Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles.

Ariel warns Scott Bernard about a new threat to humanity.

Original Release Date: Aug. 25, 2006. Running Time: 88 minutes. Screenplay by: Ford Riley, Frank Agrama. Story by: Thomas J. Bateman, Steve Yun, Tommy Yune. Directed by: Tommy Yune, Dong-wook Lee. Produced by: Jason Netter.


THE PLOT:

It is the final day of the Invid occupation of Earth. Even as Scott Bernard and his resistance group join the final assault against Reflex Point, the forces of the Robotech Expeditionary Force engage the enemy in orbit. Failure is not an option: If they cannot drive the Invid from the Earth, they have orders to use the new Neutron-S missiles, which will devastate the planet.

As the battle rages, Capt. Vince Grant takes his ship to locate the missing SDF-3 and Admiral Rick Hunter. He finds Rick, his ship badly damaged by a singularity that was formed from the test firing of the Neutron S missiles. This weapon, prepared in cooperation with a friendly alien species, is actually a trap meant to destroy them.

The sudden arrival of this new enemy prevents Vince from rescuing the SDF-3, but he is able to fold out to warn the fleet. He arrives to discover that the war is over: The Invid Regess abandoned Earth even as it appeared her forces were winning. She also destroyed the Neutron-S missiles as she left, rendering Vince's warning seemingly irrelevant.

But this is more a pause in the action than a victory. The Invid took most of the Earth's protoculture. Without the SDF-3, humanity will run out of the power source in a little over a year. Meanwhile, the new enemy closes in, single-minded in its goal to wipe out every trace of protoculture and any species who uses it!

Young pilot Marcus Rush angrily confronts Scott.

CHARACTERS:

Much like The Sentinels, this movie mixes veterans of all the previous Robotech "generations." Rick, seen only on a viewscreen, has safely aged out of even remotely resembling Super Dimension Fortress Macross's Hikaru; Louis, Dana Sterling's tech guy from "The Masters," is now Vince's science officer and tech guy, while Skull Squadron leader Maia Sterling is Dana's younger sister; Vince and android Janice, both of whom were introduced in The Sentinels; and Scott, Ariel, and the Invid Regess from "The New Generation."

I think this film does a better job than The Sentinels in integrating the returning characters with the new characters. There's a direct connection between Scott and young pilot Marcus Rush, who was his late fiancée's brother. Marcus fills roughly the same role as The Sentinels' Jack Baker, but he's a little less bland. I quite liked Marcus's interactions with Scott; Marcus, angry about the death of his sister, brags about the Invid he's killed, and his attitude resembles Scott near the start of "The New Generation," before his feelings for Ariel made him more conflicted.

None of the characters has much depth - but then, The Shadow Chronicles never tries to be character-centric. This is an action film, and the cast is there to serve the plot and set pieces. They work well enough on that basis, though; and unlike in The Sentinels or Robotech: The Movie, all the characters actually seem to be part of the same story.

Maia Sterling, leader of Skull Squadron, and Marcus's crush.

PROBLEMS: ART STYLE AND CONTINUITY:

The opening credits create an immediate bad impression. After a few bars of Ulpio Minucci's original theme, it quickly devolves into generic "space music" that sounds as if it was taken from an off-brand Stargate knockoff, while we move past CGI planets that look drawn from a PS1 game.

There's a clash of art styles throughout the film. Character animation is a bit basic, with at least one point at which voice-over dialogue covers offscreen actions, but I was able to adjust to it quickly enough. The space scenes, however, use obvious CGI that results in an overly-polished "video game cutscene" look, and the two styles do not mesh well visually.

An even bigger problem is some poor continuity with the original series. The Shadow Chronicles overlaps significantly with the events of Symphony of Light, Robotech's series finale. In concept, this could work well. I might have enjoyed seeing the old events presented from a different viewpoint and with additional context.

However, this movie chooses to contradict Symphony of Light. Scott's team no longer negotiates with the Regess; Ariel talks to her alone. Also, Scott fully trusts Ariel, with absolutely no tension existing between them; yes, "New Generation" toned down the overt hostility of Mospeada's Stig, but the tension still existed. Here, it isn't present at all, even though showing that in Scott's early scenes would have made the parallels between Scott and Marcus stronger (or indeed extant, for those viewing the movie without having seen the series).

There's no actual reason for these contradictions. The end of "The New Generation" shows Scott jettisoning the message from his late fiancée, symbolically letting the past and his anger go, which would fit his warmer attitude toward Ariel here, and the Ariel of "The New Generation" would still warn Scott about the imminent threat. The conflicts appear to exist solely for the sake of making changes, and it doesn't help that those changes are uniformly worse and less interesting than the original scenes.

Even more bizarre is that the obvious audience would be old fans. And science fiction and anime fans are known for forgiving continuity issues in much the way that liquid magma is known for its cooling properties...

Louis assists a wounded Vince Grant.

OTHER MUSINGS:

...And despite all these issues, along with a hefty helping of Robotech's trademark clunky dialogue, I still enjoyed The Shadow Chronicles.

It's nowhere near as good as the series. Still, of the attempts to continue the Robotech story, I would rate this one as the best. Admittedly, "best animated Robotech continuation" is a dubious title, given that the competition consists of Robotech: The Movie (a mess) and The Sentinels (enjoyable, but kind of bland). Still, for what it's worth, it gets my vote.

The Shadow Chronicles is an action movie. The first half is dominated by battle scenes, while the final twenty minutes amounts to one big set piece, with Vince and his crew using what they know about the new enemy to find a way to effectively resist. In between is a roughly 20 minute stretch with some character scenes and expositional material, but even this interval is very much structured to funnel the characters back into the plot as efficiently as possible.

As a rule, I prefer character material to "blowing stuff up real good." In this case, though, I think the action focus is a good choice. The characters have just enough spark to hold my interest for a short action story, but they would need some serious additional development to keep me interested for a weekly series of any length.

The writing has some of the same problems as The Sentinels, with relatively flat characters and dialogue that rarely rises above the level of "functional." That movie suffered from it, as the scenes surrounding the launch of the SDF-3 were... well, mostly boring. The Shadow Chronicles avoids that problem by keeping its plot moving and keeping the 'splosions coming.

It's Robotech as if made by Michael Bay: weak characters, weaker attempts at broad comedy, and villains who appear motivated by Being Evil (TM). But the set pieces keep coming, and even with the artificiality of the space-set action scenes, it's enough to keep me reasonably engaged even if my brain can't help but kick against it a bit.

The Children of the Shadow plot to destroy humanity. Because they're evil.

OVERALL:

I enjoyed The Shadow Chronicles... probably more than I should have, given its many issues. Most of the problems I had with The Sentinels apply here, with extra bad continuity and character animation that clashes with that of the space battles. Still, judged as an action film, it works reasonably well. The new enemy is suitably formidable, which creates a bit of tension, and all of the characters do enough to justify their screentime.

Unfortunately, like The Sentinels before it, it ends at just about the point that the story seems to be kicking into gear. The creative team intended to follow this with a sequel, which has been teased to fans on various occasions. That sequel has persistently not materialized, in part to avoid stepping on the toes of the live action movie that was in development (which also never materialized, and that was probably just as well).

Now Robotech keeps sputtering out attempts at continuations every decade or so, and The Shadow Chronicles doesn't even represent the final release under its banner - so nothing's impossible. Still, I would be extremely surprised if any animated continuation of this story ever actually got released.

I was entertained enough that I might have given this a "7." But the lack of a proper ending, combined with the annoying conflicts with pre-existing continuity, knock that down to...


Overall Rating: 6/10.

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Robotech: The Sentinels.

The wedding of Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes, who have
received a copyright-safe makeover between seasons.

Also Released as: Robotech II - The Sentinels.

Original Release Date: September, 1988. Running Time: 75 minutes (original version)/69 minutes (remastered). Written and Directed by: Carl Macek. Produced by: Ahmed Agrama, Hiroshi Ōnogi.


THE PLOT:

It has been nine years since the destruction of the SDF-1 at the hands of rebel Zentraedi Khyron. Now the SDF-3, under the command of Rick Hunter, prepares to embark on the mission devised by the late Admiral Gloval: to lead the Robotech Expeditionary Force to Tirol, the home planet of the Robotech Masters.

Though this is viewed as a diplomatic mission, it includes a strong military force - one which General Anatole Leonard fears leaves the defense of Earth badly compromised (thus representing the one time in the entire saga that Anatole Leonard is ultimately proved right about something). Rick is also troubled, plagued by doubts and worries about the upcoming journey even as he prepares for his long-delayed wedding to Lisa Hayes.

Meanwhile, Tirol is already being invaded by an alien force. The Invid Regent has come in search of the Flower of Life, which was stolen by the Robotech Masters. The Masters have abandoned their home planet, leaving only helpless civilians behind. Tirolian scientist Cabell and his assistant/bodyguard, Rem, begin probing the Invid for weaknesses - but it's clear to Cabell that it's already too late to save the populace from the devastating attack!

Bree'tai warmly greets Lisa and Miriya.

CHARACTERS:

My single biggest gripe with The Sentinels is that I find the characters completely uninteresting. The returning regulars can just about skate by on "TV reunion movie" goodwill; most of them are only onscreen long enough for the brief pleasure of saying, "Oh, there's Miriya! And that's a young Dana and Bowie! And Anatole Leonard's actually right about something, but he's still a pompous idiot!"

The characters created specifically for The Sentinels don't have that advantage, and they are all established in tropey broadstrokes. Hotshot pilot Jack Baker has plenty of talent but a tendency to ignore orders - oh, and his establishing scene is lifted, some lines almost verbatim, from Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. Test pilot Karen Penn's scientist father is upset that she isn't following in his footstep. Jack and Karen meet exactly once, for a period that could be tallied in seconds, but they are already coded as a future couple. And why not? Their personalities are matching shades of beige.

Cabell and Rem come across a bit better, mainly because they're defined through action rather than having characters stand around reciting their character briefs. They still don't amount to much more than "wise old scientist" and "young fighter," but I'll admit to finding their scenes more interesting than those on the SFD-3.

In fairness, this "movie" only represents what would have been the first three episodes of a full season arc. Had the series been completed, any or all of them might easily have gained depth - particularly if some stronger scripts were waiting in the wings.

Nice kitty... Cabell has a close encounter with an Invid Hellcat.

BACKGROUND:

The Sentinels movie cobbles together the three fully animated episodes of what would have been Robotech's second season. Unlike the previous season, this was an original story boasting original animation, something that was affordable thanks to an association with toy company Matchbox and a dollar/yen exchange rate that made employing Japanese animators extremely affordable.

Then everything went wrong.

A brief article on Cancelled SciFi details some of the issues. Toy sales were middling, leading Matchbox to pull out. At roughly the same time, the dollar/yen exchange rate shifted from 220 yen per dollar to 160 yen, greatly raising the price of the animation.

The loss of its toy company partner and the increase in the animation cost were simply too much for Harmony Gold to afford. With only three episodes in the can, the company pulled the plug, with the episodes edited into a movie for a 1988 VHS release.


VERSIONS:

The 1988 version of The Sentinels featured flashbacks using footage from Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Harmony Gold no longer had rights by the time it made its way to disc, so the flashbacks were excised. Though there are a couple of points where it's clear that a dialogue exchange was meant to go into a flashback, this mostly isn't a loss. I do miss one moment, however, an effective visual beat during the wedding when Rick sees images of their fallen comrades.

The only other notable difference is a very slight extension to the ending, with a title card added to act as a lead-in to the then-upcoming Shadow Chronicles.

T. R. Edwards resents Rick Hunter, a thread
that would likely have become interesting.

OTHER MUSINGS:

Despite being incomplete, Robotech: The Sentinels works reasonably well on a story level. Characters are introduced and various plot threads are planted.

Though Rick's mission doesn't intersect with the Invid Regent's invasion of Tirol yet, it's evident that a confrontation will soon occur. One of Rick's officers, T. R. Edwards, is established as resenting him, and it's obvious that he will cause trouble down the line (from his character name and status as "untrustworthy officer," I'm guessing he was originally intended to be B. D. Andrews from the movie, before Cannon imposed a new ending). On Tirol, Cabell and Rem study the Invid for weaknesses, which I'm sure would have led to new developments as well.

In this way, the movie repeats something I noticed about the series: the priority is on plot, not characterization. Earlier in this review, I wrote that any of the bland and tropey characters here might have become interesting later. This is true... but it's also true that by the end of Space Fold - Episode Three of Macross - I was invested in Hikaru/Rick, Misa/Lisa, Roy, Global/Gloval, and Minmay/Minmei. The same simply isn't true of the characters here. I had to look up most of the new characters simply to remember their names!

Character art is noticeably different than in Macross. Rick and Max have grown about a foot taller and even wider than that in the shoulders, Bree'tai wears a full face helmet that makes him look less like an alien than a Viking, and every character's hair has changed. Given that the Southern Cross characters look the same, with even child Dana and Bowie drawn to resemble their Southern Cross versions, it's evident that this was done to dodge copyright issues. Too bad that the new character models are so much less expressive than the originals.

Animation is uneven, and there's a visible split by location. The scenes on the SDF-3 feel choppy and static, with only an action piece involving a failed test flight and some bits of the wedding showing any sense of style. The scenes on Tirol are altogether more dynamic. Even allowing that the Tirol scenes are more action-heavy, I came away with the distinct impression that the animators were more interested in the Tirol plot than the SDF-3 scenes.

Rick and Lisa prepare to leave Earth.

OVERALL:

Given the criticisms above, I should stress that I enjoyed The Sentinels. It's a far more watchable Robotech continuation than the theatrical movie, and there are elements that could have made for an interesting story. Beyond that, it's fun to see all three "generations" interacting in the same film.

That said, when it ends, I'm not particularly fussed that the story is incomplete. Had Macross ended with Space Fold, I would have been genuinely upset. As much as I would have liked The Sentinels to have finished its run... I'm just not left feeling that anything special was lost.

It's an OK film to watch. But my feelings are largely summed up by those two letters: "OK."


Overall Rating: 5/10.

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3-18. Old Soldiers' Polka/Ghost Town.

Yellow and Aisha encounter veterans
of the first Earth Reclamation mission.

Genesis Climber Mospeada: Old Soldiers' Polka.

Original Air Date - Genesis Climber Mospeada: Feb. 5, 1984. Writer: Kenji Terada. Director: Mari Kobayashi.

Robotech: Ghost Town.

Original Air Date - Robotech: June 19, 1985.
Story Editor: Steve Kramer. Supervising Director: Robert V. Barron.


PLOT - MOSPEADA:

Stig's group has reached a desert in the American southwest. Stig, Ray, and Mint scout ahead, visiting a small town in hopes of purchasing supplies. They are instead ambushed by the locals, who mistake them for a gang that has been raiding supplies. While the three are in the town jail, the raiders strike again, snatching their Mospeadas.

Meanwhile, Aisha has another of her headaches. By now, the group understands that they are caused by proximity to the Inbit. Yellow decides to take her out to try to identify where the enemy is. They end up captured by the raiders instead, who remove their masks to reveal... old men.

The men take them back to their trading outpost, where they sell the supplies they have stolen. Yellow is shocked to find that they operate out of a disused Mars ship. They are veterans of the first Earth Reclamation Force, survivors of a failed assault on Reflex Point who have decided to put the war behind them. When Stig catches up with them, he is outraged, but Yellow points out that the old men did their duty at the time and that their war is now over.

But when the ship's receiver picks up orders from a third Mars force, asking any survivors to attack Inbit relay towers to clear the way for them, Stig decides that he has to do what he can to make sure this new expedition doesn't meet the same fate as his own...


PLOT - ROBOTECH:

Scott's group has reached a desert in the American southwest. Scott, Rand, and Annie scout ahead, visiting a small town in hopes of purchasing supplies. They are instead ambushed by the locals, who mistake them for a gang that has been raiding supplies. While the three are in the town jail, the raiders strike again, snatching their Cyclones.

Meanwhile, Marlene has another of her headaches. By now, the group understands that they are caused by proximity to the Invid. Lancer decides to take her out to try to identify where the enemy is. They end up captured by the raiders instead, who remove their masks to reveal... old men.

The men take them back to their trading outpost, where they sell the supplies they have stolen. Yellow is shocked to find that they operate out of a disused battle fortress. These men are veterans of the war against the Robotech Masters, but they have now decided to put war behind them. When Scott catches up with them, he is outraged by what he sees as desertion, but Lancer points out that these old men are in no fit state to assault anyone.

When the ship's receiver picks up orders from a new assault force, asking any survivors to attack Invid military targets to clear the way for them, Scott decides that he has to do what he can to make sure this new expedition doesn't meet the same fate as his own...

Yellow convinces Aisha to help track the Inbit.

CHARACTERS:

Yellow, having seen both the humanoid Inbit, Sorji, and Aisha's reaction at coming face-to-face with her, is at least considering that Aisha might be connected to the aliens. The others don't seem to be there yet, probably because of their sense of protectiveness of her, but they now take on faith that the "headaches" mean Inbit are nearby.

I had thought that the ending of the previous episode had restored Aisha's consciousness of herself as Inbit, but that appears not to have been the case. She does participate more directly than in earlier entries, showing a willingness to go along with Yellow's plan to detect the enemy even though she knows it will be painful. She's also more relaxed in her interactions. When Yellow tries to probe for her memories, he asks about her birth, prompting her to ask if he can remember when he was born.

The other regulars are mostly backgrounded, though there are a pair of good scenes involving Stig. At the start of the episode, Ray and Mint tease him for his seriousness, telling him that he should take off his battle armor and enjoy the feel of riding in the open air. When Stig meets the old men, they are even more dismissive of his severity, outright laughing at the notion that "the silly old men" should do battle with the Inbit.

All of this is largely consistent between the two versions, though Robotech makes the old soldiers' dismissiveness of Scott even more blatant when their leader, Frank (Franky in Mospeada), tells him that they aren't interested in his orders.

Advantage: None.


NARRATION:

Robotech's narration is restrained: an opening recap, a quick bit of voice-over when the episode cuts from Stig, Ray, and Mint to Yellow and Aisha, and a slight bit near the end. It's not intrusive, nor is any of it overly melodramatic as has happened in some episodes, making this category a wash.

Advantage: None.

The old mens' "trading post." In Robotech, this is the SDF-3.

CUTS AND ALTERATION:

The Origin of the Craters: As Stig, Ray, and Mint ride through the desert, Mint notices all the craters surrounding them. Stig explains that this was the site of a fierce battle between the Inbit and the first Reclamation force. Robotech alters this, with the craters now caused by the war against the Masters. This isn't just to tie previous arcs into this one; in Robotech's more compressed timeline, the veterans they meet would be far too old to have fought the Invid, who were established as coming to Earth only ten years previously.

Annie Can't Wait to Meet a Real Cowboy: Mospeada's Mint is excited at the prospect of meeting a "macho man" who might sweep her off her feet. Robotech's Annie is just carried away with enthusiasm at being in an area that's such a close match to old westerns, enthusing about meeting a "real cowboy" when they get to the town they're approaching.

Scott Anticipates the Ambush: When Stig, Ray, and Mint reach the town, they remark on it being a ghost town. Stig calls out to anyone who might be listening, saying that they're looking to purchase supplies, only to be ambushed by the townspeople. In Robotech, Scott is instantly uneasy, saying, "I don't like this," mere seconds before they are ambushed and then sighing that he was afraid that was going to happen.

The Old Men's "Trading Post" Is a Disused Battle Fortress: In Mospeada, the old men are living out of an old Mars spaceship. When I first reviewed this, the dialogue confused me into thinking this was the SDF-3. Later references to the SDF-3 make clear that it isn't, but the exchange is a bit confusing. I retain the feeling that their "battle fortress" is a bit on the small side. Apparently, the humans started downsizing their battle fortresses.

Lancer Snaps that the Old Men Are Cowards: In Robotech, Lancer disgustedly exclaims that the old men are cowards and deserters... which makes it a little odd that they would continue dealing with him, let alone inviting him and Marlene to share their supper. Mospeada makes more sense, with Yellow listening to their remarks about being well out of the war and mildly remarking that they're lucky Stig isn't there to hear them.

"Gabby Ain't Too Fond of Shorty": Pierrot and Donald, the final two ex-soldiers, arrive on the Mospeadas stolen from Stig and Ray, Franky warns them to turn them off so that the HBT doesn't draw the Inbit. When Pierrot ignores the warning, mute soldier Darjeeling throws hot soup on his hands. Robotech changes this entirely, with Gabby (Darjeeling's Robotech counterpart) tossing the soup not to enforce safety precautions, but simply because he "ain't too fond of Shorty" (Pierrot's counterpart). Given that Robotech kept the plot device of the Invid detecting protoculture, I have no idea why this was changed - particularly when this scene explains the alien attack later.

Frank Wants to Go After the Invid: In Mospeada, Franky tries to destroy the ship's receiver when it picks up orders to attack Inbit relay towers to clear the way for a third human invasion force. Robotech's Frank instead wants to go on the attack against the Invid - which makes a bit of a hash of the animation, which shows him drawing a gun on the receiver while Scott restrains him.

Annie Whines about the Cowboys Not Being "the Good Guys": As Stig, Ray, Houquet, and Yellow prepare to attack the Inbit relay towers, Mospeada's Mint grouses about being left out of the action again. Robotech's Annie is instead put out about "the cowboys" (the old men) not joining in the attack, because cowboys are supposed to be "the good guys."

Advantage: Mospeada.


INCIDENTAL MUSIC:

Both episodes apply their scores well, with the series' respective action tracks nicely supporting the ending set piece.

Advantage: None.

Stig, Ray, and Mint get a different welcome than expected...

OVERALL ADVANTAGE - MOSPEADA:

Both versions are quite good, with most of the changes being minor. Unfortunately, a couple of Robotech's changes are not only pointless, but slightly disrupt the flow of the episode - notably the scene in which Darjeeling/Gabby burns the hand of Pierrot/Shorty, which is done for tangible reasons in Mospeada and which is just a pointless bit of "comedy" in Robotech. That moment and a couple of others make Mospeada the better variant, albeit only slightly.


OTHER MUSINGS:

The preview at the end of the last episode had me expecting that this would be a throwaway along the lines of many of Mospeada's early episodes. Instead, Old Soldiers' Polka ends up being surprisingly good.

The script follows up on the developments involving Aisha from the previous episode, giving both her and Yellow strong roles. It also continues the growing sense that the group is nearing its destination, with the old soldiers' previous failure a harbinger that Stig and his group are going to find the going a bit tougher the closer they get to Reflex Point.

In artwork and initial presentation, the old ex-soldiers deliberately evoke the old western trope of the aging outlaw gang. However, their backstory ties them to Stig's journey, with this group acting as a reflection of what the regulars might become if they fail but survive - living an existence that's as pointless as it is hopeless. None of the old men is characterized in anything other than broad strokes, but that's all that's truly needed, and the finale ends up being particularly effective.

Overall, this episode exceeded my expectations at every turn. I expected a mediocre throwaway. Instead, I think this ranks among my favorites of the series.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

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