April 20, 2023
Three brothers, Steve Armstrong (Miguel Tanfelix), Big Bert (Matt Lozano), and engineering whiz Little Jon Armstrong (Raphael Landicho), sons of Drs. Ned (Dennis Trillo) and Mary Anne (Carla Abellana) Armstrong, had teamed up with their friends Jamie Robinson (Ysabel Ortega) and Mark Gordon (Radson Flores) to train under Dr. Richard Smith (Albert Martinez) at Camp Big Falcon for a still undisclosed mission.
One day, humanoid alien invaders known as Boazanians arrived in their skull-shaped space craft to launch an aggressive attack all over the world. Their leader in their mission to subdue Earth (or Terra Ertu in their language) was Prince Zardoz (Martin del Rosario), with his trusted lieutenants -- The only thing left for Earth to fight the Boazanian beast-fighter was to launch Voltes V with the Armstrong boys and their friends as the pilots.
Since its initial Philippine broadcast on May 5, 1978, "Voltes V" was arguably the most popular among the Japanese robot anime series broadcast Monday to Friday in the late afternoon time slot back in the late 1970s (alongside "Daimos," "Mazinger Z" and "UFO Grendaizer"). Kids back then got their first real taste of Martial Law when it was suddenly pulled off the air in August 27, 1979 for its "harmful effects on children," possibly for its themes of rebellion.
That did not diminish the appeal of "Voltes V" among Filipino children from that generation, and apparently even for children of this current generation. Since it was first pitched by director Mark Reyes eight years ago, GMA embarked on this huge project to revive "Voltes V" as a live-action TV series with proudly 100% Filipino special visual effects. The full trailer released January 5, 2023 which teased these special effects made everyone very excited.
As the May 8, 2023 series premiere drew near, it was announced that there will be a special edit of the first three episodes to be screened in SM cinemas starting April 19, 2023. Unfortunately yesterday, there was a technical glitch which prevented the movie version to be screened in some branches (including Megamall). I am guessing this had something to do with the age and quality of the screen and projector in these older SM cinemas.
It was worth paying to see these proudly all-Filipino mecha-robot visual effects on the big screen. They were confident that the images were of very high-resolution, and will not pixilate when expanded several-fold. The awesomely executed Volting-In sequence alone was worth the price of admission. The Ultramagnetic Whip and Tops looked awesome in action. Voltes's Laser Sword cutting a V through the Beast Fighter was such an exhilarating sight.
However robots aside, the quality of other supposedly simpler green-screen special effects were not that impressive yet. Missiles exploding, guns firing, jet fighters flying, Mark's horse galloping, Little Jon's dolphins flipping, among many other examples, were not cleanly done. The Filipino dialogue can sound stilted and awkward in some scenes, especially during those chaotic battle operations among the personnel in Camp Big Falcon.
The opening theme song "Voltes V no Uta" never lost its iconic appeal all these years, especially hearing the new version by Julie Anne San Jose during the Volting-in scenes. Children of the late 70s can sing this song by heart, wrong lyrics notwithstanding. The musical score incorporated updated versions of the dramatic and battle themes of the original. Did not hear it in the cinematic version, but there will also be a new version of the sentimental closing theme "Chichi Wo Motomete" ("I Want My Father") by Zephanie.
The five young actors chosen for the main roles look fine for their characters so far. Tanfelix, Lozano and Landicho were already given major dramatic moments and they proved up to the task, recreating the tearful mood of the original anime to a T. Albert Martinez looked perfectly cast as Dr. Smith, as well as Martin del Rosario as Zardoz (except for his ugly wig and coat collar design. However, Gabby Eigenmann as Cmdr. Robinson, Liezel Lopez as Zandra and Epi Quizon as Zuhl looked rather miscast, and may need more time to get used to.
The initial scenes showing Mary Anne Collins giving Ned Armstrong his new name (with a cringe-y explanation) may have already inadvertently revealed some key plot revelations which the original anime series reserved in its final episodes. The scenes set in planet Boazan seen in the trailer makes the subsequent series worth following, aside from more spectacular mecha battles to come. Nostalgia definitely plays a big role in the final overall assessment. My sons both gave it a lower score than I did. 7/10.
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