1 A major disappointment
When I was younger I actually remembered watching this show on TV. I was big into star wars at the time and even though the music was sort of cheesy, I loved it. Naturally I purchased it the moment I saw it in stores only to be hugely disappointed. They had completely redone the music including that great TV opening theme that I loved. I then immediately grumbled at the $10 I wasted on it and then gave it to my friend's kid.
As for the animation, it was targeted for kids so do keep this in mind as you view it. As adults you will find the animation to be simplistic, but your kids if they are into Star Wars will love it. As for me a fan of the original, it was a huge letdown.
2 Not quite Clone Wars
Well actually I'm a fan of Star Wars, but I needed more than the original 3 or the new episodes. I guess it's kinda like Macross where I've been sitting awaiting for more continuity on the original series.
Star Wars is great because Lucas decided to also enter the animation market. I did buy this Droids DVD hoping to find interest in the continuity of the series. I like the fact that this series follows the pattern of the original movies. The characters are full. ID88 is in the first episode. As well as some of the non-essential characters. Even the restaurant owner from episode II is in this series. (The monster who looked at the darts and had four arms).
The other side of the DVD has a different series. I like that one better since it focus' on trade routes and more adventure. But anyways, other than the continuity, the animation is nothing more than Scooby Doo quality. I was horrified by the poor drawings.
But it's old and I remember watching this series as a child. So I guess this DVD falls more into the Kikaida or Robotech category of DVDs. What a horrid tv show but yet it's a little piece of your childhood memories. Much of the DVDs are, and for that? This price is worth it, the memories are priceless.
3 The second animated series from the greatest film saga ever!
:-)
I have read the reviews on line here at Amazon.com about the release of these first two "Droids" cartoon episodes, "The Pirates and the Prince" & "Treasures of the Hidden Planet" some I agree with, others I don't. I remember seeing this animated series during its original television run in 1986 through 1987 as I went from a 11-year-old boy to a 12-year-old pre-adolescent and I loved these cartoons growing up and I still do. I only wish that Lucas had released all of them instead of just two of them. These "Droids" cartoons take place between "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" & "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope" as we watch the developing friendship between C-3PO (voiced by Anthony Daniels, who played & voiced him in all of the movies) & R2-D2. Once again George Lucas is executive producer as he did with "Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back" & "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi" and that in part is what made this animated television series so good, because George Lucas is a great storyteller, creating great characters and a great adventure to watch those characters grow within the series, but he is no director. Any episodes of this wonderful animated series is highly recommended and a great & positive influence for children to watch.
4 PAY NO ATTENTION TO DROIDS
RELESE THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL, LUCAS, ITS MUCH BETTER!!
5 This cartoon isn't that good but little kids will like it
These episodes arn't that good. I use to have them on vhs but these are boring! Don't get me wrong I like star wars and c3po and r2d2 but this was stupid. But don't worry little kids will like it.
6 Pleasant Nostalgia, and A Bit More.
It would appear this dvd got a lot of negative reviews. But in all honesty, we should see it for what it is. I'm not exactly the most dedicated Star Wars fan. But the series was so successful, that people just did not want to let go of it. (Even the great Indiana Jones series was a continuation of Harrison Ford's Han Solo to some extent.) And so many years later, Episode I and Episode II were made, with Episode III not so far away. The point I am making is that less than 5 years after "Return of the Jedi" people still wanted Star Wars in one way or another. And this not so bad cartoon filled that need. Now to the subject at hand. True, cartoons come and cartoons go. But what I must say about this cartoon is that it moves along nicely with a lot of great comic touches. Anthony Daniels faithfully carries his performance as C3PO into this cartoon. And the episodes flow well with emphasis on character development and a story that flows well. Interestingly, the stories in this dvd are not bad at all. (So there is some good story that doesn't rely on someone or something getting blown up every two minutes. My advice is to give this dvd a chance. Granted, it's not the animated Batman series. (Arguably the greatest cartoon ever.) But if you want to take a trip back to the 80s, or if you want to see how people's need for Star Wars was filled after "Return of the Jedi," this really is not a bad way to do it. Give this dvd a chance. You may be pleasantly surprised.
7 Five Year Old Loved It
I got this DVD when my five year old begged for it. He loves Star Wars at his early age. I was too old to watch the original show on TV and remembered not thinking it was very good as a teenager. Seeing it again in my 30's I realize it was pretty bad. I left him alone with it after the first 30 minutes. But, my five year old loves the show. His only complaint was not getting to see favorite characters from the movies (including I and II). Long story short: I can't stand the stories, but my five year old love the DVD.
8 Droids 'R' Fun!
For fans of R2-D2 and C3PO, the loveable droids from the Star Wars trilogy, this is the thing for you! Whether you are old enough to remember enjoying these classic cartoons, or just now getting into the wonder of the Saga, you can do no wrong in picking this up and joining the droids as they have their adventures away from Luke Skywalker and the rest of the rebels! Your kids will love it!
9 Rip-Off!!!!
I used to love this cartoon when I was a kid so I was very excited to se it on the shelf last Tuesday.
After having just watched it now, I want my money back!
I mainly bought this for the fabulous "In Trouble Again" theme, but it is MISSING! As are most of the episodes.
Why does Lucas like to screw over fans so much?
Has he gotten so fat that blood no longer flows to his brain? What a pig.
10 Lucasfilm fails us again... sorta
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... maybe. As a kid I never really understood if these adventures took place before or after Episode IV, but I guess it doesn't really matter when we're only getting part of the series' 13 episode run. It's a shame, really, as they could have easily put the entire series on 2 discs or one that is double-sided. I'll admit, I'm not all that excited about this release, as the episodes will be edited and the opening/closing credits are to be dropped. I guess it's hard for Lucas to leave anything the way it originally was produced, huh? The price tag is the redeeming feature here, as these episodes have not aired on the Sci Fi channel for some time. Those expecting a STAR WARS cartoon will be sadly dissapointed. As a kid I never understood why the droids and ewoks deserved further animated adventures when what I really wanted to see were the further adventures of ALL the main STAR WARS characters, even if it relied on nothing more than the MARVEL comic stories or CLASSIC STAR WARS comic strips. Recommened for fans of R2 and 3PO, but if you're looking for Jedi Knights and epic space battles, stick with the live action stories. These adventures are kid-friendly, however, and adults in their 20s (like me) will get a lot of nostalgic value out of seeing these episodes again.
11 Doomed
The original droids cartoon was awesome in its time, but not awesome enough to run for two seasons. It originally ran with the Ewoks in a show called "The Ewoks & Droids Adventure Hour" with a theme song by Stewart Copeland of The Police. There were 13 episodes in all & also had a prime-time special called The Great Heep, which preluded the last story arc (which seems like the 4 Mungo Baobab episodes will be on the new DVD). At any rate, there was the Trigon Cycle, which had four episodes & had the droids with racers Thall Joben & Jord Dusat. They encountered the planet Boonta (the origin of the Boonta Eve Podrace) & famed bounty hunter, Boba Fett. By the way, cycle one isn't included on the new DVD. The second cycle (the Pirates & the Prince) involved them with miner Jann Tosh & the space pirate Kybo Ren. It ran for 5 episodes, but on VHS they cut the last one & they probably will here too. The third cycle, as mentioned before, began with the hour-long Heep special & then had four episodes that followed, involving the Empire & the truly fearsome Admiral Screed.
Either way, this is not it. It will be cut & gutted & have different music (no original opening credits). Would a commentary by Anthony Daniels be too much to ask? Most likely. In other words, we're doomed.
12 Star Wars DROIDS finally released on DVD.
It's great to see Droids cartoons re-released on dvd and whats even better is that they are in movie format.Not sure why some people dont like this, it makes perfect sense, as 4 episodes made up one story. I hope they release the remaining 4 episodes and The Great Heep episode real soon.
13 Finally on DVD
I'm not sure if the other reviewers have watched Droids recently but the episodes were actually made in story arcs with 3 or 4 episodes making up one large story. Ewoks was more episodic in nature and you could watch them out of order and not miss anything. So I don't see what their beef is with putting them together to make a movie, it makes sense.
As long as all the episodes are put out on DVD I will be happy I can stop watching my poorly encoded video files.
14 What a farce.
Man, I was really looking forward to this. "Droids-The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO on DVD? Sweet beans!" Ah, no. Instead of a standard DVD boxed set of the fifteen episodes in the series, we get, after years of waiting, a couple of poorly edited episodes stuck together and billed as a "feature film" just a few years after the same stunt was pulled on VHS. Hmmmm . . .
Seriously now: does ANYONE prefer these cobbled-together "movies" with about five separate plots to the ordinary method of NOT BUTCHERING the original episodes and packaging them together by season with the opening theme song and closing credits intact? Maybe if they made both versions available, but NO. We get stuck with the same crap that we can still get on VHS.
And as if this abominable amalgamation wasn't bad enough, they're not even releasing all the episodes in this format. Someone, PLEASE help me wrap my head around this logic. What possible reason can there be for not releasing all of the episodes, especially when half of the ones they are releasing, screwed up though they may be, were just released a few years ago? What is this, some kind of sick mental game? Will they wait until DVDs are obsolete and then start selectively releasing episodes AGAIN?
Come on, Lucasfilm, you're better than this. Almost EVERYBODY ELSE gets this stuff right; why can't you?
15 DON'T BUY THIS DVD
The droids cartoon in the 1980's ran for 13 episodes (along with the Ewoks) and had a prime time special called The Great Heep. This IS NOT it. This is the same kick in the teeth they pulled with VHS. They put four or five episodes together and call it a droids movie. If you want the best release of droids (or Ewoks) look for the old tapes from the early 90's that show only two episodes back to back. Even this was really lacking, but you got to see the droids with original credits and music. Why can't they ever do it right?
16 DON'T BUY THIS DVD
The droids cartoon in the 1980's ran for 13 episodes (along with the Ewoks) and had a prime time special called The Great Heep. This IS NOT it. This is the same kick in the teeth they pulled with VHS. They put four or five episodes together and call it a droids movie. If you want the best release of droids (or Ewoks) look for the old tapes from the early 90's that show only two episodes back to back. Even this was really lacking, but you got to see the droids with original credits and music. Why can't they ever do it right?
