2 episodes from Battle of the Planets, 2 episodes from Gatchaman and one episode from G-Force.
Gord
------------------
Want to see your favorite show on DVD?
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/redirect.cfm?BannerID=8

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Hmm, sounds like the "Rhinophonic Sound", where they put about a quarter second delay on the surrounds, and use the same info as the Front L&R. They really need to stop doing this
Jeff Kleist

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Hmm, sounds like the "Rhinophonic Sound", where they put about a quarter second delay on the surrounds, and use the same info as the Front L&R. They really need to stop doing this

I know exactly what you are talking about (a perfect eample: The Rutles - All You Need is Cash), and I assure you that this is even worse

.
Regards,
------------------
Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

 

[richard plumb]

Is this a US or Canadian release? I thought the US only had G-Force, so I'm confused why the discs have BotP on them.
In the UK discs only have BotP, so I'd really like the opportunity to compare with the original Gatchaman, plus my wife used to watch Gatchaman in her youth, so I'd get brownie points too

 

[JonZ]

Rich,
Battle of the Planets started in the US in 79 or so(I watched it every morning before school). G-Force was on the Cartoon Network in the mid 90's.
------------------
Visit My Pathetic WebPage
"....With that in mind,I humbly add my own prophecy of
what the dawn of the new millennium shall bring forth-
one thousand more years of the same old crap" Jose Chung

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

There are three variations of "Gatchaman" on US DVD. Rhino has released two volumes of "Battle of the Planets". Each has two BotP episodes with 5.1 or mono sound, the two corresponding "Gatchaman" episodes in Japanese mono with subtitles, and one episode of "G-Force" with multiple language tracks. There is also a DVD from Urban Vision of the three episode Gatchaman series from the mid-90s.
Regards,
------------------
Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Rich,
Battle of the Planets started in the US in 79 or so(I watched it every morning before school). G-Force was on the Cartoon Network in the mid 90's.

It was repeated in the mid-90's, but it was produced in the late 70s/early 80s by Turner, after Sandy Frank's rights expired. G-Force was a much more faithful adaption, less violence cut, no stupid robot.
I'm interested in picking them up for the subtitled Gatchaman episodes. Can anyone with the disc confirm or deny whether or not it uses dubtitles?
Jeff Kleist

 

[JonZ]

"Each volume contains 2 episodes from Battle of the Planets, 2 episodes from Gatchaman and one episode from G-Force."
I really dont see the point in this.
Has anyone picked a copy up yet?
I still have VHS copies I got of BOTP from comic book conventions years ago, itll be nice to replace those old nasty copies.
------------------
Visit My Pathetic WebPage
"....With that in mind,I humbly add my own prophecy of
what the dawn of the new millennium shall bring forth-
one thousand more years of the same old crap" Jose Chung

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I really dont see the point in this.

It satifies both camps. You get the bastardized US Battle of the Planets versions that aired 20-odd years ago and for which those who saw it as children have an irrational affection. You also get the original Gatchaman episodes from which they were derived in Japanese with decent subtitles. In fact, the Gatchaman episodes, despite occasional video artifacts, are of much higher video quality than the BotP episodes. I have no idea why the G-Force eps are there and even less idea why they feature support for Spanish and Portugese when BotP and Gatchaman episodes do not.
Regards,
------------------
Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

 

[Richard_Huntington]

OK, confused about this. Where can these be purchased from and is there a website dedicated to them? I remember this series as a teen and would love to own the original Japanese versions.
------------------
"My wife actually prefers widescreen"

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Disc specs for the two Rhino volumes can be found at their site here and here . They are available directly from Rhino and/or at most e-tailers (and whichever retailers carry this kind of stuff).
Regards,
------------------
Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA
[Edited last by Ken_McAlinden on October 31, 2001 at 10:44 AM]

 

[Richard_Huntington]

Incredible. Every retailer listed at dvdpricesearch.com is out of stock.

Amazon.com's server is down.
Not my morning.

UPDATE: Got to Amazon finally. Their price is more than everybody elses.

Looks like I'm waiting till someobody else gets them in stock. Also looks like Rhino underestimated the demand.
------------------
"My wife actually prefers widescreen"
[Edited last by Richard_Huntington on October 31, 2001 at 12:01 PM]

 

[Richard_Huntington]

http://www.dvdreview.com/fullreviews/battle_of_the_planets__volume_1___2.shtml
------------------
"My wife actually prefers widescreen"

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I am really shocked that Rhino was able to pull this off by giving us the alternate Japanese and Turner versions as a bonus. Usually I am totally opposed to dubbed anime, but I grew up watching these as a child with 7-Zark-7 and the Casey Kasem voice. This is the best of both worlds! Hats off to Rhino!
Jeff