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Robotech: Love Live Alive (2013)
Robotech Thrives!
Well, I literally just saw it. Before I go any further, please beware MAJOR untagged spoilers! Without any further... well, ya' know.
The story: Gotta say, I really liked it! Tommy, Greg, Cam especially, you guys did an excellent job on what could've turned out to just be a copy-paste of Mospeada's original Love Live Alive. Far from it, what we have here is something of a cross between "Dana's Story" and the Gloval Report movie some may remember, but with the added twist of some new footage. Not a whole lot, but some.
Going into Love Live Alive, know to expect the movie equivalent of a flashback story (ergo 'clip show') as nearly the whole story recounts The New Generation, but I re-emphasize I got so much more out of it than that. As opposed to the super-long music video vibe the Mospeada version has, Robotech's perspective explores what made the characters and their interactions. The core of their journey toward the Reflex Point destination.
One tweak I really liked in this flashback story, along with Lancer's narration, came with some of the character introspections given by him and going back to the 'present' as Lancer relates his life to a very friendly reporter. Speaking of, REALLY loved Kay, an amusing personality that helped really make those brief moments surprisingly cool. Again though, expect more a retrospective on the Third Robotech War than where he is beyond that.
Make no mistake though, for Lancer's past before he meets Scott's team and afterwards, we get some damn cool material IMHO. The opening few minutes are VERY memorable as we get the return of Robotech's original Narrator alongside a whole new tie-in point of view for the Invid invasion, it's so cool seeing stuff come together that originally the mid-80s couldn't pull off. Big YAYS to seeing SX Point 83 become Reflex Point, 10th Mars' battle, Dana cameo~ That's stuff near the beginning of the movie, while near the end is when some more fun stuff happens! We do get some singing from Michael Bradley as Lancer, even if it was recorded years back, we get an incredible rendition of his own "We Will Win!" (a cool parallel to the end of The Shadow Chronicles btw!) and a very beautiful scene involving "Lonely Soldier Boy" that brought tears to my eyes. Yes, I'm serious.
You guys should know, the voice actor that gets the most chops flexed turns out to be Cam's role as Lancer, he's kinda in the same position Dean Stockwell was for that Galactica "The Plan" movie. The rest of the VAs do return (I admit it was hard making out where Admiral Hunter's archival cameo was), but their new time is short and they don't get nearly the same amount of perspective as our Yellow Dancer. Not that that's a bad thing, but again, go into this knowing what to expect, Love Live Alive is Lancer's story.
The very end of the movie, snap, there's such a HUGE spoilery moment right before the end-credits that changes EVERYTHING in the Robotech universe. I really don't wanna give this one away, but needless to say it does move the story forward contrary to what many were afraid this story wouldn't do. While this is hyped as a sidestory, the 'present-day' events appear to be set slightly right after the end of The Shadow Chronicles, least that's the impression I got during a camp fire scene with the whole team.
If only for Love Live Alive, do buy this release for that alone. You can watch it before or after The Shadow Chronicles, I say the former as well because we get a very cool something after the end-credits! Remember how I mentioned the original Narrator's return, well, see for yourself...!
As for the animation quality, know first off that between the original Love Live Alive material and brand new stuff, there's about 17 minutes. I really like what we got! For the majority of the story that gives us a New Generation retrospective, it appears that Harmony Gold uses their Remastered version and all the better, while their remastering job on the original feature-exclusive stuff is pretty dang good. You guys should know about the aspect ratio, in staying true to the original New Generation and Mospeada feature, the entire movie is in 4:3.
Despite being a fullscreen format, it doesn't appear anything substantial was cropped from the sides of the all new animation's material. Speaking of the new animation, it's very interesting how this worked out, it's done rather similar to the style of the original anime more-so than The Shadow Chronicles' updated designs. The new stuff mainly applies to the pre-2042 flashback stuff and some very interesting material near the end.
I think both sides of the animation melded pretty well together, even though I prefer The Shadow Chronicles' quality a bit more and hope Shadow Rising is more along those lines, gotta admit it'd be nice to see mecha battles along how the 10th Division's is presented here. Mind you all I'm no animation expert myself, but I have seen the original Mospeada feature and it's very cool seeing that spirit maintained and respected so well. The new stuff, there ain't a whole lot, but I love it! Enjoy and remember, that Protoculture will always be in my blood~
Smallville (2001)
Kal-El's 10 Year Journey towards GREATNESS!
SPOILERS...! Hard to believe it's taken me this long to write up a review for what is no doubt in my top three of favorite television shows Hell, it's my second favorite to be honest, right behind Joss Whedon's Angel! But without veering off topic, Smallville is a favorite and as long as you know exactly what you're getting into (which is easy now that it's over), I feel it's worth the watch.
Smallville is a unique animal amidst the various live-action incarnations of the Man of Steel, where unlike the prior movies and television shows, we get presented a 100% origin story. The emphasis in this prequel-esque scope is on 'the journey' over 'the destination' from beginning to end. In that sense, the series creators did indeed come up with their well known "No Tights, No Flights" rule, a self-imposed vow that ensured our Clark Kent/Kal-El character would not fully learn his ability to fly or don a certain iconic suit until the final hour of the last episode.
However, it is worth noting that while these rules are never truly broken for keeps till "Finale" time, they are bent in some creative and rare ways, with the show's last two and a half years even providing a representation on the early years of Clark's alias (whom yes, does eventually don a couple 'S'-bearing suits). In the midst of the character's high school years and later on into his early-mid 20s, very gradual progress is also made towards Clark's mastering of flight, compliments of roughly ten brushes with it and a few training lessons. So needless to say while Smallville is very careful from refraining into full-fledged Superman territory, I don't feel we're cheated considering (thanks in part to some future-peeks) we get just enough insight into the future we know Smallville is leading towards to see how everything will work out.
If you're a first time viewer of Smallville, I would keep all that in mind and also be well aware that it's best to look at the series as three or four separate arcs...
Clark Kent's Teen Years: The first hundred episodes where during Clark's four years of high school and a semester in college, we see the full story of his friendship with fated rival Lex Luthor in the midst of his early interpretations to Clark's Kryptonian heritage.
Kal-El's Lost Years: Between the 100th and 150th eps, this era is arguably the most stalling in regards to Clark's character, though he does make baby-steps towards his upcoming future in the midst of Lex Luthor's climatic evolution and the rebirth of the super heroes.
The Metropolis Transition: Really more of a bridging piece covering the last three episodes of Season 7 and Season 8's first five eps, this very small era in Smallville is quite literally a transition in many aspects like changes in main characters and filming techniques.
Superman's Early Years: Most likely what we'd all been waiting for since the pilot, starting with the unofficial two-parter "Prey" and "Identity" half a dozen eps into Season 8, this culminating era in Smallville spans all the way to "Finale" as we see the seeding of Clark's dual-identity PLUS the entire Clark/Lois/Kal-El love-triangle.
Another aspect that makes Smallville so fun, though this is mainly explored in its second half, comes in the form of the limitless DC mythos featured. You really can't imagine how many fellow heroes and villains from the comics pop up, though Batman and Wonder Woman are sadly not among them (nor the more well known Green Lanterns and Flashes), it almost becomes half a live-action Justice League series. But at the same time, the first half of Smallville is very friendly to any newcomers to the Superman story, given how very few comic arcs are adapted prior to Seasons 7-10 and the rare amount of extra heroes prior to Season 6.
Now if you are a comic fan, as I've said to many other folks, I think the best way to look at Smallville is... an ElseWorld story! Seriously, just like you would any animated adaptation, don't watch Smallville with the mind-set that it's leading into any specific Superman story that's come before, rather the only incarnation of Clark's full-fledged Superman years it is leading towards is the upcoming Season Eleven comics! Now there are some arcs adapted in prequel-esque manners ('Supergirl's Arrival' & a 'Kal-El's Return to Krypton' quickie in Season 7, pre-buried Doomsday in Season 8, various arcs like bottled city of Kandor & Justice Society's Fall in Season 9, with a couple more involving certain Fourth World characters in Season 10) while a decent deal of characters end up in desirable places by show's end.
And if you really wanna know if Tom Welling wears the full-fledged Superman suit or not, just keep in mind the "No Tights" portion of Al/Miles' rule, evidently they REALLY meant that part... Well, we do sorta see him in it, at least the upper half for a very few rare shots of "Finale"! All we really don't see the actor in are the yellow belt, red trunks, red boots, or tightie-blue-tights over his legs, but please don't think that means we don't see the character fully in it! Personally, I think we got just enough, especially with Tom going the last two years straight donning the iconic 'S' on his chest (really, how many of us expected that prior to Season 9?) and even compensated for the red cape being CG in the finale by wearing one in fan favorite episode "Dominion"~ I hope this review, however insanely spoilery it was, helped any curious newcomers and entertained any fans looking for a fellow fan's positive attitude towards such an amazing masterpiece of origin exploration.
Robotech (1985)
What do you get when you combine three completely separate anime? The stuff of legend. That's Robotech~
I could say several different things about Robotech which have been said by many reviewers before me, mostly positive. But ya' know, even taking into account the controversial "anime butchering" aspect of this series, I've come to define the scope of this adaptation with one sometimes-overused word... EPIC! Here we have a story arc which quite literally covers a time span of 45 years, three generations of brave soldiers worth their salt in three wars, all fought over the same source of energy which makes up the technology namesake of this show; the core of Robotechnology, Protoculture, a fuel-type foodstuff that is (along with Earth) the central focus of this series.
Many props to Carl Macek and the many other writers of Robotech for managing to find a way to adapt a concept already in the original Macross series into something which could believably continue into two more anime series. And to think, in preparation for rewriting, Macek watched all 85 eps originally with no audio or subtitles. He was able to tie together main characters from the first two sagas in profound and yet subtle ways, such as the fact that the battle fortress which crashes on Earth in the first Macross episode comes from the character Zor, whose clone we don't see until the Masters story.
Then of course there's other not-so-subtle stuff like the ominous references to what was to come in the third & final saga of the series, the Invid, whom get mentioned as early as some latter episodes in the Macross Saga. From my point of view, it's genuinely smart how certain things like excerpts of footage of the Masters in a couple/few Macross Saga eps and even the creation of "Dana's Story" further help with connecting everything together, especially given how rushed a production Harmony Gold had. On that note, some of the acting can be truly excellent, even compared to this day and age of anime voice acting, my favorite being Greg Snegoff's Scott Bernard (though Iona Morris captured me more than any other emotionally during Roy Fokker's untimely demise).
In an odd twist, my favorite saga would have to be The Masters; though as for a favorite episode, it's a tie between The Macross Saga's "To The Stars" and The New Generation's "Symphony Of Light". My favorite character overall, definitely Scott Bernard, though I will argue to the end of time that Rick Hunter is the overall main character of Robotech; he was the main dude in The Macross Saga & The Sentinels feature, became something of a prominent offscreen character in New Generation, and even returned for a couple cameo spots in Shadow Chronicles. In that same respect, I'll also argue that the core family of the series was no doubt the Sterlings, given how important characters Max & Miriya were, as well as their daughter Dana taking up the mantle in The Masters (and even her younger sister Maia in Shadow Chronicles).
Thank you, Harmony Gold. thank you, Carl Macek. And thank you, Tommy Yune and all the other young fellas whom are currently working on getting the Shadow Rising continuation in gear. I have me the Protoculture and Two-Disc Collections of both the Robotech series and Shadow Chronicles, I'm ready for more! Bring it on~
Millennium (1996)
The (Often Overlooked & Underrated) Saga of Frank Black
Millennium. A dramatic-thriller series which delves into a multitude of genres from serial killer investigations, government conspiracy, biblical prophecy, and even some supernatural elements. A quite dark series on top of that, created by Chris Carter and aired by Fox, a small-yet-incredible piece of The X-Files universe that stands on its own. Starring Lance Henrikson, his show differs from its sibling series' long run, being cut short at three seasons (with a 'coda' crossover episode). In its entirety, this is the story of Frank Black and his daughter Jordan. And you know what...
I absolutely love this show! I've only recently gotten into Millennium, with big thanks to the Chiller cable channel, and am now proud to say I own the series DVD set (showing both my love for the series and support for a future feature film). This mark in thriller television history took some most interesting and unexpected turns, overseen by different writers and figure-heads, but always given the blessing and support of its creator. Millennium is, as I view it, unique in that it's primarily a "family show" which happens to involve serial killer investigating and some rather blunt violence & realism, forcing me to suggest it just for adults.
As I'm quite sure others have pointed out, each season clearly has its own distinctive style and scope. Season 1, being the first year where the cast and writers have to find themselves, serves as a pure gritty (and at times shockingly violent) 'serial killer investigation' drama, being mostly stand-alone "killer of the week" while also supplying an underlaid over-all arc with a certain stalker of Frank's. Season 2 kicks things up a huge notch by exploring the mythology of the show's namesake Group in near-epic ways, where the conspiracy and biblical material the show can be known well for brings out all the stops. Then with Season 3, Millennium's main city venue makes the move from Seattle, Washington to Quantico, Virginia where Frank gets back to his roots and lets his feelings for the Group be very clear as he starts working with a new partner.
While I love Seasons 1 and 3, Season 2 may in fact by my favorite of the show. I know the story heads and main writers, Morgan & Wong, get a heck of a lot of flak for their new direction to the show, but dang... The stakes to Frank's journey are raised so considerably and the turns Millennium takes in its mythology exploration are downright breath-taking, displaying its best overall season arc IMHO. I'm not gonna knock off Season 3 though, while its own new direction may take some getting used to at first, it continues to elevate the rising stakes in a more subdued and yet continually intriguing manner as the clock to the year 2000 seriously ticks down. I also get a joy out of the complex Emma, whom while I don't like as much as Frank's wife Catherine, becomes a great partner to Frank and thus holds quite a shock in the series finale.
Other pivotal characters include, as already mentioned, Frank's wife Catherine. A more stunning and brilliant actress couldn't have been selected, 'nough said. The character of Peter Watts, whom ultimately goes from Frank's liaison to the group to his best friend, is in my view the most fascinating character of the series. While there's a considerable gap to his character development between the second and third seasons, his development and evolution proves to be extraordinary and for where his story ultimately ends up, it doesn't disappoint IMO. Frank and his perfectly-cute daughter, Jordan, serve as the two main characters from the very beginning to the very end, therefore I'd argue Millennium is just as much their story as anybody's, I'd say their relationship is one all fathers to young girls could admire.
On the whole and in the end, Millennium is a very dark series that like other fantastic shows such as Angel, Firefly, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, was canceled in its prime long before its time. It really wasn't afraid to hold anything back, pulling no punches if ya' wanna put it that way, as any character could die. I am absolutely in love with it and would be on cloud 9 if a feature film were made, as there's always more room to explore. I always somehow get tears in my eyes, and yes I'm a guy, when watching the last few minutes of the series finale, "Goodbye to All That". Even though the show finishes months before the year 2000, "May 21st, 1999" to be exact, it's just such a poignant and beautiful moment during the final exchange between Frank and his little girl.
Luckily, while there aren't yet any feature film plans, we did get a sort of continuation and conclusion beyond the series finale. The X-Files Season 7 episode, appropriately titled "Millennium", features the return and final appearances of Frank Black (and his daughter Jordan, though really only a cameo in her case) approximately 7 months after the finale as the year 2000 is finally reached, a 'coda' crossover that's beautifully enough included on Season 3's last disc. Now this episode gets more than its fair share of flak IMO for how matters with Frank, or rather the Group mostly, are handled. However, I was surprisingly pleased, enjoying the episode on more than one viewing, even if it may be on a X-Files level of weirdness. It offers some decent enough closure beyond the show's finale in my view and that final scene between Frank and Jordan... it's just absolutely perfect to finally see them together, without the threat of the Group on them, and no longer having to go on the run.
The saga of Frank Black is not to be missed if you value unbelievably profound, beautiful, & gripping story telling. I fully recommend it, 10 stars~