First ADV Gatchaman review!

These guys reviewed a pre-release version, which I'm sure will be similar to the retail copy shipping out as we speak. They had quite a lot of interesting things to say, check it out:

http://www.dvdvisionjapan.com/gatcha1.html

I'll post more reviews as they come up. I still hope ADV doesn't botch this release. So, will any of you guys be getting this in less than a week? I'm really interested in what the content on that bonus DVD in the Collector's Edition is. The Alex Ross artwork is superb as well, no rehashed screen grabs like Rhino's releases. Though the artwork for the Japanese Gatchaman home video releases were phenomenal as well.

Come June 14th, the ultimate compare & contrast will be possible. We MUST hold it here. What do you think guys? Battle of the Planets Vs. G-Force Vs. Gatchaman. Remember, there is still a possibility ADV can botch this release..............

 

You must have loved this quote, Dirk:

"Then, just when all hope was lost, Rhino released 12 episodes of "Battle of the Planets", complete with the corresponding "Gatchaman" episodes. They even included an episode of G-Force, for those of us who enjoy pain."

From the quick clip we saw a couple of months ago, I'm not surprised by the review of the voice acting. It just sounded bad. Even though the review says the picture is the best ever seen, I don't see myself picking this up. I just don't see myself sitting down and watching it. I may get the last volume so I really get a good understanding of how the series ends, however.

 

I dont think Ill be buying either.

I expect the VAs have to get used to the characters, thats all

 

Casey Kasem and the gang seemed to get it correct right off the bat.

The more projects like this come out, the more I appreciate what an outstanding product "Battle of the Planets" really is.

 

Well guys.................... I'VE GOT BOTH VOLUMES!


What a weekend it's been. I've received my first DVD player, and was hell-bent on getting some G-Force goodness. After combing Target & Circuit City i found nothing (BotP or G-Force). Then i headed to Best Buy and after being told by the clerk there was no BotP or G-Force DVD's i started combing the anime section at BB. Behind MANY DVD's i found both Gatchaman volumes, at $10 apiece. Even though i didn't find G-Force, i snatched these 2 up without hesistation. 1 day before street date to boot!

I'm not in my house right now and not viewing this under passable viewing conditions so I'm waiting to get home until i have any say on this release. But from what I've been watching for almost the past day, the dub seems...............iffy. Think Speed Racer like the review said. I think G-Force may actually have better sounding VA's. From what I've seen as well, G-Force really did stick close to the original Gatchaman script. I was impressed. Like Meridian mentioned ages ago on my first post, most of the edits made on G-Force were for time constraints, so they shaved off 2-3 minutes of idle,innocent scenes.

See you guys later, gonna continue watching these DVD's!

 

C'mon guys, this was supposed to be the event that revived this board! Seriously, the dub is good. There's only so much you can make out of a poorly-animated 70's show which had an air of cheesiness even in the original version! I still have more analyzing to do, but the dub is solid and the video is the best the show has ever looked (though at times the print was damaged beyond any repair).

I'll post later, as I'm still not home yet.

 

anime network

hey i was reading on the anime network website that the channel was now in demand just call your cable provider, has it come onto any of the cable listengs yet, i am just going by of what i was reading

 

I don't think the Gatchaman originals were damaged beyond repair - Tatsunoko released the whole 1st series very nicely mastered on DVD a few years ago in Japan.

 

I meant that at some points the prints were damaged no matter how much remastering you did on them, but they were still viewable & clearer than BotP's prints. (Sorry, but you know in what condition those are.) The print doesn't look as good as that phenomenal clip of the opening i posted on this board (how the hell did they go about remaster that?) but it's the best I've seen the series look. I figure Tatsunoko's best prints from their latest Gatch release was the basis for ADV's release, but ADV may have improved them ever more (they did mention that they were remastering the prints). From the DVD rips of the Japanese episodes I saw, the prints looked so damn dark & muddy that the show was almost unviewable. Maybe it was the quality of the rip. Hopefully me or someone else can get a hold of a Japanese Gatch DVD to compare.

In other news I finally found "The Best of G-Force" after searching for it for a week now. Also snatched up BotP Vol. 1. Thing is i kinda bit the bullet and payed MSRP for them (G-Force: $14.99, BotP: $19.99) when i could've gotten a better deal if i was patient. But after all these months my patience finally ran out and i bought stuff on a "Red Impulse"! I'm trying not to see some of the later G-Force episodes so it won't spoil the Gatch plot for me (still haven't opened the second Gatch DVD) but i have seen the first one, "The Racing Inferno". One scene that have me laughing was while yours truly was fighting with Galactor trying to snatch his mask off when Galactor stabbed him in his hand with some sort of butter knife (kinda surprised that made it). Galactor escaped and Dirk just shook it off. Ace asked him if he was okay and Dirk responsed:

"Nothing that a bowl of chicken soup won't cure"

L.O.L!!!!!!!!

That was the epitome of cheesiness that i have seen in any Gatchaman incarnation so far. It was a riot. I don't have a remote for the DVD player I'm using so I'm not able to access all the features of the DVD. And I'm still not home. I'll have a lot to talk about when the time's right.

I feel as Gatch fans we should buy this latest release, at least for the original version in subtitles. That is if the subtitles are better than those bootlegs. And apart from that acquire our preferred incarnation of Gatch (BotP or G-Force). Which is going to prove to be difficult for a G-Force fan like me. Later.......

 

ADV's Gatchaman site is up:

http://www.advfilms.com/titles/Gatchaman/

And here's the link to that awesome quality version of the Gatch opening:

http://regnodelleanime.gamesurf.it/filtro/gatchaman_jap.htm

 

Quite honestly, I've never considered myself a Gatchaman fan. I find it interesting to see the roots of my beloved "Battle of the Planets," and I enjoyed the episodes released on the BOTP DVDs, but not to the point where I would buy this latest Gatchaman release. People have vastly criticized BOTP for the cuts and changes to make the series what it is.

As much as people don't care for BOTP for such differences, I don't care for Gatchaman for the same reason.

Mark

 

Wow Mark, i never knew you felt like that. I still respect your opinion though. From watching G-Force i guess i could consider myself a Gatch fan as G-Force wasn't too far removed from Gatchaman. Not just that but my longing to see the true uncut version of the source for G-Force. I guess you consider BotP that far removed from Gatchaman then (and i agree as well, as it only contains the basic vestiges of Gatchaman such as the animation)

Still hope you could reconsider your decision, because even though BotP is far removed from Gatch almost as if it were it's own series Gatchaman could still be a whole nother experience you could enjoy. But it's all up to you of course.

Dirk

 

They are both good in their own ways

 

Yes, that was the rips. Some of the bootleg episodes were unwatchably dark with dubious sound quality, but Tatsunoko's originals were all nice and bright and the sounds was great.

 

Crap, i have an issue with my "Battle of the Planets" Vol. 1 DVD. My main purpose of buying this DVD was to own the first 3 episodes of all 3 incarnations of Gatchaman. And of course to own yet another G-Force episode.

But, the English track on the included G-Force episode is virtually inaudible. Even on the highest volume in everything. The Spanish & Portuguese tracks however are audible. Even though Spanish is my family's native language i was born here in the US and am not fully rooted in the Spanish language as i am in English. So sticking to the Spanish track is unacceptable. I've kinda read about this issue on reviews on this DVD on the net but it slipped my mind while i was buying the DVD. So basically the BotP episodes are of any use to me on this DVD. Is this problem widespread on all copies of this DVD? Now i feel even worse about biting the bullet and paying the $20 retail price for this DVD.

Meridian, you mentioned awhile ago that there were seperate G-Force DVD's released in another region. How many of those DVD's were released and how many episodes in total were there in them? I've watched half of the "Best of G-Force" DVD i own and i must admit that my will to see all of G-Force is dwindling. I guess I've been spoiled by the new Gatchaman release which will surely supplant G-Force in all ways. The dub was kinda ear-wrenching in spots, though the backbeat in these episodes didn't fill EVERY empty spot in the episodes, as there were moments of complete silence. I also saw that the same small pool of the VA's for the main characters voiced other supporting/misc characters, like Dirk's VA voiced Red Impulse in almost the same exact tone of voice. It reeked of low-budget. I'll still give it a chance though, but it might seem like my eyes are gradually being opened to the true nature of G-Force after watching the first couple of episodes in almost a decade..................

 

I think that only the first 3 episodes were on that DVD. The first 6 episodes were released in a box set of generic kids' shows (most of which I'd never heard of), but I don't think episodes 4-6 made it onto an official dvd release of their own.

 

Hmm, i expected that. I hate it when companies tease fans by not releasing their entire series on DVD. I'd get all of G-Force if it was on the cheap, seeing as i may now be dedicating my funds to ADV's Gatchaman releases. I think i may as well give up my last ounce of hope of more G-Force episodes being released on DVD. Now if only those handful of people who have all of G-Force on VHS would convert them to some sort of optical media, then I'll snatch it up. Because VHS is crap.

 

At the ConnectiCon this past weekend, they actually had a screening of the first five Gatchaman episodes recently released on DVD. I went to the show at the dealer's room rate, and would have had to pay $25 to see the screening, so I didn't go. But I think it was cool that in the middle of all the hundreds and hundreds of anime there, gaming, sci-fi, and Harry Potter, they squeezed in a two-hour block of Gatchaman. Very cool!

 

Wow, that is cool.

I think with the G-Force thing, they only bothered to release the 6 that had already been mastered by Rhino for their DVDs. What are Rhino up to these days, anyway? I've got my UK BOTP set, but Rhino put such interesting extras on theirs.

 

I think we should take heed to Mark's sticky about going off of tangents constantly, lest we want to be blasted with his sonic boomerang! (off-screen of course, with a long explanation from Zark as to how we'll get up later, though if it was Ken Washio or Ace Goodheart i don't think we'd be getting up! But i can understand where he's coming from seriously. I'll open a new thread soon exclusively for the discussion of ADV's Gatchaman.