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This page is on the "pilot," released in 1988. For other uses, see Robotech II: The Sentinels (disambiguation).
"Robotech II: The Sentinels"
Robotech II: The Sentinels, Episode 01
Robotech II: The Sentinels
Air date September 1988
Written by Ardwight Chamberlain
Steve Kramer
Carl Macek

Sukehiro Tomita Hiroshi Ōnogi

Directed by Ardwight Chamberlain
Carl Macek
Adaptations
Comic adaptation(s) Robotech II: The Sentinels Book 1
Novel adaptation(s) The Devils Hand
Episode Guide
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Robotech: The Movie
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Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles

Robotech II: The Sentinels was a movie released in 1988 on VHS by Palladium Books.

It was created out of the animation that was completed for the unfinished Sentinels TV series. The animation included footage from what would have included "A New Threat", "The Inorganics", and "Wedding Day", but also featured flashbacks to the original show - almost all of which were edited to fill a more romanticized context. Various remasters have been released over the years, including a version split into the intended three episodes and a version without the flashbacks.

Plot[]

Redesigned battlepod

Baker is attacked by a Zentraedi Battlepod.

Cadet Jack Baker is in the middle of a battle against Zentraedi rebels alongside the now-General Rick Hunter. Baker disobeys direct orders to stay in autopilot and Rick is shot down with Baker going to rescue him, again disobeying Rick's orders to stay away from him and regroup with his squadron. While attempting to retrieve Hunter, Baker is shot down by a Battle Pod, failing the test which is revealed to be a virtual combat simulation. Max Sterling praises Baker's determination but Rick dislikes how Baker disobeyed direct orders.

As Rick scolds Baker for failing to obey direct orders and to rescue him from the enemy, Lisa Hayes gets prepared for her wedding with Jean Grant and Miriya Sterling accompanying her, Minmei comes to help Lisa with her wedding dress and to make peace with her before the wedding.

During a press conference, the Robotech Defense Force announces their plans to form the Robotech Expeditionary Force for the Pioneer Expedition in order to travel to the Robotech Masters's homeworld Tirol to avoid a Second Robotech War on Earth, leaving the charge of the defense of Earth to Anatole Leonard's Army of the Southern Cross, Leonard vocally complains about the Expeditionary Force taking all the available Robotech weaponry to the mission. Col. Edwards is seen watching the press conference from the TV, smiling. After the conference ends, Leonard complains in his office to Rolf Emerson about the Expeditionary Force taking the entire Robotech weaponry to a "diplomatic" mission, leaving Earth vulnerable to an alien invasion, only for Emerson to retort the REF simply wants to employ cannon diplomacy towards the Tirolians.

Bioroid v Invid

An Invid attacks a Bioroid.

The story then cuts to the fall of Tirol by the Invid Regent, introducing Rem, a clone of Zor and Cabell, a Tirolian scientist who is investigating the connection between the Flower of Life and the Protoculture.

Exedore introduces the SDF-3 to Lisa, Miriya, Dana and Rick inside the Robotech Factory where a micronized Breetai appears to announce his desires to accompany the bride to the wedding. Meanwhile, Edwards talks about his desire to get revenge on Rick Hunter with a colleague who asks him why.

Max and Karen Penn, another pilot cadet, test the newly developed Alpha Veritech and their add-ons on Earth's atmosphere where Karen losses control of her Veritech (Miriya's Veritech) when she attempted to synchronize the Alpha with the Add-on but is saved by Max.

Later, before the wedding, Rick is visited by Max and Rick talks about his regrets and doubts but Max encourages him to go on. Rick and Lisa are finally wedded inside the new SDF-3, as Jack Baker and Karen Penn are accepted into the REF as pilots, Rick and Lisa go to their honeymoon, and Minmei accepts that Rick is gone and that she must continue with her life as she cries.

The film ends with the Invid Regess migrating to Haydon IV in order to continue her research to find the perfect species to involved themselves.

Background information[]

Robotech II: The Sentinels was a planned 65 episodes continuation of the original Robotech series, with animation by Tatsunoko Productions and a brand-new story written by Carl Macek.

Due to legal issues with Studio Nue and Big West, all of the Macross Characters had to receive new designs to avoid copyright issues with Super Dimensional Fortress Macross's designer Haruhiko Mikimoto. Ironically, at the time in Japan, Macross: The Movie (also known as Macross: Do you Remember Love) was being aired, which proved so popular that future Macross projects used designs directly from the film. This resulted in some redesigned characters in The Sentinels looking more similar to their original designs than their Macross counterparts, such as Exedore.

As Studio Nue owned the mecha designs of Macross as well, The TV show was going to only use MOSPEADA and Southern Cross weaponry, such as the Alpha Veritech as the main REF Attack Veritech; and the VHT-1 Veritech Hover Tank and VF-8 Logan as ground vehicles, since Genesis Climber MOSPEADA and Southern Cross were owned by Tatsunoko.

The Series was canceled after Matchbox withdrew from the project and the animation studio hired by Tatsunoko went bankrupt, due to the Yen/Dollar crash at the time. Only three episodes were produced. Because of this, the film set up more stories that were left unresolved.

The book Robotech Art 3: The Sentinels detailed the production of the series by the creator Carl Macek — covering all levels of production and story, as well as including many character and mecha designs. Because of this book, most of the plot details and twists within the series were well-known within the Robotech fandom, meaning that later adaptations decided to make most twists totally known to the audience, but still unknown to the characters, such as Rem being a clone of Zor, Janice Em being a robot, and T. R. Edwards being a survivor of Alaska Base.

The Sentinels' story is continued in numerous comics and novels that were based on unused but finished scripts made for the series. However, after the Storyline was rebooted, the novels were removed from continuity — the comic being continued on into Robotech: Prelude to the Shadow Chronicles.

Cast[]

Crew[]

Remastered Version[]

  • Digital Video Transfer: Digital Post Services
  • Restoration Services: Tommy Yune
  • Archivist: Billy Davis

Memorable quotes[]

  • Dana: "I don't get it, how can Rick get married? I thought that he already had a wife!"
    Lisa: "Dana, I think that you're confusing him with someone else!"
    Dana: "But mom says he's married to his job!"
  • Lisa: "See you all after the honeymoon!"
    Rick: "Yeah in about 5 hours from now!"
  • Regess: "My husband's ignorance and stubbornness are enough to drive me mad! He is in every way my intellectual and spiritually inferior, a de-evolutionized barbarian! And yet his will is strong. When I am with him, I feel his mind reaching out to me, trying to smother me. He is jealous of my evolutionary achievements and would pull me down to his level. That is why I have returned to Optera, the homeworld of our civilization, in order to free my mind of his influence. Now I see the path I must take. No longer will I be subservient to the Regent. The time has come to act on my own. If the Invid Flower of Life is to be found, then I am the one who will find it, not by blasting some insignificant little world into dust, but by tracking down the flagship of the Robotech Master Zor. I will go to Haydon IV and activate the Sensor Nebula. No matter where Zor's ship may be, even though it lies beyond the farthest fringe of the cosmos, the Sensor Nebula will find it. Then, at last, I will take the flower back from the thief who betrayed me, and woe to anyone who would stand in my way!"

References[]

Characters[]

Vessels and vehicles[]

Technology[]

Planets[]

Continuity[]

Songs[]

Other[]

External Links[]

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