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Mr March

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  1. Mr March
    Ah, I didn't realize it's age. The link in that original thread isn't working anyway and if this one helps raise awareness among the folks like myself that missed it a few years back ( ) all the better I suppose
  2. Mr March
    Golden Arms I won't defend the lack of females and minorites in popular culture, because anyone with a brain knows they are woefully underrepresented. But I will say that we should pick our battles wisely. IMO, faulting X-Men: DoFP is not the right battle when it's assuredly one of the few films actually trying to make changes through the script and casting. Again, don't misunderstand me; I know this latest X-Men film could do better than it already has for women, gays and ethnic minorites. I'm just saying this is one of the films clearly pushing forward in terms of equality and inclusiveness. I don't think it's fair to lean on this X-Men movie that harshly unless the reason is to use the film to raise awareness about the larger issues. We have too damned few of these kinds of movies with representation and legitmate female characters. I don't want to lynch the few champions we have just because they don't represent a total utopia yet, if you don't mind me saying. Trust me, as a minority myself I know better than most. But the best way to win the hearts and minds of people is not to preach or hold our minority woes over the privelaged, but to lead by example and ALWAYS demand to be heard/seen/represented. The worst crime one can commit against minorities is to deny their reflection in our popular culture. Anyway, hope that was worth the read
  3. Mr March
    Came across a great little animated short that has some really mind blowing aerial dog fighting animation that probably a lot of Macross fans will appreciate. Film is called "Paths of Hate". Link below https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjXr9Nj5ZbI Enjoy.
  4. Mr March
    I agree with the dizman who said he likes the GERWALK mode, it's just his least favorite mode of the three. I think what I like about the GERWALK mode isn't necessarily the look, but the function of the mode and it's use in some of the most iconic Macross scenes. The GERWALK function as this hybrid hovercraft/attack helicopter is a very clever implementation of a transforming jet fighter. But by far the drama achieved in the numerous Macross productions featured many of the best moments with a GERWALK mode valkyrie. Hikaru in the VF-1D Valkyrie and VF-1A Valkyrie GERWALK modes rescuing Minmay in both SDF Macross and DYRL?, all the numerous VT-1 Super Ostrich GERWALK sequences throughout the first half of DYRL?, Isamu in his VF-11 Thunderbolt GERWALK rescuing Guld in his YF-21 in Macross Plus, Ozuma's many uses of the VF-25S Armored Messiah GERWALK in Macross Frontier, especially his GERWALK-dodge transformation fighting the Vajra in the second episode. And of course, Alto's use of the VF-25F Messiah GERWALK in the opening of the Macross Frontier series made me tear up. To answer Vahouth, the best GERWALK would be...the VB-6 Konig Monster! No? Too much of a cheat? Alright, IMO the three best looking GERWALK modes are the VF-1 Valkyrie, the VF-11 Thunderbolt and the VF-25 Messiah. The VF-25 might be my all time favorite GERWALK.
  5. Mr March
    Good to hear more people discovering this movie. It's truly a little gem of a film. I picked up the blu-ray a long while back and I think it's once again time to revisit the film.
  6. Mr March
    It just makes the movie all that much better. The sweetest of victories. The film blog headlines should read; "Ratner shafted by Singer, no lube"
  7. Mr March
    It took 14 years, but now I have my X-Men trilogy Days of Future Past is an amazing film. Easily the equal - if not the better - of X2, which IMO was the strongest of the X-films until now. It's great to actually watch an X-Men film where I care about the characters again, which has been the horrible flaw in most of the many sequels and spin offs. The action sequences are also very inspired, reminding me of the opening to X2 with Nightcrawler. Watching Quicksilver in action in one of the great signature action scenes of the movie was a real treat. The Sentinels were horrifying. I can't recall the last time I was so truly moritfied by a real robotic nightmare as is shown in this film. Possibly not since the first Matrix movie. The number of terrifying deaths in this film is truly unsettling and it's been a while since a super hero film has managed to evoke some real despair through story. Special effects were top notch and there are plenty of really great moments where the mutants get to shine. I have to say I particularly appreciated the script for DofP. This film managed to successfully merge the two generations of X-Men casts together into a compelling narrative that allowed so many of the characters to have legitimate dramatic arcs. The love triangle between Raven, Charles and Eric was particularly well done. For such a huge cast (literally two full ensembles) this was no small task. Then on top of all that great work, the script organically leads into an uncertain future with the new cast without the finale feeling the least bit forced to produce the obligatory sequels (despite the audience knowing they are likely). The only problem is that sometimes the scrip creates plot holes in service of a dramatic opportunity, each of which was well worth the logic fault. And naturally, the themes of intolerance and discrimination are as ever-present in this third film as they were with Singer's first two X-movies. The themes remains relevant even more since those first two movies. I'd also be remiss if I didn't say I adored the big "FU" this film gave to X-Men 3. It knows how much the fans hated that third film and it's so vindicating to watch it masterfully undone by a great flick like this. Singer clearly still has it and I'm so glad to see him back in control of a film that I connect with. I find it hilarious the only scene of nudity was Jackman's bare ass, of which I'm sure a man like Singer delighted in the norm-twisting irony I'd rate this film a good 4.5 out of 5. This is the third X-Film I've wanted since X2. FIrst Class came close, but for my money this is the one that struck gold. X-Men Days of Future Past manages to do well what the first two X-Men films did; act as an entertaining super hero action film filled with legitimately compelling dramactic characters acted by a cast bringing their A-game to the production. One of my favorite films of the year.
  8. Mr March
    Just read the news on Slashfilm. To say this is a disappointment is a huge understatement. My only interest in this film was Edgar Wright's involvement. Especially given the long gestation period and how much talk has been made about Wright's direction with this picture (not to mention his script, which Marvel has said is the backbone of this project). I know Marvel will charge ahead and present a a confident public face given the sunk costs already incurred, but this is about as bad a turn as could happen to this project. This went from opening night screening to Netflix Sunday viewing with this announcement, barring word of mouth.
  9. Mr March
    Kronnang Dunn I agree it could be very exciting if for no other reason than it opens possibilities to play with aspects of the Macross universe that have been established and unchanged thus far. The alternate universe would also allow the official continuity to be unaffected. At any rate, it's just another consideration for the new Macross series. Kelsain I like the official Macross continuity as well, but I do enjoy thinking about some of the possibilities an unrestricted blank slate could produce. Might be a great way to inject more dynamism into a new Maross series. I've heard the critique before that Macross technology is becoming prohibitively advanced, but I've not been convinced the fictional technology has any relevant story impact at all. In fact, the technology seems largely stagnant if you measure it against almost any story element. Pin point barriers, fold waves, inertia store converters, linear actuators and all the rest SOUND really high tech, but what actual scene-to-scene effect do they have on anything in the animation? Can you tell that the VF-25 Messiah's linear actuators are supposedly transforming FAR FASTER than a VF-1 Valkyrie? Is the VF-25's ICS system allowing some Valkyrie aerial acrobatics we haven't already seen in Macross? I sure don't see any such differences. The universe has aged 50 years and we still have human-piloted variable fighters firing machine guns at each other. No quantifiable difference can be seen visually in any animated scene whether it's the VF-0 Phoenix firing it's GPU-9 gunpod or the VF-25 Messiah firing it's GU-17 Gun Pod; the effect is still a ballistic gun blasting some enemy to bits. Most of this Macross technology is all academic for the sake of trivia fans like myself, but it results in almost no measureable difference in any visual or narrative context. If it did, Kawamori and Co. wouldn't write it. Kawamori's already written these Macross stories with tech for Plus and Frontier, so I don't think there's any chance of the Macross technology getting away from him.
  10. Mr March
    There's trivia that features a statement about somewhere around a million humans managed to survive the genocide of Earth. Some were sheltered inside the Grand Cannon facilities. And there were also small space colonies. So quite a few survived. Then add the Macross population and the Zentradi from the 100 surviving ships of the Adoclass fleet, you get a sizable population...considering what happened.
  11. Mr March
    I know I have a bunch of screen shots of the Macross Frontier series. Can't recall off the top of my head what I have, but I will check later this afternoon when I get home.
  12. Mr March
    This is just creepy...
  13. Mr March
    Yeah, just GERWALK and fighter. Has a sexy cockpit though. Reminds me of Yukikaze stuff
  14. Mr March
    I don't think any of the Varauta mecha are difficult to realize as toys. In fact, the transformations are far more simple. They should be easy to build compared to stuff like the YF-21, for sure. I think the problem would be the disappointing proportions. The anime (because it's all animated) does a great job of making the Varauta fighters look sleek and the Battroids look bulky. But in reality, you'd get a thin fighter mode and a lanky Battroid, like the transition of the VF-17 Nightmare animated valkyrie to the CGI modeled VF-171 Nightmare Plus. The result would look FAR different than the animation.
  15. Mr March
    That's actually my point. I feel the VF-2SS Valkyrie II works better as either an "enemy" Valkyrie or a one-off because of it's aesthetic differences. It could still work, but I think it would not function as part of the main lineage. But that's just me. Gotta say I disagree on the VF-1/VF-4 comparison. I think the VF-4 looks too much like the VF-1, especially the nose and fuselage. Looking back on the VF-4 from today's post-Frontier perspective, I can maybe understand how the VF-4 looked so "futuristic" compared to the VF-1 in 1987, but now I find the VF-4 looks very much of it's SDF Macross era. As soon as we get to Plus, the the VF-4 feels very 2012 Absolutely. I think he does this for the same reason many writers play fast and loose with continuity; to allow as much creative freedom as possible when they are writing a story. I don't believe every Macross story is a parallel universe, since there is clearly continuity from one to the next, but perhaps in Kawamori's mind it is HIS version of a parallel universe Oh, hell yeah. A lot of the designs in Macross are gems. Including stuff like the VF-2SS Valkyrie II. Just because the VF-2SS is in a parallel world, it's definitely a strong enough design on it's own to justify a toy. It's a total hero mecha that deserves more toy-attention. Also, the VF-5000 Star Mirage is another that deserves love. Especially since these valkyries have been animated, they really need to get more toys.
  16. Mr March
    Hahahaha. I bet such a toy would look even more "monstrous" than the Oni-inspired look of the animated mecha, if you catch my drift
  17. Mr March
    Yeah, like Seto said it was like a close attack craft that was cheaper to build. Though I don't remember seeing it walking in Macross II. But it looks kinda cool
  18. Mr March
    Not necessarily, but I suppose it would be somewhat similar. Abrams Trek was more a reboot with the same characters re-imagined. My thinking was more along the lines of new characters with no association to any other established casts in previous series telling a story. Many of the staples of the Macross franchise would be there, but everything else could be different, including things like the mythology and future-history stuff (like the Protoculture). That is fantastic! That's EXACTLY what I was talking about. And here Kawamori is already thinking along those lines. Very exciting!
  19. Mr March
    Was having a discussion in the VF-2SS thread when an interesting idea struck me about the new Macross series (forgive if this was previously mentioned); what if the new Macross series were a parallel universe story like Macross II? It doesn't need to be set in the Macross II universe or be a sequel to Macross II in anyway; I'm saying the new Macross series could be ANOTHER parallel Macross universe. It's own thing. The new Macross series could be an alternate sequel to SDF Macross/DYRL? without the need to reference anything established after the original series. Or, it could be an alternate telling of the Macross mythos, where the only thing the new Macross series has in common with the original Macross is the SDF-1 and Valkyries. I know a reboot has already been mentioned, so I won't go into that (though a parallel universe could do that too). I think a new parallel universe for Macross would allow much more creative freedom. It can be a re-evaluation of the franchise using modern sensibilities. In some ways a new Macross parallel universe would allow more possibilites, exploring different stories, different enemies, a different past/future history to describe the world, et cetera.
  20. Mr March
    Yeah, not a good idea. There's a grounded realism to the fighter mode designs of the animated variable fighters in Macross that doesn't really meld well with VF-2SS Valkyrie II. I'd say the VF-2SS would work much better if it were an "enemy" valkyrie. The Valkyire II's visual departure from the established lineage would be better suited as something akin to the Varauta valkyries in Macross 7 or the VF-27 Lucifer in Macross Frontier. There's also the official statistics to consider. It makes little sense to sandwich the VF-2SS Valkyrie II into a place within the variable fighter lineage where it's weight and thrust clash with the established progression of the Valkyries. The VF-11B/C Thunderbolt actually has superior performance to the VF-2SS Valkyrie II, built with slightly more thrust but far less weight. If the Valkyrie II were to fit into the continuity, it would be far better to place it above the VF-1 Valkyrie and VF-4 Lightning III but before the Macross Plus era VF-11B/C Thunderbolt, YF-19/VF-19 Excalibur and YF-21/VF-22 Sturmvogel II. The VF-2SS Valkyrie II's design would make an interesting "experimental space variant Valkyrie" in the official chronology. Like a craft they were using to test a different kind of Valkyrie, one that never went anywhere afterward. Like a tech demonstrator. That way the VF-2SS could be included in the valkyrie lineage but you could easily reconcile why no other valkyries look anything like it either before or since. Also, it's nature as a test bed for a different, heavier form of space craft would allow more leniency with regards to it's performance relative to the established valkyries. In fact if you placed it during or after the Macross Plus era, the VF-2SS's heavy weight and low thrust would make an ideal in-universe explanation for why the Valkyrie was never widely adopted. Personally, I think the VF-2SS Valkyrie works best as it is now, established in a parallel universe. I know some folks think the Macross II fiction/mecha would be more enjoyable if they were included within the official continuity, but I disagree. I find the parallel universe status of Macross II has enabled me to enjoy the mecha far more. I don't need to reconcile why the far future setting of Macross II (2092) features variable fighters that lack the performance and technologies established by the 2012-2059 fighter generations that preceeded the VF-2SS Valkyrie II (engines, wrap-around imaging monitors, pin-point barrier, beam guns, etc). I also really like the idea of a parallel Macross II universe, one that doesn't follow the established chronology of the official Macross world. There's far more creative freedom there. In fact, the Macross creators might do well to consider exploring the parallel universe concept again in the new Macross series. And I don't necessarily mean the Macross II universe, simply "another" Macross universe. THAT sounds like an awesome idea to me
  21. Mr March
    The GERWALK mode can certainly walk. The GERWALK mode is not shown walking often because the mode is typically used in flight, but It is shown walking in SDF Macross, Macross Frontier and Macross Zero (probably the most extensive GERWALK walking scene in all of Macross). The in-universe fiction states the Valkyries were designed as anti-giant weapons and as such had to act as basically giant-sized infantry for humans. Now we can look at Macross critically and say the justification doesn't make much sense, but that's the Macross writing for better or worse. It'd probably be cheaper and more effective to arm an exisitng human-scale army with more anti-tank/anti-material weaponry. But who knows, maybe intimidation plays a large role in such cases and an army of giant robots larger than the giant-sized enemy is worth the expense for force morale alone. I think some Macross published fiction does occassionaly state the Valkyries are actually three vehicles in one, each serving a role analagous to a conventional vehicle. Battroid = Tank/Giant-sized Robot Infantry GERWALK = Aerospace Attack Helicopter Fighter = Aerospace Jet Aircraft The statistics for the VF-1 Valkyrie certainly support this type of interpretation and the animation shows them being used in such roles.
  22. Mr March
    Go easy on us Zinjudgement I will say that as a Macross fan that likes the idea of canon (even though there really is no such "policy" for the Macross franchise) I don't want folks to misunderstand me or denegrate me as an enclyclopedia nazi. In fact I'd like to think I'm far more open-minded than most about what a Macross production could be, as the contrarian replies to my thoughts of the new Macross series can attest. I only want to say that I eat up minutiae and trivia because I want to understand the breadth and depth of the Macross universe perhaps more than other fans. Delving into the fiction also gets my imagination going, allowing me to enjoy Macross even more. I don't care if a Macross anime is an epic, large-scope war story, with tragic characters, a love triangle and pop music or if Macross is a small little side story about mentally ill test pilots without a war in sight, so long as it's good Macross. But I would like the fiction to make sense and adhere to at least some semblance of continuity. I want the VF-25 Messiah to be faster, more maneuverable and have better weapons than the VF-1 Valkyrie because that's what makes sense. If the wonderful Macross creators can please write weights, Mach speeds and weapon muzzle velocities to desribe that, I can fangasm along the way. See, some of us aren't so bad And for the record, I didn't understand the SDF-4 debate either. Not only did the original fiction always tell us another ship was being built (the SDF-2), but why would a real robot show like Macross ever have only one of a class of anything? The whole point of the real robot genre was to treat their military hardware like a real military, one that builds hundreds or thousands of what they need and can afford. Like the Valkyries themselves.
  23. Mr March
    But...but...it would be so awesome! Ah, you're probably right, but I'm still going to dream
  24. Mr March
    Whoa! Kate Jarvis could be in the new Star Wars. I don't expect many here to know who Jarvis is, but she is a big deal to me because a few years back she was in one of the best independent films I've seen lately called "Fish Tank". She's not your typical Hollywood flavor of the month and she's incredibly talented. If there was a great choice for a Star Wars female lead, Jarvis would be it. http://www.slashfilm.com/katie-jarvis-star-wars/ Keeping fingers crossed
  25. Mr March
    Oh, no doubt they'd have made one themselves, but I meant a third party doc that covers the dirty stories. Like that Enron documentary It practically writes itself!
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