Official Synopsis:
When his space shuttle is pulled through a black hole, astronaut John Blackstar finds himself crash landing on the distant planet Sagar! There, he is rescued by the gentle Trobbits, a race small in stature buy big in courage. Sagar's inhabitants are threatened by the brutal tyranny of the Overlord, a dark magician who possesses the Power Sword, one half of the powerful Powerstar. Blackstar soon gains the other half of the weapon, the Star Sword, and allies himself with others-the shape-shifter Klone, the sorceress Mara, and a dragon named Warlock-to bring freedom and peace to Sagar.
Our Take:
Blackstar is one of those cartoons that I remember more in theory than I do from ever watching it. I mean, I have a vague recollection of it existing, but I don't think I ever watched the show. It's not a bad cartoon, although it does borrow pretty liberally from other source material, such as Flash Gordon and the world of J.R.R. Tolkien. In fact, sometimes the show borrows a little TOO Liberally. The race of small, cuddly people named Trobbits? That's a bit blatant.
But overall, Blackstar is a fun show that should be a welcome addition to the collections of He-Man and Thundarr the Barbarian fans. It's filled with action, swords, sorcery, weird creatures, and that limited early-80's style of animation. It's not high art, but it's a certain amount of fun.
As always, BCI Eclipse's Ink & Paint brand has put together an excellent two-disc set for Blackstar, which includes a fantastic documentary on Filmation.
* Interviews With the Creators of Blackstar (48 minutes) - Eight of the show's creators talk about Blackstar.
* Image Gallery - A nice collection of conceptual artwork.
* The Magic of Filmation (33 minutes) - A documentary about the prolific animation studio. This feature is worth the price of admission alone.
* Commentaries - Two episodes feature commentary by Andy Mangels, producer Lou Scheimer, and storyboard coordinator Mike Bennett.
Blackstar is probably a better DVD set than it is a cartoon (although the show’s not bad), but the bottom line is that it's a great value no matter why you pick it up. As long as BCI Eclipse keeps putting together great cult cartoon releases like this, I think they'll have a solid fan base.
Overall Picture:
Movie: B-
DVD: B+
- Mike Spring
Editor
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