The New Robotech Doesn't Suck - and there was much rejoicing

Imagine my surprise when wandering through the base exchange the other day and coming across a brand new full length animated Robotech feature film...ROBOTECH!!?? You're kidding me? Right. That ended (for all intents and purposes in the 80s)...I've got a decent start on collecting the DVD series (managed to score a few in Hawaii a few years back, but haven't seriously collected them)....

Well, lo and behold, I guess there's a whole new generation of stories coming our way. And guess what? If the new movie, Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, is any indication - it won't suck. Matter of fact, it'll be pretty damn good.
And here's the thing. It picks up right where the original "Invid Invasion" series ended (thus, ending the original 85 episode run of Robotech cartoons that aired in the U.S. when I was a teenager). For someone like me who is not a fan-boy, but just fondly remembers the cartoons and the Palladium-based role-playing game, its great. It's very well-made but harkens back to the classic Japanime style that marked the originals. (ed. not a fanboy eh? You're blogging about freakin' Robotech, when there's Eagles stuff to talk about...[ alright, don't believe me. This is fanboy site]...hoo, you're right, that is a fanboy site...not sure I'm convinced about you...but this third person talk-to-yourself shit is beginning to creep me out, so I will let it rest for now).

So what about the movie? Funny you ask. Well Harmony Gold brought back all the old voice-talent, which is a really nice touch, and added some excellent new voices, like Mark Hamill (um, you remember Luke Skywalker don'tcha?) and Chase Masterson (YOWZA!...one hot space babe from Deep Space 9). You can really tell they like the originals and while they aren't 100% locked-in faithful to the precise ending depicted in the 84-85th episodes, there is no radical departure (Shit, I wouldn't have remember even if they did). They actually do something cool (I watched the special features on the DVD) and approach tell the story of the final episode from a different point of view, and then go full into the new story-line. I won't spoil it. If you want to do that, click here, Wikipedia has a full rundown of the plot/story-line.

Well, one last thing before I turn to football. A cool graphic of one of my favorite mecha from Robotech. The Excalibur. Anyone who is into Battletech, should instantly recognize the Warhammer. I always did like the walking gun platforms....kinda like my affinity for tanks...
That's it for now. I've got some Eagles stuff to digest. Mini-camp is almost over!