Robotech: 2-Movie Collection [DVD]

How does Robotech: Love Live Alive do in the face of various expecations (some misplaced), here's my point of view. 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 you guys want me to give away the end of the movie, I will, but I REALLY don't want to... BUY this release if only for Love Live Alive alone! You can watch it before or after The Shadow Chronicles, I say the latter 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...! THE ANIMATION Well, the animation quality, 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! THE DVD FEATURES Really wish we could've gotten a DVD commentary with Tommy and some of the guys, maybe they can still do a podcast on it some time (I'd pay for that!), it would've been very neat hearing their thoughts on both this story and the original New Generation arc. LOVE the teaser trailer included, pre-production gallery's sorta neat, just wish we could've gotten a TAD more. Remember for Shadow Rising, my friends? I did like seeing some of the originally Blu-Ray-exclusive features on The Shadow Chronicles' new DVD, the Robotech 3000 motion-capture thingy for instance. Skimming over that disc, all around looks good, all the original collector's edition extras of that have been kept. So yeah, don't worry about having yet another copy of this feature, ya' get new extras material if you didn't get the Blu-Ray and a back-up for a very cool movie. SOUND EFFECTS / MUSIC SCORE Sound effects are amazing, a very fine job done. Being someone who doesn't mind the Remastered version having upgraded/extra sound effects, that whole aspect's never bothered me, so it doesn't bother me during the New Gen footage in Love Live Alive. Oh and just found out the reporter's name rewatching the end-credits, I believe it's Kay, Wendee Lee did an awesome job voicing her. There's only a few Michael Bradley songs, but I love what's included, especially his take on "We Will Win!" which I don't think was in the original series. Gigi Agrama also sings an amazing piece called "Fool for Love" that'll keep ya' hooked during the end-credits until the Narrator's lil surprise after that. On the note of music scoring, there's also an eerie sounding new take on Musica's "Flower of Life" theme at the movie's start, it really pulls you in before the first line. WRAPPING UP The case is very cool, I like the exterior packaging and Lion's Gate did very well in how to keep the discs safe. I'm now including it with my A&E set and stashing my older Collector's Edition release from FUNi alongside my Protoculture set. All around, LOVE this new Robotech material! Thank you, Cam Clarke! Thank you, Greg Snegoff! Thank you, all the returning cast! Thank you, Tommy Yune! Thank you, Harmony Gold! You have a VERY happy customer who is VERY ready for Shadow Rising. Peace out and remember, that Protoculture will always be in my blood~

For the Shadow Chronicles: As a Robotech fan I was overjoyed to find new Robotech video material. If you're looking forward to seeing the old New Generation gang you can forget it, this is Scott's story though Marlene/Ariel does play a role too. While it's fun to be back in the Robotech universe, unfortunately to really understand what's going on you really need to have read the Sentinels books by "Jack McKinney" (actually a pair of authors using a pen name). If you haven't it's still entertaining, but a little confusing. The Shadow Chronicles is available on Blu-Ray (without Love Live Alive) so if you want better video (if you think Blu-Ray helps for animation) then you'll need to get it instead of just this DVD version. For Love Live Alive: Very disappointing in that the vast majority of the movie is existing Robotech video from the series. If you've read "Jack McKinney"'s End of the Circle, just ignore the parts in it relating to Lancer and Sera. It's still nice to see some new material with Lancer and basically a guest appearance by Sera. The story is forgettable, in fact I have forgotten it so I can't provide any real detail about it.

I liked Love Live Alive, it was pretty good for a flashback movie. It was nice to see Dana leaving earth and some of the new scenes of stuff mentioned in the lore of Robotech that had never been animated until this film. Overall it's a nice lead in to The Shadow Chronicles. But I think unless you are a hardcore or medium Robotech fan it won't really have much meaning. Casual fans should really just watch the series. It's also nice that The Shadow Chronicles is now back in print, considering that old Funimation editions of the film have been out of print for a few years now. All the extras on the 2 disc edition are on this version also. Watching Shadow Chronicles again for the first time in a few years its still pretty good. In all I get why A&E put these two films together, think of this set as a supplement to the Complete series set they put out a couple of years ago. Buy this and that set and you are up to speed on all the animation created for Robotech up to this point.

Love Live Alive is a sort-of clip show from "The New Generation" saga of Robotech with additional brand-new footage and returning cast members. Bottom line: it's great, a nice treat for old fans and a brief introduction for new fans. And love the easter egg after the end credits. The Shadow Chronicles has been out awhile, so I'm just going to say it's a great addition to the Robotech franchise.

Era lo que buscaba. Ahora a buscar la de Los Centinelas. Alguien la tiene?? Por favor... Contácteme. La quiero comprar.

Very pleased

this was gift for my boyfriend and it was something he wanted. He loved the series as a kid and it was a way to for me to share it with him

The Shadow Chronicles is already available and the new movie is not realy a new movie but instead a cut and paste of scenes from the 3rd season of Robotech. There is maybe 5-10 minutes of new stuff and the only part that may be woth it is seeing Dana Sterling near her Hovertank when the Invid arrives...but no fight scene. Wait for it on TV.

Love Live Alive is just a rehash of the New Generation. There is nothing new about this video. Don't waste your money on this now obvious money grab. Also note, this is done in 4:3 because they just re-used old video.