Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles (2006)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Directors:

Dong-Wook Lee
Tommy Yune

Writers:

Carl Macek (television series)
Tommy Yune (story) ...

Release Date:

5 January 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The greatest animated saga of a generation continues ...

Plot:

Picking up where the orginal series left off, Scott Bernard continues his search for Rick Hunter and the fate of the SDF-3 |

Plot Keywords:

Transformation | Sequel | Transforming Robot | Alien Technology | Anime

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Richard Epcar	...	Vince Grant (voice)
Eddie Frierson	...	Louis Nichols (voice)
Mark Hamill	...	Commander Taylor (voice)
Alexandra Kenworthy	...	The Regess (voice)
Yuri Lowenthal	...	Marcus Rush (voice)
Melanie MacQueen	...	Marlene Rush (voice)
Chase Masterson	...	Janice (voice)
Edie Mirman	...	Maia Sterling (voice)
Iona Morris	...	Jean Grant (voice)
Tony Oliver	...	Admiral Rick Hunter (voice)
Arthur Santiago	...	Alex Romero (voice)
Gregory Snegoff	...	Scott Bernard (voice)
Michael Sorich	...	Sparks (voice)
Kari Wahlgren	...	Ariel (voice)
Dan Woren	...	General Reinhardt (voice)

Also Known As:

Robotech: Shadow Force (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for sci-fi action violence, language and some senusality.

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG | USA:TV-PG | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | UK:PG | New Zealand:PG

Company:

Harmony Gold

Trivia:

Originally announced as "Robotech: Shadow Force".

Goofs:

Continuity: In one scene Vince Grant and Scott Bernard enter the bridge of the Ark Angel. Bernard is wearing the newer REF uniform (grey sleeves with yellow stripe). The next shot of Bernard then shows him in his original Mars Division uniform (maroon sleeves).

Quotes:

Vince Grant: If we make it out of this alive, my wife's gonna kill me.
Scott Bernard: Looking forward to it, sir.

Movie Connections:

Edited into The Music of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

It's You

I, too, am speechless

However, my lack of speech is more out of respect for the original series than anything else. As a long-time fan who grew up on Robotech every day after school, it is extremely hard for me to speak about the series with harsh words. And yet, that's what I feel I must do.

This movie is a prime example of why Americans (or maybe just Harmony Gold) should NEVER, EVER, EVER be allowed to do Japanese-style anime. To begin with, the plot is predictable, the dialog is terrible and the voice acting even worse. Seriously, the voice acting is worse than a bad dubbing job. However, even if all of that were true, at least there should be some great eye candy for Robotech fans, right? Really cool robots flying around, new aliens to gawk at, cameos from old characters, cool new armor, etc. Wrong, you get NONE of that.

The mecha in this movie is so utterly disappointing. On the Earth side, you get Alpha and Beta Fighters with a short scene with Cyclones. Not a single new mecha. Not only that, but the mecha are rendered in the worse CGI I have seen in decades. Simplistic models with no texture mapping at all (AT ALL!!), no cell-shading or any other advance techniques to maintain an anime-style feel. Just pathetic. On the Invid side, all you ever see are the standard Invid Troopers (they may even be Scouts, I didn't get a good enough look). For the "Children of the Shadow", you only get to see their mecha for about 5 minutes towards the end, and the mecha design is really primitive compared to Japanese designs.

Overall, it's hard to believe that this movie was made twenty years after the original series. If you watch the many sequels for series such as Macross, each one brings to the table advancements in animation, character and mecha design. The Shadow Chronicles is a step backwards in each of these areas. If you are super die-hard fan as I am, you will probably ignore this review and see the movie anyway, because you need to see for yourself. However, just be prepared to have your childhood memories ripped to shreds.