Voltes V: Legacy - The Cinematic Experience

SUPERB CGI, SOLID ACTION AND DRAMATIC SCENES The first few minutes of the cinema edit feels like a recap.

It highlights how Ned/Hrothgar ends up on earth, falls in love and starts a family with Mary Ann, and builds Voltes V.

The three-week-long part of the series is compressed in one hour and 45 minutes, so there isn't really character development.

The action begins (literally and figuratively) the moment the five main characters don their pilot suits.

The Voltes V team members shouting the familiar lines as they fight adversaries, the V formation as well the robot's close-up mechanical transformation are all powerfully evocative scenes for this writer, who grew up watching the famous Japanese series.

Fans will surely feel nostalgic hearing "finger missiles," "chain knuckles," "ultra electro-magnetic whip," and "laser sword" during the giant robot's fight scenes.

Voltes V: Legacy is a visual feast.

It is easy to get lost in its superb visual effects, albeit there are a few hard-to-miss details that showed the limitations of CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery). One example is the cartoonish appearance of the Voltes V members while alighting from the launch conveyors.

The musical score pans out smoothly. You might catch yourself singing along or tapping your fingers to the familiar tunes.

The captivating CGI and the musical score are not the only highlights of Voltes V: Legacy - A Cinematic Experience, the cast, too.

Standouts among the actors is Miguel, who perfectly transforms into a brooding Steve, with the way he effectively portrayed the role and delivered his lines, he has truly grown so much as an actor.

Carla Abellana showcases her convincing prowess as an actress in her role as a doting mother and delivers in the heavy scene.

All I can say is, I was right in my initial assessment and prediction after watching the much-hyped mega-trailer (hence why I didn't watch it in the theater).

There are three segments in Live-action movies with VFX: the live action sequences, the CGI/VFX, and the combination scenes. The CGI didn't save it.

The sets and cockpits look terrible, like plastic, and the costumes look like cheap cosplay. The pure CGI sequences are okay (looks very much animated), but the CGI transitions, color grading and blends (still) look amateurish that in some sequences, you can clearly see just how bad the masking is. Dare I say it's only a few notches above Resiklo (later renamed and re-released as Transmutators), also directed by Mark Reyes.

And of course, the script and acting are all bad. GMA should have stuck with an improved all-English script, made it fully animated, hired better voice actors, and just released it as a movie trilogy.

I do feel nostalgic, having grown up with the series, the original anime was of course, not that great to begin with (it was the 70s after all), this is a leap in Filipino film-making especially the CGI, but, it is over-hyped. Sure, there is room for improvement. Lots of it.

Of course, there are people who laud it, but, they're not really being objective if they say this is well done.

Superb movie. Good job to those casts, directors, writers, animators, crew and other persons behind the camera. It is indeed the best cinematoc experience. Every person inside the camera appreciates the film. The cinematic effects are out of this word. I can't believe that a film like this was created by Filipinos. It is way better than the other series/movies been created in Philippines. The 2-3 years waiting has been paid. Everything seems perfect. I hope that that this film/series will be shown worldwide because it deserves to be recognized not just here in the Philippine but for the whole world.

Voltes V Legacy: The Cinematic experience is an intelligently cut, full movie encounter. With clips taken from the initial weeks of the TV series, the story of the movie revolves around Dr Mary Ann Armstrong. However, the excitement of seeing the modern interpretation of the anime classic remains high all throughout. And the fact that it is fully Filipino-made is a great start of placing the country on the map. The cast ably portrayed their roles, from the major to all minor characters, making the viewer experience extremely satisfying. Coming from a kid born in the 80's, tears were inevitable.

Here are my honest review:

Yehey: 1. Polished CGI is evidently showcased 2. Anime to Live Action Sequence is done without suffering the story plot 3. Anime to Live Action Characters are true to it's original form

Nay: 1. Acting quality of some actors and extra are kinda lousy and cringy 2. Normal sound effects for Episode 2 such as walking in the rocks, glass hitting sound and the likes are absent.

Overall Review:

The first ever live-action anime adaptation created by Filipinos and that is true to it's anime counterpart.

Overwhelmingly Impressive! Keep Surprising Us GMA!

Good for All Ages!