X Bomber
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X Bomber (Xボンバー Ekkusu Bonbā?) is a marionette tokusatsu TV series. Created by manga master Go Nagai, the show, produced by Cosmo Productions and Jin Productions, aired on Fuji TV from October 4, 1980 to March 28, 1981, with a total of 26 episodes (counting the pre-series pilot episode). This show was billed in Japan as being filmed in "Sūpāmariorama" (スーパーマリオラマ), a puppeteering process similar to Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation works.
This show is basically a cross between Nagai's Getter Robo and Star Wars. Just like Getter Robo, the show's protagonists ride three vehicles that combine into a giant robot. Big Dai X, the show's robot, is more similar to the kind seen in the popular Super Sentai series than your average Nagai robot.
The show's opening and ending theme songs ("Soldier in the Space" and "The Drifting Galaxy", respectively) were done by the Japanese pop-rock group, BOWWOW, while Kazutaka Tazaki (of Baja Revolution) and Nakayuki Sakuraba (of Adbaloon) provided additional music for the show.
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[edit] Star Fleet
X-Bomber was renamed Star Fleet and dubbed by English speaking actors for broadcast in the UK. The show was broadcast there on Saturday mornings and it first aired on the 30th October 1982. Due to its broadcast slot, the advertisements shown before, during and after each episode frequently included children's Public Information Films.
Drawing heavily on diverse influences such as Star Wars, Japanese Anime and Gerry Anderson's various "Supermarionation" series, the show ran for twenty-four half hour episodes (twenty-five in Japan - two of the episodes being edited together for the English version). Despite comparison to many of Anderson's creations Star Fleet differed in two important ways. Where as Thunderbirds used puppets suspended from strings, Star Fleet's were controlled from below by the use of rods, hence puppets are only seen from the waist up. The exception to this rule was the 1983 series Anderson series Terrahawks, which used a similar rod control system. Secondly, Thunderbirds was written around a different story each episode featuring largely the same characters, but with a clear conclusion. Star Fleet by contrast had a much darker central story with sub-plots and new characters being introduced in each episode.
The English version's theme song was done by Paul Bliss of The Moody Blues, and was also famously covered by Queen member Brian May and Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen. This was released under the name Star Fleet Project.
[edit] Plot outline
The year is 2999 and the Earth is at peace following the Space Wars. The tranquility of the human race is ensured by Earth Defense Force (EDF). Shortly before the turn of the fourth millennium the peace is broken by the appearance of a gigantic alien battle cruiser. Powerless to defend itself, the EDF's Pluto base is completely destroyed and the evil Commander Makara reveals the same fate awaits the Earth unless the mysterious F-Zero-One is handed over to her.
Oblivious to the existence of F-Zero-One, and fearful of Makara's terrible retribution, the EDF presses into action a new and untested weapon, the X-Project from its hidden moon-base.
The series then follows the adventures of the crew of the X-Bomber as they discover the nature of the F-Zero-One and try to protect it from the increasingly desperate and unstable Makara and her demanding overlord, the 'Imperial Master'.
[edit] Availability
The original Japanese version of the series was released in its entirety on DVD in 2002. The boxset also contained one of two compilation movies created from Star Fleet, in English with Japanese subtitles.
In the UK, only three video tapes were ever released of Star Fleet. The first and rarest one contained episodes 4 and 5 of the series. The other two were compilation movies entitled "The Thalian Space Wars" and "Space Quest For F-01". The series has not been repeated on UK television since the late 1980s.
In the US, 8 video tapes were released which also contained compilations of the series' episodes, albeit in a less-drastically edited format.
As of 2006, there is no sign of the English-language version of the series being released to DVD. Enoki Films, the original rights holders to Star Fleet, no longer list the series on their website, making any possible DVD release even more unlikely at the present time.
It is possible to obtain VCD copies on Ebay. These are usually taken from the American Tapes and tend to be of poor quality.
