Voltron: Legendary Defender

First things first...

Way back when I was a young antagonist (3 to be exact), a little cartoon called Voltron: Defender of the Universe was brought to our shores (if you really want a pretty good in-depth history on Voltron head over to Birth.Movies.Death and have some fun) and us sheltered American children were introduced to 5 mechanical lions who combined and formed the aforementioned Defender of the Universe.

Old Voltron...like he was made from MEGA bloks

Netflix, in their continuous want to bring in not only kids, but those kids parents (pure effing genius!), has released the complete first season of their new animated show, Voltron: Legendary Defender.  The basis is still the same.  Five people from Earth are whisked away to the planet Arus where they encounter Princess Allura (and her majordomo/manservant, Coran) and are tasked with reviving the lions and forming Voltron to put an end to Zarkon's 10,000-year reign of terror.

New Voltron...so shiny and round

This past weekend I managed to watch all 11 episodes of the first season of this new show, and while not totally blown away (for reasons listed below), it was a very enjoyable experience (reasons also listed below).  The show itself brought in a lot of what fans of the original would like, plus new material to keep it fresh, while making it a little more gritty and dark also.  Instead of just being called "The Voltron Force" which I always found a little corny, even as a kid, the team are now known as the "Paladins", and each has a special weapon called a "bayard" which customizes itself to each paladin.  A quick look at the cast and some memorable things about them

Quick Cast of Characters

• Shiro - team leader, captured by Zarkon's guys and forced to fight for his life for over a year (no bayard...hmm I wonder why)
• Keith - best pilot, but rash and unpredictable (original series Keith was a combo of this one and Shiro) Bayard - sword and shield (though all of the Paladins can manifest a shield)
• Lance - always trying to one up Keith, but overall a good guy. Bayard - small lazer rifle
• Hunk - the big guy.  In the original he was brave and didn't stand down from anything, this version makes him smarter but not as brave, not sure if I like this. Bayard - big freaking lazer gatlin-gun
• Pidge - spoiler alert, is a girl who is looking for her family who was taken when Shiro was. Bayard - a strange shocker/batman-esque grapling hook thing
• Allura - the princess, asleep for 10,000 years when the team finds her (see pros below)
• Coran - the princess' majordomo.  Fanatically loyal to her, but the character was more refined in the original, has become a bit of comic relief in this version
• Zarkon - leader of the Galra Empire (the big bad of the series)
• Haggar - the "witch" that made the ro-beasts (now I think just called monsters/warriors)

The Lions

Allura goes into some speech about what the lions individual traits are and how they choose their paladins, yeah cool.  Watch the first episode to find out why each one gets the one they do (I think it just happens to go with the color of their clothes...but that's just me).

• Black (Shiro) - Forms the "head".  The best blend of the lions (speed and strength) and can fire a powerful beam from mouth.  Also, "wings" form Voltron's shield along with other special things.
• Red (Keith) - The "right arm".  Fast and unpredictable, like it's paladin.  Can fire lava (or something similar), can form a knife of some sort that it can throw around, and even more special super-gun.  Also, when bayard inserted into lion forms the "Blazing Sword" of Voltron
• Green (Pidge) - The "left arm".  Can go invisible.
• Blue (Lance) - The "right leg".  Fires freeze-ray from it's tail.
• Yellow (Hunk) - The "left leg".  The strongest of the lions, and can take the most punishment.  Can bash through things with it's head.  Special ability when merged is a big super-gun that can target multiple things at once.

Pros:

• Same basic origin story; 5 lions form big. bad super robot Voltron
• Great animation compared to the 1984 version.  Though it does through the occasional joke with over-exaggerated anime style to give old fans a taste of that from time to time
• Better overall story that flows from episode to episode.
• Better individual episodes that did not have a monster (called ro-beasts in the original) in every single time for Voltron to form and to slice and dice with his "blazing sword"
• The lions, while still much weaker when not formed into Voltron, can actually hold their own in a fight.  They have more weapons and "special" abilities than originally
• Also, when merged the individual pilots have a little more control and don't just let "the head" lead everything (also, more "special" abilities"
• Princess Allura isn't just a damsel in distress wearing pink.  Her species can change size and color, and she has the ability to speak to giant planet-rock things
• Shiro, has a good back story that I really hope they delve into more in the next season
• Apparently, as you learn in the last episode, Zarkon was the original "Black Lion Paladin", that should be a damned good story
• Reminded me of watching Saturday morning cartoons with my brother (yay!)

Cons:

• No Sven! (that's a joke only a few fans of the original will understand)
• Did they really need to make Pidge a girl?  I mean they already upgraded Allura from damsel in distress status
• While the overall story does flow between episodes, making it a long arc through the season, it almost seems like some of the aspects for the individual episodes are squeezed into the time alotted so that they can make the story-lone flow
• Hunk, in the original brave, kind of dumb, rushed into things.  Now, I just don't like something about the character
• The ending kind of sucked and it just kind of happened.  I'm all for cliffhangers but this was just meh
• Reminded me of watching Saturday morning cartoons with my brother (boo, as this is no longer a thing)

Conclusion

Overall, I definitely recommend that any fan of the original series should watch it.  It's not as campy, people may or may not occasionally die in it, but it's still a fun watch and a good thing to share with a young child you'd like to share some of your childhood with.

Pulse Orlando

I'm not going to post a lot here.  Just that I am still in shock for the events that happened on June 12th at Pulse nightclub in my city of Orlando, FL.  The worst mass shooting in the history of the United States.

If you can give blood, please do.  If you can't there is always something that can be done, even if it is just saying a prayer.

Transformers: The Movie

No, not the 2007 piece of crap that was released by Michael Bay with Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox, but the incredible 1986 fully-animated movie that shaped my childhood.  OK, that last part may be a little bit of a stretch, but not by much.

On September 13, 2016, just slightly over 30 years since it came out in theaters, this masterpiece will be coming to Blu-Ray.

So why is it so great?  So important?  So much a part of my childhood?  Listen my children and you shall see...

Original Transformers

These are the Transformers that we, the generation who they were introduced to, got to know and love (and hate) from the beginning.  Optimus Prime.  Ultra Magnus.  Megatron.  Starscream.  And so many more.  Yes, there were new characters, of course there were going to be, but they were, mostly, brought in to support those who we already knew the background on.

New Villain

This movie introduced us to Unicron.  One of the most bad-ass villains ever created in a movie, animated or otherwise.  A moon-sized Transformer who can eat planets?!

Limited Humans

This was about the fight between Autobots and Decepticons and ultimately Unicron.  The small bits of humans put in there were just to throw a nod towards the fact that humanity hasn't killed itself yet.

The Voices

Now we are getting into some big stuff here.  Yes, Michael Bay's atrocity did a huge thing by returning Peter Cullen as the voice of Optimus Prime, and for that fans should be a (very) little grateful,  But look at some of the other voices included in this movie:

• Orson Welles (yes, THAT Orson Welles, in his last roll ever)
• Robert Stack (of Unsolved Mysteries fame)
• Leonard Nimoy
• Judd Nelson
• Casey Kasem
• John Moschitta, Jr. (the Micro Machines guy!)
• Eric Idle
• Frank Welker (who, with Peter Cullen, probably did 70% of the voices of my childhood)
• and of course Peter Cullen

The Loss

Not even 20 minutes into the movie one of the most gut-wrenching scenes of all time happened, and it still effects most men aged 35-40.  Optimus Prime, the beloved leader of the Autobots, is killed.  His Spark fades, and he turns gray.  This wasn't some secondary character they killed here.  This was Optimus effing Prime!  They can't do that!  But...they did.  

The Music

Now this is a part that definitely has a special place in my heart.  Two songs in particular on the soundtrack are still on my cell phone to this day.  Both written by Stan Bush.  The first, "The Touch" is so mid-80's that it hurts.  But it has so many great lines in it that, if you know it, you just can't help but sing along.  The scene in the movie plays out like this:

Optimus Prime, having just landed on Earth to an embattled Autobot City says "Megatron must be stopped no matter the cost." to which he transforms to his semi-truck form and starts to head across a bridge towards the city...all while Stan Bush starts singing..."You got the touch.  You got the power...".  He proceeds to take out Decepticon after Decepticon, all while the music plays out for us.  He corners Megatron and says one of the greatest, and sadly most foreshadowing, lines in the movie "One shall stand.  One shall fall".

I'll leave out the rest as I'm starting to get teary-eyed knowing whats coming (stupid Hot Rod, why couldn't you have listened to Kup?!).
The other song by Stand Bush is called "Dare".  It happens just before the attack on Autobot City and introduces us to the previously accursed Hot Rod and wizened Kup (also Daniel Witwicky, who we can all live without). It's just a fun, upbeat song that you just can't help but tap along to. "You can fly if you try..."

End of an Era

While the Transformers continued on for a few more years after this movie, for a lot of us it had lost it's innocence.  It had killed Optimus Prime.  Brought on the rise of Galvatron.  Proved that, if really needed, an Autobot leader can pretty much defeat anything so long as he has the Matrix of Leadership.  Oh, and it also taught a lot of us our first curse word (see below video).  I will always love this movie, even with it's many faults, because it reminds me of what it was like to be a hopeful child, and have those hopes dashed.  And I will never forget the songs that make this movie remembered by me and so many to this day.

Fallen Angel

On June 2, 2016, at 3:01PM ET, an Angel fell.  A Blue Angel to be more precise.  Captain Jeff Kuss, USMC, was a member of the Navy's Flight Demonstration Team, better known as the "Blue Angels" or simply "The Blues" to those of us have watched them since before we can remember.

It is not yet fully known what happened to the F/A-18 Super Hornet that Capt. Kuss was piloting in Smyrna, TN during a training flight.  However, what IS known according to witnesses, is that Capt. Kuss managed to maneuver his jet away from an area with civilians and towards tress, thus saving lives in his final act.  A true American hero.

I was born and raised in Pensacola, FL. NAS (Naval Air Station) Pensacola, if you didn't know, is the home base of the Blue Angels.  Over the years I have lost count of how many times I saw them fly, and no matter how many times I see them it always amazes me, and probably always will.  My most recent chance to see them was on July 4, 2015 when the girlfriend and I went to Pensacola to see my parents and take part in the annual "Red, White, and Blues" festivities at Pensacola Beach.  There are no words to describe a Blues air show (especially at Pensacola where they are loved the most).  Seeing "Fat Albert", the Blues C-130 bank and turn like nothing that size has a right to do and then having it fly right over your head to start the show.  What follows is an absolutely amazing display of precision group patterns.  The nail biting near misses when two jets fly towards each other and twist at the last second.  And, my favorite, the slow (relative term for a jet) fly-by of a single jet barely a couple of hundred feet off the waters of Pensacola Beach.  The final maneuver is always heart-wrenching for me, seeing the "Missing Man Formation", when the Blues come in from one direction in the classic Delta-formation, and then one of the pilots pulls up towards the sky, representing those who have fought and not made it home (an example of this is above this paragraph).

A friend of mine gave me this prayer for pilots and I wanted to share it:

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty ocean deep,
Its own appointed limits keep,
Oh hear us when we cry to those in peril on the sea.

Lord, gaurd and guide the men who fly,
Through the great spaces in the sky.
Be with them always in the air,
In darkening storms or sunlight fair.
Oh hear us when we lift our prayer,
For those in peril in the air.
Amen

At the end of this I wanted to thank Capt. Kuss.  For being a member of the USMC.  For being a Marine Corps Aviator.  For being a hero.  And I want to thank his family.  We lost a member of the best flight demonstration team in the world.  They lost a son, a husband, and a father.  God speed, Captain Kuss.  

"Second Star to the right..."