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The
Zeroids come to life in the dazzling CGI film,
Zeroids:
Return to Planet Zero from Planet Zeroid
Studios.
See
our review below.
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The
film
was scripted by James Gillam, author of the
excellent guide to all things Zeroids, Space
Toys of the '60s. This full-color,
large size paperback also covers Mattell's Man
in Space, Major Matt Mason, and the Colorforms
Spacemen.
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The
Zeroids movie was made in 2004, and the DVD is
copyrighted 2005. As you can see from these screen
pics, it's a labor of love, and it's just dazzling. If
you still get charged up watching the old Ideal
Zeroids commercials on You Tube, wait 'till you see
this! The whole gang is here: not only Zerak,
Zobor, and Zintar, but also Zogg, the Zeroid
commander, Zemo, the red prototype, and the very
strange Zeroids Alien. Also appearing are Zogg's
accessories, the Spaceship later released as the Star
Team Starhawk, and even Big Max, the conveyor toy from
the '60s, that seems perfect for this movie. There are
also some newly invented characters, but it's amazing
to see these iconic robots in action. Lights, camera,
Zeroids!
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These
images of the film are all courtesy of
planetzeroid.com, where you can buy or rent the
film, play Zeroids games, see Zeroids in action, and
more.
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The
DVD case says "Voyage 0", and the disc is a DVD-R,
NTSC format. It wouldn't play in my DVD player, so
I watched it on my Mac. There's no talking, but
there's instrumental and some vocal music. The box
lists the bands as follows: Magic Sound Fabric;
Ulrich Schnauss; Lemongrass; FC/Kahuna; and Mark
Tucker. I'm not familiar with any of these atists,
but some of the instrumental music works well, and
lends a haunting sense to, especially, the scenes
of planetary landscapes.
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There
is a plot, although it unfolds slowly without any
dialogue, and the story is quite ambitious. Almost
too ambitious, because the 60 minute film ends, "to
be continued" like a matinee cliff-hanger serial.
Some of the scenes are more like videos, which makes
the story more confusing. However, there's no doubt
about what's up at the end, and the story drops off
at a crucial part. Why didn't the story continue?
Funding problems? Legal problems when Captain Action
Enterprises launched the Zeroids comic book (see
review on the main Zeroids page)? Who knows? But
Zeroids collectors will love watching this wonderful
film regardless. The website (see link above) lists
the cost at around $25 for the DVD, and there's also
a link to rent it. It's also sometimes on E-Bay.
Don't miss this great film.
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