ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

SnoopyStyle Five extraordinary orphans called G-Force fly their spacejet Phoenix to protect humanity from threats across the universe. Zoltar from the planet Spectra is the main evil villain. They are guided by robot 7-Zark-7 who flies around by flapping its cape in the underwater Center Neptune. There is also the robot dog 1-Rover-1 with a propeller tail and computer voice Susan. The five kids are Mark (Casey Kasem), Jason, Princess, Keyop, and Tiny. Mark flies a plane into the tail of Phoenix. Jason has a race car. Princess rides a motorcycle. Tiny has an all-terrain vehicle. Keyop stutters gibberish.This was adapted from the Japanese cartoon Gatchaman. There are so many bits that I remember from my childhood although most of it is in the introduction. The stories are a jumble of wild monster of the week. Most of them are long forgotten but there are some very memorable ones. I also remember the ping pong game which they often reuse. 7-Zark-7 and 1-Rover-1 are fun robots for little kids but those scenes are disconnected from the rest of the show. So much of these are great childhood memories and problematic adult watch. The episodes are disjointed and simplistic. One begins to understand how the show was cobbled together from the Japanese anime and robot additions. The memories are terribly sweet and the reality of watching this show as an adult is a recognition of interesting monster ideas.

static22 i just read one users comments on the battle of the planets set and felt it was necessary to put up a differing opinion. the botp (gatchaman) series was wonderful. if you watch the original Japanese version and not the dumbed down americanized mess. all the dvds come with the original episodes hidden in the bonus materials section. please watch those (with sub titles of course) and if you ever hear casey kasem, you're watching the wrong ones. the originals are the way the series was meant to be viewed. action, blood, swearing, not sanitized for a younger viewing audience. do yourself a favour, buy or rent these, watch the right ones, and you will be pleased.

Ian Mc Having run madly around the school playground as a member of G-Force, I have fond memories of this series. I was lucky enough to discover some UK re-runs recently and I must say it doesn't disappoint. This had to be one of the most bizarre cartoon series ever. Sub-anime cartoon action, with a core of good Vs evil morality and a strange taste in feathery superhero costumes.Basically, our five brave orphan heroes spend their day chilling and waiting to be called into action - when they are, it's off in the Phoenix zap about and save our galaxy from another lacklustre take-over attempt by Spectra - embodied be the Evil Zoltar.Intros from soothing robot narrator 7-Zark-7 (and his robot dog 1-Rover-1) push the plots along, and somehow our heroes save the day by flying about a bit, throwing some banter about and coaxing this weeks traitor back to the good guys before wherever they are explodes. Zoltar then promptly escapes to pester the good peoples of Earth and her colonies another day.You will not find a better example of 70's haircuts, camp villains, naff plots and creaky cold-war style American morality. It's a winner!A few things to treasure... One: All the computers still work on ticker-tape in the future... fantastic! Two: Camp bad-guy Zoltar not only had all the best lines, but some of the most fulsome lips in the cartoon universe. Three: Possibly the most melodramatic opening spiel in tevevision history (even beats the A-team!) Four: 7-Zark-7's ongoing romance with 'Susan' the sexy computer voice that delivered the mission at the start of the show.In the UK, you can catch 'Battle of the Planets' on Bravo, usually in the dead of night. On reflection, perhaps this is a good thing - the children of today might not be able to handle the sheer drama and tension.And yes, I did have a crush on Princess. And I still do.

SJJ This was the best cartoon I saw as a child. Alas, with no videos or reruns the chances of anyone seeing it now are rare to say the least. It was edited down from the Japanese anime "Gatchaman" for US kids. While it lost a lot of the storyline and violence it was gifted with one the best theme tunes. While the 1990's remake of Gatchaman is available to buy, it is of nowhere near the quality of the original Gatchaman or Battle of the Planets, lacking the character and incidental score that graced the originals. Looks like Battle of the Planets will just have to live in the fond memories of the millions of school kids that it touched.