Robotech: The Movie
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- This article is about the 1986 animated film. For other uses, see Robotech (disambiguation).
| Robotech: The Movie | |
|---|---|
 movie poster |
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| Directed by | Carl Macek Noboru Ishiguro |
| Produced by | Ahmed Agrama Carl Macek Toru Miura |
| Written by | Ardwight Chamberlain |
| Cinematography | Yoshizaki Kenichi |
| Editing by | Jonathon Braun Nishide Eiko |
| Distributed by | Cannon Films |
| Release date(s) | 1986 |
| Running time | 82 minutes |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Robotech: The Movie (also called Robotech: The Untold Story) was the first new Robotech adventure created by Harmony Gold USA after the 1985 premiere of the original television series. The 1986 theatrical film used footage from the Megazone 23 Part I OVA (original video animation, or made-for-video animated feature) spliced with The Southern Cross, and had only a tenuous link to the television series.
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[edit] Production history
According to interviews with director/producer Carl Macek, it had originally been intended to be more of a straight dub of Megazone 23 with dialogue and music changes to reflect the Robotech universe. As originally conceived, it was set during the return of the SDF-1 from Pluto with the protagonist Mark Landry, a relative of Rick Hunter, finding out about the government's coverup of the SDF-1's fate, and Landry fighting to make the information known.
However, at the time, Tatsunoko Productions was involved in promoting their own Macross movie, Do You Remember Love, and insisted that Macek not use elements of the Macross story, so as to avoid possible confusion. Also, distributor Cannon Films felt there were "too many girls and not enough robots and guns," and didn't like Megazone's downer ending, either[1]. Thus, Macek rewrote the story to take place shortly before the Second Robotech War, cut segments of Southern Cross footage into it, and commissioned animation studio The Idol Co. to animate a new ending (which was later included on the laserdisc of Megazone 23, Part II). The new version involved the Robotech Masters kidnapping and reprogramming veteran officer B.D. Andrews to steal the memory core of the SDF-1.
Because Megazone 23 (an OVA) and Southern Cross (a TV series) were shot on different film stock, 35mm and 16mm respectively, the visual inconsistency was very noticeable on the big screen.
[edit] Limited release
The movie disappeared from the United States after a failed test-run in Texas. However, in some foreign territories such as Argentina, it had a successful run in cinemas, and had a VHS release in Spanish. Harmony Gold relinquished their license to Megazone 23 after director Carl Macek washed his hands of the project, so home video releases were limited to the few VHS tapes that had been in limited circulation in Europe and Latin America.
Some animatics and other supplemental material were released as extras with ADV Films' Robotech DVD release. After ADV acquired the home video rights to Megazone 23, some fans have held hope that a home video release of Robotech: The Movie would again be possible. However, neither ADV nor any other US distrubutor has announced plans for a US DVD release of the film.
[edit] Comic and novel adaptations
Academy released a comic adaptation of the movie in 1995 that bore scant resemblance to the actual movie. Additionally, elements from the movie were used in the plot of the Robotech novel The Masters' Gambit.
[edit] Cast
- Kerrigan Mahan - Mark Landry
- Iona Morris - Becky Franklin (credited as "Britanny Harlowe")
- Muriel Fargo - Eve
- Gregory Snegoff - Colonel B.D. Andrews
- Edie Mirman - Kelley Stevens
- Wendee Lee - Stacy Embry
- Mearle Pearson - Professor Embry
- Michael McConnohie - Rolf Emerson
- Greg Finley - Anatole Leonard
- Tony Clay - additional voices (credited as "Jonathan Alexander")
- Etienne Bannliett - additional voices
- Frank Catalano - additional voices (credited as "Wayne Anthony")
- Bill Capizzi - additional voices (credited as "A. Gregory")
- Jaque Maecell - additional voices
- Dave Mallow - additional voices
- Ike Medlick - additional voices
- Spike Niblick - additional voices
- Mike Reynolds - additional voices
- Bruce Winant - additional voices
- Tom Wyner - additional voices
