Robotech Remastered - Volume 1 Extended Edition

Robotech: the Complete Macross Series
One Boxset: 6 disc

Sells for around $60-$65
Nothing special, picture quality is not great, but bearable. Comes in one compact boxset with all the disc in it. Would not reccomend getting this edition unless you just want a copy of the series and want to spend the least possible amount of money.

Robotech: The Legacy Collection: Macross Saga (Collections 1-3)
Three Boxsets: with 3 disc in each
Sells for around $40 each boxset, entire set around $120-$130
Same picture quality as the above set, but with addtional features. Comes with the most extras out of any current sets, but even then, they are so-so. I would actually recommend getting the above edition as I was not impressed with the extras, some were interesting, but it definately didn't justify the price. Your paying almost twice the price.

Robotech Remastered: The Macross Saga (Volumes 1-3)
Three Boxsets: Two disc each boxset
Sells for around $25 each boxset, entire set around $75-$80
Remastered picture quality superior to both sets above, sound quality much improved. This is the set that I would recommend. The price is affordable and well worth the extra money compared to the first set. Also includes a few bonus footage.

Macross: Super Dimensional Fortress (Sets 1-3)
Three Boxsets: Three discs each boxset
Sells for around $60-$70 each boxset, entire series around $180-200
Macross is the original Japanese series of the Robotech: Macross Saga. The storyline is slightly different with different music and sounds. When it was brought to the US, Harmony Gold added the Macross material with two other Japanese series to make Robotech. Macross is more "mature" and includes several scenes taken out of Robotech. Picture quality is even more crisp than the Remastered Series. I would reccomend only to die-hard Robotech fans. It's pretty expensive and lacks really any real extra features.


Robotech Remastered: a little bit better than before   January 23, 2004
Zagnorch (Terra, Sol System)
37 out of 39 found this review helpful

Oh, for the love of God-- don't tell me I've become the victim of yet ANOTHER deplorable DVD double-dip ploy (check out my gripe about this annoying phenomenon at [another review])?! It wasn't enough that Harmony Gold & ADV got me to buy the Legacy Collection DVD box sets, now they gotta throw out all-new platters with a souped-up sound mix and "new" footage in an avaricious effort to get me to buy the same thing twice (almost)?! Well, looks like their efforts succeeded, 'cuz I just hadda pick this up to see what the fuss was all about...

The main attraction of this "new-&-improved" edition is the inclusion of some "new" footage that was originally edited out of the original Macross show 'cuz it was considered less than appropriate for the American kidvid audience at the time. The extra bits in this particular collection consist primarily of Minmei's keister (both clothed and bare), a scene extension featuring Hikaru Ichi-- er, I mean Rick Hunter's marksmanship with a Zentraedi-sized laser pistol, and a soft-bordered Rick Hunter flashback that pops up during his first flight and combat in a Veritech fighter. Otherwise, not much else in the way of visuals has been thrown back into the mix. Well, except for the redone opening and closing credits, which contains new typeface and more Macross footage to replace the excised Southern Cross and New Generation bits. 'Course, if you've seen the original Macross show that the first act of Robotech is based on (which I highly recommend if you haven't seen it yet--the first set's available for purchase at [Amazon.com]), the added scenes won't be all that new to ya, anyway...

My biggest disappointment with this set was the remastered video, which displayed inconsistent picture quality throughout the presentation. While some parts were reasonably sharp and bright, much of the footage was a bit grainy and muddy. In fact, some of the lowest quality video looked worse than what was seen in the previous DVD release! Apparently Harmony Gold was unable to acquire the footage that AnimEigo painstakingly cleaned and restored for the aforementioned Macross DVD sets, and had to go with the best of what they had on hand... which apparently wasn't all that great.

This collection's one truly extensive improvement is the sound mix, which has been nicely remastered in 5.1 channel stereo. Most of the sound effects have been totally redone, especially the various explosion and space fold noises. The only downside to the new explosions is that they're not too varied. Most of 'em sound like crumbling rocks and masonry-- noises that a metal spaceship most likely doesn't make when it's gettin' blasted to bits. Other sounds have been "boosted" for better auditory perception. The most noticeable examples of this enhanced audio are the background noises that play during the "battle stations" scenes on the SDF-1's bridge. But the best audio improvement of all is the remastered voice track: they fixed it so that it stands out reasonably well from the background sounds, thus making the dialogue more comprehensible.

As for bonus material and special features-- well, aside from trailers for other ADV anime videos and a foil pack of glossy trading cards, there ain't any on either platter. Looks like you'll hafta hang on to those 'Elements of Robotechnology' bonus discs that came with the Legacy Collection box sets if you've a hankerin' for supplemental material...

'Late


Close to the same old thing?   February 6, 2004
Warren A. Wilson III (AP, APO Misawa AB Japan)
14 out of 16 found this review helpful

Yes I did purchase this 2 DVD Box with 12 episodes. Yes from what I can tell a lot of the seines are extended and a few new ones that I have never seen. Yes you get the fantastic 5.1 surround sound. But one thing that broke my hart is that, the video quality still looks worse than a VCR tape. I have tried all of my video settings and was still not impressed. You think when they say "Remastered" they would also digitally improve the video quality. Well they have not from what I can tell.

So if you have never see Robotech, GET IT! It has a good story line, and action seines. If you already have the previous DVDs, you might want to barrow this set from a friend if you really want to see the extended seines.

And that is my two cents.


Better for Big Screen   June 6, 2004
Robotek (Alexandria, VA)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

Well for starters I'm a total Robotech fanatic (as if my alias didn't say it) so I have purchased the Remastered and the Legacy collection DVDs. I must admit at first I was skeptical about getting these as I really had no reason to since I already owned the whole collection. Then I kept reading that the difference wasn't that great. Guess what? Those reviews are one of 2 things. 1) Wrong or 2) those people watch TV on small TVs. The Legacy collection while already complete and having the bonus material looked horrible on my 53" which was rather upseting once I bought the TV. But I just received the Remastered DVDs a few days ago and the difference is absolutely unbelievable. The colors for starters are much sharper and brighter. The quality just looks more like something that should be on DVD while the Legacy looked just like the original airing, which looks like VHS quality(fuzzy). Besides those upgrades it looks fantastic on my 53" Widescreen which the Legacy did not (I had to set it to 4:3 to make it bearable). And to top it off a 5.1 Surround Sound upgrade. Life is good. I would recommend this set to anyone who loves Robotech. And for those who don't care about the extra features or who are trying to decide between the 2, I'd say go Remastered! Especially for those w/ big screens.