The 80’s was a time of Go-bots and
Transformers which spawned a variety of robot inspired cartoon
series, especially from our friends in Japan. One of these series
was Voltron Defender of the Universe, not the series about
the “Lions” but rather the one about a group of Space Explorers,
sent by the Galaxy Alliance from Earth to find a new planet to
colonise. Ironically, most people remember the Voltron regarding the
"robotic" lions, but the vehicles were the first Voltron
in Western lands.
This group of explorers had a
variety of vehicles from cars, boats, planes and space ships that
all held an ancient secret. This secret was the creation of the
giant robot called Voltron and in times of dire needs, these
vehicles would join together to form this massive battle robot.
The
team of humans behind Voltron included Sea, Land and Air with 15
different vehicles needed to construct the robot. With 15 different
vehicles, there were quite a few different characters in this series
that included the hot headed leader of the Air Team Jeff, Cric, a
blue-coloured alien from a water planet and Cliff, leader of the Land
Team who happened to provide some comedy. Was he an aussie?
Unfortunately for these explorers,
the insidious Drule Empire, a race of alien space pirates are hell
bent on universe domination and wish to seize to this planet with
their endless supply of robots. Needless to say, this is where
Voltron come into play and sets the scene for things to come.
Originally when I saw this series, I
was gob smacked by this really cool giant robot and seeing this
series 20 years later, I’m still in love with this giant robot that
fights other giant robots from spiders to dragaons. Sure, the writing is clichéd, the
characters are forced but this is what the magic of cartoons of this
era were about. Voltron was cool but the characters in the series
are equally as cool with some really over the top acting.
With brilliant battles, an
entertaining story and relatable characters, Voltron Defender of
the Universe: Vehicle Force Voltron Collection 20th
Anniversary is a must have collection for fans and newcomers alike.
The only downside to this collection is the video quality which does
seem quite dated when compared to cartoons of today, however the
story still manages to captivate modern audiences.
