ROBOTECH: THE COMPLETE ORIGINAL SERIES

The Limited-Edition 17-Disc Set of the Program Voted as One of IGN.com’s “Top 50 Sci-Fi Series of All Time” is Priced to Collect at $99.95srp and Features Four Bonus Discs with Two Hours of Brand New Content Including a “Making of Robotech” Documentary, Robotech Music Videos, a Series Overview and Much More!

Also Available Day-and-Date Will Be Three Individual “Generation Wars” Sets: THE FIRST ROBOTECH WARS (THE MACROSS SAGA), THE SECOND ROBOTECH WAR (THE ROBOTECH MASTERS) and THE THIRD ROBOTECH WAR (THE NEW GENERATION)

IN STORES OCTOBER 18

SAN DIEGO, CA, July 21, 2011 – Long before the current live action Transformers franchise took over the box office and introduced giant alien robots to a new generation, there was a sweeping animated sci-fi epic that delivered “mecha” to the masses: Robotech. Arriving on U.S. airwaves in the mid-80s via syndication, the legendary space opera – one of the very first anime imports -- helped to usher in the multi-billion dollar anime industry and now, through the cult classic curators at A+E Networks Home Entertainment, the influential series will be reborn on DVD. Working in close conjunction with original Robotech producer Harmony Gold, the franchise will be available in a handsomely-designed collector’s set featuring all 85 re-mastered episodes of the engaging and dramatic anime classic. Available for $99.95srp, the specially-priced 17-disc set ROBOTECH: THE COMPLETE ORIGINAL SERIES will also feature four exclusive bonus discs with more than 10 hours of bonus content – much of which is new to DVD. The deal was brokered by Content Media Corporation, the worldwide distributor of the series.

A sweeping science-fiction anime epic, ROBOTECH was set at the turn of the millennium, when a mysterious spacecraft crash-landed on a South Pacific island. The secrets of alien knowledge aboard this vessel were unlocked, leading to the development of “Robotechnology” and the creation of a vast arsenal of robotic “mecha” to defend the Earth against the alien threats that would eventually strike, attempting to lay claim to the mysterious power source known as “protoculture.” Told through the eyes of characters caught in a successive series of three extraterrestrial invasions, the saga was the first anime series that many fans had seen, and is often credited with the explosion of anime fandom that continues to grow in the U.S. today.

The cornerstone of a blockbuster franchise that has spawned dozens of movies, books, toys, video games and comic books, ROBOTECH was originally licensed from Japan’s Tatsunoko Studios, adapted from three different series and re-edited and re-dubbed into English.  Because ROBOTECH hailed from three completely different anime series, Harmony Gold joined them into a cohesive narrative by splitting them into three distinct chapters, each representing a different generation of the saga:  THE MACROSS SAGA (36 episodes), THE ROBOTECH MASTERS (24 episodes) and THE NEW GENERATION (25 episodes).  These are also informally referred to as “The First Robotech War,” “The Second Robotech War” and “The Third Robotech War” respectively.

Aside from featuring all 85 half-hour episodes of the original series (re-mastered from original elements for this release), ROBOTECH: THE COMPLETE ORIGINAL SERIES also includes over ten hours of bonus programming:

• The Making of Robotech Documentary – NEW to DVD
• Robotech Music Videos – NEW to DVD
• Robotech Overview – NEW to DVD
• Alternate versions of select Robotech episodes – NEW to DVD
• Robotech: The Movie supplementals (including several sequences NEW to DVD)
• Macross Original Pilot – 70 minute extended version - NEW to DVD
• Promotional reel of Robotech Launch in China – NEW to DVD
• Over an hour of deleted scenes
• Robotech: The Sentinels (with optional audio commentary)
• Robotech: The Sentinels promotional video
• Macross Original Pilot – Parts 1, 2 and 3
• Mospeada Original Pilot – Part 1
• Original opening and closing animations
• Galaxy of the Stars - Harmony Gold promotional reel
• Toy Commercial and Videogame presentation reels
• International clips for all three Robotech Wars
• A vast stills appendix containing character bios, model sheets, pre-production art, comic book covers, and merchandise galleries
• And much, much more!

Voted #34 on the “Top 100 Animated Series of All Time” by IGN.com, ROBOTECH will also be released day-and-date in several additional configurations. THE FIRST ROBOTECH WAR (THE MACROSS SAGA; 5 discs), THE SECOND ROBOTECH WAR (THE ROBOTECH MASTERS; 4 discs) and THE THIRD ROBOTECH WAR (TRHE NEW GENERATION; 4 discs) will also be available for fans both new and old.

With interest in “mecha” at an all-time high, don’t miss out on this landmark in anime history from the guardians of classic TV DVD at A+E Networks Home Entertainment.

About Harmony Gold:
Formed in 1983, Harmony Gold is a leading production, acquisition and distribution company of quality international television programming, producing some of the most classic and history-making programs in the industry. Harmony Gold is a division of The Harmony Gold Companies, whose interests range from theatre management, real estate and finance to film and television production.

About Content Media Corporation:
Content Media Corporation plc (“Content”, formerly ContentFilm plc), is a publicly traded, global entertainment media company based in London with offices in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto, which owns and distributes a significant library of film, television and digital assets. Content Film (formerly ContentFilm International), the film sales division, holds the rights to 200 titles and helps producers secure financing, marketing and distribution. The division also acquires top-tier documentaries. Content Television (formerly Fireworks International) is the television sales division, which holds the library rights to 3,200 hours of TV programming incorporating major drama series, non-fiction entertainment, special event programming, kids’ series, TV movies and mini-series. Content Digital licenses over 300 hours of bespoke digital properties, in addition to the existing library, to digital media platforms worldwide, including on-demand, broadband and mobile.

A+E Networks Home Entertainment, part of the Consumer Products Division of A+E Networks, is a video distributor of non-theatrical programming, featuring collectible DVD editions of the high quality programming from A&E Network, HISTORY®, and Lifetime, as well as acquired classic programming and sports. A+E Networks Home Entertainment brings the best of critically acclaimed entertainment presented in award-winning packaging to the special interest category.

# # #

ROBOTECH: THE COMPLETE ORIGINAL SERIES
Pre-order date: September 20, 2011
Genre: Anime
Street date: October 18, 2011
Sug. Retail Price: $99.95
Rating: N/A
Catalog #: AAAE249020
Running Time: 32 hrs., 30 mins. + bonus
Screeners: Avail. upon request
Format: DVD/ 16 discs
Color Artwork: Avail. upon request

THE FIRST ROBOTECH WAR (THE MACROSS SAGA)
Format: DVD/5 Discs
Running Time Approx. 15 hrs.
Sug. Retail Price: $49.95
Catalog #: AAE252270

THE SECOND ROBOTECH WAR (THE ROBOTECH MASTERS)
Format: DVD/4 Discs
Running Time Approx. 10 hrs.
Sug. Retail Price: $39.95
Catalog #: AAE252280

THE THIRD ROBOTECH WAR (THE NEW GENERATION)
Format: DVD/4 Discs
Running Time Approx. 10 hrs.
Sug. Retail Price: $39.95
Catalog #: AAE252290

Comments (9)

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rtsurfer wrote on July 24, 2011

Title: Some details please... I would like to know the details of the remaster, which sources and processes were used and does it match the original 1985 series (minus the music changes in 85/86) including the 85 opening and closing credits (remastered as well?) If they are still working on the 24 track audio then how much of it was available when they remastered this set. Also, how is the quality when they are using 13/17 disc for this set and the last sets had 14/21, also considering remastered, extended had problems which some said might have been caused by cramming too much on each disc. For example IINM the Animego set used 50% more disc for Macross than was used for Macross Saga. Some samples comparing it to the 85 footage and releases over the last decade would be nice. Clarification of certain details would be nice, like is this the NEW Macek documentary or something else on the bonus material and is Sentinels remastered or not and what process was used with it? I would ask these at rt.com or their facebook but I'm not welcome at either one.

rtsurfer wrote on July 24, 2011

Title: ... I forgot to say that I'm actually glad original 85 Robotech is going to be available once again and A+E if probably a good choice to continue distributing it. I'm also interested in what they mean by remaster and the quality level of this set. I've wanted a true quality remaster for years.

rtsurfer wrote on July 27, 2011

Title: Tommy's post on rt.com: Disk file sizes, etc. Posted on: July 26, 2011 - 4:16:26 PM On past DVD releases, the remastered episodes ranged about 0.95 to 1.1 gigabytes of data. With DVD-9 capacity at 8.5 to 8.75 GB, that works out to a limit of about 8 episodes per disc. You can check the past DVDs and find that most were not at capacity -- in fact, one of the New Generation discs had 7 episodes instead of 6. The math worked out for the Macross Saga to reduce the number of discs to 5. However, with the New Generation, reducing by one disc would have resulted in a disc with 9 episodes, so that was kept unchanged. The main discs contain the 5.1 remastered episodes of the original series. The selection of "alternate" episodes bundled in the A&E bonus discs are from the original airing in Spring 1985 that had a work-in-progress audio track, which some fans actually prefer over the final version that was seen in re-runs and the Legacy box sets from 2001. The quality of these alternate episodes are nowhere near as pristine as the remastered footage, but have had some processes applied to clean them up from the 25-year-old analog source tapes they were recovered from. The audio sync problem was limited to early pressings of the remastered Robotech episodes and was actually fixed by the time the latter Protoculture box sets came out. Clarification for SilentDues Posted on: July 26, 2011 - 4:31:42 PM Edited on: July 26, 2011 - 4:40:30 PM 1) They're selections of deleted Japanese scenes and alternate dubs in the bonus discs. The complete Japanese series are not part of this bundle or else it would not fit in 17 discs. 2) If you're talking about Love Live Alive, the Japanese music videos may be a better fit with Mospeada and are not part of this set. 3) Yes, the documentary is included and we announced at Comic-Con that we were renaming the project "Carl Macek's Robotech Universe" in his honor. 4) I'm not 100% sure, but my previous post may have answered your question. 5) Actually, visually cleaning up the Sentinels was suggested by a fan at AnimeExpo. Though we showed one screen shot sample at Comic-Con, we've been working around the clock on this. This is a far more complicated undertaking than we expected (the Sentinels was quite a messy salvage job that does not trace back to a clean set of 16mm reels as conveniently as the 85 episodes). As there are many factors to consider to this project and we have a ticking clock of October 18 looming, we'll keep you posted on how things progress on this specific feature. http://robotech.com/community/forum/read.php?id=2124628&forumid=31&pagenumber=3

rtsurfer wrote on July 31, 2011

Title: More from Tommy: Hello again Dan Posted on: July 28, 2011 - 8:01:01 PM The Sentinels definitely needed some clean-up, but I'm not sure it was the "worst" looking item on past DVDs ... perhaps you were referring to the 1987 Toy Fair promo reel of the Sentinels? http://www.robotech.com/gallery/galimage/viewgalimage.php?id=2041 Subject: 1984 English Macross footage Posted on: July 30, 2011 - 8:47:23 PM The "Your hair or your life" scene is actually from the extended 70-minute version of the Macross video that had only been available through mail order back in 1984. This includes the first 3 episodes of Macross with the Robotech voice cast (such as Tony Oliver as "Rick Yamata") before the project was reorganized into the Robotech TV series that we know today. ADV had previously only released the shorter 30-minute Macross pilot. The A&E bonus DVDs will have both versions. Subject: Robotech: The Movie scenes Posted on: July 30, 2011 - 9:09:48 PM We did discuss the pie-in-the-sky possibility of working out a deal with ADV when they at one point had held the rights to both Robotech and Megazone 23. Unfortunately, with the fate of ADV's library now up in the air, this would be next-to-impossible to resolve by this year's October 18 release date. As one-third of the 1986 Robotech movie was composed of Southern Cross footage unhindered by distribution issues, we decided to gather these non-Megazone scenes so A&E could at least provide fans a glimpse into the 2027 backstory.

rtsurfer wrote on July 31, 2011

Title: More: JMcle97000 Subject: Question about new set.. Posted on: July 30, 2011 - 9:19:58 PM Well, I have asked this twice now and got no answer but hope third times the charm... Tommy or Kevin, is Codename: Robotech on this set????? Tommy Subject: Not ignoring you Posted on: July 30, 2011 - 10:01:47 PM We're still finalizing the layout of the contents of the bonus discs, so we'll have to get back to you on this one...

rtsurfer wrote on July 31, 2011

Title: Still questions... So it appears they are trying to scrounge up and improve the bonus features with 2 1/2 months left til release. Shouldn't the bonus features pretty much be set by now and ready to go to print? Maybe they are trying to make the set more appealing in light of all the its just another re-issue and I already have a set comments around the web. AFAIK they still haven't answered a couple of key questions which people have been asking repeatedly. Which opening and closing sequences are thy using, will it be the one from 85/86 or the protoculture set versions? Which sound are they using, will it be the gawd awful (my opinion) protoculture set sound again or did they remaster he 85/86 sound? Since they aren't answering these questions, I wonder if this is just a re-issue of the protoculture set with new bonus features. If its not, besides the questions above I would like to know if the edit will match the series from 85/86 and will it be zoomed-in/cropped (especially during TNG)? Some comments by relak concerning compression quality: http://robotech.com/community/forum/read.php?id=2124628&forumid=31&pagenumber=3 Subject: .... Posted on: July 25, 2011 - 7:36:29 PM Funimation's 26 episode anime sets are roughly 10 hours long and are put on 4 disks. You have nothing to worry about I have done a comparison between GENEON's 6 disc Trigun and Funimations 4 disc Trigun and the difference in video quality is obvious. Funimation's actually has more compression artefacts and even mild color banding in some scenes. Same goes for ADV's 7 disc Full Metal Panic VS Funimation's 4 disc version. Funimation's "5.1" dolby sounds more like a louder 2.0 than ADV's actual 5.1. I'm very disappointed as are others that this will not be a blu ray release, Kevin McKeever explained why: We would like to release the original series on Blu-Ray. However, the original animation elements that make up Robotech are on 16mm film reels. (Yes just like the 16mm educational films you saw in grade school.) While it is technically possible to upconvert the series to HD, due to the quality of some of the film reels (especially Macross), to give fans an acceptable HD version is way to expensive at this time. I think people expect blu ray to be a little more expensive, and why don't they upconvert from the remastered video instead of the poor quality film reels if that's an issue? I just hope this isn't another case of we can't then a couple of years late they do like with Legacy and the sorta remastered Protoculture. Besides, I'm pretty sure Tommy was talking about them already converting the series to HD and storing it on HDD, it was on a spanish podcast I think. On a positive note, I understand that the Robotech Documentary which is supposed to be included with the bonus material is very good. Have I mentioned that if you're interested in getting the A+E set, it will be available less expensive at some stores. Walmart.com already has it for $59.96 and not sure if they will have it free site to store for pickup or not, I expect other stores will have it for less than the $99.95srp closer to Oct 18th as well.

rtsurfer wrote on August 07, 2011

Title: Vlog 08.06.2011 - Can't Stop That Protoculture Addiction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZOKk-N8tVU In which Jonathan talks at length about A&E Home Video's October-launching all-new Robotech DVD box set -- why you might want it, what we know about it, and more importantly, what we DON'T know about it.

SIGHUP wrote on August 09, 2011

Title: ... Thanks for the heads up rtsufer!

Autobotdan wrote on September 20, 2011

Title: Capt JLS! Me and Cap JLS have been huge R2 the Sentinels fans and we are both overjoyed that it is finally getting good/decent treatment on dvd.