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Battle of the Planets Mega Box Set
RRP: £89.99
Our Price: £399.99 (subject to change)
Best left in the past
Review date: 2007-08-27 Rating: 2 out of 10
I fell like a bit of a traitor writing these comments. Back in the late 70's when this aired on British tv for the first time, (I was about 7 at the time), I LOVED this show! So feeling like having a nostalgia trip, I bought this boxed set hoping to relive my childhood fascination. Alas, after watching the first disc I was bitterly disappointed. Gone has the magic and thrills, I guess it's a part of getting older, but I didn't enjoy them one bit. Having been spoiled by the likes of Ghost in the Shell etc, (yes, I know it's a different genre, but it's anime all the same), the animation is pretty bad and the ruthless editting by our American friends, (not to mention the introduction of the dreadful 7-Zark-7), it's left being a fairly dull show from the 70's that sells based solely on the memories of those of us who watched first time round as kids. Some shows are best left in the past. If you don't want to ruin your memory of enjoying this show as a child, then DON'T buy this set.
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Reviews
Nostalgia Fest!
Review date: 2007-03-15 Rating: 8 out of 10
For anyone looking to re-live their formative years that included watching Battle of the Planets, then this is the ultimate box set for you! From the outset when the orchestra blasts out the fanfare with the Star Wars-esque opening credits, the voice-over takes you back to those saturday mornings.
As one reviewer has said, the music does wear off fairly soon and if you are a Gatchaman (the original Japanese anime) purist, then 7-Zark-7 and co does get incredibly irritating and tedious very quickly. Together with the obviously non-anime inserts, it does disrupt the flow of the stories. If you have seen any of the unedited Gatchaman dvds, the outcomes and threads of the stories are sometimes quite different!
One can understand the reason behind the editing bearing in mind when and where it was broadcast. However, Battle of the Planets is only 85 of the 105 or so episodes made, and misses out and cuts out a lot of the stories and threads. Battle of the Planets is far more young child friendly as much of the violence (some of which is quite graphic in the original)is edited out. In addition, nothing really bad happens (no one dies!) even to the baddies, and the net result is that it has a real American cartoony feel to it, where everything turns out ok in the end.
If you want to find out more about the back ground to the members of G-Force, the true dynamic of their group relationship, and what ultimately happens to Zoltar, Spectra et al, get the Gatchaman dvds that are only available on import at the moment. These are unedited and have a grittier, certainly more violent edge to it. There is also a degree of comedy in it and is as it was intended in its original form.
However, if you just want to chill out, and relax in late 70s nostalgia to what is still a very good cartoon, and not be overly concerned with consistent plot lines, character development etc, all 85 episodes may be a bit much and you may be better off getting one of the volumes. If you want the full-on BOTP experience, then this is a winner!
'Transmute' back to your childhood...
Review date: 2006-03-01 Rating: 10 out of 10
I got this for my 33rd Birthday - and imediately felt like I was 10 years old again!! This fantastic stuff, and my son (3) also loves it. Now we have an episode of BOTP to watch each morning it feels like I'm school holidays again!!
The disc quality is good, the menus easy to navigate and the extra disc has some good stuff on it. But, lets face it, you've bought this set to re-live your childhood and it scores a perfect ten on that front. The theme music is sensational!!
Of course, now we all know that BOTP was edited down from the Japanese 'Gatchaman' series and this does become quite obvious when rewatching certain episodes. But, I didn't mind 7-Zark-7 when I was a kid and I don't mind him now. And the editing certainly does not ruin the series, it just makes it somehting different.
All those people who are ranting how terrible BOTP is and how we should all just watch Gatchaman should get off their pretentious high horses and relax. BOTP was aimed squarley at kids - and it works brillaintly for them. My son loves this, and so do I.
Wierd blast from the past
Review date: 2005-08-10 Rating: 8 out of 10
The two cartoons I remember best from the late 70's and early 80's were Battle Of The Planets and Ulysses 31 because - though I didn't realise it then - they were both Japanese anime and so stood out against the bland American imports of the time. Being more aware of anime now, I reckoned this might be a good revisit.
I also seem to remember that the stories in Battle Of The Planets made total sense...I've had to work a little harder, as an adult, to make any kind of sense of them, but don't let that put you off because they're great fun.
I can't decide if the violence that was cut was simply filled with scenes of that incredibly annoying robot, or if they shuffled what was left after the cuts into some kind of coherent story and then inserted the damn robot...my feeling is that they did both, as some episodes flow well and feel quite complete whereas others, well...watch episode 3, "The Space Mummy", and you tell me. Does it make any sense?
I've gone through about 25 of the 85 episodes here, and I've had enough for now (plus, that theme music gets old real fast), but I also know I'll be dipping into it from time to time in the future. If you're a thirtysomething and you remember this show with any fondness then...go on, you know you want to.
battle of the planets
Review date: 2005-02-02 Rating: 10 out of 10
quite simply my whole childhood in a boxset
a brilliantly preserved cult classic with great stories and fantastic characters.
the whole concept works the imagination well and even now doesnt look out dated on the screen.
great voiceovers most noteably of casey casem who provides the voice of mark.
people still talk about battle of the planets now and thankfuly because of the boxset will remain talked about hopefully for a great number of years,
the bonus disk which features battle of the planets the movie is great and the photo gallery and computer linked bonus features are even more reason to bring your childhood back to life and purchase this box set
Product Details/Specifications
Artist(s):
Battle of the Planets
Recording label: Playback
Manufacturer: Playback
EAN: 5050582247657
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 12
Format: Animated, Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2004-05-24
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Universal, suitable for all
Region code: 2
Language: English (Original Language)