Though "Battlefront" narrates an especially exciting span of the Macross saga, production glitches and rush work, extent from Harmony Gold's original airing of "Robotech," detract from the overall feel of the fourth set of episodes.

The weakness of "Battlefront" does not lie with its story. The death of another member of the SDF-1's valiant crew and major revelations regarding the origin of the Zentradi should have made "Battlefront" one of the most exciting installments of "Robotech," if only the execution had been up to its normal standards.

Despite stunning transformations of characters in the previous disc, and touching scenes involving the loss of Ben Dixon, the American writers of "Robotech" misfire in this set of episodes. The ambiguity of Rick and Lisa's relationship is a telling part of the drama of the series, yet the writers often seem uncertain of what stage it's at, leading to some continuity errors from one episode to another.

Despite the fact that "Robotech's" animation was dynamic for its time, it is showing its age to a large degree. Harmony Gold opted not to correct the picture quality for this release, instead producing more episodes per disc.

"Robotech's" skilled cast delivers excellent performances despite some awkwardly written dialogue and ambiguous character relationships.

While the writing for "Robotech" has seldom reached artful levels, the scripts for "Battle Front" display a disproportionate amount of weakness. Some of the least believable translations surface when characters debate important issues. All of the arguments ring simplistic, and few feel authentic to the characters.

The violence and titillation of the source material was eviscerated for the series' American release.

There are few advantages to watching "Robotech" on DVD instead of VHS. The single-disc sets are merely repackaged versions of six original episodes in a new format, with the original sound, music and voices. However, those who spring for the deluxe, boxed-set version of "Robotech" receive a third disc devoted entirely to extras.

Too much Minmei! At some points during the disc, even Britney Spears would be more welcome than yet another rendition of one of Minmei's songs. Even worse, the theme song to her kung-fu movie is the egocentric, overused "Stage Fright"!

The animators of the source material paid enough attention to continuity to remember that Max Sterling smashed the bridge of Breetai's ship up in an earlier episode. In contrast the Harmony Gold writers seem to keep forgetting that Rick has fallen for Lisa and acknowledged the fact when trapped during the modular transformation. Yet in a later scene, Rick still tells himself he is fighting for Minmei.

Yes, Minmei and Kyle are cousins. Very close cousins. Remember that and you'll never need a cold shower again.

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