Gubaba

Interestingly, I read the novel "The Cylon's Secret" recently, and there was an Athena in that, as well...although it was set twenty years before the series starts (and really, didn't match up with the series, since the show establishes quite clearly that there has been no contact with the Cylons for forty years, and yet, in the book...there they are. Although they had been waiting around in Colonial space for decades.) Overall it was okay. Not terrible, but far from great.

REALLY??? Man, I had it pegged as Billy! Whatta reveal THAT would've been..."We found out who the final Cylon is! And, um...he got shot a couple of years ago..." "Whew! That would've been a close one!"

That's cool. I'm just glad I made it to the end of Season 3 without anyone saying, "Man, I couldn't believe Roslin's assistant was a Cylon" or something.

Well...I was avoiding it at first...but then everyone was putting spoiler tags and reminding others to. It's been a few months, so I felt pretty safe, as long I didn't go back to the beginning of the thread or anything stupid like that. So earth is dead, huh? I guess I'll see how it plays out.

:angry: :angry: :angry: :angry:

I think he meant this logo:

Yeah...he got a trailer made, and then "co-wrote" a bunch of novels. They were still coming out as of a few years ago, I believe.

As with most of the really ugly episodes, you can thank Star Pro for the animation.

Hmmm...that's a possibility, since "We are able to release Macross the movie as a product" is a pretty strange way of putting it. Might be worth bringing up as a question if anyone's planning on attending a Robotech panel at an upcoming con.

Which is odd, because, presumably, AnimEigo knew by 2000 or 2001 that THEY couldn't release DYRL, but Tommy was saying that HG could in 2004. (Yeah, it's in the video Memo provided ( about 4 minutes in: ). I make a non-speaking, uncredited cameo appearance towards the end. ) And really, if anyone could release DYRL here, it's probably HG, since they have the trademark on the name. Anyone else trying to release it would have to deal with their lawyers at some point anyway. If THEY were to release it, they could easily bring up the fact that they have TM on the name "Macross" in the western world, and have the merchandising rights to the movie. Realistically, they could probably steamroll right over any of the other companies claiming rights on the movie. So...if HG has all the rights they say they do...why don't they release it?

It took a while to sink in for me, as well. At first, I was shocked, then it it became kind of a "Nah, it can't be" kind of thing, and then I thought, "Well, none of them want to be Cylons, so it'll all be okay," and then I realized that not wanting to be a Cylon...well, it might not be enough. And then there's Starbuck to consider. What happened to her? How is she okay? Or IS she okay? And then Razor complicated that bit of the story even further, with the Hybrid saying she would lead humanity to destruction, but...can humans really trust the Hybrid...? Believe me, while I've been watching the adventures of cut-rate Apollo and Starbuck riding around on their flying motorcycles, while super scouts rescue baseball camps and farms (and, I hasten to add, WOLFMAN JACK GETTING KIDNAPPED BY CYLONS!!!!), the end of Season 3 is still worming around in my brain. Y'know, I don't know if anyone's read the Jerry Cornelius novels of Michael Moorcock, but the edition from the '70s that I have has an introduction by the noted British science-fiction critic John Clute, which has a section which I believe is pertinent here. Unfortunately, the introduction doesn't seem to be available online, and my copy of the book is packed away, so I have to paraphrase from memory. Clute started out with a story about a somewhat mediocre composer and music publisher (Anton Diabelli) who wrote a little waltz and tried to get a lot of famous composers to write variations on it, which he would then publish all together. One of the composers he approached was an aged (and deaf) Beethoven, who slammed the door in his face. But later, Beethoven found himself interested in the tune, and wrote not one, but 33 variations on the the waltz. Clute concluded that the 33 variations were "the real tune," presumably because of the depth and complexity of them in comparison to Diabelli's original. Likewise (Clute said), Michael Moorcock created Jerry Cornelius as a hip, '60s, English super-spy, and encouraged others writers to write stories about him, which they did. Then Moorcock wrote the Cornelius novels, which are deeper, more complex, and more personal than any of the Cornelius short stories that he or others wrote about the character. The novels are "the real tune." And so, after watching all 24 episodes of the original Galactica, and all ten episode of Galactica 1980, and seeing the greater depth, complexity, and drama of the newer series...I'm inclined to think of the newer series NOT as a "re-imagined" variation on the original, but "the real tune." That may be unfair of me, but from my perspective, the new series has wholly usurped any authority the first series had, so that the old series seems more like a weak imitation of the new one, rather than the new one being a variation on the old. Perhaps that's going too far, but it's the way it appears to me right now. All of this is a long-winded way of saying that during my viewing of Galactica 1980, all the while, there was a part of my mind thinking, "This is fun and all, but what's going to happen next in the REAL story?" EDIT: Oh, and if you haven't read the Jerry Cornelius books...you should.

And impotent disgust is really all we can logically feel, since HG does indeed have the merchandising rights to DYRL. It's not like they haven't drawn from that well before, since they released those "superposables" years ago. Of course, five and a half years ago, they ALSO said they could release DYRL itself on DVD...I wonder whatever happened to those plans...?

I think you may be confusing the 1978-79 Battlestar Galactica with Galactica 1980, which is for all intents and purposes, a wholly separate show...

Y'know, I've been watching "Virgin Road" again, and while everyone remembers the knife fight, the VF-1D that doesn't LOOK like a VF-1D, and Milia looking absolutely butt-ugly...I wonder if anyone's noticed that Hikaru's got some pretty strange expressions on his face...

Hmmm...guess I should've just checked it out myself, huh? Anyway, throughout most of the episode, I was hitting myself over the head trying to place that voice...and them suddenly, I remembered the San Diego Zoo commercial (narrated by Gary Owens) that aired when I was a kid... Anyway, I'm done with Galactica 1980 now. Next: I begin Season 4. So, Dobber, you can come back now.

I've finished Galactica 1980, and the infernal discs have been removed from my home, never again to cross my threshold. I get the feeling that the sole reason the "The Return of Starbuck" is widely considered the only good episode in the series is because it has Starbuck in it. Other than that, it was just as lame as the other episodes...what with Starbuck's cheesier-than-Blade-Runner narration, a moody, PMS-ing Cylon, and Creepy-Glazed-Eyes Chick (who I'm assuming was one of the "angels" from the first series, but that was all left totally unclear). And...um...the Cylon's voice sounded A) different from every other Cylon ever seen, and B) really familiar. Was it Gary Owen? It sounded like him, but his name was nowhere in the credits...

Because he's trying to hide something...look to the right of Sheryl's bellybutton...

It gets boring just saying, "Oh, this episode sucked. And this episode sucked, too." So I decided to actively search for things to enjoy. And really, the Wolfman Jack episodes were SO DAMN WEIRD that there was something kind of wonderful about them, in the same way that an Ed Wood or Coleman Francis movie can be wonderful. And I watched "Space Croppers" earlier this afternoon. Um...the girl was pretty. That's about all I can say.

You should sue Universal Studios for exploitation...it's amazing how much crap made for TV here in the States got exported for "European Theatrical Release." Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, The Night the Cylons Landed, hell, probably even the Greatest American Hero.

I don't know about Yamato, but Frontier opened on only 30 screens throughout the country. 5 million doesn't sound too bad for such a limited release, but I dunno...

FINALLY!! An episode of Galactica 1980 I liked! No, not the Return of Starbuck (I'm not there yet), but "The Night the Cylons Landed." Man, I hope the re-imagined series has an analogue to this episode...Cylons come to earth (and hey! There's a new kind of Cylon that looks human!) and attempt to take it over BY KIDNAPPING WOLFMAN JACK!! The other episodes have been dull overall, but this one got SO ridiculous and insane that it achieves a certain kind of greatness. Colonial warriors attacked by street thugs! Car chases! Cuban hijackers! Costume parties! Musical numbers! Super Scouts at Griffith Park Observatory! LINDA RONSTADT! And holding the whole thing together, the aforementioned Wolfman. BRILLIANT!!

Mari-ja is asking what kind of story we want to see from a new Macross series. Mari-jaさん、２０５９年のあとのストーリーを見たいです。新ストーリー、新メカ、新キャラクターは一番いいだと思います。各マクロスのシリーズはいつでも異類ですね？

Sorry about that. I probably won't get to Season 4 until my birthday, on Tuesday. But the Galactica 1980 box set is due back tomorrow, and I won't be renting it again.

Gah. Just watched "Spaceball." Lord, does this show suck. And, um...what's the deal with disclaimer at the end of the episodes: "The United States Air Force stopped investigating UFOs in 1969. After 22 years, they found no evidence of extra-terrestrial visits and no threat to national security." Seems like kind of a strange thing to put...

Man, I really need to catch up...I still haven't rewatched episode 4...