brilliant actors, brilliant editing

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Brings back nostalgia. I remember when I was a little boy and couldn't wait to get back from afternoon school to see my favourite cartoon- Battle of the Planets. I remember after watching it I would use my towel as a cape and put on a toy helmet, and for the next few hours, I was in my own little world saving the planet from evil forces (mostly as Jason, my favourite G-Force). I also remember vividly being disappointed as to why I still couldn't transmute into Jason even after performing the Transmute process to perfection time and time again.I also recall back then that I found it strange that 7-Zark-7 always told the story from his base, something that was never done in other cartoons. I even found it stranger that whenever 7-Zark-7 had physical contact with G-Force, Mark, Princess et al always seem to be very wooden and out of proportion. Nowadays of course, we all know the reason for this as they were in fact 2 separate cartoons with 7-Zark-7 only acting as a filler due to the many cuts from the original Gatchaman.Back to the real world though and a few years back, I was very happy to find that BOTP was released on DVD (at quite a high price I must add), of which I bought both seasons 1 & 2, hoping to relive back my childhood days. It was however a case of Must-Watch-Because-Buy syndrome. Whilst the first few episodes were good such as Attack of the Space Terrapin, and whilst the Phoenix transformation was (still) cool, in summary BOTP has unfortunately aged with time. And I only realized how the 7-Zark-7 scenes disturbed the flow of the show- G-Force was busy saving the world, and what is Zark busy with? - How to get into bed with Susan.Since buying those BOTP DVDs I have also since purchased Gatchaman, and whilst it has aged (as with BOTP), it is IMO a much better prospect than Battle of the Planets with a more stronger storyline.So in conclusion, if there are any middle-aged people out there wanting to relive their youth and watch what was arguably the best programme during their childhood days, I would recommend watching a few episodes of BOTP to get your adrenaline going and relive fond memories, but don't overdo it, and then proceed to watching the original Gatchaman.P.S. Even after 20 years of not watching BoTP, I still found that I had the same excitement and lust I had for Princess whenever she was on-screen.

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.

This is classic animation at its best. Compared to todays animation its antiquated. But back in 1978 it was classic. Made in the same Japanese Animation style that brought Speed Racer, its classic and one of the best shows. I miss it and hope that its either released on DVD or re released soon. Bless you internet.

Wow, what happened to cartoons like this one?? This certainly wasn't the best in anime-ish art, nor did it have a particularly great plot. So why did we love it? Somehow, it tapped perfectly into the mind of a 6-12 year old! As someone who still watches cartoons (shhh..don't tell!) I look back at these types of cartoons and wish they still made them in America. It seems sad to me that kids today do not have these kinds of fun entertainment to wake up to on Saturday morning. Just about everyone I know who is my age remembers this cartoon and others like it with fond memories! Just say to anyone in their late 20's.."Hey do you remember G-Force? The cartoon with the guys in spacesuits that look like birds?" and you will surely get: "Oh yeah!!..." and probably a story of how when THEY were a kid, cartoons were good! Maybe it's just nostalgia, or maybe I'm just getting old and cranky, I don't know. I just wish they still had cartoons like this.