Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot - 'The Complete Series' DVDs Back On...As a Shout!

[SeattleEd]

Almost makes you wonder if he was watching the same discs as the reviewers at Amazon. He says the video looks fine but the Amazon reviewers make it sound unwatchable

Apparently the reviewer must have skimmed through a few episodes and compile his review with info from Wiki sources. It's very apparent he has no true knowledge of the series and it's history.

We have the trailer that Shout sent to us and from the looks of the quality, it sub-par compared to what the reviewer stated. The trailer was compiled with scenes from the DVDs and they do not look as better as the Ultraman series. I don't plan on getting this set since it was pulled from the Hulu versions and I having viewed those, a definite disappointment. Best to get the Japanese PAL Laser Disc versions and just capture the video and remaster with the American Audio. Somebody needs to do this.

I never trust reviewers unless they have unique knowledge of the product and are true fans. Always relegate my opinion based on information from fanboys.

[cjefferys]

I'm not 100% sure about the extent of his knowledge about this specific series, but I'm willing to believe that the reviewer might know a little bit about what he's talking about when it comes to Japanese films and TV http://stuartgalbraithiv.wordpress.com/about/ I've been reading his reviews and articles on Japanese stuff for over 20 years.

Best to get the Japanese PAL Laser Disc versions and just capture the video and remaster with the American Audio. Somebody needs to do this.

This series received a Japanese release on DVD, so that would be easier than going the LD route (of course, neither release has English subs or the English audio track). "Easier" is a relative term I guess, it would probably still be a pain to try wedding the American audio track to the Japanese video. And if the US version was edited or changed in anyway, I wouldn't want to even try. At any rate, I'm sure that fan-subbed versions of these DVDs are out there at least.

It's tricky judging the video on a release like this. These are probably far from pristine looking, and knowing the history of the transfers, the reviewer likely adjusted his expectations accordingly. I wonder if the Japanese releases were able to use the original 16mm source? (they might not even exist at this point)

[SeattleEd]

Reading his article, it appears a lot of it was lifted from the Wiki entry but then he might be the one who actually made the entry.
Regardless, it appears there are points he missed such at the title being cut too short, which was found on the "remastered" HULU version and the quality of scenes that are due from generational degradation from dubbing. I wouldn't go so far as compare it to the Ultraman series since that was taken from the masters and at points having scenes put back into the some episodes with the English dub gone missing.

As for remastering a Japanese source video rip with English dub, it wouldn't be that difficult. It's very easy in Final Cut Pro and I almost do this on daily basis with remastering video. Hence why I would like to give a try and make better versions, If I can find a Japanese video source.

On a side note, we've worked with production companies in the past to capture, clean and encode old content for release on Hulu and to our surprise the source we would receive would be on SP Betacam tapes. Meant more work for us but nonetheless, we do what we can to make it more presentable. I would assume the sources of the Giant Robot series must have been sourced from a network vault with no intend on restoring.

As campy as this show is and at times troubling to watch in certain instances, I personally deem that this series does deserve a better version for future generations to appreciate, or mock. LOL

[megoapesnut]

If you can find SP Betacam tapes, I can work with those. I still have my Beta deck and it plays SP.

[mazinz]

for a while there was a nice fan made set that used the Japanese picture and offered Both the English as well as Japanese audio tracks