• Thundarr the Barbarian was an animated show by Hanna-Barbera that aired on television from 1980 to 1981.  I watched it as a youngster but only vaguely remembered it.  When I heard the OSR community was using it as a roleplaying setting at several conventions I picked up the DVD collection to jog my memory.

    Thundarr the Barbarian

    The opening credits were etched deep in my memory and were immediately familiar.  I rediscovered a great action / adventure show that didn’t deserve to be forgotten.  Thundarr, a barbarian warrior armed with a unique energy sword, rides with a mutant brute and a sorceress through what remains of the United States hundreds of years after a global disaster.  Civilization is in ruins, remnants of advanced technology are found scattered about and magical arts have somehow returned.  Thundarr and his friends travel about looking for people in need of help.  They fight off mutants, monsters and sorcerers as they struggle to protect the isolated and dwindling villages that are all that remain of society.

    Thundarr is clearly modeled after Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian.  Thundarr’s title gives it away but he also mimics Conan’s colorful epithets when surprised and shares the famous hero’s dislike of sorcerers.  Unlike Conan, Thundarr sticks to one favored weapon, his “fabulous Sun Sword”, and remains in his tribe’s furs.  Conan changed his clothes to match the regions he visited and liked a good set of armor when he could get it.  The principal characters of Thundarr the Barbarian always wear the same clothes but this is common in cartoons.  It makes the characters easier to recognize for younger viewers.

    Thundarr rides across the land with his faithful friends Princess Ariel and Ookla the mok.

    Each episode is its own adventure and those adventures are good ones.  The writers never forget their focus on action and don’t waste time with distractions.  Although there’s comic relief peppered though each episode the story quickly gets under way and moves through a tightly-written story that doesn’t let up until the very end.  The episodes seem longer than 25 minutes because so much is happening.

    I appreciated the early 80’s approach to action shows.  They emphasize the story and pack in plenty of action.  Character development is kept to a minimum so we don’t get long scenes revealing anyone’s feelings.  Comic relief is woven deftly into other scenes so we avoid long, drawn out bits that only offer dopey humor.  There is no irony or sarcasm.  The events and setting are played straight so the audience can take things seriously and immerse themselves in the action.

    Thundarr the Barbarian is not without its faults.  Hanna-Barbera was so worried about possible complaints from parents that they were afraid to depict violence.  In a post apocalypse setting where a barbarian often fights for survival it’s appropriate to have some halfway realistic violence.  Guns are replaced by awkward-looking laser wands, combatants kick each other instead of using the weapons in their hands and no one dies in a fight.  The post apocalypse setting is quite interesting but suffers from a lack of world building.  There is no explanation of how magic returned to the world or how some can use it and some can’t.  We see numerous hints about a society of sorcerers but get no information about how it formed, how it operates or how it recruits.  Even the genesis of Thundarr’s team is never mentioned.  There is an over emphasis these days on prequels and origin stories but it would be nice to hear even a passing line about how Thundarr met his companions Ookla and Ariel.

    Because of the shortcomings mentioned above, I feel Thundarr the Barbarian is ripe for a remake.  Even if that remake never comes the show is more than worthy of a few hours of your time.  I got my DVD collection on Amazon.com.

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  • Z Gundam movie DVD

    The first Z Gundam movie is titled Heirs to the Stars

    In 2005 the 50 episode Z Gundam television series from 1985 was compiled into a movie trilogy titled Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: A New Translation. I grabbed the DVD set when I saw it on Amazon.com but waited to watch them until my surround sound system was working. It was worth the wait! The movies use dolby 5.1 surround and, together with the full-screen animation, make for an awesome cinematic experience. Read more…

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  • Important characters from Z Gundam.

    Important characters from Z Gundam.

    Every mecha fan eventually reaches a point where he (or she) contemplates Tomino’s classic sci-fi anime shows. The potent concoctions of drama and tragedy mixed with epic casts of characters and intricate political maneuvers draw so many of us. After the roller coaster ride is finished we’re left wondering what to make of it all. Why did Camille Bidan, after so heroically defending his friends, have to end up as a vegetable at the end of Zeta Gundam? Why did everyone – I mean everyone – have to die in Dunbine and Ideon? This article is one mecha fan’s attempt to explain what Tomino may have been trying to get across to his viewers. Although what follows is the speculation of a fan from the wrong side of the Pacific Ocean I don’t believe that themes in anime are impossible for non-Japanese to understand. I’ll need to discuss some ideas from Japanese culture but what anime fan isn’t also a student of Japanese culture? Read more…

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  • the aura battler Sirbine

    Knights follow Shio as he pilots the Sirbine on his way to attack the Black Knight's fortress

    The Tale of Neo Byston Well (1988) is a 3 episode OAV that takes place 700 years after the events of Aura Battler Dunbine (1983). This time the story takes place entirely in Byston Well as no one has access to the Aura Road that was used so much in the first Dunbine story. I first heard about the Dunbine OAV when I was a teenager and have been waiting many years to see it. My enthusiasm was dampened somewhat when I saw that the subtitles, prepared by a group called Freebird, were truly awful. English wasn’t even their second language. My limited understanding of Japanese helped me make sense of the awkward subtitles well enough to feel like I wasn’t missing much of what was being said. Read more…

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  • Captain Harlock

    Now that I’ve finally completed all 113 episodes of Galaxy Express 999 (1978) I can understand creator Leiji Matsumoto’s ideal of heroism. Matsumoto anime has been entertaining audiences for thirty years now and I can understand the appeal. Matsumoto’s stories are full of strong heroes fighting against impossible odds but that’s not the whole of the stories’ appeal. Matsumoto is a person who tries to get to the bottom of the concept of heroism. What motivates a hero? What does a hero give up when he faces evil? Read more…

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  • Galaxy Express 999

    The main characters of Galaxy Express 999

    Galaxy Express 999 ran from September 1978 to April 1981 and comprises 113 episodes. It is based on Leiji Matsumoto’s manga of the same name that ran in Shonen King from January 1977 to November 1981. Many consider Galaxy Express 999 to be Matsumoto’s greatest work (though I prefer Captain Harlock). Read more…

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  •  

    In what will be the last of my Godzilla posts for a while I wanted to give a review of William Tsutsui’s book Godzilla on My Mind. However, the book is too painfully bad to give a detailed review. Discussing the contents in any detail would be too cruel a thing to do to this blog’s readers. The author has nothing worthwhile to add to any conversation of Godzilla. To borrow a line from Monty Python, this is not a book for reading. This is a book for laying down and avoiding.

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  • Advertising poster from Godzilla's 28th and (so far) final movie. It bids Godzilla farewell and shows him walking away from the big screen.

    Now that I’ve finally had the chance to watch all 28 Godzilla movies (and a few other classic Toho films) I can reflect on how the King of the Monsters and his career have effected me. Ever since childhood I watched Godzilla’s 70’s movies on television. I liked the movies but for years I didn’t really understand what Godzilla meant or anything about the context in which the monster’s stories were told. Read more…

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  • The Japanese DVD art for Godzilla: Final Wars

    Video Daikaiju came to my rescue again and supplied a great subtitled copy of Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). This is the 28th and (so far) final Godzilla movie directed by Kitamura Ryuhei. Godzilla’s Millennium Series ended with a bang with this over-the-top, thrill-packed movie. Read more…

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  • Godzilla 2000

    After much waiting I finally received my copy of Godzilla 2000 (1999) subtitled this week. I’ve been waiting to see this movie for a long time. Although I enjoyed it, it was one of the weaker entries of the six movies in the Millenium Series. Read more…

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