World Famous Comics: Voltron - Defender of the Universe - Collection One: Blue Lion
Voltron - Defender of the Universe - Collection One: Blue Lion
Starring: Peter Cullen, B.J. Ward (II), Jack Angel, Tress MacNeille, Lennie Weinrib Directed By: Franklin Cofod Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD Format: Animated, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC Label: Anime Works Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product. Number of Items: 3 Region Code: 1 Release Date: September 26, 2006 Running Time: 375 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 1986
Product Description: 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. System Requirements:Run Time: 350 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ANIMATION/ADULT SWIM Rating: NR UPC: 631595064575 Manufacturer No: AWDVD-0645
Amazon.com: 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
Blast from the past This is a godsend to all who grow up watching the show after school back in the mid 80's. Set is very nice I have all 5 and have watched them all the way through. FLAWLESS in my opion. Just might make you go out and buy a 130$ masterpiece voltorn off ebay. DOn't say I didn't warn you. Hope a toy line comes back out with this great toy so mom's and dad's buying this for thier lil guys can get the toy to without having to pay a arm and a leg for the collectible ones
Voltron Collection One My husband was thrilled when I gave him this for his birthday. He used to watch this show as a child and there were all of his favorite episodes on television for him again. For any other Voltron fans out there this is the way to go!
Includes Robot Chicken "dance off" I didn't know that this product included the Robot Chicken episode in which Voltron gets "served" in a dance-off. I was pleasantly surprised. This product comes in a sweet metal tin.
Voltron-Defender of the Universe-Collection One: Blue Lion Love it! Old school cartoons are the best. It's great to have all the episodes in consecutive order to see the development of Voltron.
"Get that one or I'll have you all melted down into scrap metal!" The Blue Lion Voltron collection comes in a totally awesome molded metal case, inside of which is a somewhat inconvenient folding cardboard digipak 3-disc holder. There are fifteen beautifully restored episodes in all, starting with the following six classic adventures, found on disc 1:
"Space Explorers Captured": The epic story of the Voltron Force begins as the five space explorers--Keith, Sven, Lance, Hunk and Pidge--approach Planet Arus only to discover that the once peaceful blue sphere is under attack by the fiendish forces of the cat-eyed King Zarkon. Skyscrapers crumble and pastel-colored space mice scamper as Zarkon's indigo-skinned android army marches through the burning city streets. Before they can fully comprehend the devastation now filling their telescanners, a massive white laser beam rushes at the explorers' spaceship from a dark spiny enemy craft. Forced to eject to escape the explosion, the young heroes fall into the cold clutches of Zarkon's reptilian robots and land in the dank dungeon of the vulture-infested Castle Doom.
"Escape to Another Planet": As the space explorers race towards the embattled Planet Arus in the red-bellied slave ship they appropriated from King Zarkon, they are once again forced to eject amid enemy laser blasts. The hapless adventurers land safely in Arus' soft soil and stumble through the foggy night air until they reach the badly damaged Royal Palace. Here they meet the mustachioed castle keeper, Coran, and the lovely blonde Princess Allura. After judging the five strangers to be trustworthy, the initially suspicious Coran recounts the terrifying tale of how Witch Haggar's energy blast split the mighty Voltron into five mechanical lions. Then, the Princess gives the brave warriors spiffy white uniforms and officially dubs them the Voltron Force: Arus' last hope against Zarkon's evil.
"A Ghost and Four Keys": Frustrated with his red-monocled military commander's apparent inability to capture the Voltron Force, the pointy-eared King Zarkon dispatches a giant Robeast in a fancy flying coffin. Meanwhile, as Yurak's forces continue their relentless assault on Arus, the diminutive and impetuous Pidge grabs his puny laser pistol and foolishly runs off to tackle the rifle-bearing robots all by himself. So, after recovering only four of the five essential keys from the sarcophagus of King Alfor, Keith, Sven, Lance and Hunk ride the elevators leading to the legendary mechanical lions and hurry off to rescue their little nasally-voiced buddy.
"The Missing Key": Princess Allura is reunited with her childhood friends, the space mice, and the royal beauty tells the Voltrom Force all about how the talented rodents used to slip into tiny red and white dresses and dance the cancan for her. Meanwhile, Witch Haggar's horrible piranha-faced Robeast is fully super-charged and hungry for fillet-o-lion.
"Princess Joins Up": King Zarkon summons his most gruesome gladiators to Castle Doom's arena for a royal rumble, and the winner goes to Haggar's tower to be transformed by her magic krypto ray into the ultimate Voltron killer. On Arus, the indomitable lions smash through Yurak's endless supply of odd looking red and gold attack ships with alacrity.
"The Right Arm of Voltron": As Princess Allura hosts a decadent Thanksgiving-type feast to celebrate the return of Voltron and the defeat of Zarkon's fiendish forces, the unsinkable Witch Haggar descends upon Planet Arus and orders her feral blue-furred feline friend to go at poor Sven's neck with all the ferocity of a hungry vampire!
Disc 2 is loaded with six more episodes, and the third disc concludes the set with an additional three, plus a nice selection of special features, including:
A `Birth of Voltron' documentary with Ted Koplar, president of World Events Productions; executive producer, Peter Keefe,; director, Franklin Cofod; and story editor, Marc Handler.
A `Making the DVDs' featurette detailing the painstaking process used to restore Voltron's video from the original Japanese masters and recreating all of the American edits. Plus info on how the sound was re-mastered by using a baking process to re-melt the broken down glue of the heavy 24-track audio tapes.
The original pilot, in which Planet Arus was called Planet Nim and Castle Doom was called Darkstone Fortress.
And a Voltron-themed stop-motion animation short from the `Robot Chicken' show entitled, `You Got Robo Served.'
Although Voltron is remembered fondly by fans of 80s cartoons, I think it falls short of perfection due to its obvious repetitiveness. The plot is basically the same in every episode: Zarkon is always upset that Planet Arus hasn't been completely destroyed yet, and Haggar always has a new Robeast ready to be sent in an elaborate red coffin to destroy the Voltron Force once and for all. Then the good guys have to ride the elevators to their respective lions, form Volton, form Blazing Sword, and destroy the giant Robeast. The animation is appealing, the music is appropriately heroic, and the formation of Voltron is excitingly portrayed, but the show would've benefited greatly from a little more variety. Nevertheless, Anime Works has done a fantastic job with the DVDs, especially with respect to the cool and collectible lion tins. So buy Voltron, but don't expect it to be as great as Robotech. Go Lion!
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