Looks like the veteran writing team of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar have been given the job to pen the film adaptation of Robotech.
“Robotech” was a 1980s cartoon series from Harmony Gold USA and Tatsunoko Prods. It was re-edited and re-dialogued to combine three Japanese anime series to give the producers enough episodes to air as a daily syndicated series.
A sprawling sci-fi epic, Robotech takes place at a time when Earth has developed giant robots from the technology on an alien spacecraft that crashed on a South Pacific isle. Mankind is forced to use the technology to fend off an alien invasion, with the fate of the human race ending up in the hands of two young pilots.
I kinda dodged out on the Robotech fascination in the 80s simply because I was more an avid fan of the Force Five cartoons. But nobody remembers the five shows that made up the Force Five rotation, and Robotech ws far more popular.
I was exposed to enough of it to understand it as most of my friends were rabid Robojunkies. I think with today’s technology and the designs and visuals we were given with Robotech will translate well into a blockbuster film. And at its heart, Robotech was just as much action and combat as it was a love story with Rick Hunter and Minmei, so bringing on story scribes like the Gough Millar team looks to be a good fit.
I became a big fan of Smallville (after I wrapped my head around the whole “this is not cannon” thing) and Gough Millar ran that show for some of its best years.
All they need to do is base their script off the novels. The novels are so in-depth to how Robotech is more than just sci-fi, but something that is based on WW2 battles and real history. If they just follow the novels the movie would be outstanding. I’m sorry, but Gundam would make a terrible anime to spin a Hollywood movie from. Its got Japan and anime written all over it, but Robotech is so… american… so military, and I think thats what will really make it a good movie. Just stick to the military accuracy, true Robotech history and characters, and follow the chronology reasonably.
I think the movie should start off in the South Pacific with Gloval’s submarine and Admiral Hayes’s aircraft carrier the Kenosha about to blow each other out of the water, with Roy doing some serious dogfighting, just before the battle fortress breaks into earth’s atmosphere. That would make an intense beginning and in just a few minutes explain how the world was in a global war and how the characters got wound up in the plot.
Rick at this time would be sitting on his dad’s lap, learning how to fly a stunt plane, and Minmay would be just a little girl dreaming of becoming a singer, and by the time the SDF-1 is reconstructed she will have become a member of a band or something. Personally, I think Minmay should be an amateur singer and backup dancer who works on Jan Morris’ tv show or something, and eventually beats Morris at the pageant, thus replaces her boss in stardom. I think that would be an interesting addition to her character. She would start out as a materialistic girl who takes things for granted, until she sees how war has taken away all the truly precious things in people’s lives, like friends and family. Then in the end she gives Lynn Kyle and good kick in the nads for being so opportunistic.
Visually I think Robotech will look great. You almost get a glimpse of what it would look like by watching Transformer (Strarscream transforming in mid air around the jets and attacking them). I hope they do good on the story, but I wonder…how they will dumb down the whole Macross Saga? And Broly they did make a live action Gundam movie. It was more like a B movie but who knows, they is hope just yet.
OMG I CANNOT WAIT FOR ROBOTECH!! G i joe comes out next year to bad no robotech then man that would be liike the 80’s year you know g i joe tranformers and robotech (if it came out in 2009) lol
Oh I loved Force Five like no other. I used to build the ships out of Lego!
Starvengers was the hardest to build a ship for since they transformed the most. My favourite of the series was Spaceketeers… Jesse Dart rocked!
lol phil gee, i remember starvengers myself, and i remember the guy u r talking about….its called getter g in japan, great cartoon btw….
im gonna reserve judgement for now….im getting really tired of all these remakes of classic franchises….please hollywood stop rapping my childhood favorites….i can only pray this will be better than transformers, but i doubt it
And those feelings apparently include blind assumption?
Of course the Robotech movie would be great with a better story however, my point is that my feelings torward the film is the same as my expectations for the Dragon Ball movie.
Yeah Rodney, though the only one I saw was ‘Starvengers’. Who could forget a bad guy that looks like Hitler with horns?
I’m looking forward to a trailer, then I’ll decide if….ah, who am I kidding? I’ll end up watching it. And for the record, Rodney, I remember Force Five and watched it religiously.
@Grave
It could be better then Transformers if it has a better story and as for Dragonball (not Dragonball Z) i lost my expectations cause FOX is keeping this movie so secret despite the leak photos and footages, i’m waiting on the official trailer that’s coming in Dec 12th.
Im sure if its done right this movie could be as hot as Transformers was but I will be reserved in my expectation and say the movie will be horribly dumbed down like DBZ.
How come their’s no live action Mobile Suit Gundam being made? Transformers, Robotech and Voltron all being adapted to live action film but no Mobile Suit Gundam WTF?
Mobile Suit Gundam could EASILY become one of the best giant robot war movie ever made with the right kind of people and budget.
Guess Hollywood hasn’t heard of it yet.
I can’t wait to see Robotech live action on the Silver Screen.