Rating: 
Summary: Misleading title: you get 12 thru 20 of 85 episodes.
Review: Only read this if you want to know the truth about the release of these BOTP. After researching for weeks, I have learned that BOTP eps 1-12 are contained (2 apiece) on DVD's volumes 1 through 6 (plus you get the Gatchaman counterparts and a bonus G-Force). You do not get eps 1-12 (or maybe I am mistaken and it's 1-10) on this Ultimate Set.This Ultimate Set as I am imformed, contains ONLY eps 13 through 20 OUT OF A TOTAL OF 85! That means that there are about 75 to 77 episodes you DO NOT get. I feel that the BOTP series is great, and I like Gatchaman too... but these people are trying to turn a dime by selling crap without telling you what episodes it contains. THEY NEED TO SAY that it only contains about eight to ten of a TOTAL of 85 epidodes. Therefore, Ultimate collection, my you-know-what. There is a serious demand for BOTP media out there, we have the money, and we will wait to buy all 85 DVD's. RESIST THE TEMPTATION to market crap to us or there will be backlash. Although the quality is the same on these as the others, we want the episodes 21 through 85 also, and it is available on ebay in the UK, so everyone buy your international DVD players now at your favorite stores and skip this marketing crud.
Rating: 
Summary: Great box set, but why the 3 missing episodes?
Review: That this DVD set would be vilified at all is an insult to those who had a hand in it's production.
As a kid (all of 10 during it's production) I seem to recall exclaiming how beautiful a cartoon it was not knowing at the time what made it so extraordinary. The use of the multi-plane camera and what we now call japanimation was, at the time, unique in a North American-distributed show aimed at kids.
Today there is a more ready acceptance of the genre, as exemplified by releases as 'Sprited Away' and 'Princess Mononoke" but in 1978 no one had seen it's like before.
The voiceover work demonstrated in this DVD set is an acid test for the quality that CAN be produced out of Hollywood but so frequently falls short. These characterisations were created in Valentine Studios, as far from glamorous as one can get in terms of Hollywood product. No exclusive First Class trailers here, only a dingy, stale cigarette infused room with microphones, acoustic dampening and a great deal of talent!!
Who would dare be so audacious to critique the performances of Waldo, Kasem, Schell, et. al.?! Step forward now and receive comeuppance for your insolence! Truly, these voice actors set the bar for their work. Given especially that their job was not characterization as we know it today but rather, ADR (looping). Their voices were recorded AFTER the film was already in the can. This is typical of Anime but unheard of in American animation where the voices are recorded before the animation. The advantage of the latter is voice actors have the blessing of interpreting the script as they and the director see fit and the animator produces drawing inspired by the performance. With anime, actors are required to sync their performance to the timing dictated by the animation. No small task, and one need only note the U.S. release of Sprited Away for a very stark example of the technique.
The DVD set itself sets no benchmarks in terms of features, but does contain teriffic interviews with the voice actors and does illicit the feeling of nostalgia for which it was intended (if such a thing is possible for a 'space cartoon').
I rate this box set as not to be missed!
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful animation...excellent voiceovers!
Review: That this DVD set would be vilified at all is an insult to those who had a hand in it's production.
As a kid (all of 10 during it's production) I seem to recall exclaiming how beautiful a cartoon it was not knowing at the time what made it so extraordinary. The use of the multi-plane camera and what we now call japanimation was, at the time, unique in a North American-distributed show aimed at kids.
Today there is a more ready acceptance of the genre, as exemplified by releases as 'Sprited Away' and 'Princess Mononoke" but in 1978 no one had seen it's like before.
The voiceover work demonstrated in this DVD set is an acid test for the quality that CAN be produced out of Hollywood but so frequently falls short. These characterisations were created in Valentine Studios, as far from glamorous as one can get in terms of Hollywood product. No exclusive First Class trailers here, only a dingy, stale cigarette infused room with microphones, acoustic dampening and a great deal of talent!!
Who would dare be so audacious to critique the performances of Waldo, Kasem, Schell, et. al.?! Step forward now and receive comeuppance for your insolence! Truly, these voice actors set the bar for their work. Given especially that their job was not characterization as we know it today but rather, ADR (looping). Their voices were recorded AFTER the film was already in the can. This is typical of Anime but unheard of in American animation where the voices are recorded before the animation. The advantage of the latter is voice actors have the blessing of interpreting the script as they and the director see fit and the animator produces drawing inspired by the performance. With anime, actors are required to sync their performance to the timing dictated by the animation. No small task, and one need only note the U.S. release of Sprited Away for a very stark example of the technique.
The DVD set itself sets no benchmarks in terms of features, but does contain teriffic interviews with the voice actors and does illicit the feeling of nostalgia for which it was intended (if such a thing is possible for a 'space cartoon').
I rate this box set as not to be missed!
Rating:
Summary: Each Episode Included Needs A Title For This Boxed Set
Review: The ultimate box set does not inform us of the episodes included. I am trying to find the episode where Jason, "Stoneface", is the main focus of the story and is involved in a race. We definitely go deeper into his character. In the end, he finds a secret about his riding partner involved in the race. I would enjoy getting this one episode on DVD. If this episode is indeed in this boxed set, then this set is definitely worth getting! I would appeciate it if anybody can inform me if this episode is included in the boxed set. Thanx : )
Rating:
Summary: Each Episode Included Needs A Title For This Boxed Set
Review: The ultimate box set does not inform us of the episodes included. I am trying to find the episode where Jason, "Stoneface", is the main focus of the story and is involved in a race. We definitely go deeper into his character. In the end, he finds a secret about his riding partner involved in the race. I would enjoy getting this one episode on DVD. If this episode is indeed in this boxed set, then this set is definitely worth getting! I would appeciate it if anybody can inform me if this episode is included in the boxed set. Thanx : )
Rating:
Summary: The treasure of this Rhino set and series.
Review: There is not much new to add to the previous reviews. As it of course is always a matter of opinion. But I thank them for their remarks. The differences between the two series as far as picture, color, and explanation of story context have been well covered for those who are not familer with the two series. But,let me tell the main reason I and most of the buyers are very happy with Rhino's efforts with this series, and that they have produced this box set. We watched BOTP when we were younger and were thrilled for one reason or another by its differences from our Saturday morning days. Yet at the same time something was strange. The art and characters looked different at times, the story confused. Being a new collector of imported Japanese die-cast toys(Shogun Warriors overhere), I started hearing this series was made up of cut up episodes of a show from Japan. A very popular show. I wished and wished to be able to see them as they were meant to be watched, comptete, and in order. The treasure in these discs are the Gatchaman subtitled episodes. If this series is selling well it is mainly because of this. I would not buy it if it were only the BOTP episodes,neither would many, many others. Rhino knows this only to well. So buy this series friends. Don't wait for a remastered effort that would not be worth the cost to produce by Rhino or anyone, and may never come. Watch this series and relive those younger days, and if you only remember Battle of the Planets, afterwards it will be Gatchaman that will make those memories last.
Rating:
Summary: What you should expect...
Review: This Box Set ONLY includes episodes 13-24. Episodes 1-12 were released in sets of two already. So if you want the first 12 episodes, you need to buy Battle of the Planets Vol 1-6 first. This is something that isn't publicized much (not at amazon, either), but Rhino decided to release volumes 7-12 in a box set instead of individual DVDs.
I did not see the word "remastered" anywhere, so don't expect it - the "BOTP" episodes look like the 30-year-old adaptation of a 40-year-old cartoon that they are. The corresponding Gatchaman episodes are a little brighter and clearer becuase they were never messed with. If you own any of the vol 1-6 DVDs, then you already know this. The sound is terrible. It was terrible on all of the other DVDs, and its the same here. There is a 5.1 sound option on the DVDs, but that's just louder with more bass. Its a much easier experience if you just use the standard sound option. The previous releases included three versions of the "same" episode: BOTP, G-FORCE and Gatchaman... I believe that one of the DVDs also had an Eagle Riders episode. This Box Set appears to only contain BOTP and Gatchaman versions. If this is the first DVD that you are buying for BOTP, lower your expectations a bit in terms of audio and video quality... but other than that - its a great ride down memory lane. Its also an interesting glimpse at reality of children's television in the 70's. Whereas its true that Gatchaman is the source of Battle of the Planets - they are very, very different television shows. Some reasons to watch the subtitled episodes of Gatchaman: 1. You could not kill humans in cartoons, so all of the human troopers became "robots", and all the planes that crashed became un-piloted "drones" for BOTP. In Gatchman, people and animals die all the time. You rarely see Jason fight in BOTP, becuase he almost always ends up killing somebody in Gatchaman. 2. You could not show images of strife and war, so even though Gatchaman took place entirely on Earth, the outer-space theme was introduced in BOTP to make it look like all of the conflicts took place on other planets. 3. Center Neptune, 7-Zark-7 and the Ready Room were all introduced in BOTP as filler to replace all of the violence and censored content of Gatchaman and to anchor the space-theme into the story. 4. Avenging your fathers death by killing those responsible is a very good-samurai-legend-type thing to do in Japanese lore, but its frowned upon in Children's television in the US - so you will be amazed how a little editing and clipping can spin an episode around. 5. It goes on and on... All of the previous releases, plus this boxed set brings the total up to 24 episodes out of the 85 in the US series (108 episodes in Gatchaman I in Japan), so I beg that Rhino continues producing these collections for the entire series. In the end, the compromises in the quality don't detract from the excitement and nostalgia of watching this fantasic and ground-breaking show. If you were a fan as a kid - you can't be without this collection.
Rating:
Summary: A classic that has to be seen in its original form
Review: This is a great DVD set. I loved Battle of the Planets growing up and I find that now I love the original Japanese version EVEN MORE (no 7-Zark-7, continuing storylines, character development and way more action and SCIENCE). It is really great to be able to see how the story was originally intended. The subtitles for the Gatchaman episodes are great and MUCH BETTER than a Gatchaman DVD i was able to get off of EBay!! Defintely get these first so you have some of idea of what the characters names really are before you buy any Gatchaman DVD's.
For those who complained that there were eps missing, they were not BofP eps that were missing. The eps are numbered based on the corresponding Gatchaman eps. Unfortunately, of the 105 Gatchaman eps, only 85 were made into BotP, so the numbers skip when there is no corresponding BotP episode. But don't worry, you're not missing any BotP eps.
Rating:
Summary: A Step In The Right Direction For Rhino Video
Review: When Rhino first released BOTP on DVD, I, like most fans of the show was ecstatic just that the show was finally available to own - despite the condition and limited content - no real restoration and only two episodes per volumes, adding up to a total of six volumes. This ultimate set continues in that tradition with the next 12 episodes in the series. Sure the picture quality looks exactly like it did when it aired IN THE 70s, and the sound is best left in mono, but hey that's how I've always watched BOTP, so it doesn't take away from my enjoyment. You can either critique the flaws in the presentation (and within the episodes) to the death and not have a good time or you can be a kid again and watch BOTP for what it is - an imaginative piece of early anime with cool heroes, vehicles, weapons, heroics, and adventure. I recommend the latter. BOTP will appeal to the kid in you, while Gatchaman offers more adult substance to compare with. That's the REAL treat of this set. On to the features: The episodes (13-24): Perilous Pleasure Cruise
The Thing With 1,000 Eyes
Microfilm Mystery
The Alien Beetles
A Whale Joins G-Force
Mad New Ruler Of Spectra
The Sea Dragon
Magnetic Attraction
The Musical Mummy
The Fiery Lava Giant
The Bat-Ray Bombers
Race Against Disaster Special Features:
- 12 original, uncut Gatchaman episodes with English subtitles
- Separate commentary track by Janet Waldo (Princess), Alan Young (7 Zark 7), & Ronnie Schell (Jason) - Exclusive interviews with Janet Waldo, Casey Kasem (Mark), Alan Young, Ronnie Schell & Jameson Brewer (Exec. Producer)
- Memorabilia gallery
- Cast and crew bios
- Promotional trailers
- Collectible booklet with episode synopses & trivia If Rhino keeps releasing further "ultimate sets" we'll have all the BOTP & Gatchaman episodes in due time.
Rating: 
Summary: Worst of the Retooled
Review: Why spend the money on the worst incarnation of the Ninja Science Team Gatchaman when you can find the original elsewhere. Even Ted Turner's version, G-Force, was truer to the original anime. The characters are unlikable with their "Americanized names and voices (please, Casey Kasem?!? Ughh! The stories are butchered from the original, an annoying robot was added to this version to make it "kid friendly" and the series was set on different planets as opposed to the earth-based adventures of the original. Notice that in the episode of the Space Mummy, the story takes place on a "distant planet" and yet a JAL airliner is seen landing at the "spaceport". Save your money and find the original Ninja Science Team Gatchaman.
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