Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles Blu-ray Movie Review

An appealing film for fans and newcomers alike, The Shadow Chronicles looks all the better on Blu-ray Disc.

Reviewed by Lindsay Mayer September 6, 2008

The phenomenon that is Robotech is so pervasive that even animé novices like yours truly can have a passing familiarity with it. Hitting U.S. airwaves in the mid-1980s, the sci-fi series featured surprisingly good writing and well-developed characters. Kids of the time glommed on to Robotech because of its superior, continual storytelling and because it lacked any hesitance to journey into darker territory. So much of the kids' fare in that era - yes, even much of the Japanese imports - was so cheesy, or aggressively upbeat. Robotech was refreshing and appealing, and an entire legacy sprang from it.

The original series was an early example of "mecha" animé - those which feature mechanical wonders (often used for combat) and their human pilots as the central cast. Spaceships and giant robots, if you will. Yet the Japanese have quite the knack for taking outlandish concepts and adding just enough humanity and intriguing story elements to make them appealing. The success of countless mecha series like Evangelion, Mobile Suit Gundam, and Transformers can attest to that.

By the year 2044, most people will have purple eyes. Yeah, it pretty much rocks.

Spanning 85 episodes, Robotech was actually a patchwork of three Japanese series from the early eighties, reconstituted and rewritten by U.S. production company Harmony Gold. The result was a saga spanning generations and three epic battles, all within a single series. The term "space opera" is highly applicable to Robotech, and it made a lasting impression on its initial viewers at the time. Unfortunately, however, the series ended on something of a cliffhanger, and fans have since been tormented for decades. Numerous plans for follow-ups were made and subsequently scrapped, from feature-length films to brand new (U.S. created) television series. Twenty years later, Harmony Gold seems to have achieved success once more. Their direct-to-video film, The Shadow Chronicles, was seen through to the end and initially released in February of 2007. A year and a half later, it has been upgraded to the Blu treatment.

Having never seen a second of Robotech in my life, I was apprehensive about The Shadow Chronicles, being unsure whether I would understand the context of the story. Thankfully, my fears were unfounded; this is an excellent and surprisingly gripping feature film that even the greenest of Robotech audiences can enjoy. Set in the year 2044 A.D., the film picks up at the end of the series. Though it does not address nor tie up every loose end, it does carefully select a solid storyline and a handful of recurring characters to begin the adventures anew. The Shadow Chronicles commences with the exiled human forces attempting to reclaim their home planet from the Invid, an alien race which initially invaded Earth because a powerful energy source called protoculture was relocated there generations ago, and the Invid wanted it for themselves alone. The humans have made alliances with the mysterious Haydonite race, implementing Shadow technology to cloak their ships and mechas, give them superior targeting capabilities, and arm them with gratuitously powerful weapons.

Little are the humans aware, however, that the Invid are not the true bad guys. Lying in wait are their so-called allies, the Haydonites, whom the Invid call the Children of the Shadow. They are envious and fearful of the potential power of protoculture, and seek to destroy all of its sources and the lifeforms that depend on it. Caught off guard and with purposely compromised Shadow technology, time runs short for the increasingly smaller human forces to outmaneuver the ruthless opposition. But not to worry - they've got giant missile-powered robots to fight for them!

The world of The Shadow Chronicles is populated by colorful but mostly generic character types. There are the naïve young pilots - the protagonist Marcus Rush and his best friend Alex Romero. The no-nonsense squadron leader Maia Sterling. The too-smart-for-his-own-good techie character, Dr. Louis Nichols. The valiant captain Vincent Grant. The handy wildcard Scott Bernard, and his love interest Ariel, who just happens to be the Invid princess. And of course, the oh-so-evil Children of the Shadow, who really ought to take up stamp collecting or something. Despite being painted as all-knowing beings with the aid of an ambiguous "awareness" function, the antagonist race uttered the tired phrases "this was unforeseen" or "an unexpected result" way too many times in the course of 88 minutes. These symptoms of sloppy writing, however, did not detract from the enjoyably tense experience of these battling characters and their fight for a nobler cause. Overall, The Shadow Chronicles is engaging and easy to follow, even if you're not an established fan of the TV series.

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Encoded in AVC and averaging a healthy 25 Mbps, The Shadow Chronicles looks stellar (or is that interstellar?) in high definition. The character lineart is crisply defined, and the candy-colored accents of hair and eyes are vibrant and clear. The surreal highlights of the artificial lighting in the ship environments is depicted nicely, as well as the blurred illumination of the Invid queen mother.

Being a series set in outer space, there understandably is a lot of black. Fortunately the dark levels here are nice and deep, without crush being apparent. The blaze of laser cannons and the resulting explosions are picked up well, and whites contrast well without blooming. Probably the only detriment visible is the out-of-place appearance that the many CG models had within the hand-animated world at times. It's to be expected, more or less, on a direct-to-video feature such as this, though.

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Shadow Chronicles comes with two audio options that seem to be the growing standard for FUNimation releases; a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless option and Dolby Digital Stereo. The TrueHD track really delivers, packing quite a punch in the many action-driven sequences of the film. Dialogue is kept to the center channel, naturally, and is clear and easy to pick up on. The sound stage is generously spaced out, with the rear channels picking up an ample amount of ambiance and the fronts never sounding too boxed in. LFE is used frequently throughout, but is never overwhelming or too brash. One minor complaint, however, is the musical score. While well-composed, it seemed a bit too invasive at some points, when the notes swelled to meet the rising action of some particularly chaotic sequence.

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Blu-ray release of The Shadow Chronicles comes with a hearty amount of supplemental features, which are all pretty much ported over from the two disc Collector's Edition DVD released last November. As such, all of the included material is standard definition MPEG-2, with audio in Dolby Digital 2.0. First up is the Audio Commentary with director Tommy Yune, screenwriter Ford Riley and composer Scott Glasgow. Nothing too remarkable is discussed concerning the film, and it feels like much of the same subjects are covered in some form or another in the bonus material interviews anyway.

The Featurettes segment is understandably the most substantial of the package, and the 45 minute Birth of a Sequel – The Making of The Shadow Chronicles heads off the proceedings. Separated into seven sections, the program focuses less on behind-the-scenes topics as it does on the origins, legacy, and future of Robotech, as well as the challenges of bringing a follow-up feature to life. Interviews with avid fans at Animé Expo 2005, voice cast, and filmmakers are peppered throughout, doing a good job at showing just how beloved the series was from the beginning. Score Music Video is an 8 minute reel which showcases the various musical themes of the film. Animé Selects is a 2 minute AnimeSelects.com report that gave a sneak peek of the film back at Anime Expo 2005. あ!PoN Animé Podcast contains an 11 minute interview with director Tommy Yune from the fan site AnimePodcast.net. The last two featurettes concern the ill-fated Robotech 3000, a proposed series that was to be fully CG and heavily reliant on motion capture technology for its character animation. The results were pretty bad though - to put it lightly - and the show never got off the ground. Seen here is the 3½ minute preview shown at the 2000 San Diego Comic-Con, as well as a brief 20 second clip showing some of the motion capture filming for two shots.

Deleted Scenes, with optional director's commentary by Tommy Yune, are a 7 minute block of brief scenes that were cut from the film; they largely consist of excised or altered seconds-long shots, and not proper scenes as such. Likewise, Outtakes are 3 minutes worth of voice recording mistakes and some rendering errors. Offered with optional director commentary, Animatics is ten minutes worth of rough draft footage. Composed of pencil tests and primitive CG shots, the finished film is provided via a false picture-in-picture effect for comparison.

Original Trailers provides three full length trailers and one TV spot for The Shadow Chronicles, plus a promotional spot for the Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles comic. Galleries provide some spiffy looks at all things Robotech. The Personnel Dossier gives many-angled views at the film's primary and secondary cast, complete with statistics like age, height, hair and eye color. The Ship Registry lists the names and stats of the film's main interstellar vehicles. The Mecha Database goes through every transforming fighter ship as well as combat armor and weapons designs. Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles is a gallery of cover art for all five issues of the prequel comic. The Secret Files are essentially miscellany, containing looks at the aborted Robotech 3000 project, among other things.

Not one to miss out on the action, FUNimation has provided several of their own trailers for available and upcoming releases. FUNimation Trailers contains standard definition trailers for Fullmetal Alchemist The Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Z, Jyu-Oh-Sei, xxxHolic, Glass Fleet, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Full Metal Panic!

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Robotech has proved to have one of the longest lasting legacies in the history of U.S. animé imports. The false starts on followups that have come since the series' end, however, must have been incredibly frustrating to fans. The Shadow Chronicles has finally provided some relief, picking up where the series left off. The animation may be different, the voice actors a little older, but the same spirit is definitely there. The film succeeds in universal appeal; it is easily accessible to Robotech newcomers and satisfies fans alike. Even if you don't normally relish animé, The Shadow Chronicles is a recommended title. With a well-developed story, truly gripping action, and a great Blu-ray package, it's hard to go wrong!