ROBOTECH - Coming to a big screen near you!!! (1 Viewer)

[Jose Martinez]

With the success of The Transformers, it was inevitable but I am so excited. My favorite Space Anime Opera is finally getting made!!!!

http://movies.ign.com/articles/818/818558p1.html

http://movies.ign.com/articles/818/818866p1.html

 

[teapot2001]

Wow!!! I'm soooooooo excited!!! Behind Transformers, this is the movie I've always wanted to see made. Hope they get talented people to work on it to give it the treatment it deserves.

~T

 

[Jose Martinez]

With Tobey Maguire's involvement (as producer and possibly playing Rick Hunter) and with him being a fan of the series, I think this could truly be an epic and faithful movie.

 

[AaronMan]

I'd love to see the original source material, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, made into a live action film, but not the dumbed down Robotech. I doubt Shōji Kawamori will be involved, and that's a shame. He was the main story creator of the original Macross and designed just about all the machines and vehicles in the series, most notably, the brilliantly conceived transforming Valkyrie fighter planes.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

 

[todd s]

Never was into this show. I know it has to with planes that transform. But, can someone give me a quick synopsis of each version?

Thanks!

 

[Jose Martinez]

http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/intro/

Robotech is an Americanized version of three different and very unrelated Anime series: The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber Mospeada. All edited and re-dubbed into an 85 episode series. It consisted of three story arcs all related to each other. The first one being the longest and probably the most popular: The Macross Saga. The second being The Robotech Masters and the third: The New Generation. Character bios can be found in the link I posted earlier:

http://movies.ign.com/articles/818/818866p1.html

There are fans of the original Japanese versions but to a lot of us, Robotech was our first exposure to Japanese Anime, even though it was an Americanized one.

 

[Rhett_Y]

I cannot wait for this..... My favorite anime series! I hope they do it justice...

 

[seanOhara]

Yeah, that's going to happen. The studio's going to say, "Well, we have this semi-popular cartoon series from the '80s that we can turn into a $100million sci-fi epic, but it was dumbed down for American consumption. Let's please all the hardcore anime fans by going back to the Japanese original, even though general audiences have never heard of "Macross"."

I don't have any problem with a Robotech movie -- sure, the series had some major plot holes resulting from the patch-up nature of the show, but nothing that can't be fixed. I quite enjoyed the Southern Cross and New Generation parts of the show, and hope the film is successful enough that they make it that far in the series.

 

[joshEH]

Macross = Massively Overrated.

I don't hate the Japanese Super Dimensional Fortress Macross. On the other hand, I *do* see through it. There isn't much there. It's entertaining, and *dabbles* in some interesting themes, but doesn't deal with any in any significant detail. It's eye candy, pleasing to the superficial examination, and nothing more.

Granted, neither Southern Cross nor Mospeada possess Turgenyevian levels of sophistication on their own, but you don't see loads of folks with 36-episode attention spans claiming that Robotech is simply Mospeada plus a prequel, or Southern Cross plus a prequel and a sequel.

This next bit is 22 years of hardcore Robotech fandom talking, but I am sick of fans of the Japanese Macross congesting the Robotech newsgroups with their constant Robotech-bashing. I am sick of 36-episode attention spans claiming that Robotech is simply "Macross plus extras."

It's not; it's infinitely more than Macross ever was, and ever can be. Furthermore, I outright laugh at anyone who takes this a step further and claims that Do You Remember Love? is one of the greatest movies ever made. It's pretty, but it's hollow. There's no substance to it.

In each of the three original Japanese series, a couple of themes -- the common nature of humanity across political boundaries, redemption from the sins one has committed, and release from the weight of sins commited against others -- are shallowly treated (at best). But in Robotech, by virtue of linking these three stories together, and by virtue that they share identical themes, these themes are reprised with increasing power each time until the breathtaking climax of "Symphony of Light."

The casual and inattentive fan who thinks Robotech is simply Macross plus additional episodes, who cannot see the greater unity of the whole, who simply stops paying attention when Minmei's hand closes the photo album, misses not only the whole point of the series, but the entire reason Robotech is a near-masterpiece, whereas Macross is only a pop TV show.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

I'm betting that the hardcore Robotech and Macross fans will soon be united in their hatred of the new movie. Hollywood's track record with these sorts of things is not very good.

 

[AaronMan]

I'm not going to get deep into this, but I don't consider Robotech "Macross with a few extra episodes." I consider it three independent series forced together. Its the same thing as if somebody took Star Wars, Star Trek 2, and Aliens, completely re-wrote them and passed it off as "new". How would you feel if something you worked on was completely changed and combined with other parts you had nothing to do with?

Maybe I shouldn't have used the phrase "dumbed down", but Macross was designed for everybody, nothing you couldn't see in a PG movie, but come on, Robotech was written and edited for children.

I used to really like Robotech. Then I saw Macross and thought it was vastly superior. I had the same reaction when I saw the BBC version of The Office.

Just my opinion. Its all a matter of point of view. Personally, just liked the story of the original Macross series.

Sorry for derailing the thread. This is about the American Robotech movie. All I ask is that they don't redesign those beautifully transforming Valkyries!

 

[joshEH]

It's cool -- agree that the Valkyrie/Veritechs should be retained as much as possible in the new movie, but if what they're saying now in the past week or so is true, Tatsunoko/Big West might be putting the kibosh even on that...

(Also, you might give the recent Robotech:The Shadow Chronicles feature film a look -- extremely adult-oriented, and the audience I saw it with this past winter tore the roof off the theater when it ended. Great flick.)

 

[Jonathan Peterson]

True but they are Very pretty pictures!!!

As far as the movie goes, I'd prefer a trilogy. One movie for each generation.

 

[Anthony Hom]

Sorry, I think Robotech was not edited for children, or at least american children. US cartoons generally do not have people dying (like Roy) or having inter-racial relationships back in the 80s, or even female impersonators (Lancer).

 

[Jonathan Peterson]

I agree 100%. I remember watching this when it was first aired and seeing people get blown away. I thought to myself, you don't see that in G.I. Joe. They also show Lisa singing in a bar drunk.

Also, for you younger Anime fans. You can never underestimate the hugh impact Robotech and Carl Macek had on bringing Anime to a mass audience. Sure there was Speed Racer and Starblazers before but Robotech was a different creature altogether. They used to have conventions just for it. I remember going to one of the first in 1986. They were showing Anime videos in a small room, these were not subtitled. We'd just sit and watch them and be amazed at the animation. This was how I first experienced Macross DYRL, Bubblegum Crisis, Fight! Iczer One, etc. over the next few years. Carl Macek was responsible for releasing Akira as well.

In my opinion there are certain times when Robotech works better than Macross. Take episode 19 (Bursting Point) for example. When Claudia is sitting not drinking her coffee and Rick (Hikaru), they are both thinking about Roy. The music in Robotech in that scene just packs much more of an emotional punch than the same scene in Macross.

Sorry for getting off the movie topic but I hate when people bash Robotech. It really did pave the way for all that followed.

 

[RickER]

Speaking of the music. I really liked the music to Robotech, but hated the American songs. I wish they kept the Japanese Minmay songs. I would be sad if the Valkyaries were not in the new movie. I had a model of one of them in the 80s. Damn thing was so cool because it really changed! The Macross HAS to be the same too.
I would love to see Macross: DYRL, and Macross Zero on R1 DVD!

 

[seanOhara]

What I remember most is watching "Force of Arms" when I was six and being freaked out when the Zentradi blew the hell out of the Earth. I didn't watch the show for a couple weeks after that, and when I tuned in again it was on Southern Cross and I didn't understand where Rick and Minmei went or who the Robotech Masters were.

 

[Kevin Grey]

I'll join in with the others in saying that this show had a tremendous impact on me as a child. I would actually set my alarm to get up every morning at 6am just to watch it.

It also ruined GI Joe and Transformers for me. After seeing both sides actually dealing with death I just couldn't go back to watching soldiers jump out of tanks or parachute out of plays seconds before they exploded every single time.

 

[joshEH]

Many of the Japanese Macross fans, I've discovered over the years, are blinded by their fanatical devotion to Lynn Minmay. Minmei is *identical* in Robotech -- an annoying crybaby, and a selfish little twit. In fact, most of the dialogue is a straight translation. The only difference is that her voice is even *more* squeaky and annoying in Macross.

Indeed, except for "Stagefright," all of the Robotech Minmei's songs are good, solid cabaret-style songs in the mold of the Gershwin songbook. The only problem is that the songs don't fit the character. Cabaret singers are supposed to be sultry, not whiny, and older to boot.

Robotech's soundtrack runs circles around Macross's generic-animé score. There are some pieces in Macross that are workable, but all in all, its score is completely forgettable. Only one of the songs in the Japanese series, "Do You Remember?", is particularly good. The rest are pathetic lollipop Japanese fluff like "My Boyfriend's a Pilot."

Gag.