Thanks for checking! That cements my decision to get the MC set. All the "reviews" seemed to indicate it was dubbed and when the streaming version was dubbed I was somewhat surprised. At least *one* "review" of the streaming one said it was subtitled and they hated to read a movie while watching. I complained to Amazon that it *wasn't* original language after I finished my viewing.

I bought this set:
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Daima...imajin+trilogy

Released by ADV in 2002, letterboxed, Japanese with subs.

Found this mash-up video on one of my blogs. Pure awesome.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Tj1P1eEZRtY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

So far, I've seen two Star Trek movies this challenge, and both have been on TV. I've already seen the first one, and coincidentally enough, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was just on Epix 2.

Re-watching Babylon 5 for about the 3rd or 4th time. As much as I love Star Trek, I think I may prefer B5 to all of the Star Trek series.

Just finished watching "Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi." I think this is my favorite Star Wars movie. I know people make fun of the Ewoks, but tell me you don't tear up when the little guy towards the end loses his buddy and I won't believe you! It has its problems but when people talk about Star Wars, it's what comes first to mind.

Debating about watching the next 3 but haven't decided yet. I'm averaging about a movie a day and hoping to keep that up for the last couple weeks of the challenge.

How is everyone else doing? Hitting your goals? Wishing you had more time?

I'm enjoying the challenge very much. I wish it lasted more than a month, but at least there's still over a week left.

Just finished an old Buck Rogers movie, Planet Outlaws. I found it a hidden gem in Mill Creek's Sci-fi Classics set.

I'm going to slow down the next couple days, in favor of watching aviation shows. I'm doing this to get me hyped about my vacation in a few days, as the Fly In at Oshkosh starts tomorrow, and my flight flies out of Erie, PA on Wednesday morning. I'll be there till Sunday night, so will be in attendance almost the whole week.

I have not participated much since I watched the first 12 episodes of Robotech but last night, I watched Mortal Kombat (1995) for the first time since I saw it on the theatre. It's still way cheesy as I remembered.

I had a good veiwing day yesterday, starting with the last 2 Gamera films from the 90s. I also watched Riddick, Elysium, and On the Beach as well as finishing the first season of Stargate SG-1.

Riddick was "OK" but not as good as the previous films in the franchise. Like any Riddick film it has lots of action and Riddick pulling off seemingly impossible actions. I think it failed in that the whole story is essentially Riddick trying to get off a planet on which he was stranded/left for dead and that human interraction didn't occur until half way, or longer, into the film. I still enjoyed it but it's not the best of the franchise.

Elysium went in a totally different direction than what I anticipated (I'd read little about the film other than the basic premis). I had several questions about how some of the tech works but none about the film (is that good or bad?). Every time they showed a "shuttle" entering/leaving the "airspace" of Elysium I wondered just *how* they kept the atmosphere from escaping into space while apparently allowing free access to incoming/outgoing craft. I also wondered why they didn't offer the seemingly miracle-working med-beds to *all* people since keeping the Earthbound populace in good health would have been *very* beneficial to the people of Elysium on many levels (wait... does that count as a question about the film?). Of course if that were in place there'd have been no need for the film. Jodi Foster was... Jodi Foster. There's something about her I just don't like and have never really figured it out. She's one of those people who can kill a film for me just by being in it. It wasn't *quite* that bad this time but I'd have liked the film better had someone else played her role.

I'd been somewhat looking forward to a viewing of On the Beach as it's one of those 50s SF films I somehow have never seen. It was interesting and had a few good moments dealing with the impending radiation poisoning of those who weren't killed in the war and their various reactions and dealing with this fact as well as a event with some odd Morse code coming from a US site (when they already knew the entire US population were supposedly dead). But overall it was more a drama/love story with a bit of a heart breaker ending with a examination of the human condition as filler. I gave it a 6 out of 10 but may revise that as it's one of those films you really have to think about and possibly watch a few times to fully appreciate.

I still don't know what to think about Stargate SG-1. Overall it was "OK" but there seemed to be lots of cliche' and repetitive story lines. I truly got tired with seemingly every few episodes being about some disease the team either brought back to Earth or had to deal with on another planet. The four member team also seems pretty generic with standard tropes (wisecracking leader, tough-as-nails but pretty female, Geeky Archaeologist [who's not military], wise alien). I was also annoyed with the stereotypical "outsider" (either military or governmental) who's constantly trying to shut down the project because it's not "producing advanced data/weapons" that were seemingly promised at some point. The stand out episodes really made me wish the writers had a better handle on things and were a bit more creative. It *does* have excellent special effects. The season ended with a cliff-hanger and I'm trying to decide whether to continue now or just wait a while. After all, season 4 of Enterprise is calling...

I watched Sharknado today. Man, that was horrible but I'm glad that it's giving Ian Ziering and Tara Reid acting jobs.

All this talk of Gamera made me look for my DVDs of the Heisei trilogy, but I'll have to watch them on Roku, as I could only find the first and third. One Roku channel has the entire series minus Gamera the Brave.

After turning off The Brain Machine, I decided I was in the mood for some Harryhausen, so I put in The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms. I've always enjoyed that movie.

At least there was 5 weeks in the month this time! Have a good vacation, shadokitty.

Sounds like some good films are being watched. I just finished with "Willow" and while it was enjoyable, man, I didn't realize how hokey it had been/become. It wasn't too bad, until the end with the fighting and the dragon, but at that point...wow.

May put in an Indiana Jones movie in a bit as what sci-fi/fantasy challenge would be complete without him? Whoa-just looked at IMDb and allmovie.com and there isn't a fantasy tag for it! Guess it's going to be one of my wildcards. Odd considering the whole grail of the covenant thing at thing at the end!

Thanks LJG. While my challenge viewing will definitely slow down, I'll get in a few things while I'm gone, as I'm taking my phone with me, and it has Netflix and Amazon on it.

Started this morning with a deep and thoughtful episode of Ancient Aliens, about the Anunnaki.

One of these Julys I need to go through B5. I've heard so many good things about it, and I know the first season is relatively slow so I've started it a couple times and never finished.

My kids are resistant to the whole Star Wars thing, but they agreed to watch IV-VI. They also need to watch the prequel trilogy just for cultural significance but they've refused. We're going to visit their cousins, who are bigger fans, so I might need to enlist their aid. Also, there's a Star Wars costume exhibit in town that I want to see, but they need to see those movies first.

This has been a pretty poor challenge for me. I just haven't found or made the time to watch stuff. I still like it, though.

^ I have the first two seasons on Amazon Instant Video. Never seen it from the beginning though.

Just finished another episode of Ancient Aliens, about the magic of the gods.

I'm wishing for more time. While I've definitely been devoting too much time to the challenge (at the expanse of doing dishes and working on projects), I haven't made the dent in my unwatched pile that I wanted. However, I've been able to revisit some favorites and watch some truly great films (along with a lot of schlock). This is also about the time in the month when I realize that I'm not going to complete the checklist.

As for personal goals, I was able to watch all of the Harry Potter movies and am halfway through the six Star Wars films. I've watched the awful prequels and hopefully will never be subjected to them again. Now, it's on to the good ones! If my plans work out, I'll make it through one more franchise before the end of the month.

Your kids are awesome--and smarter than you!. Forcing them to watch the prequel trilogy is an act of child abuse. If you do so I am calling CPS (or whatever it's called in your neck of the woods) on you.

Do what you have to do, Ash.

It'd have to work hard to be worse than Supersonic Man or The War of the Robots I watched last night. Whew! Those were pretty rough... Sad part is I purchased a copy (a double feature release) in spite of the reviews...

You should. Once you get through season 1 it really starts to pick up.

I'm with Ash... *don't* make them watch those films. Let them decide for themselves. I sometimes wish I could un-see them... My oldest grandson likes them but he's only 11 - he'll learn (I hope). I finally convinced him the correct viewing order is IV-VI *then* I-III but I'm not sure he's not just humoring me.

My son, who I couldn't coerce into watching most of my favorite SF films when younger, actually *Began the line to get tickets* for the first film at the local theater. He and a buddy skipped school opening day so they could be first in line for tickets. Yes, we had all (both sets of parents) given permission as both were straight "A" students. He does not regret that decision although he's not *that* big a fan of that trilogy (something he'd have never admitted after that first viewing).

Hmm, I agree that they are poor movies and that everyone should see them once just so that they know that torture. I may rewatch them again this challenge. I'm still debating on that. I think for 2 and 3, I've actually only watched them once in the theater...

The last few challenges for me I just didn't have the time or energy to put into them as I like. But, I do think the break helped. This one I've been watching quite a bit, maybe not as much as some challenges I've done, but enough that I feel good about it. Sometimes you just need a break to re-energize!
Eh, who needs clean dishes, right? Glad that you're getting some good watches in, even though they are from the wrong pile!

I've tried this viewing order once and it works pretty well:

IV, V, II, III, VI

Notice Episode "I" is missing. Yeah... it's really not needed and adds little of value to the story. This order makes II and III a extended flashback of sorts just as Luke wonders how his father could become Darth Vader. It also makes the screwed up/modified ending of VI now work as you know who young Vader is. See this link for full details.

Exactly! That's why during July you use paper plates, plastic forks, and/or eat lots of takeout. And if you focus mainly on sandwiches you can use those plates/forks several times. Or just go hardcore and eat right out of the cans.

This was an intriguing read, and the author made several valid points. I wish I had read this before trudging my way through the godawful prequels - perhaps some of my confusion and misery would have been lessened. The author gives the prequels (especially the last two) a bit too much credit.

They are bloated, tone deaf train wrecks that can only be praised for expertly melding crushing boredom with spastic energy. Almost everything about them shows poor decision-making and apathy that can only come from a potent combination of money and hubris. It's like the creative team heard that there were things called "movies" and that some of them were called "Star Wars" and that some people loved "Star Wars" but didn't understand any of the emotions behind this.

Okay, perhaps I'm being hyperbolic, because I felt one genuine emotion during The Phantom Menace. When Queen Amidala brings the vote of no confidence to the Senate, Chancellor Valorum collapses into his seat, looking sad and bewildered. In those few, precious seconds a character reacted in a human way. The character is not important and only appears briefly, but for those few seconds I cared about a character in the film.

If ya'll haven't already, check out Red Letter Media's fantastic prequel reviews. They get to the heart of the problem with each film and the trilogy as a whole.

Gosh, I sounded so angry in my last post. Sorry about that.

On a more positive note, I started two anime series - Cowboy Bebop and Robotech yesterday, and both are delightful. Both are often on "must watch" lists, and the discussion on the upcoming animation challenge made me eager to check them out. Cowboy Bebop reminds me a lot of Firefly, and Robotech is pure 80s anime goodness!