Macross Plus Movie Edition - US THEATERS

[Kelsain]

In addition to the weird music mix, it seemed like the footsteps were all REALLY loud.

On another note, while I like some of the pacing changes, I really do prefer the OVA. For one thing, the CG was ground breaking for it’s time, but has not aged well. And Wanna Be An Angel just doesn’t hit as well for me as the full use of Information High.

I do hope there’s a chance of Fathom showing the Frontier or Delta movies after this.

[EastwindS2k]

Watched it last night and it was a good time, I wish the sound effects were remastered. 

[100mega]

8 minutes ago, Kelsain said:

In addition to the weird music mix, it seemed like the footsteps were all REALLY loud.

On another note, while I like some of the pacing changes, I really do prefer the OVA. For one thing, the CG was ground breaking for it’s time, but has not aged well. And Wanna Be An Angel just doesn’t hit as well for me as the full use of Information High.

I do hope there’s a chance of Fathom showing the Frontier or Delta movies after this.

 

I'd love to see the movies in the theater too, but they really deserve something better than the 1080i source that Fathom Events uses for their features. I guess if it's the only possible route I'll take what I can get and try to keep supporting Macross.

[isamu]

Congrats to all of you that went and had a good time. I couldn't make it but it's all good. I have a front projector with a 110" screen and 5.1 surround system so I'll watch the movie on that.

But for those of you who couldn't go and see the film on the big screen, and don't have the space in your house/apartment to place a large TV or projection screen, there is good news.............

There are new VR headsets coming out in 2022 with 4K(or even higher) resolution and there is an app called "Big Screen" that allows you to experience watching film/video content in a virtual theater environment. There are people are use Big Screen and love the app, but unfortunately the current headsets like the Quest 2, Vive Pro, HP Reverb, etc don't deliver a crisp and clear enough image to make the experience that authentic.

However , the Apara 5K, the Varjo Areo and the Pimax 12KQLED are three headsets to watch out for in 2022! I plan on buying all three and if they're as good as they promise to be, I intend for at least one of them to replace my front projector and my main display for film watching. If any of you own a VR headset currently, give Big Screen a try. Try watching some Macross on it and let me know what you think

[TehPW]

8 hours ago, kazuo said:

I think it's COVID+we're superfans living a bubble, thinking that Macross Plus is gonna sell out the house. It's not. Especially not with the minimal amount of advertising it got; I found out mostly by accident, and I follow the official Macross account and @giantrobo on Twitter, but that's beside the point. I think some of us are overestimating the reach of Plus, as good as it is.

Anyway, the script is a refined version of the BD English subtitles, and yes, it's "Marge" in the script they used. The script also needed better QC, because I picked up on at least two grammatical errors, maybe even some others I forgot about between all the teeth grinding I was going through during the screening. I wouldn't expect anyone to use the old Manga/Nadelman script anymore, likely due to licensing reasons - that ship has sailed. You can always download it from the 'net and roll your own custom BD IMG or MKV.

I also very immediately noticed all of the additional garbage "pew pew" laser effects and such, evoking very terrible memories of the old Rhino re-releases of Transformers where they had to add a shitty sound effect to every single thing. And the sound mix was terrible, absolute crap. The voice and BGM balance was way off, with the voice often completely overpowering the music; this was most apparent during Information High - you could barely hear the music! Awful. I also noticed the "noise" / "toys" echo thing during Information High, and I'm pretty sure it was an intentional change to the sound mix. Why would they do this?

I hate being so negative about this, but with the sound mix being so bad and the dodgy subtitles, I probably should've just stayed home and watched the BD. Would've saved ten bucks.

Someone elsewhere mentioned How movie/TV credits are dished out on re-releases (often changes being intentional not to improve the IP but to ensure the artist/technician/writer gets "credit" thus gets a paycheck) somewhere else. Perhaps the changes were cause 'celebration' just for a paycheck?

[twich]

I was fortunate to be able to take my two sons with me last night for the viewing. It was amazing to watch Macross Plus in a movie theater in a reclining chair! I also greatly enjoyed meeting up with fellow MWer @M’Kyuun for the show! It was great to meet someone with the same level of passion for the franchise as I have and “talk shop”. Here is to hoping that there are many more opportunities to repeat the experience.

in agreement with the sentiment that has been going around, the sound mix was different, the subtitles/story were slightly different. But the mecha action was just as great as I remember!  All in all, a great experience, to be sure! Both of my sons enjoyed it greatly.

Twich

[kajnrig]

28 minutes ago, snakerbot said:

On the topic of translation: this isn't specific to this theater showing and I've seen a few different translations for this part. What are Guld's words to Isamu and Myung in his final conversation when he mentions getting a drink with them? The theater showing and at least one other version I've seen translate them as "Let's get a drink after this" or "I'd like to get a drink after this" or something to that effect, specifically future tense. But one version I saw translated it as "I would have liked to get a drink after this", which I find more powerful since it's pretty obvious that Guld knows he's not coming back, where "Let's get a drink after this" suggests that he is or thinks he is.

This was a curiosity to me, too. IIRC, his "goodbye" line has been translated variously as goodbye, farewell, see you later, etc. Of them, it seems like "see you later" is probably the most accurate in terms of capturing both the literal translation and his intent. (Based just on my very rudimentary hearing of the language; I'm sure the native speakers here have better insight.) Assuming that's the case, then it makes sense to portray his lines before that as being fully intended (and his having to kamikaze the Ghost being UNintended).

A couple other instances of... over-liberal translation, I think:

- Isamu griping about the Guns CDV. In all of the various translations up 'til now (btw, can anyone confirm if this sub is indeed based on the International Bluray release?), that was always translated to something like "You never returned the Guns CDV I lent you!" to which Guld replied "Because you left seven years ago!". In the new sub that line gets translated to a question: "Where's the Guns CDV I lent you? I'm still waiting!" and the reply: "You disappeared seven years ago!" The newer translation feels, dare I say, catty. Sassy. And the response from Guld feels weirdly detached.

- Guld, when chasing the Ghost. Variations on "One more minute!" "Just a bit more!" etc., all of which suffice just fine. I suppose "One more minute!" is most strictly accurate. The follow-up, though, "キタ!" has itself seen various translations, with the one for this showing being "Got 'em!"... which just seems weird for him to say. The plural 'em instead of singular 'im/'er, the truncation at all instead of them/him/her, the third-person "'em" instead of "you." Not to mention it seems rather boasty, not exactly something I think he would say in this situation. I think the Manga subs is a simple "There!" which seems a better fit all around.

- I do love that they tweaked the translation of Isamu's lines to Guld prior to their battle, though. Previously, it was something like "Always following me... Always following people around all the time!", with the repeated verb. I forget exactly what the new subs say, but it finally did away with that awkward repeat and I almost whooped right then and there and confused an entire theater of innocent viewers.

[Keith]

5 hours ago, snakerbot said:

On the topic of translation: this isn't specific to this theater showing and I've seen a few different translations for this part. What are Guld's words to Isamu and Myung in his final conversation when he mentions getting a drink with them? The theater showing and at least one other version I've seen translate them as "Let's get a drink after this" or "I'd like to get a drink after this" or something to that effect, specifically future tense. But one version I saw translated it as "I would have liked to get a drink after this", which I find more powerful since it's pretty obvious that Guld knows he's not coming back, where "Let's get a drink after this" suggests that he is or thinks he is.

On the flipside, trying to ease his friends despite knowing he's going to die always made more sense to me. Think of it as an "inverted pineapple salad."

[Shawn]

As some others have reported, my showing started about 10 minutes late...when the projector was 'rebooted' (we could hear it bounce) it started with him flying at New Edwards already, so we missed the pre-show.
Enjoyed seeing it on the large screen, picked up on some small items I had missed before on tv. Audio sounded ok-was not terribly loud though (I would have asked for it turned up a bit)
Just a few people in my theater as well, but another one down the street had about 15.
Glad I went and was happy to support the franchise in this new-era.

S

[Rogueload]

It was a fun time.   My brother and I went and there was maybe 4 other people in the theater.  I prefer the M+ ova’s like others since it seems to have more action in it, but the movie does a good job packing it in all in 1 1/2-2 hours.  

Now they gotta show the other Macross movies in theater!! 

[HGSucks]

I agree with all the audio complaints. I can see why some people were very disappointed in this up to the point of wanting a refund. But, maybe we should keep some things in mind.

1. The impossible happened! I never thought, with all the legal web involved in it especially with Harmony Gold copyright squatting on the IP for about 35 years, that there would be an actual Macross release at all. This is absolutely groundbreaking so maybe at least BigWest should be cut some slack since this is their very first attempt to breaking the wall that had kept them out for so long. 

2. This may have been rushed to just get something released in the US as quickly as possible without having a Robotech Sentinels disaster. Maybe, they thought that if they didn't get something done quickly, HG might pull some crap to stop them from releasing anything.

2. As far as I know BigWest has not had any other international releases of anything until now in the west (ironically with their name). So, there familiarity with western theaters, the language etc. may be a large learning curve for them since, they aren't exactly Sony as they are backing Robotech.

3. I had never heard of Fanthom or whoever they are. Perhaps they screwed this whole thing up and maybe, BigWest should seek out a larger company to assist them in the future or do better oversight.

4. It seems like multiple locations were less than eager to show this movie and some kids in the theaters were probably thinking, "I only have to do the bare minimum since it's only going to be just for a couple of nerds showing up." For example, the one I know about here failed to turn the lights down until a forth of the way through the movie. Maybe, there is something to the way the sound was handled by them or they put people in the room with the worst audio system.

5. Keep in mind this was dubbed in Dolby Stereo. Since, that there have been at least Dolby Surround, Dolby Digital, etc. If you have a surround sound system and you play Dolby Stereo with the wrong settings you can get a mono, stereo only, Dolby Surround II, etc. Some theaters may have poorly upmixed it or didn't do so at all.

6. Despite all of this, a lot of people who saw this for the first time, like spouses who were dragged to this, xD seemed to really enjoy it despite all of this.

6. Even if you had an awful experience, all of you and the other people who should be proud to be one of the first to watch a Macross movie in the west!

7. We got to show BigWest that there is interest in the west hopefully enough to release more material, and really make an investment in it, money and effort-wise, in the west to release what is probably a very expensive franchise to release internationally with all of the music rights, etc. So, they may have been very budget restricted and couldn't risk spending too much money only to find zero interest in the franchise.

8. Maybe the best part of it all was giving a big "F*** you Harmony Gold" for every person who showed up or at least bought tickets to show support for BigWest.

 

[HGSucks]

Oh, I do have a couple of questions, for anybody who has seen the movie version. I had only seen the OVA about 20 years ago. Were the "pew pew" sounds deliberately used to replace the audio of a few songs that they unfortunately might not have gotten the rights to have them shown in the west. If so, would this have to do with royalties and not something like interference from an outside party (company)?

Oh, while on the topic of music, am I the only person who was bothered that they didn't subtitle the songs? It seems like the songs are such a HUGE part of the series. There are times that the lyrics actually have to directly do with the plot. I'm picturing the part on Delta in which Freyja basically confesses her feelings to Hayate by singing to him? Most watchers are probably smart enough to know what she is singing about but, my point is that it's so much more impactful to know what is beinb sung. In a lot of anime it doesn't matter but, Macross isn't Gundam. I know some people hate Delta but, despite having several issues with it myself, I still liked it. It had a lot of potential. Anyway, is there any way to get the message through to BigWest to PLEASE, show English (or for whatever language it's translated to) during the songs?

Did anybody else read or hear that anything 1987 or before is going to be internationally under the rights of Harmony Gold, and everything post 1987 belongs to BigWest. This might mean that my favorite Macross movie, Do You Remember Love, may not make the cut for BW. At least we will be (hopefully) getting 7, Zero, Frontier, and Delta.

I still am very happy they are releasing it in the West.

Thanks.

[100mega]

1 hour ago, HGSucks said:

I agree with all the audio complaints. I can see why some people were very disappointed in this up to the point of wanting a refund. But, maybe we should keep some things in mind.

1. The impossible happened! I never thought, with all the legal web involved in it especially with Harmony Gold copyright squatting on the IP for about 35 years, that there would be an actual Macross release at all. This is absolutely groundbreaking so maybe at least BigWest should be cut some slack since this is their very first attempt to breaking the wall that had kept them out for so long. 

2. This may have been rushed to just get something released in the US as quickly as possible without having a Robotech Sentinels disaster. Maybe, they thought that if they didn't get something done quickly, HG might pull some crap to stop them from releasing anything.

2. As far as I know BigWest has not had any other international releases of anything until now in the west (ironically with their name). So, there familiarity with western theaters, the language etc. may be a large learning curve for them since, they aren't exactly Sony as they are backing Robotech.

3. I had never heard of Fanthom or whoever they are. Perhaps they screwed this whole thing up and maybe, BigWest should seek out a larger company to assist them in the future or do better oversight.

4. It seems like multiple locations were less than eager to show this movie and some kids in the theaters were probably thinking, "I only have to do the bare minimum since it's only going to be just for a couple of nerds showing up." For example, the one I know about here failed to turn the lights down until a forth of the way through the movie. Maybe, there is something to the way the sound was handled by them or they put people in the room with the worst audio system.

5. Keep in mind this was dubbed in Dolby Stereo. Since, that there have been at least Dolby Surround, Dolby Digital, etc. If you have a surround sound system and you play Dolby Stereo with the wrong settings you can get a mono, stereo only, Dolby Surround II, etc. Some theaters may have poorly upmixed it or didn't do so at all.

6. Despite all of this, a lot of people who saw this for the first time, like spouses who were dragged to this, xD seemed to really enjoy it despite all of this.

6. Even if you had an awful experience, all of you and the other people who should be proud to be one of the first to watch a Macross movie in the west!

7. We got to show BigWest that there is interest in the west hopefully enough to release more material, and really make an investment in it, money and effort-wise, in the west to release what is probably a very expensive franchise to release internationally with all of the music rights, etc. So, they may have been very budget restricted and couldn't risk spending too much money only to find zero interest in the franchise.

8. Maybe the best part of it all was giving a big "F*** you Harmony Gold" for every person who showed up or at least bought tickets to show support for BigWest.

 

After the experience I'm feeling a little less irritated about the situation and you raise some very good points.

 

1 hour ago, HGSucks said:

Oh, I do have a couple of questions, for anybody who has seen the movie version. I had only seen the OVA about 20 years ago. Were the "pew pew" sounds deliberately used to replace the audio of a few songs that they unfortunately might not have gotten the rights to have them shown in the west. If so, would this have to do with royalties and not something like interference from an outside party (company)?

Oh, while on the topic of music, am I the only person who was bothered that they didn't subtitle the songs? It seems like the songs are such a HUGE part of the series. There are times that the lyrics actually have to directly do with the plot. I'm picturing the part on Delta in which Freyja basically confesses her feelings to Hayate by singing to him? Most watchers are probably smart enough to know what she is singing about but, my point is that it's so much more impactful to know what is beinb sung. In a lot of anime it doesn't matter but, Macross isn't Gundam. I know some people hate Delta but, despite having several issues with it myself, I still liked it. It had a lot of potential. Anyway, is there any way to get the message through to BigWest to PLEASE, show English (or for whatever language it's translated to) during the songs?

Did anybody else read or hear that anything 1987 or before is going to be internationally under the rights of Harmony Gold, and everything post 1987 belongs to BigWest. This might mean that my favorite Macross movie, Do You Remember Love, may not make the cut for BW. At least we will be (hopefully) getting 7, Zero, Frontier, and Delta.

I still am very happy they are releasing it in the West.

Thanks.

I do not believe any sound effects were added with the intention of obscuring anything. This was purely a sound mix issue either by the theaters or the system Fathom uses to stream their films.

It was strange to not subtitle Voices. I think we could have gotten by with everything else as is as it's either in English already or not so great French. I favor not obscuring the action with lyrics when it's not critical to the plot.

Bring on everything else! People seem to talk like the older stuff is being worked on, but we'll see. DYRM would be glorious on the big screen.

[Rhubarbarian]

4 hours ago, HGSucks said:

3. I had never heard of Fanthom or whoever they are. Perhaps they screwed this whole thing up and maybe, BigWest should seek out a larger company to assist them in the future or do better oversight.

I've seen several other Fathom events (Tokyo Godfathers, Perfect Blue, and a few Studio Ghibli Films) and this definitely stood out as the only one with particularly bad sound mixing. To be fair, I've seen Macross Plus a hundred times more than I've seen Perfect Blue, so naturally sound mix stuff is going to stand out more for me because I really wanted a perfect experience. There isn't really anyone else doing these kind of movie releases for older anime movies, so it's impossible to compare to a competitor.

Overall, it was nice to see it in theaters, and I was super happy to support it; I'd just... kind of rather watch the OVA DVDs at home on my home theater setup I guess? Hopefully we get high-quality blu-ray releases of the movie and the OVA in the near future.

[Keith]

Has the official Macross twitter account address the audio at all?

[100mega]

13 minutes ago, Keith said:

Has the official Macross twitter account address the audio at all?

Not that I know of. I kinda get the feeling that complaining about it makes me feel like a party pooper in the fandom. LOL! But it was so bad...

[Keith]

4 hours ago, 100mega said:

Not that I know of. I kinda get the feeling that complaining about it makes me feel like a party pooper in the fandom. LOL! But it was so bad...

In a franchise centered on music, it's "kinda" important!

[no3Ljm]

Don’t want to create another thread so I’m just going to post it here. Found this on YouTube. Looks awesome!  

 

[Bolt]

Wow, that does look  awesome ! Thanks amigo 😁

[no3Ljm]

Macross Plus Movie Edition screening in the upcoming Anime Expo 2022. July 1, 2022. 10:30am PDT. Regal Cinemas.

 

Edited June 28, 2022 by no3Ljm