Voltron: Defender Of The Universe - eventual blu-ray release?

[orangefuzzz]

Hi guys,

Does anyone know if there are plans to release Voltron: Defender Of The Universe on blu-ray?

Do the original 35mm reels still exist?

Thanks!

[SpaceBlackKnight]

Voltron is owned by Universal (who owns Dreamworks Animation, which had the assets of Classic Media and producer World Events Productions) and was created using Beast King Go-Lion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV. Voltron was edited on tape and had some new animated sections which are not in any of the original series. Basically it would be an expensive reconstruction job as Toei has the master 35mm elements for Go-Lion and Dairugger, while Universal only has completed tape masters for the eps and some film elements for the newly animated sections.

[LexInHD]

The MB DVD release was restored from film elements for Go-Lion and Dairugger, which were used to reconstitute the Voltron/Vehicle Voltron in the best quality at the time and were used for Japanese DVD releases of the respective source shows on DVD. The release of Voltron/Vehicle Voltron on DVD from Universal/Dreamworks is not and uses the old WEP tapes.

[starsteam]

The Universal DVD releases uses the same remaster made by Media Blasters. I'm actually watching it right now.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...9&postcount=15

Sadly they shove 10 episodes per disc, so the encoding is lesser. It's missing the 5.1 audio that was on the MB DVDs, and has none of the extras. No pilot episode, no lost episode or deleted scenes. At least it has Fleet of Doom.

[Gowho]

Originally Posted by starsteam

Sadly they shove 10 episodes per disc, so the encoding is lesser. It's missing the 5.1 audio that was on the MB DVDs, and has none of the extras. No pilot episode, no lost episode or deleted scenes. At least it has Fleet of Doom.

Wasn't there issues with that 5.1 mix or was that just with ADV's mix for their Robotech remaster?

[Lum]

I'm not sure what materials remain in Toei's possession. (it was pointed out in another topic that the Go-Lion and Dairugger copyrights were sold to WEP)

[TravisTylerBlack]

Originally Posted by Gowho

Wasn't there issues with that 5.1 mix or was that just with ADV's mix for their Robotech remaster?

It's a true 5.1 mix that was carefully built circa 2006 using the original magnetic tape master elements. Very robust on the whole with lots of exciting directionality throughout.

Personally I love it, though the restored original stereo track is fantastic as well.

There's actually a great featurette that goes over the various aspects of the audio on the original DVD release. WEP put a ton of effort into those sets and they're very much worth hunting down if you care at all about bonus content.

Originally Posted by Lum

I'm not sure what materials remain in Toei's possession. (it was pointed out in another topic that the Go-Lion and Dairugger copyrights were sold to WEP)

I imagine the original film elements are still in their vaults unless WEP had them ship everything stateside. Would be wonderful to get a full HD restoration of both Golion and Voltron one day.

[LexInHD]

Originally Posted by Gowho

Wasn't there issues with that 5.1 mix or was that just with ADV's mix for their Robotech remaster?

There is no ADV 5.1 mix for Robotech Remastered. That was done in-house by the Agrama family, before they were forced to sell Intersound, the facility where Robotech's post-production had occurred back in the 80's.

[SGB]

Originally Posted by starsteam

The Universal DVD releases uses the same remaster made by Media Blasters. I'm actually watching it right now.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...9&postcount=15

On the Universal DVD, two Vehicle Voltron episodes and Fleet Of Doom were sourced from unremastered elements, likely a mistake by Universal. All other episodes on the Universal DVD were sourced from Media Blasters' remaster.

I don't remember which two episodes of Vehicle Voltron were unremastered on the Universal DVD and I'm too lazy to bother checking right now.

Sadly they shove 10 episodes per disc, so the encoding is lesser. It's missing the 5.1 audio that was on the MB DVDs, and has none of the extras. No pilot episode, no lost episode or deleted scenes. At least it has Fleet of Doom.

Like the video, the audio on the Universal DVD also has a lower bitrate than the Media Blasters DVD.

The Universal DVD does trump the Media Blasters DVD on one front: the Universal DVD has English SDH whereas the Media Blasters DVD does not. The subtitles on the Universal DVD frustratingly has a handful of errors in them though.

Originally Posted by Lum

I'm not sure what materials remain in Toei's possession. (it was pointed out in another topic that the Go-Lion and Dairugger copyrights were sold to WEP)

Yes, Toei sold both Golion and Dairugger XV to WEP some time in the '90s.

It's my understanding Toei still has possession of Golion and Dairugger XV's 16mm OCNs. I've no idea why the OCNs remain in their hands despite selling both shows to WEP.

I believe WEP have possession of the OCNs to some (but not all) episodes from Lion Voltron's second season as well as Fleet Of Doom, not counting footage originally sourced from Golion and Dairugger XV.

[orangefuzzz]

It's now 2024... anyone with any news on an upcoming release? At this rate, any fans who enjoyed the series are getting too old to even care about having it on physical media. Time is of the essence. Hopefully things happen soon.

[LexInHD]

There is no word of anything Voltron-related, except the occasional random bit of merch - usually Voltron toys or crappy clothing - that WEP licenses to someone.