|
|
|
|
Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles -Harmony Gold / FUNimation (2006)
Summary Poor Rick Hunter. Nobody seems to give a damn about him anymore. My Thoughts It has been over twenty years since there was a new Robotech cartoon. The series ended on something of a mild cliffhanger. Scott Bernard, the main hero in the third Robotech series, New Generation, made it his personal mission to find Admiral Rick Hunter and the SDF-3. I mean, Scott was so determined to find him that he left all his new friends and alien girlfriend behind to begin his search. In The Shadow Chronicles we finally get to see him search for Admiral Hunter… or not. Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles was built up as being the search for Admiral Hunter. After only hearing about Hunter and the SDF-3 mentioned in the Masters (the second Robotech series) and New Generation series, fans had always wondered what became of him. They could watch a true Macross follow-up to find out, but the real Macross and the first Robotech series, the Macross Saga, exist in two entirely different worlds. So watching a Macross would only tell us of Ichijo Hikaru, the original name for the character that most Americans know as Rick Hunter. The Shadow Chronicles’ brief plot synopsis that was released was merely “Operation is begun to locate the missing SDF-3 and Admiral Hunter,” and that’s directly from the official Robotech website and every other news source that had mentioned the film. In the actual movie, only one character, Vince Grant, searches for him and it only lasts about five minutes. We hear a few lines saying what Rick was up to and we get to see his face and the SDF-3 for a few minutes but that is it. After the mission to retrieve the SDF-3 fails and Grant returns to Earth to set up a bigger force to go back to search for Rick, nobody seems to care. Scott Bernard, the man who was determined to find Rick, also seems indifferent about the whole situation. The least they could have done was had the SDF-3 transform. Instead, The Shadow Chronicles focuses more on the end of the Invid occupation of Earth and the beginning of a new threat from a race know as the Shadows. In fact, the first half-hour is basically the last episode of New Generation with some huge alterations and deletions. Characters present in repeated scenes from New Generation are missing. Other scenes have been re-written to accommodate different characters. Since the Robotech series was spliced together from three completely separate anime series, I suppose I should expect some sort of continuity errors for a movie made twenty years later. Plot holes were obvious in the transitions of the separate series so you might as well follow tradition and make a few more. Now, for the sake of this only being an 88 minute movie I might be able to let that slide since there would so many characters. New viewers would have to suddenly be confronted with tons of characters and back story, but wasn’t this made more for the fans? It was the fans that kept the Robotech name alive for so long, so most of them would probably know about all the missing characters anyways. The hardcore Robotech fans may notice some other changes as well, but they are more trivial and not worth getting into. If you can’t tell, this wasn’t the movie I hoping for and it certainly isn’t the movie that the press releases made it out to be. It was entertaining, though, and for someone who doesn’t know about the whole Rick Hunter thing, the movie is pretty enjoyable. The inclusion of characters from throughout the Robotech timeline was a smart idea as it does somewhat tie together the three separate series. Now, it actually feels like the three series were related to one another, at least a little bit, since the original voice actors are reprising their roles. I do find it a bit odd that Mark Hamill and Chase Masterson are given top billing on the DVD cover. While they do fantastic voice work, the characters they play don't have nearly as much screen time as the others. But, since voice actors rarely get mentioned on the fronts of DVDs, the big names are there to reel in other fans. The look of the characters is actually more anime than their counterparts from the twenty years ago. It seems a little strange that every male in the fleet works out - a lot. Even the nerdy scientist is buff and cut. Also, even though it’s hard to miss, I must point out that every female character has at least double-D sized breasts, although they are probably larger. Good God, they’re just enormous. The animation is a mixture of hand drawn and computer generated. Most of it looks good and the signature missile trails are nicely done. The music is one of the best parts of the movie. It’s well composed and includes many of the old Robotech themes to make it feel like Robotech. If you’re a casual Robotech fan, you’ll enjoy The Shadow Chronicles. I was just left with a sour taste at the end because I was expecting, and we were all promised, a different film. They had better make up for it in the sequel. Extras The extras are rather lacking. I was hoping for a vast amount of extras ala the early DVD releases of Robotech, but all that was there were trailers and a solitary featurette. Robotech: Birth of a Sequel – The Making of Robotech: This is mostly what it says it is. The first ten to fifteen minutes are just fans talking about how much they love Robotech. After the zaniness of the fans you get a look into the process of coming up with a sequel after so many years and see bits and pieces of interviews from all the returning and new voice actors. The end of this is everyone saying or screaming “Robotech.” I don’t know why it was necessary to show that, but one or two fanatics may enjoy it. The rest of the extras are the Shadow Chronicles trailer and trailers for some anime series. Remember, Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles is not anime. Score Film: 6.5 Extras: 2.0 Edition: 3.0 -Shawn |
|
