*sigh* Voltron... well, what can I say?
I've pretty much got a love-hate relationship with this series. I did not grow up in the 80's (I wasn't even born yet), so I did not watch the
Voltron: Defender of the Universe cartoon at all when it was on.
Whenever I try to go back and watch that series, I cringe. It is so mediocre that it just hurts! The voice acting is just awful, the editing of
Beast King GoLion is obvious, and the scripting is just pathetic.
The only thing that I really find cool in that cartoon is the epically awesome gattai sequence.
Activate interlock!
Dyna-therms connected!
Infra-cells up!
Mega thrusters are go!
LET'S GO VOLTRON FORCE!
Form feet and legs!
Form arms and body ("torso" in later episodes)
And I'll form the head! 
Now, I have only seem episodes from the first and third seasons, which featured the Voltron Lion Force. Specifically, season 1 adapted episodes of
GoLion, while season 3 were the
Voltron-original episodes created by Toei. I can't comment on Vehicle Voltron having not seen any of season 2 (which adapted the
Dairugger XV episodes).
Now, since I said that I never saw the original series back in the 80's, you may be wondering how I came to find out about it. Well, what introduced me to this franchise was the highly underrated series
Voltron: The Third Dimension. It was this show that drew me into liking Voltron because, at that time, it looked kinda like a cross between
Beast Wars and
Power Rangers. A few years ago, I had gone back and rewatched all 26 episodes of that series and... I sincerely found it to be very enjoyable!
I am still completely baffled that
The Third Dimension is severely looked down upon by many. IMHO, it was vastly superior to the
Defender of the Universe series in terms of acting, scripting, writing, and overall ingenuity. The plot was strong and well focused, going in very interesting directions that kept me wanting more. The acting was reasonable (and, when compared to the old series, superb) for its time, and featured a pretty good voice cast that included Tim Curry, Kevin Michael Richardson, Clancy Blown, and several returning actors from the old series (who had significantly improved on their performances). The dialogue was competent and, unlike the previosu series,
bearable!I especially liked how Lotor and Zarkon were portrayed in this series. Tim Curry was an excellent choice of Lotor's slimey, twisted nature, and Kevin Michael Richardson was a much more believable Zarkon than Zarkon old voice had been. As were the new voices of Pidge and Hunk.
Though, my one real complaint about Zarkon is that he's posing as a reformed character for the first half of the series. He's in a position where he has the full trust of the Galaxy Garrison, as though he had found genuine redemption. The problem with this is that he was the MAIN VILLAIN in the last series and yet, here, he's seems to have been forgiven for his tyranny FAR too easily. And the fact that he's really just posing as a good guy leaves you completely in the dark as to HOW he was made out to be a trusted ally by the Galaxy Alliance in the first place!
But, aside from that, it was a pretty good series. I especially liked how there were some serious aspects implanted into the series. Like how Keith and Lance often butted heads about quetsioning each others' tactics. Their arguments once got so heated that it resulted in a fight between the two that involved Keith pulling a gun on Lance to silence him. Another case was when Lotor held the Troika Moons hostage and put the Voltron Force in a postion where they had no other option bu t to give into Lotor's demands and have the Voltron Lions be completely dismantled (though, Lance put up a resistance, and was thus arrested afterward). But the most critical aspect of the series was how the Voltron Force was viewed as rogue squadron who refused to follow the orders of the leader of the Galaxy Alliance, Amalgamus. Over time, the Voltron Force had to defy his orders time and again, as he grew to mistrusted them (thanks to Zarkon, of course), and their defiance of him would result in the Voltron Force being decommissioned five time, and finally being put on trial for treason!
And it was during this trial that the most unlikeliest of the characters received a pivotal role in the spotlight: Coran. While no longer voiced by Peter Cullen, Coran spoke out against Amalgamus' mistrust of the Voltron Force and accused the cybrog of being anti-human.
And let's not forget one of the coolest aspects of this series: the mecha! While the origingal Lion Votlron returned, we also got some actual robotic-looking RoBeasts whose designs had elements of terro and ferocity melded into them. And then there's Dracotron: the evil dragon-based Voltron-esque mecha. Formed by the central Black Drago beast merging with four other dragons, Dracotron was definitely a force to be reckoned with. And let's not forget the sleek new upgrade Stealth Voltron! It even got its own new combination dialogue:
Activate inter-dimensional lock!
Stealth servo systems connected!
Stealth engines at maximum!
Quantum thrusters are go!
LET'S GO STEALTH VOLTRON FORCE!
Form feet and legs!
Form arms and torso!
And I'll form the head!And instead of a "Blazing Sword", it wielded an "Energy Sword".
Cartoons aside, I own the
Third Dimension version of the figure in all its Megazord-esque glory. The only differences I can spot between this one and the original toy are maybe some decal differences. And, I'm not entirely certain on this, but did the original have any elbow articulation? Cuz I've seen images of one that did, but mine sure doesn't. The red and green lions I own are complete bricks. and I'm not mistaking the Masterpiece Voltron for that elbowed one, as that is a much nicer figure than what I've seen.
Long story short, I don't really enjoy the Lion Voltron version of the
Defender of the Universe cartoon (but I don't hate it). I haven't seen any of the Vehicle Voltron verison, so I've no opinion on that. I did enjoy and still do enjoy the much underappreciated
Third Dimension cartoon. I have one Voltron combining brick figure and that's it. When the new
Voltron Force series starts airing, I may look into it.
[ Click to attempt signal recovery... ]
