End of Battle of the Planets
I just watched the final episode of Battle of the Planet, but it was somewhat disappointing, as it wasn't actually a series finale, just the last episode that Sandy Frank entertainment choose to edit and dub in English for the American version. There was no conclusvie end to Spectra or Zoltar. I still have half a dozen episode of Gatchaman to watch, and I am hoping that that series will present some resolution to the conflict between Galactor (Spectra) and Gatchaman (G-Force).
Battle of the Planets is a fine series, as it was based on the already excellent Gatchaman. Also the voice acting was excellent, in that the voice actors all had approreate voices for their characters, and gave excellent performances. Still, since they only used six actors, all the additional characters just sounded like the main cast doing voices. Some voice actors are able to do multiple voices that you cannot identify as the same person (Billy West comes to mind).
Also, while some people disliked the character of 7-Zark-7, I think thanks to the wonderful tone of Alan Young's voice the character was likable and appealing to the target audience of children.
When I first watched the series as a child, I was didn't comprehend all the naration that explained about how all the vehicles destroyed were robot controled, and that no people were harmed. I really think the producers attempts at limited children's exposure to violence went over the heads of children who watched the show. Then again, I realize that at that time, network excutives expected that cartoons be free of violence, and it was necessary to make those changes to allow the show to be aired.
It's too bad that there still hasn't been an American release of the full series on DVD. It seems that Britian get more and better releases of American TV shows on DVD than America does.
Posted by Zanshinkyo, 07/01/2007 10:58pm 1 Comments
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Digg thisEnd of Gatchaman
Now I am getting close to the end of watching the full Gatchaman series. It's been a long time since I started watching the series, watching a single episode a week, working my through the entire series. I cannot thank ADV enough for releasing the series with the original Japanese voice work. Too bad Rhino gave up releasing Battle of the Planets on DVD (which included some episodes of the original Gatchaman in Japanese)
I am not quite sure what I will do next. I may try watching Gatchaman II, which is only available in Japanese, but I would have to track down a copy of it, and I expect it might be expensive. I might just go on to another series, perhaps even Speed Racer. While I loved Speed Racer as a kid, I haven't enjoyed the episodes as much when I watched them as an adult. I would love to watch the series in Japanese, but the DVDs that have currently been released only have the English dubbing (I've even bought a few that I haven't even opened yet). I would also love to watch Voltron, but the same situation exists, though I have heard of rumors that a new set of the series will be released on DVD with the original Japanese audio tracks.
Posted by Zanshinkyo, 06/02/2007 5:33pm 0 Comments
Skipped Level 10
I was hard at work on one of the guides and ended up getting so many points that I skipped right over level 10 and went directly to level 11.
I kind of wanted to be at level 10, since it's Evil Bert. I (like nearly everyone) enjoyed Sesame Street as a kid.
But Evil Bert seems a bit odd as a ranking as he is a concept that was created on the internet, not on TV.
Now my rank is Red Shirted Lt. As a Star Trek fan, I can appreciate this rank. The emblem looks like it was created specifially for this site. (That's not any actor who ever appeared on Star Trek, is it?)
Posted by Zanshinkyo, 02/25/2006 4:57pm
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I kind of wanted to be at level 10, since it's Evil Bert. I (like nearly everyone) enjoyed Sesame Street as a kid.
But Evil Bert seems a bit odd as a ranking as he is a concept that was created on the internet, not on TV.
Now my rank is Red Shirted Lt. As a Star Trek fan, I can appreciate this rank. The emblem looks like it was created specifially for this site. (That's not any actor who ever appeared on Star Trek, is it?)
Yet Another DVD order - Astronomy TV shows
I ended up getting:
Futurama
This is one of the funniest shows that has ever been on TV. While I've seen every episode, the real reason to get the DVDs was for the commentary and deleted scenes. The commentary is really well done on the Futurama DVDs.
From Earth to the Moon
A series I have wanted to watch for quite a while. I am quite interested in Astronomy, and have watched quite a few other series, though those were more scientific than this 'historical' recreation. Those series included, Cosmos, Stephen Hawking's Universe and The Planets (Hyperspace).
Out of all of those, I would recommend The Planets (with Sam Neil) as the most attention holding, while covering all the basic points that would be of interest to the casual astronomer.
Cosmos is quite comprehensive, and goes into a lot of the history of Astronomy (and by relation science), but it is rather long and can be a bit dull at times.
Stephen Hawking's Universe was a bit hard to understand (not over technical, but just not that clear), and it covers many of points which most amateur astronomers would already be familiar with. Is there anyone who doesn't know that A BLACK HOLE'S GRAVITY IS SO STRONG THAT NOT EVEN LIGHT CAN ESCAPE IT?
Posted by Zanshinkyo, 12/19/2005 6:06am
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Futurama
This is one of the funniest shows that has ever been on TV. While I've seen every episode, the real reason to get the DVDs was for the commentary and deleted scenes. The commentary is really well done on the Futurama DVDs.
From Earth to the Moon
A series I have wanted to watch for quite a while. I am quite interested in Astronomy, and have watched quite a few other series, though those were more scientific than this 'historical' recreation. Those series included, Cosmos, Stephen Hawking's Universe and The Planets (Hyperspace).
Out of all of those, I would recommend The Planets (with Sam Neil) as the most attention holding, while covering all the basic points that would be of interest to the casual astronomer.
Cosmos is quite comprehensive, and goes into a lot of the history of Astronomy (and by relation science), but it is rather long and can be a bit dull at times.
Stephen Hawking's Universe was a bit hard to understand (not over technical, but just not that clear), and it covers many of points which most amateur astronomers would already be familiar with. Is there anyone who doesn't know that A BLACK HOLE'S GRAVITY IS SO STRONG THAT NOT EVEN LIGHT CAN ESCAPE IT?
Newest DVD order
Well, I got my latest DVD order a few days ago, so now I am set for TV for a little while. That order contained:
Gatchaman sets 2 and 3
I great show I watched as a kid, and now I get to see all the stuff that was edited out, and even the episodes that were never shown in the airing of Battle of the Planet. I'm sticking to the Japanese audio tracks, the way it was meant to be watched.
3rd Rock Season 2
I've never seen an episode of 3rd Rock that didn't make me laugh. It's just a pity that it took so long for this series to come to DVD. Can't wait for the next season to be released.
The Muppet Show (season 1)
While it's a great show, the DVD set is slightly disappointing. Yeah, it's got some pretty good extras, and I hear the comment subtitles are great, some of the episodes are edited since they couldn't get all the rights to the songs. This is a real pity, especially for the Muppet Show, since not getting the rights to a song means the entire number has been removed. When are the lawyers going to put customer satisfaction ahead of money??
Posted by Zanshinkyo, 11/15/2005 5:26am
0 Comments
Gatchaman sets 2 and 3
I great show I watched as a kid, and now I get to see all the stuff that was edited out, and even the episodes that were never shown in the airing of Battle of the Planet. I'm sticking to the Japanese audio tracks, the way it was meant to be watched.
3rd Rock Season 2
I've never seen an episode of 3rd Rock that didn't make me laugh. It's just a pity that it took so long for this series to come to DVD. Can't wait for the next season to be released.
The Muppet Show (season 1)
While it's a great show, the DVD set is slightly disappointing. Yeah, it's got some pretty good extras, and I hear the comment subtitles are great, some of the episodes are edited since they couldn't get all the rights to the songs. This is a real pity, especially for the Muppet Show, since not getting the rights to a song means the entire number has been removed. When are the lawyers going to put customer satisfaction ahead of money??
My Recent Reviews
2.5
Terrible
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Smallville Crimson Avg Score: 9.50 Total Ratings: 936 Total Reviews: 95 Users who agree: 3 Users who disagree: 6 |
Once again, Clark is affected by red kryptonite, and goes wild. How many times is this going to happen? It was exceptionally ridiculous the first time it happened. Yet the writers keep falling back on this idea time and time again.
Of course, no bad Smallville episode is complete without a cheap attempt at titillation. How many times did Lois show off her breasts in this one?
And there had to be the pseudo sex scene just to top it off.
At one point Lana calls out that 'Clark is on something'. Doesn't that mean that someone should be alerted(like the police or Luthor's fair weather security staff)? This certainly isn't the first time this has happened, so it seems like Clark has some kind of drug problem leading him to go on these seasonal rages.
At least this time Clark only breaks some minor laws, like assault and kidnapping. But of course, all is forgotten and forgiven, because he was 'on something'. Such an excuse in the real world, such as in a case of drunk driving or assault would, far from getting you off scot free, amount to additional charges.
Once again, Lex's mansion seems to be without security, as Clark and Lois just waltz into the mansion uninvited, and proceed to wreak havoc.
The only notable thing about this episode is that Jimmy Olsen points out how ridiculous it is that Clark is able to get away with these kinds of things, with just a mention of 'he was on something'.
While Smallville is exceptionally bad, it's gotten to the point where they are just recycling bad ideas from previous shows.
Supposedly Smallville was supposed be the the story of a young superman. But the superman story never progresses, characters are out of character and the writers have forgotten about the 'big story' (the Phantom Zone escapees), which they must be saving for a spectacular season finale, to be followed by a ridiculous resolution in the season 7 premiere.
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Posted Feb 7, 2007
Of course, no bad Smallville episode is complete without a cheap attempt at titillation. How many times did Lois show off her breasts in this one?
And there had to be the pseudo sex scene just to top it off.
At one point Lana calls out that 'Clark is on something'. Doesn't that mean that someone should be alerted(like the police or Luthor's fair weather security staff)? This certainly isn't the first time this has happened, so it seems like Clark has some kind of drug problem leading him to go on these seasonal rages.
At least this time Clark only breaks some minor laws, like assault and kidnapping. But of course, all is forgotten and forgiven, because he was 'on something'. Such an excuse in the real world, such as in a case of drunk driving or assault would, far from getting you off scot free, amount to additional charges.
Once again, Lex's mansion seems to be without security, as Clark and Lois just waltz into the mansion uninvited, and proceed to wreak havoc.
The only notable thing about this episode is that Jimmy Olsen points out how ridiculous it is that Clark is able to get away with these kinds of things, with just a mention of 'he was on something'.
While Smallville is exceptionally bad, it's gotten to the point where they are just recycling bad ideas from previous shows.
Supposedly Smallville was supposed be the the story of a young superman. But the superman story never progresses, characters are out of character and the writers have forgotten about the 'big story' (the Phantom Zone escapees), which they must be saving for a spectacular season finale, to be followed by a ridiculous resolution in the season 7 premiere.
2.5
Terrible
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Smallville Zod Avg Score: 9.38 Total Ratings: 1046 Total Reviews: 107 Users who agree: 12 Users who disagree: 12 |
Why would Zod bother debating with Lana, as he indicates that he doesn't need her approval of his plans of taking over the world? And is Zod really that dumb to think that Lana couldn't escape him pinning her hand to the wall? (which in reality it would be VERY unlikely that she would escape).
Or are we supposed to believe that Lana has extraordinary will power that allowed her to pull the pole out of the wall and her hand, which would have been extraordinarily painful. The writer's obvioiusly expect us to believe both of this ridiculous ideas.
Also, from the way Zod described his plans, it seems that he was sharing the same plot with Lex Luthor in Superman Returns.
Of course, Martha and Lois survive the plan crash. How of the residents of Smallville survived plan crashes? Perhaps Smallville residents are made of the same stuff they make the black boxes out of.
So How did Martha know that Jor-El had the power to transport her back to Smallville?
No one had any doubts that Clark was going to get out of the inescapable Phantom Zone. After the Zod trio escaped, and Supergirl as well (referring to the movies) it seems that the phantom zone has an open door policy.
To make matters sillier, it turns out that the phantom zone has a back door. How convenient for Clark.
Too bad Jor-el didn't tell Clark that bit of info, as it would have proved VERY helpful; especially if Clark didn't happen to run into that girl (does anyone doubt that her name is Kara?). The 'hold back vital information' to create tension concept is wearing very thin.
And after being told that nothing could kill Zod except the dagger, the writers with no good idea on how to resolve that problem, had to fall back on deus ex machina (i.e. pulled it out of their asses) and add a new miracle object, that not only can kill Zod, but some how Clark knew it had that power, without anyhow having had told him.
And of course no episode of Smallville would be complete without a trip to the hospital, and this one keeps with the tradition.
In this episode, the world, turned completely upside down (well at least Metropolis) has become utter anarchy. Will everything be back to normal next week, along with everyone conveniently forgetting the earth shattering events of the season finale and premiere? It seems the Lex and Lionel have convenient excuses on why they will have forgotten about Clark's powers.
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Posted Sep 29, 2006
Or are we supposed to believe that Lana has extraordinary will power that allowed her to pull the pole out of the wall and her hand, which would have been extraordinarily painful. The writer's obvioiusly expect us to believe both of this ridiculous ideas.
Also, from the way Zod described his plans, it seems that he was sharing the same plot with Lex Luthor in Superman Returns.
Of course, Martha and Lois survive the plan crash. How of the residents of Smallville survived plan crashes? Perhaps Smallville residents are made of the same stuff they make the black boxes out of.
So How did Martha know that Jor-El had the power to transport her back to Smallville?
No one had any doubts that Clark was going to get out of the inescapable Phantom Zone. After the Zod trio escaped, and Supergirl as well (referring to the movies) it seems that the phantom zone has an open door policy.
To make matters sillier, it turns out that the phantom zone has a back door. How convenient for Clark.
Too bad Jor-el didn't tell Clark that bit of info, as it would have proved VERY helpful; especially if Clark didn't happen to run into that girl (does anyone doubt that her name is Kara?). The 'hold back vital information' to create tension concept is wearing very thin.
And after being told that nothing could kill Zod except the dagger, the writers with no good idea on how to resolve that problem, had to fall back on deus ex machina (i.e. pulled it out of their asses) and add a new miracle object, that not only can kill Zod, but some how Clark knew it had that power, without anyhow having had told him.
And of course no episode of Smallville would be complete without a trip to the hospital, and this one keeps with the tradition.
In this episode, the world, turned completely upside down (well at least Metropolis) has become utter anarchy. Will everything be back to normal next week, along with everyone conveniently forgetting the earth shattering events of the season finale and premiere? It seems the Lex and Lionel have convenient excuses on why they will have forgotten about Clark's powers.
4.5
Poor
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Smallville Vengeance Avg Score: 9.15 Total Ratings: 845 Total Reviews: 56 Users who agree: 1 |
While the show starts of predictably, with the Kent's dealing with the loss of Jonathan, the episode heads off in odd directions.
As happens in many shows, they introduce something (in this case Jonathan's watch) after the fact, and we are supposed to believe that this is an important heirloom.
Then, it takes a step further down, when a piratey female masked avenger shows up with powers that rival Clark's. Still trying to figure out how exactly the heart transplant gave her super speed and the ability to make tremendous jumps.
This episodes only saving grace is a bit of interesting scheming with Lionel and Lex, but it seems like Lionel was supposedly hard at work making underhanded deals but his plans seems to be easily thwarted by some basic maneuvering by Lex.
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Posted Feb 4, 2006
As happens in many shows, they introduce something (in this case Jonathan's watch) after the fact, and we are supposed to believe that this is an important heirloom.
Then, it takes a step further down, when a piratey female masked avenger shows up with powers that rival Clark's. Still trying to figure out how exactly the heart transplant gave her super speed and the ability to make tremendous jumps.
This episodes only saving grace is a bit of interesting scheming with Lionel and Lex, but it seems like Lionel was supposedly hard at work making underhanded deals but his plans seems to be easily thwarted by some basic maneuvering by Lex.
4.5
Poor
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Smallville Reckoning Avg Score: 9.43 Total Ratings: 1429 Total Reviews: 231 Users who agree: 4 Users who disagree: 3 |
As usual, Smallville makes a lot of promises it has no intention of keeping.
While they like to show startling revelations, they always come up with some contrived way of returning everything to the way it was before the events took place. I.e., any time anyone learns Clark's secret, it some how becomes secret again at the end of the episode. This episode is no exception.
The first half of the show seems to have some startling revelations, but most of that first half is rendered null, since Clark is sent back in time to change history. The first time around there were some VERY boisterous action in the background of Chloe and Clark's conversation, blatantly obviously set to included to be used in the recurrence of their conversation.
Since Jor-el revived Clark, fans of the show have been attempting to guess which character would be the one to die. It peculiar that Jor-el did nothing to cause Lana to die, nor to cause Jonathan Kent to die, But some how Jor-el conveniently had a one time use only time-reversing crystal handy. What is Kal-el going to do when Lois dies? (sarcastic Superman II reference)
The only thing that can be said about this episode is that it is the first time that the series has been true to the original story, well the movies that is, referring to the death of Jonathan Kent.
Jonathan was one of the best characters, only Lex and Lionel are better, who as they have for a long time been the only worthwhile reason for watching the show. While the show has a plethora of extraneous young sexy female characters, the producers would rather give up a good character than some T&A.
Also, having either Jonathan Kent or Lex Luthor become a senator would have radically altered the direction of the story and the Superman legend. As we had been forewarned about the up coming death, it makes sense that the producers would use this opportunity to cop out of the senator dilemma.
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Posted Jan 27, 2006
While they like to show startling revelations, they always come up with some contrived way of returning everything to the way it was before the events took place. I.e., any time anyone learns Clark's secret, it some how becomes secret again at the end of the episode. This episode is no exception.
The first half of the show seems to have some startling revelations, but most of that first half is rendered null, since Clark is sent back in time to change history. The first time around there were some VERY boisterous action in the background of Chloe and Clark's conversation, blatantly obviously set to included to be used in the recurrence of their conversation.
Since Jor-el revived Clark, fans of the show have been attempting to guess which character would be the one to die. It peculiar that Jor-el did nothing to cause Lana to die, nor to cause Jonathan Kent to die, But some how Jor-el conveniently had a one time use only time-reversing crystal handy. What is Kal-el going to do when Lois dies? (sarcastic Superman II reference)
The only thing that can be said about this episode is that it is the first time that the series has been true to the original story, well the movies that is, referring to the death of Jonathan Kent.
Jonathan was one of the best characters, only Lex and Lionel are better, who as they have for a long time been the only worthwhile reason for watching the show. While the show has a plethora of extraneous young sexy female characters, the producers would rather give up a good character than some T&A.
Also, having either Jonathan Kent or Lex Luthor become a senator would have radically altered the direction of the story and the Superman legend. As we had been forewarned about the up coming death, it makes sense that the producers would use this opportunity to cop out of the senator dilemma.
7.5
Good
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Smallville Lexmas Avg Score: 9.06 Total Ratings: 1012 Total Reviews: 78 |
Smallville's one word titles have always seemed rather clever, not giving away any of the plot, but seeming appropriate once you've seen the episode. This is the only episode where I felt the title not only gave away part of the plot, but made me want to hate the episode prior to watching it. But I coldn't hate it. While it seemed out of place and silly at times, it was still and interesting looking into how things could be for Lex if he were to choose a different path.
Michael Rosenbaum always gives a good performance, and it was nice to see how he reacts to a 'good' situation.
Somewhat silly side line story of Clark playing Santa was interesting from the point of seeing that Superman could use his powers to duplicate the magic of Santa.
It was also interesting that this episode reveals the turning point of Lex's decent into evil, but it seems that it wouldn't be this clear cut, nor would Lex make such a decision based on a dream (call it what you will).
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Posted Dec 11, 2005
Michael Rosenbaum always gives a good performance, and it was nice to see how he reacts to a 'good' situation.
Somewhat silly side line story of Clark playing Santa was interesting from the point of seeing that Superman could use his powers to duplicate the magic of Santa.
It was also interesting that this episode reveals the turning point of Lex's decent into evil, but it seems that it wouldn't be this clear cut, nor would Lex make such a decision based on a dream (call it what you will).
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Zanshinkyo
Last online Jul 18, 2008 2:46 pm PT
Member since Aug 11, 2005
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Last online Jul 18, 2008 2:46 pm PT
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Profile views: 534 (+ 1 new)
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Forum Posts: 112
Zanshinkyo's Shows Breakdown:
Animation 20: 23.3%
Comedy 17: 19.8%
Science-Fiction 12: 14%
News/Documentary 9: 10.5%
Other 28: 32.6%
Rank: Bow Flex
Forum Posts: 112
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Submissions Accepted: 1,403 Pending: 0 Denied: 36 Total: 1,439 |
Reviews Shows: 1 Episodes: 13 People: 0 Total: 14 |
Comedy 17: 19.8%
Science-Fiction 12: 14%
News/Documentary 9: 10.5%
Other 28: 32.6%
About Me
Favorite Shows Include:
3-2-1 Contact, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Adventures of Superboy (1966), American Dad!, The Batman
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