If you were a young American child in the early 1990’s, you probably watched an animated television show called Battle of the Planets, which also went by the nameG-Force. What some of you may not realize is this was an adapted overdubbed syndicated product of a 1970’s era Japanese anime called, after translation, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, or more affectionately, just Gatchaman. Several years ago talk began of bringing the superhero team back in a new full-length animated theatrical film, but, after financial studio difficulties and with recent American superhero movie successes, the producers decided to go live-action with a new studio.
Here is the synopsis for the film:
Set in the near future, Gatchaman follows the story of five special agents of the International Science Organization in Tokyo as they try to protect the world from the mysterious terrorist group who call themselves Galactor. With technology that far surpasses that of humans, Galactor has declared war on the entire world and has already subjugated half of it. Trained to draw out the power from the mysterious crystal-like object called a “stone,” our five heroes will be called “Gatchaman.”
Theatrically, this looks like a KOOL combination of Power Rangers, Avengers, Man of Steel, and Armageddon to me, so it looks like a blast. If you were a fan of the original or anime, fond of Japanese cinema, or just like special FX, this looks like the movie to see. The release date has been confirmed for August 24, 2013 in Japan but no word when we may see it in the United States. Nostalgic visuals resound in this awesome full trailer as it seems to be very true to the original Japanese material. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be an English subtitled version of the trailer yet but we can infer on some of what it going on – the world is in trouble and needs Gatchaman! Check it out!
I remember G Force in the early days. I loved that show. It looks awesome.