X Bomber (Ｘボンバー, Ekkusu Bonbā) (released as Star Fleet in the UK) is a Japanese marionette tokusatsu TV series created by manga artist Go Nagai, and produced by Cosmo Productions and Jin Productions. The show aired on Fuji TV from October 4, 1980 (1980-10-04), to March 28, 1981 (1981-03-28), with a total of 25 episodes (including the pre-series pilot episode), and was billed in Japan as being filmed in "Sūpāmariorama" (スーパーマリオラマ), a puppeteering process similar to Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation works.
Production information The show's opening and ending theme songs ("Soldier in the Space" and "The Drifting Galaxy", respectively) were performed by the Japanese hard rock group Bow Wow, while Kazutaka Tazaki (of The Bach Revolution) and Nakayuki Sakuraba (of Adbaloon) provided additional music for the show. The puppets of X-Bomber were controlled from below the set using rods, and as a consequence were generally seen only from the waist up. Whereas Gerry Anderson's series were episodic in nature, X-Bomber had an overall story arc, with sub-plots and new characters being introduced as the series progressed, leading to a definite end. Similarly, rod puppets were used in Gerry Anderson's 1967 series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons canned as "under-control" puppets due to their inability to walk-whereas everywhere else they were marionettes. Anderson would later use Rod puppets in Terrahawks.
Star Fleet X-Bomber was dubbed by English speaking actors and renamed Star Fleet for broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV. The show was broadcast there on Saturday mornings, first airing on October 23, 1982 (1982-10-23), the day before Star Wars aired for the first time on British television. Due to its broadcast slot, the advertisements shown before, during and after each episode frequently included children's Public Information Films. The series was also broadcast as such on first-run syndication in the United States. Drawing heavily on diverse influences such as Star Wars, Japanese Anime and Gerry Anderson's various "Supermarionation" series, the show ran for twenty-four half-hour episodes (twenty-five in Japan - the eighteenth episode, titled Bloody Mary's Promotion, was not included in the English version, as it consisted mainly of flashbacks). The English version's theme song was composed by Paul Bliss, and was later covered by Queen member Brian May and Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen. This was released under the name "Star Fleet Project". The screenplay was adapted for English by Michael Sloan, who in later years would create the popular TV series The Master and The Equalizer. Actress Denise Bryer ("Commander Makara") and editor Tony Lenny both went on to collaborate with Gerry Anderson and Christopher Burr making another memorable sci-fi series, Terrahawks.
Synopsis The year is 2999. Earth is at peace following the Space Wars. The safety of the human race is ensured by Earth Defense Force (EDF). Shortly before the turn of the fourth millennium, the peace is broken by the appearance of a gigantic alien battle cruiser. Powerless to defend itself, the EDF's Pluto base is completely destroyed and the evil Commander Makara reveals that the same fate awaits the Earth unless the mysterious F-Zero-One is handed over to her. Unaware of the nature of F-Zero-One and fearing retribution, the EDF presses into action an untested, incomplete weapon, codenamed X-Project, from its hidden moonbase. The X-Project is revealed to be a powerfully-armed spacecraft named X-Bomber. The series then follows the adventures of the crew of the X-Bomber, namely Doctor Benn, Shiro Hagen, Barry Hercules and John Lee who are joined by PPA, Lamia and her guardian Kirara. They set off to discover the nature of the F-Zero-One and try to protect it from the increasingly desperate Commander Makara and her menacing overlord, the Imperial Master. It is revealed that Lamia herself is the mysterious F-Zero-One, a powerful alien destined to bring peace to the galaxy at the turn of the millennium. The series continues with Lamia gradually discovering her true nature and powers while the Imperial Alliance attempts to capture her and destroy the X-Bomber. The series climaxes with the X-Bomber crew destroying Commander Makara and Lamia finally confronting and defeating the Imperial Master and bringing peace to the universe.
Episodes
Some Episodes for the English version of the series were either renamed to fit the changes made or badly translated from the original titles. Although the episodes were not officially named during the original series' run, the English DVD release confirms their titles.
Voice cast
The English cast list of Star Fleet was relatively small, with most voice actors doing the extra voices in the series as well. Credits were only made based on the main characters who appeared in the first episode, with the credits being reused each episode afterwards. As a result, Al Matthews was uncredited from his role later in the series. Three of the English-language voice actors (Benedict, Rolston and Matthews) would later appear in the 1986 sci-fi horror film Aliens.
Crew Planned and Produced by Kimio Ikeda and Keisuke Fujikawa Created by Gou Nagai Serialized in Shogakukan's TV-Kun and Other Learning Magazines Written by Keisuke Fujikawa Music by Bow Wow, Kazutaka Tasaki and Nobuyuki Sakuraba Theme Songs "Soldier in the Space" and "Galaxy Drifting" Lyrics by Keisuke Fujikawa Music Kyoji Yamamoto Arranged by Bach Revolution Performed by Bow Wow Directed by Michio Mikami, Akira Takahashi, Kiyotaka Matsumoto and Noriyasu Ogami
Staff Camera Operator: Ryuji Kawasaki Lighting Cameraman: Yoichi Takahashi Production Designers: Akira Takahashi, Kyoko Heya and Shinichi Noro Puppets Operator: Fumiaki Hayashi Assistant Directors: Kiyotaka Matsumoto, Tetsuhiro Matori and Tadaaki Kozen Audio Director: Sadayoshi Fujino Scripter Girl: Yoshiko Hori Editor: Yoshihiko Yamamoto (Araki Prod.)
Visual effects unit Directors of Visual Effects Kiyotaka Matsumoto and Yasumasa Abe Director of Photography Yasumasa Abe Lighting Masao Tsuchida Art Director Minoru Ohashi Practical Effects GIVS Assistant Director Hitoshi Ueda Compositing by Japan Visual Creation
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