Blackstar or Space Sentinels?

[Bijou88]

Both of these Filmation shows from the 1980s have been recently released. If you could buy only one set, which one would it be and why?

[KJ]

The Space Sentinels. Cos i grew up watching it as a kid. First off its a late 70's show not a 80's one, secondly it was pretty decent like most animated shows back in those days. Sure it might have dated quite a bit and times have changed but thats why we buy such things on DVD in the first place, for those fond memories. Third, i'd get it cos you'd be hard pressed trying to find them all today on VHS tape. I hear its going to be released on DVD with another show called Freedom Force, but thats only because the main lead Hercules was in both shows is all. Its a pity how unlike the 2002 He-Man series, Filmation hasn't attempted to or bothered trying to revive The Space Sentinels. As a pre-original series He-Man show, it missed out on the craze of animated series of the 80's since it was a later 70's show and didn't fare well against reruns of "Battle Of The Planets" and possibly "Speed Racer". (ask anybody worth their salt today and their bound to say the 80's was animation mecca in terms of great memorable cartoon shows!).

I hear filmation isn't doing too well considering Lou scheimer is ill with Parkinson's diease and his daughter closed their studio (so i've heard correct me if the news has changed or is wrong somewhat?) and put their funds into taking care of him. Today i reckon The Space Sentinels would be revamped rather well with today's animation and 3D teaxture mapped CGI techniques and storytelling, along with famous hollywood celeb's doing voiceover work in the field of animation etc. One can only dream of an old forgotten show getting a great vast revamp such as that. Wouldn't mind if it did happen however though?

The Space Sentinels has the superhero edge here too, although i've heard of Blackstarr i'm sure most people would go with TSS.

Yeah i'm buying The Space Sentinels DVD!

KJ

[Gemini1999]

I saw Space Sentinels at Best Buy over the past weekend. I paused over it though... I remember liking it very much, but I didn't know that if it was something I wanted to own permanently. It wasn't too expensive and I'm in the mood to buy something new - I might just pick it up just as a "lark purchase"...

Bryan

[Bijou88]

Well, I bought "Space Sentinels." I had not seen the show since it originally aired in the late 70s. I did not remember any plot details, but I did remember what the main characters looked like. I was pleasently surprised that it holds up well. It is solid super-hero adventure tales with fairly sophisticated plots. On thing I found fun to discover was that this series was set in 1977's "future." In one episode, a villain from thousands of years in the future goes back in time via a time belt. When he goes back into the past, the belt is set to 1985. So the series is set in 1985. I wonder why they chose to do this. It's just a fun little factoid. As a fan of Fimation in general, I already have Flash Gordon ( A great show) and I am planning on picking up Blackstar as well.

[KJ]

Thats nice to hear of Bijou88. But the real question is when will they release Bravestarr? Filmation's last famed TV animated production which had around 65 episodes in itself!

And then ask exactly when we could get the updated 2002-2004 He-Man series. Which like the recent news of Justice League's cancellation. Should've never been cancelled to begin with. Heck at this rate i might even be crazy enough to ask for the "Shazam" series which is another late 70's filmation production! Would be a smart move considering Warner Brother's film partners over at New Line Cinema are planning a Captain Marvel movie under said title of 'Shazam'. This could be seen as a little reminder for those of us out there who might want to buy some nostalgia goodies on DVD in the form of an old memorable cartoon series.

Food for thought perhaps for those putting these old classics of animation onto DVD's out there!

To whom it may concern this is what we want from Filmation's TV series library o.k.

* Bravestarr the series

* Shazam

* 2002 He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe series (this 3rd series of He-Man wasn't strictly Filmation's but surely there's a connection there copyrights wise, which would enable this to happen?)

KJ

[Bijou88]

You will be happy to know that Bravestarr will be released by BCI in 2007. BCI has aquired the rights to release most of the Filmation library ( both animation and live action ) and will be doing so over the next year and a half. Shazam is unfortunatly not on the release list ...yet. Lets keep hoping. I remember the animated Shazam series very fondly and was happy that it was faithful to the source material.

[KJ]

Cheers for that news there Bijou88 :thumbsup:

I also want to get the classic first season of Plastic Man. However its a "Ruby Spears" show instead. Doesn't suppose you've heard of that getting a release on DVD somewheres? It was being torrented on "mininova" November late last year but quickly disappeared, haven't seen it since.

BCI huh, don't suppose they or MVC will release the 2002 He-Man series then?

Damn, man this has really got me thinking on how alot of classic animation from several production houses over the years just hasn't been released yet. whats keeping them copyrights, TV broadcasting rights/ownership etc.

Starfleet is another classic cult hit that may need a DVD release in the near future. Starfleet A.K.A. X-Bomber a puppet series from Japan inspired by Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds somewhat was kinda big back in the early 80's. Despite two badly edited VHS tapes that did a cut and paste job of presenting two movies from the episodes (think Mission Galactica editing here?) Quest for the F-01 and the Thalian Space Wars. It hasn't seen a release as a whole series on tape over the years or DVD. It did come out on Laserdisc over in Japan and North America. And finally got a release on DVD recently in its original Japanese language without subtitles in 2003. But as with all things its hard to come by in its original form.

Find out more about another rare TV cult classic here at.

http://www.sfxb.co.uk/index.html

KJ

[Bijou88]

There are tons of animated shows I would love to see released. I have never seen "Starfleet" but I have seen stills from the show. It does strike me as a cross between Gerry Anderson's work and Anime. As a fan of Gerry Anderson's supermarionation shows, I would be curious to see something in the same fashion like "Starfleet." As for Plastic man, I have not heard anything. I guess it will have to be placed on the wish list along with "Thundarr the Barbarian", "Rocket Robin Hood", Ruby Spears "Superman", "Space Ghost", "Bird-Man", "Galaxy Trio" and a host of other great animated shows from the 60s, 70s and 80s.

As a quick aside, I did purchase "Blackstar" today. I have not viewed an entire episode yet, but I have sampled here and there. My first impression is that the quality of animation has slipped a bit from Filmation's work in the 1970s. Purhaps budgets had become tighter by the early 80s. The trobbits are a bit on the twee side and can be a bit too much. However, other than that, I have enjoyed the designs for the hero and the villain. the concept of the series is also interesting. I will have a better informed opinion after viewing the episodes in total.

[KJ]

Then you'll love this little link to the unproduced updated Thunderbirds comeback TV series concept trailer (where have we heard that one before eh? ;) )

http://davidmaxfreedman.typepad.com/slingshot/thunderbirds/index.html

Enjoy!

KJ

P.S.

Beware that trailer's a little buggy? trying to use VSO ConvertToDVD. and it freezes up so be careful trying to download it to anykind of burning software.

[KJ]

As for Plastic man, I have not heard anything. I guess it will have to be placed on the wish list along with "Thundarr the Barbarian", "Rocket Robin Hood", Ruby Spears "Superman", "Space Ghost", "Bird-Man", "Galaxy Trio" and a host of other great animated shows from the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Don't forget, Jayce And The Wheeled Warriors, The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (in several season 1 boxsets rather than random releases etc) and The Lost Cities Of Gold.

To just actually name a few classics there!

KJ

[Bijou88]

I look forward to the day when every hour of my youth spent in front of the TV, will be preserved forever on DVD.

:)

[KJ]

Same here man, same here!

KJ