My biggest disappointment with this DVD set is the audio levels. The volume level on all three of the discs is rather soft, so you have to turn up the volume quite a bit in order to listen. The "Scene Selection" menu on this set is definitely a little better than it was on the Voltron DVD sets. While this menu is still a little cumbersome, it's nowhere near as frustrating as the Voltron scene selection menu.For me, the best part of watching this box set is to see how the episodes were re-cut and edited for Voltron. Shots of people being killed, many references to death and religion, shots with blood, and beheadings were cut. Also, some shots were removed which caused the backstory for the princess to change. In GoLion, we learn that Princess Fala's parents were beheaded by Emperor Daibazaal 15 years earlier (when she was just a baby), and Raible (the royal advisor) had hidden her away from Daibazaal. In Voltron, it's depicted that the assault on the planet happened much more recently. Another major difference between the two is that GoLion has a much clearer timeline for the series than Voltron. In the long run, I felt that from the episodes I saw on this DVD, that GoLion was ultimately stronger than its Voltron counterpart. In this DVD set, you see the space explorers bring GoLion back, the death of Shirogane (aka Sven), the death of Sadak (aka Yurak), and the arrival of Ms. Hys (aka Nanny) and Prince Sincline (aka Prince Lotor).
The second best part of this set is the theme song for Beast King GoLion. The first few words are in English, and you get a nice little math lesson out of it: "One... plus one... plus one... plus one... plus one... Go!" (“go” is the Japanese number for five). The music has a rather "disco" feel to it, and you can't help but move to the song when you hear it.
While Voltron would be acceptable for kids to watch, I can't say the same thing for Beast King GoLion. This set is definitely being targeted at and marketed to the adults who had originally watched Voltron when they were children over 20 years ago. Teenagers might also find this set to be enjoyable.
Even with the issues I had with the audio, I would definitely recommend this set to any Voltron fan who is curious to see what the series was originally like before it became Lion Force Voltron. However, if you do purchase this set, be sure to watch it when younger children aren't around or after they've gone to bed.
I wrote this review after watching a copy of this DVD that my husband and I purchased.
| Escape From Slave Castle The Ruined Phantom Planet The Ghost and the Five Keys Resurrection of the Legendary Giant Fortress for the New Struggle Death of Shirogane the Hero | The Beautiful Princess' Battle Stolen Blue Lion Girl of the Land of Evil Secret of the White Lion The Red Rain of Hell Evildoing of the Emperor | Introducing Beautiful Honerva Crown Prince of Hell Overcome the Phantom of Shirogane The Legendary Bridge of Love Challenge From Space Footsteps in the Forest of Fear Bonus Features |
