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BATTLE OF THE PLANETS
The Ultimate DVD Boxed Set
Review by Michael Jacobson
Voices:
Alan Young, Casey Kasem, Janet Waldo, Ronnie Schell
Directors: Various
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, Mono
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Studio: Rhino Home Video
Features: See Review
Length: 600 Minutes
Release Date: September 23, 2003
“TRANSMUTE!”
There
is an inherent danger in going back to the entertainment of your childhood and
revisiting it with the eyes of an adult. Things
that enthralled you as a kid sometimes make you wince once you’re old enough
to know better. I was particularly
keen on taking a nostalgic journey with one of my favorite childhood shows Battle
of the Planets, but unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the latter.
Like
many American kids, I was introduced to Japanese animation via the Westernized
versions of Battle of the Planets and Speed Racer.
As a boy, these shows were the best of all cartoons; they were fast,
furious, and filled with action, adventure and imagination.
Now that some time has passed, neither looks the same to me as before. I find Speed Racer still has a certain cheeky charm.
Battle of the Planets is largely off-putting.
Originating
in Japan as Gatchaman, it’s enjoyed at least a couple of attempts at
being Americanized. In fact, I
remember seeing the more recent one on the Cartoon Network and wondering why
none of the characters had the same voices or names I once remembered!
Thankfully,
the Battle of the Planets Ultimate DVD Boxed Set from Rhino takes you
back not once, but twice. The
original Battle of the Planets that you remembered is here, with Mark,
Jason, Princess, Tiny, Keyop and the faithful 7-Zark-7.
But in addition to the 12 American episodes, you can also watch the uncut
Japanese episodes that correspond. That’s
the best treat of this set.
In
Japan, they were a little less disturbed by violence…not that you’ll see
blood flowing and limbs flying, but scenes suggesting bad things can or are
happening were often excised for American TV.
Another of the more amusing aspects is that the American producers
largely seemed to not know or not care what the original Japanese storylines
were…a lot of times you see the same images, but with different plots
developing!
And
7-Zark-7, the faithful robot sentinel, was an American addition as well.
He provided the narrative to help make the jagged stories a little
smoother, while serving as a kind of chorus to reflect on the mood and actions.
Of course, I can’t help but wonder now whether 7 leagues below sea
level is the best place to put a station for monitoring deep space, but there it
is.
The
stories (in the American version) centered around a team of youngsters known as
G-Force, who guarded the earth against alien invasion by their arch nemesis
Zoltar. With their birdlike
costumes, sleek and graceful weaponry, and their mighty ship Phoenix, these five
brave souls were ready to do battle on land, over water or in the air.
For
reasons I don’t fully understand, the set runs the complete gamut of episodes
from 14-27. I don’t know why they
didn’t start earlier, but that’s not a major complaint; the first entry (14)
sets things up fairly nicely for newcomers.
You may or may not chuckle at aspects such as a “pleasure cruise”
with people clad in swimwear sailing in the Northern Pacific(?), or the
inconsistencies like how an automated rail-car suddenly becomes free and
pilotable when our heroes need it, but these bits don’t come across with the
kind of cheesy fun that invites laughter. The
tone, though absurd, is still way too sober and serious.
Maybe
that’s why my trip back and time wasn’t as rewarding as I hoped.
I couldn’t get into the very broad adventures, the oversimplified
concepts, or even the mostly limited animation (despite great source drawings)
as I did in my youth, but in my adulthood, I couldn’t even really giggle at
the aspects of the show that just seemed bizarre.
Others
may disagree. The original show has
maintained a loyal following over the decades, and for those who still find that
the Battle lights their fire, this set is bound to be an agreeable
collection. I had just hoped for
something I could find more immediately entertaining than merely entertaining in
retrospect.
Video
*1/2
This
program went on the air in the late 70s, and unfortunately, that’s exactly
what it looks like here: a program that went on the air in the late 70s.
Rhino is a company known for remastering excellence and quality
preservations of classics, but here, it looks like they were just happy to put
out the product in any form. The age is apparent because the episodes are all dirty
looking, with apparent pops and scratches and softness.
It’s watchable, but a little clean-up effort would have gone a long
way; this one won’t win any prizes.
By
comparison, the Japanese versions are cleaner and brighter, with sharper lines,
but with colors that are a bit more drab…I don’t know if that’s because of
age or if the colors were merely heightened for American viewing.
Audio
**
In
addition to the original broadcast audio, there are curious 5.1 soundtracks that
don’t sound so much remastered as enhanced. By that I mean they’re considerably louder and with
stronger bass (the .1 signal is fairly constant), but the audio is still marred
by age: scratchiness, minor
distortions, etc. These aren’t
cleaned up, and in fact, are only louder and more noticeable than before.
Even more puzzling is the way the voices play; each has a kind of chorus
effect that makes them sound doubled. This
is an effort short on satisfactory results. Still, that theme music is
great, and will play in your head for days.
Features
***
The
features aren’t bad, but they’re spread out over the four discs with nothing
to indicate what can be found where, so happy hunting. They include talent files, separate interviews with Casey
Kasem (a treat, because he demonstrates a little Shaggy for you), Janet Waldo,
Alan Young and Ronnie Schell, plus one with producer Jameson Brewer.
One episode features Waldo, Young and Schell on a commentary track, which
is an affable but not overly informative listen.
There is also a memorabilia gallery and a television promotional trailer,
along with a booklet containing episode guides and trivia.
The animated menus are a nice touch, too.
And, of course, there’s the collectible figure of Jason, which has to
be worth at least an extra star.
Summary:
Battle
of the Planets Ultimate DVD Collection will be a treat to some, more of a curiosity piece to
others. The biggest treat by far is
the ability to compare the Japanese and American broadcasts versions; there’s
a lot of fun to be had there. Those
who really love the show will enjoy it more; for the rest of us, the brief
nostalgic trip will be the set’s best offering.
