DVD
Review | Battle of the Planets (Ultimate DVD Set)
Written by: Kage
Alan
Discovering that Rhino was releasing “Battle of
the Planets” on DVD was a dream come true for me. I lived to be able
to stay home from school sick so I could watch this show. That’s how
much I loved it and how much of a Sci-Fi fan I was even back then.
Heck, I had a difficult time trying to figure out what I wanted to be
when I grew up; a member of G-Force or Infra-Man. And people wonder
why I get a blank look on my face when they express surprise that I
wrote a comedy…
Whenever earth is threatened, a unique team of
young adults springs into action to save the day. They’re G-Force; Mark
(voice of Casey Kasem), Jason (voice of Ronnie Schell), Princess (voice
of Janet Waldo), Tiny (voice of Alan Dinehart) and Keyop (voice of Alan
Young). Watching over them from their base of operations in Center
Neptune is their robot companion, 7-Zark-7, while trying to eliminate
them from the universe was arch villain Zoltar. Each team member had a
unique weapon and vehicle that, when put together, helped complete their
ship, the Phoenix. This was simply the coolest cartoon on the air back
when I was in grade school and I no longer have to come down sick to
watch it now that it’s on DVD!
What I never knew about this show was that it was a
reedited version of the Japanese series “Gotchaman” and that they
weren’t necessarily G-Force so much as Science Ninja Team. Also, when
Sandy Frank brought the show over to North America, it was deemed too
violent for kids, so a number of questionable scenes were trimmed. In
order to bring the running time back up, they created the character of
7-Zark-7 and changed the scripts around to create new stories. Who
knew?
This box set contains 12 full episodes of “BOTP”;
“Perilous Pleasure Cruise”, “The Thing With 1,000 Eyes”, “Microfilm
Mystery”, “The Alien Beetles”, “A Whale Joins G-Force”, “Mad New Ruler
Of Spectra”, “The Sea Dragon”, “Magnetic Attraction”, “The Musical
Mummy”, “The Fiery Lava Giant”, “The Bat-Ray Bombers” and “Race Against
Disaster”. The episodes of “Gotchaman” that these shows were taken from
are also included, so you’ll be able to compare them and see what was
edited out. I did.
The biggest complaint about “BOTP” is that the show
looks horrible in terms of print damage. I remember this was the case
back in the 1978 when I was watching it, so it almost feels like I
really am reliving part of my youth. Oddly enough, the “Gotchaman”
episodes look much, much better, as if the Japanese went back and
cleaned them up while ours haven’t stood up as well over time. This is
kind of a shame, actually, because the show is worth preserving.
Speaking of transfers, Rhino has released “Battle
of the Planets” in their original Full Screen presentation. Video
quality is, well, bad, while the “Gotchaman” episodes look terrific.
Audio quality is still pretty solid, so I’ve no complaints with that.
It’s just as I remember it. Extras include Cast and Crew bios, a
trailer, a 10 ¾ min interview with Writer and Executive Producer Jameson
Brewer, an in-depth Memorabilia Gallery, a 7 ¾ min interview with Casey
Kasem, another with Janet Waldo (9 ¾ min), yet another with Ronnie
Schell (9 ½ min), a final one with Alan Young (5 ¼ min) and an audio
commentary with Waldo, Young and Schell on Episode 27 (“Race Against
Disaster”). As commentaries go, listening to these three reminisce is a
scream, especially since one of them hasn’t really watched the show
before. Also included in this Ultimate DVD set are the aforementioned
accompanying episodes of “Gotchaman” with English subtitles and a Jason
action figure.
The resurgence of interest in “Battle of the
Planets” should hopefully earn the show some new fans while keeping
older fans (like myself) happier than we have any right to be because of
the DVDs. I feel like a kid all over again and that in itself is worth
the price of this set. Maybe I didn’t grow up to become a member of
G-Force, but that doesn’t mean I can’t write about it in the future!
Suddenly being a novelist doesn’t seem so bad, especially since it was
shows like this that inspired me.
Film Rating:
B
DVD Special Features: A
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