Well I did hear the theme music in the trailer and it's an orchestrated version of the theme song so I guess and sadly it won't be released in theaters but it is coming to DVD and the best part, The Shadow Chronicles is completed.eddievalient wrote:Do you know if Harmony Gold is going to use the classic theme music? That music played by a real orchestra would be awesome. If it actually manages to get a wide release, I may go see this anyway, regardless.
Robotech: the movie
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Robotech: Shadow Chronicles DVD release on Nov. 21st
It's on all the anime news sites now...
Funimation is releasing the DVD of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles on November 21st this year.
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A bit of background --
The Shadow Chronicles is the direct sequel to the original Robotech, it is NOT a remake or sequel to Robotech II: The Sentinels which was an aborted project that saw release as a movie edited from 3 episodes. RII became available as a supplemental extra one of the Robotech Legacy DVD sets and last year's release of the Robotech Protoculture Set. (The Legacy set with the Sentinels movie is easier to find than the Protoculture set which only seemed to pop up at Best Buy for a brief time).
The Sentinels movie is NOT in continuity with Robotech anymore...
Shadow Chronicles picks up from Episode 85 (Scott Bernard leaves to find the lost SDF-3) of Robotech and features Bernard, Ariel/Marlene, and a bunch of new characters.
Harmony Gold originally wanted to produce a Shadow Chronicles TV series but it appears none of the financing deals went through so they're releasing the series' pilot as a DVD to drum up interest in a TV series or releasing direct-to-video episodes...
Funimation is releasing the DVD of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles on November 21st this year.
********************************
A bit of background --
The Shadow Chronicles is the direct sequel to the original Robotech, it is NOT a remake or sequel to Robotech II: The Sentinels which was an aborted project that saw release as a movie edited from 3 episodes. RII became available as a supplemental extra one of the Robotech Legacy DVD sets and last year's release of the Robotech Protoculture Set. (The Legacy set with the Sentinels movie is easier to find than the Protoculture set which only seemed to pop up at Best Buy for a brief time).
The Sentinels movie is NOT in continuity with Robotech anymore...
Shadow Chronicles picks up from Episode 85 (Scott Bernard leaves to find the lost SDF-3) of Robotech and features Bernard, Ariel/Marlene, and a bunch of new characters.
Harmony Gold originally wanted to produce a Shadow Chronicles TV series but it appears none of the financing deals went through so they're releasing the series' pilot as a DVD to drum up interest in a TV series or releasing direct-to-video episodes...
Why? What's wrong with letting people know about the latest news about Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles also believe it or not; it had a showing at the Cannes Film Festival and the report is that people actually applaud the film.
http://www.robotech.com/news/viewarticle.php?id=272
And it's also screened at other film festivals and had a charity screening at Louisiana
http://www.robotech.com/news/viewarticle.php?id=275
http://www.robotech.com/news/viewarticle.php?id=274
And here are the articles about FUNImation
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=9232
http://www.robotech.com/news/viewarticle.php?id=281
http://www.robotech.com/news/viewarticle.php?id=272
And it's also screened at other film festivals and had a charity screening at Louisiana
http://www.robotech.com/news/viewarticle.php?id=275
http://www.robotech.com/news/viewarticle.php?id=274
And here are the articles about FUNImation
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=9232
http://www.robotech.com/news/viewarticle.php?id=281
Sorry to double post but here's the latest news about Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles
Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles wins Best Animated Sci-Fi Feature award
Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles won the Best Animated Sci-Fi Feature Award at the 2006 International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival. President and CEO of FUNimation Gen Fukunaga said "This is an exciting award for Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles. It is a series that has a tremendous fan following, and it has the ability to introduce a much larger audience to the appeal of anime". executive producer and CEO of Harmony Gold Frank Agrama added, "This award is an expression of gratitude to all the people who poured their hearts into this production. We have high hopes for this film and believe me, this is just the beginning".
Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles wins Best Animated Sci-Fi Feature award
Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles won the Best Animated Sci-Fi Feature Award at the 2006 International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival. President and CEO of FUNimation Gen Fukunaga said "This is an exciting award for Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles. It is a series that has a tremendous fan following, and it has the ability to introduce a much larger audience to the appeal of anime". executive producer and CEO of Harmony Gold Frank Agrama added, "This award is an expression of gratitude to all the people who poured their hearts into this production. We have high hopes for this film and believe me, this is just the beginning".
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- AV Forum Member
- Posts: 1928
- Joined: December 16th, 2004
- Location: Burbank, Calif.
Yep .. they still have a huge office building on Sunset Boulevard, too. I'm not sure how they can afford the place .. 
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I did some work for them on a pilot called Robotech: 3000 back in 1998/99; it was just a demo/sales piece, which nothing really happened with. I'm not sure if this is the same project or not ..
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I did some work for them on a pilot called Robotech: 3000 back in 1998/99; it was just a demo/sales piece, which nothing really happened with. I'm not sure if this is the same project or not ..
Review: Robotech-Shadow Chronicles
In 1985, a television series premiered that is probably the best-known animated science fiction series in the West -- Robotech. Robotech, unlike many of its predecessors, was a competently dubbed and scripted series that benefited from clever editing of disparate but ultimately compatible Japanese animated series. These three series were Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Genesis Climber Mospeada, and Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross.
(All these series have received subtitled releases on DVD in the United States. This has happened in spite of their 20+ year ages and ONLY because of the interest generated in these series through the Robotech adaptation. It's highly unlikely that any of these series -- with the possible exception of Macross -- would have otherwise received separate releases on their own. So far, only Macross has received a more accurate dub than Robotech in addition to a subtitle-only release.)
Ultimately, Robotech lasted as a phenomenon (in the United States) for the better part of 2 years. Periodically, the show was brought back in limited syndication runs and later on VHS tape and laserdisc.
Most hardcore Robotech fans later learned of a planned -- but ultimately aborted -- sequel television series to Robotech, Robotech II: The Sentinels. The Sentinels was cancelled shortly after the late 1980s devaluation of the American dollar against the Japanese yen and amidst charges of improper money handling between corporate entities involved in its production. What was left finished of the series was edited into a feature film. This feature film was titled Robotech II: The Sentinels for simplicity's sake and released direct-to-video on VHS and laserdisc and as an extra in special edition DVD releases of Robotech.
Still, many fans hoped a sequel to Robotech would be fully realized and that their hopes would not be dashed as they were by the Sentinels project.
Ultimately, it took twenty years and at 2-3 more aborted projects before the officially acknowledged sequel to Robotech emerged. That feature film sequel became known as Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles.
Let me say that the wait was, for the most part, worth it! In a year of endless sequels to half-baked movies and a bunch of CGI-animated features that started to LOOK and SOUND alike, The Shadow Chronicles is a fresh breath of science fiction adventure. While it might help the newly minted fan to watch the original Robotech series, it's not entirely necessary. The film holds up on its own without a review of the previous 85 half-hours of Robotech.
For those who are virgin to Robotech, the first thirty minutes of Shadow Chronicles recaps events of the last 3 episodes of Robotech from the point of view of new characters as well as reintroducing "old faces." Honest, folks, it's BETTER than I make it sound! These thirty minutes are a nicely-paced mix of action marked with real drama and pathos. It's by no means wasted exposition of a WAR. Yes, war with a capital "W."
This is NOT G.I. Joe, kiddies. Characters die violently (although the gore factor is not high) and there are real stakes here. The human race wages and just BARELY wins its final battle against the parasitic Invid invaders of Earth when the Mother of the Invid takes her race off the planet in a fiery phoenix energy form. The humans are understandably stunned but still happy to see the Invid go. There is little time to celebrate though as a new alien menace emerges from what was thought to be an ally of the human race.
Like most recent "traditional" animated productions, The Shadow Chronicles is a hybrid of CGI and hand-drawn animated techniques. The feature film was actually produced in South Korea in spite of the original Robotech's Japanese pedigree. Decent limited animation conveys character emotions. There is no question, however, that the CGI IS full-animation. There are only a few times when this becomes noticeable in the compositing of CGI and hand-drawn elements in scenes.
I would have personally preferred a more "hand-drawn" look to the CGI but it is nonetheless excellent in conveying motion and depicting angles in battle scenes that would have been difficult to animate traditionally by hand. Never fear though, folks -- the Korean production team for the CGI HAS captured the look of the old Robotech "New Generation" mecha perfectly in this feature film.
I am also happy to report that most of the old voices involved with the returning characters are present in this feature film. If anything, the passage of time has only meant that their acting is BETTER than it was twenty years ago! Greg Snegoff makes a welcome return as Scott Bernard, the central character of Robotech: The New Generation. It's through Scott that we see things aren't as they always appear and that alliances constantly fluctuate. His relationship with the Invid-human hybrid, Ariel (voiced by newcomer-to-the-series Kari Wahlgren), complicates his return to the main human military force due to lingering prejudices against the Invid. This relationship ultimately plays a pivotal role in the future survival of the human race.
Also returning are Tony Oliver as Rick Hunter, now the Supreme Commander of the human Robotech Expeditionar Forces; Dan Woren as General Reinhardt; Eddie Frierson as Dr. Louie Nichols; and Richard Epcart as Captain Vince Grant. (Ironically, Epcart played Grant in Robotech II but since that film isn't considered canon in Robotech lore any more this new film is technically his character's first appearance now!)
The music for this film is excellent and evocative of both the original Robotech music and symphonic stylings of other "space opera" such as Star Wars.
I saw this film January 6th at a one-time engagement in Columbus, Ohio during the annual Ohayocon anime festival. For the rest of January, the film will play in other cities as well. Air dates and theaters are available at http://www.theshadowchronicles.com/
If you don't happen to live near a theater playing The Shadow Chronicles, don't worry... The film is due to be released on DVD on February 6th. The CD soundtrack will follow roughly a week later as well.
(All these series have received subtitled releases on DVD in the United States. This has happened in spite of their 20+ year ages and ONLY because of the interest generated in these series through the Robotech adaptation. It's highly unlikely that any of these series -- with the possible exception of Macross -- would have otherwise received separate releases on their own. So far, only Macross has received a more accurate dub than Robotech in addition to a subtitle-only release.)
Ultimately, Robotech lasted as a phenomenon (in the United States) for the better part of 2 years. Periodically, the show was brought back in limited syndication runs and later on VHS tape and laserdisc.
Most hardcore Robotech fans later learned of a planned -- but ultimately aborted -- sequel television series to Robotech, Robotech II: The Sentinels. The Sentinels was cancelled shortly after the late 1980s devaluation of the American dollar against the Japanese yen and amidst charges of improper money handling between corporate entities involved in its production. What was left finished of the series was edited into a feature film. This feature film was titled Robotech II: The Sentinels for simplicity's sake and released direct-to-video on VHS and laserdisc and as an extra in special edition DVD releases of Robotech.
Still, many fans hoped a sequel to Robotech would be fully realized and that their hopes would not be dashed as they were by the Sentinels project.
Ultimately, it took twenty years and at 2-3 more aborted projects before the officially acknowledged sequel to Robotech emerged. That feature film sequel became known as Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles.
Let me say that the wait was, for the most part, worth it! In a year of endless sequels to half-baked movies and a bunch of CGI-animated features that started to LOOK and SOUND alike, The Shadow Chronicles is a fresh breath of science fiction adventure. While it might help the newly minted fan to watch the original Robotech series, it's not entirely necessary. The film holds up on its own without a review of the previous 85 half-hours of Robotech.
For those who are virgin to Robotech, the first thirty minutes of Shadow Chronicles recaps events of the last 3 episodes of Robotech from the point of view of new characters as well as reintroducing "old faces." Honest, folks, it's BETTER than I make it sound! These thirty minutes are a nicely-paced mix of action marked with real drama and pathos. It's by no means wasted exposition of a WAR. Yes, war with a capital "W."
This is NOT G.I. Joe, kiddies. Characters die violently (although the gore factor is not high) and there are real stakes here. The human race wages and just BARELY wins its final battle against the parasitic Invid invaders of Earth when the Mother of the Invid takes her race off the planet in a fiery phoenix energy form. The humans are understandably stunned but still happy to see the Invid go. There is little time to celebrate though as a new alien menace emerges from what was thought to be an ally of the human race.
Like most recent "traditional" animated productions, The Shadow Chronicles is a hybrid of CGI and hand-drawn animated techniques. The feature film was actually produced in South Korea in spite of the original Robotech's Japanese pedigree. Decent limited animation conveys character emotions. There is no question, however, that the CGI IS full-animation. There are only a few times when this becomes noticeable in the compositing of CGI and hand-drawn elements in scenes.
I would have personally preferred a more "hand-drawn" look to the CGI but it is nonetheless excellent in conveying motion and depicting angles in battle scenes that would have been difficult to animate traditionally by hand. Never fear though, folks -- the Korean production team for the CGI HAS captured the look of the old Robotech "New Generation" mecha perfectly in this feature film.
I am also happy to report that most of the old voices involved with the returning characters are present in this feature film. If anything, the passage of time has only meant that their acting is BETTER than it was twenty years ago! Greg Snegoff makes a welcome return as Scott Bernard, the central character of Robotech: The New Generation. It's through Scott that we see things aren't as they always appear and that alliances constantly fluctuate. His relationship with the Invid-human hybrid, Ariel (voiced by newcomer-to-the-series Kari Wahlgren), complicates his return to the main human military force due to lingering prejudices against the Invid. This relationship ultimately plays a pivotal role in the future survival of the human race.
Also returning are Tony Oliver as Rick Hunter, now the Supreme Commander of the human Robotech Expeditionar Forces; Dan Woren as General Reinhardt; Eddie Frierson as Dr. Louie Nichols; and Richard Epcart as Captain Vince Grant. (Ironically, Epcart played Grant in Robotech II but since that film isn't considered canon in Robotech lore any more this new film is technically his character's first appearance now!)
The music for this film is excellent and evocative of both the original Robotech music and symphonic stylings of other "space opera" such as Star Wars.
I saw this film January 6th at a one-time engagement in Columbus, Ohio during the annual Ohayocon anime festival. For the rest of January, the film will play in other cities as well. Air dates and theaters are available at http://www.theshadowchronicles.com/
If you don't happen to live near a theater playing The Shadow Chronicles, don't worry... The film is due to be released on DVD on February 6th. The CD soundtrack will follow roughly a week later as well.
UPDATE:
A new 2-disc version of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles is being released this fall by Funimation in response to the excellent sales of the current DVD release.
This news is broadcasting all over anime sites ( www.animenewsnetwork.com , animeondvd.com ) in the wake of this past weekend's Anime Expo 2007.
**************************************
Yes, it's a double-dip.
No more will be said until I get my hands on this....
Yeah, I'm a fanboy.
A new 2-disc version of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles is being released this fall by Funimation in response to the excellent sales of the current DVD release.
This news is broadcasting all over anime sites ( www.animenewsnetwork.com , animeondvd.com ) in the wake of this past weekend's Anime Expo 2007.
**************************************
Yes, it's a double-dip.
No more will be said until I get my hands on this....
Yeah, I'm a fanboy.
Gundam bombed in the U.S.? Which Gundam series are you talking about? Anyway, it's good to know Robotech still has an audience, now if it were only made into a live action movie like Transformers.GeorgeC wrote:Code Horror wrote:...who says Science fiction in Animation doesn't do well?
It doesn't, generally speaking.
At least not in the United States.
Robotech is the exception to the rule.
Even Gundam bombed in the U.S., but that's partly because of the execution of that series in the U.S.