Robotech - The Shadow Chronicles Movie

Although it helped to create the audience for anime in America, the original Robotech was an anomaly: a Japanese show that never aired in Japan. Producers at Harmony Gold edited together the unrelated series Super Dimension Fortress: Macross, Genesis Climber Mospeada, and Super-dimensional Cavalry Southern Cross. The Shadow Chronicles Movie is also an anomaly: an "anime" feature made primarily in the U.S. and Korea. Although they've added lots of flashy CG effects to the space battles, the film lacks the qualities that made the series a hit. Like Star Wars, Robotech used an interstellar conflict as a backdrop for a tale about friendship, romance, and heroism. The filmmakers spend the first half-hour of Shadow Chronicles filling in background material for new viewers; the rest is so packed with exposition and action, there's no time to get to know the characters--or care about them. The movie will appeal primarily to fans of the series and its manifestations in games, toys, novels, etc. (Rated TV PG, suitable for ages 12 and older: violence, alcohol use) --Charles Solomon