Johnomaton

I say we get about twelve-odd Macross fans that are also convicts in the slammer for life, and we give them a second chance. The mission: detonate Harmony Gold, infiltrate Criterion, and release DYRL proper.

I'm really not all that bothered by the inherent production flaws; I view trying to actually alter the materials as rather unnecessarily invasive. it's this sort of mentality that Kawamori probably shouldered in making his alterations, and it's really plastic surgery gone too far. Serial Experiments Lain is possibly the only instance I can think of where something so drastic is quite welcome and commendable; I still pause at the thought of losing the original, but it is so sophisticated and clearly guided by the central creative forces of the original that it's not that troublesome. DYRL isn't like Lain. Considerably more time has passed and would pass before a hypothetical reproduction, and the original creative forces were fairly diverse; not only are we minus the late Ishiguro, but who's to say that Itano and Kawamori would or could work together? It's also no secret that the floodgates on Kawamori's shall we say, ideology, have really opened since; I'm sure Itano has changed too. Further, the original DYRL material is not SO bad. Despite a considerable amount of out of focus material, there is good stuff in there too. Even if only the problematic scenes are tackled by artists trying to make a carbon copy with archaic production methods, they still might not be able to make something that looks authentic to the source. Moreover, if they were to muster the forces necessary to do so much work, they might as well remake the thing or just create something new altogether. "Fixing" something is necessarily a delicate procedure, and I'm not sure the potential benefits would justify the costs,especially if something new could be had instead.

Just keep in mind this is nothing new; people have observed these discrepancies in every release of DYRL prior to the BD. The deal with the BD is that because some scenes were poorly shot compared to others, the difference is all the more noticable with the higher resolution. It's just as much a part of DYRL as Itano's schlocky fatalities, and there's nothing to be done beyond reanimating the film.

Thanks for the frank assessment eugimon. I never trust "all praise" reviews of products; nothing is perfect, but if we're lucky the flaws aren't deal-breakers.

Sans sexy nineties cyborg shell...

Oh now I'M the villain for wanting to troll the trolls? PFFT. LOL. You are too kind.

xrentonx, tell them this: BANDAI-NAMCOの皆様へ、 おえ、惚けてんじゃねのか？！俺ら海外のマクロスファンはどれほど苦労していたか知ってるのかい？ 俺達にはな、マクロス買って欲しいなら日本しかねんだ。海外のみんなは鍛えたぞ、このマクロス劇場版のブルーレーを。 待っても待っても最後の瞬間にあんたらの仕業を知るようになっても手遅れだ！買ってしまったんだ！ どうしてこの時に、まさにマクロスによって聖なるの時間に、あんたらやその川森の野郎が劇場版を検閲したんだろう？ 悔しく求めていたのに、なぜだ？！やっと正々堂々と買おうと思ったんだ。何がリマスター？何が劇場版？劇場版じゃね！恥を知れ、この食わせ物！裏切っていたのが世界のマクロスファンだけではなく、「愛・おぼえていますか」のメモリーもさ！ 皮肉だな、お前らはこんなことを忘られるなんて。 さっさと本物の劇場版を売っとけー！ Translation: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Thanks for the info and thoughts on the BD, Jasonc and TMBounty_Hunter. @Xard: After the initial unpleasantness of having something special spoilt, it's easier to look at the product in and of itself for what it is: the best 99% of DYRL has ever looked and sounded. But let's be clear about something: the picture you paint of Kawamori vindicating himself after decades for Itano's "infraction" is, however amusing, petty. It's not inaccurate to say that these are minutia, but by that very logic it is unnecessary that they should have occured in the first place. It's bizzarely selfish and passive-aggressive to do this and then call the product a theatrical cut; let's not pretend otherwise. Whether or not the edits are positive is not the issue; the issue is integrity. DYRL is now 30 years old. When they sell DYRL, they make bank on a long-held rapport. Suddenly deciding that we no longer need the intact version of DYRL after all this time, all this goodwill, it's kind of shitty. It's not about being puristic, it's about being honest, being considerate, and maybe even taking a little responsibility for the film. Even if I buy that it's case-by-case, there is no case for denying audiences a genuine comparison. I find it immature and cowardly.

@Renato: Imagine one of those abridged videos on youtube: the beginning should include about five minutes of text explaining earth, Zentradi, the Macross, the eighties, why Claudia is black, etc. Also, the captain's moustache is slightly blurred.

超時空要塞マクロス おい・ふざけていますか

My dilemma now is that if awesome fan restored BD can be mine, do I buy the BD? Is it better to not contribute in protest of the revisionism, or should the work that nevertheless has been done be acknowledged? Or should I look at it from a utilitarian perspective and ask whether the success or failure of the release would prompt a future, satisfactory one?

You mean a revised disc, or...?

Hey, at least you got some swank extras! I still want to buy a legitimate version of this, so I might spring for the barebones release sometime. By all other indications this is a technical upgrade, so hopefully a fan edited BD will emerge...

Glad I cancelled. Does anyone not find this whole thing kind of strange, though? Like, making this a hybrid pack must have been a money saving measure or perhaps they thought the game might not sell enough on its own? Maybe this is my own desperate conjecture, but would it be so far-fetched to suggest that they planned this from the beginning? Test the waters with this release, then maybe rake in more money with a follow-up release that's just DYRL unmolested?

Spoilers: http://www.mania.com/aodvb/showthread.php?t=109785&page=5