Voltron : Defender of the Universe - The Complete Original Series 9/10/19

[heebiejeebie]

According to tvshowsondvd the complete original series is coming 9/10. There will also be separate Lion Force and Vehicle Force sets.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?sto...d=116070036062

[Pulp Hero]

Good news, nice that the new Voltron fans will be able to see the original easily again and at great prices too.

I already have the Media Blasters sets for Lion Voltron and Vehicle Voltron, and it doesn't immediately appear as if there will be anything new so I probably won't be picking the new releases up.

It would be nice if Go Lion (the show LV was adapted from) and Dairugger XV (the show VV was adapted from) get a re-release too. I did manage to snag Go Lion before it disappeared but I missed out on Dairugger XV because I could never find the third volume for a reasonable price so I never picked up the first two volumes.

[SGB]

Wow, wasn't expecting Voltron to get a DVD re-release. Good news for those who missed out on the original DVD releases.

The new Universal DVDs are already listed on Amazon, replete with covers:

Voltron: Defender Of The Universe -- The Complete Original Series

Voltron: Defender Of The Universe -- Lion Force

Voltron: Defender Of The Universe -- Vehicle Force

Good to see that according to the back covers of the Lion and Vehicle sets the DVDs will have English SDH, something the previous DVD releases did not have.

I hope the DVDs will not be sourced from the digital masters that were used for iTunes and "Voltron '84" on Netflix as those masters were riddled with technical problems such as aliasing, juddering, audio/video speed-ups, incorrect frame rate, on a couple of occassions missing frames of footage, truncated lines, and a bunch of weirds edits.

The digital masters used for the previous DVD releases from Media Blasters were devoid of those issues, so hopefully the Universal DVD has been sourced from those masters.

[starsteam]

[Show spoiler]

Couldn't really capture it on camera, but the slipbox has a very nice embossing on Voltron, as well as on the logo on the front, spine, and top. The back of the slipbox has a nice foil effect.
Ten episodes per disc, except for the final disc on both sets which only contain two episodes each. The final disc for Vehicle Force also contains Fleet of Doom.

[SGB]

Originally Posted by starsteam

Ten episodes per disc, except for the final disc on both sets which only contain two episodes each. The final disc for Vehicle Force also contains Fleet of Doom.

Ten episodes per disc? Eek! Sounds like there'll be compression issues.

Does Fleet Of Doom contain any subtitles? The back covers aren't clear on that.

[starsteam]

Quality isn't very good. I'm not familiar with previous releases of the show, but this doesn't look like any sort of remaster. Compression issues are fairly noticeable, even with the discs that only have two episodes. Fleet of Doom only looks marginally better than the show, though I understand it was being prepped for Blu-ray at one point? This isn't a set that will replace your previous copies (unless those were truly awful looking) but it's serviceable enough for fans of the show to bare through.

All episodes and Fleet of Doom have English SDH subtitles. Fleet of Doom is the only extra.

Universal should have Voltron Force too, and probably The Third Dimension. I've never seen either show, but it would be interesting if they were released later.
I do wonder what the current situation for GoLion is. Classic Media licensed the Voltron franchise rights from World Events Productions but I'm not sure if that would include GoLion or Dairugger XV. I don't see Universal releasing them though.

[SGB]

Originally Posted by starsteam

Quality isn't very good. I'm not familiar with previous releases of the show, but this doesn't look like any sort of remaster. Compression issues are fairly noticeable, even with the discs that only have two episodes.

Are you able to snag any screenshots from the DVD? If you are, I'll be able to tell you if the DVD has or has not been sourced from remastered elements.

Fleet of Doom only looks marginally better than the show, though I understand it was being prepped for Blu-ray at one point?

Yes, way back in the late 2000s, but it was cancelled at the last minute due to Media Blasters' Voltron license lapsing. If I recall correctly, the cancellation occurred on or several days before the release date.

Copies of the disc and the cover were produced, however, and several of them made it in to a few people's hands when Righstuf shipped out copies early, just before the release's cancellation.

Based on what little I've gleaned about the blu-ray, it's my belief it's an upscale and not a true HD presentation.

All episodes and Fleet of Doom have English SDH subtitles. Fleet of Doom is the only extra.

Thanks for confirming Fleet Of Doom is subtitled.

Universal should have Voltron Force too, and probably The Third Dimension. I've never seen either show, but it would be interesting if they were released later.

I would like Universal to release both shows for completion's sake.

Voltron Force was actually released on DVD in Australia a few years back courtesy of Beyond Home Entertainment. As far as I'm aware, it's the only home video release of the show.

Voltron: The Third Dimension has never had a DVD release anywhere. I do know that at one point many years back, World Events Productions were considering doing a DVD release of the show themselves, but evidently they decided not to go ahead with it.

I do wonder what the current situation for GoLion is. Classic Media licensed the Voltron franchise rights from World Events Productions but I'm not sure if that would include GoLion or Dairugger XV. I don't see Universal releasing them though.

Not sure myself if Universal have any rights to Golion or Dairugger. Even if they do, I, too, don't see them releasing either show. That would be a shame for those who missed out on the Media Blasters release.

[starsteam]

I can't get screenshots, but the picture is pretty similar to what was uploaded to the Voltron Youtube channel a few months ago (but in the original 4:3 ratio, and with the compression issues)

Voltron Defender of The Universe | Space Explorers Captured | S01 EP01 | Kids Cartoon | Kids Movies - YouTube

[SGB]

Originally Posted by starsteam

I can't get screenshots, but the picture is pretty similar to what was uploaded to the Voltron Youtube channel a few months ago (but in the original 4:3 ratio, and with the compression issues)
Voltron Defender of The Universe | Space Explorers Captured | S01 EP01 | Kids Cartoon | Kids Movies - YouTube

Then it sounds as if Universal's release is sourced from the remastered version.

[SGB]

Received the Voltron DVDs a couple of days ago. Got all three sets. Haven't watched any episodes in their entirety yet, but I've skimmed through all the discs. Impressions thus far...

Love the embossed and foiled slipcases. It compliments the artwork nicely and makes it stand out a bit more.

The compression was not as bad as I feared it would be, but it's most definitely inferior to the Media Blasters DVD.

Two Vehicle Voltron episodes and Fleet Of Doom are of the unremastered version. Looks like Universal used the wrong masters there.

Some Vehicle Voltron episodes appear to have aliasing-type issues. Will have to compare them with the Media Blasters DVD to confirm.

There are some errors in the subtitles unfortunately. How extensive they are I can't say as I've yet to watch all episodes, but most of the mistakes I've noticed thus far have been the subtitles denoting the wrong person speaking. For example, the subtitles during Keith's victory speech at the end of Lion Voltron Episode 12 "Bad Birthday Party" erroneously states Lance as the one saying the dialogue.


All in all, I can really only recommend this release to die-hard fans or collectors, those who missed out on the Media Blasters DVDs, or those in need of subtitled episodes. If one already has the Media Blasters DVDs, I'd say stick with those, especially as the Universal release has no extra features and lacks the 5.1 audio track (its omission from Uni's release is of no concern for me though as I dislike it due to sound quality issues).

[Shinya]

Originally Posted by SGB

All in all, I can really only recommend this release to die-hard fans or collectors, those who missed out on the Media Blasters DVDs, or those in need of subtitled episodes. If one already has the Media Blasters DVDs, I'd say stick with those, especially as the Universal release has no extra features and lacks the 5.1 audio track (its omission from Uni's release is of no concern for me though as I dislike it due to sound quality issues).

Thanks so much for the heads up. Have been interested in this set since it was announced. Only ever got the first Media Blasters set way back when those first came out and just slacked on the rest. It's disappointing the quality's not as good on this Universal set, but I'm not willing to pay aftermarket prices on oop stuff like I used to so I might still get it later on if the price goes down.

[DVD Josh]

Guess I'm keeping my old metal tin sets.

[spudeus]

Just received my Voltron set & watched the first two episodes (for the first time in decades, I never bit on earlier releases). Quality not great, they look ported over from TV broadcast tapes - but in a weird way that adds to the nostalgia! I thought the sound quality was very good.

Boy, I was reminded about how irredeemably, gleefully bad the Planet Doom bad guys are. Orbital bombardment, nuclear holocaust, slavery, blood sport for entertainment, and a wacked-out kitty . . and all this in the first five minutes!

[LexInHD]

The MB release of Voltron was (mostly) a digital remastering of the show from the WEP original film assets - also used for the MB Go Lion release - and the tail end of the series was culled from WEP's broadcast video tape of their commissioned "story arc", if I recall correctly. It sounds like this Universal release is a step down and they just used the ancient broadcast tapes, possibly because the digital masters are locked in some sort of legal limbo with MB.

[SGB]

With the exception of two Vehicle Voltron episodes and Fleet Of Doom, Universal's release is sourced from remastered elements.

Universal's release is a step down from the Media Blasters release due to inferior encoding and lack of extras.

Here are some comparison screenshots between the two releases, along with comparison screenshots from the unremastered version, which I've included to help show the difference between the remastered and unremastered versions of the show. The unremastered screenshots were sourced from the Madman Entertainment DVD release in Australia in 2004-2005, which pre-dated the remaster.

Media Blasters on the left | Universal in the middle | Madman (unremastered) on the right

[bsend]

Would love for someone to put Armored Fleet Dairugger XV back in print with accurate english subtitles.

[Charlie1185]

I’m about to pick this up and try it out. I think I had a book as a kid and I played with some of the toys as a kid but I don’t recall ever watching the show. Seems like a good time to give it a shot.

[jeffm2016]

Originally Posted by SGB

Wow, wasn't expecting Voltron to get a DVD re-release. Good news for those who missed out on the original DVD releases.

The new Universal DVDs are already listed on Amazon, replete with covers:

Voltron: Defender Of The Universe -- The Complete Original Series

Voltron: Defender Of The Universe -- Lion Force

Voltron: Defender Of The Universe -- Vehicle Force

Good to see that according to the back covers of the Lion and Vehicle sets the DVDs will have English SDH, something the previous DVD releases did not have.

I hope the DVDs will not be sourced from the digital masters that were used for iTunes and "Voltron '84" on Netflix as those masters were riddled with technical problems such as aliasing, juddering, audio/video speed-ups, incorrect frame rate, on a couple of occassions missing frames of footage, truncated lines, and a bunch of weirds edits.

The digital masters used for the previous DVD releases from Media Blasters were devoid of those issues, so hopefully the Universal DVD has been sourced from those masters.

I’m confused what’s the difference between original series and lion force? I watched it growing up and don’t remember two different versions of the lion. I do remember the vehicles.

[Pulp Hero]

Originally Posted by jeffm2016

I’m confused what’s the difference between original series and lion force? I watched it growing up and don’t remember two different versions of the lion. I do remember the vehicles.

The Complete Original Series DVD set has both the Lion Force and the Vehicle Force shows. WEP's original idea was to use 3 different super robot anime and adapt them into 3 Voltron series than would have been sold as 3 "seasons" of an overall show to television stations. [Similar how ROBOTECH was later created] Ultimately only 2 anime were adapted into Voltron shows.

Lion Voltron (adapted from BEAST KING GO LION) proved to be immensely popular, so much so that WEP had new episodes created beyond what was available from Go Lion. Vehicle Voltron (adapted from ARMORED FLEET DAIRUGGER XV) was not as popular, though I don't remember it getting near as much air time as Lion Voltron, which led to the plans to adapt the third show being dropped.

That third part of the original Voltron plan was to adapt LIGHTSPEED ELECTROID ALBEGAS, which itself proved not so popular in Japan and was cut short.

[jeffm2016]

I remember the toy line had 2 voltrons, near universe, mid universe and far universe. I had the middle which was 3 humanoid robots that combined.

I liked the vehicle one....always wondered why we never saw the third Voltron. Thanks!