SABER RIDER
The title character in the American version of the series, Saber Rider was the captain of the Ramrod Equalizer Unit. He was a young man, yet was described as "legendary" for his skills and marksmanship. Saber Rider hailed from the Scottish Highlands, and was an expert with both swords and horses. He was generally depicted as being a gentleman with a cool head for tactics and decisions.
Saber (occasionally referred to as 'Top Sword' in the American Version) often rode a robotic horse named Steed, which had high-powered thrusters and the ability to fly, run, and function in space.
FIREBALL
Fireball once was a race car driver and the youngest champion of all time. Fireball serves as the pilot of the Ramrod Unit and also controls the chest cannons and heavy weaponry located in Ramrod's chest region. He drives a race car he calls Red Fury Racer/Turbo, which is armed with an extensive arsenal of weapons. He has a somewhat quick temper and at one time boasted of his perfect memory.
COLT
Colt was introduced in the series as a bounty hunter on the trail of Vanquo, an Outrider spy. He holds an almost infallible accuracy with firearms and serves as the gunner on board Ramrod, controlling the six-iron while Fireball controls the chest cannons. His character is depicted as somewhat of a loner, but also as an outrageous flirt, making passes (mostly unsuccessful) at nearly every woman he meets.
His parents were attacked and presumably killed by attacking Outriders right after Colt left to join a traveling rodeo. This event prompted him to become a bounty hunter.
APRIL April Eagle is the daughter of Commander Eagle, and the engineer who designed and was in charge of Project Ramrod. She was trained at Cavalry Command under General Whitehawk. Before joining the Star Sheriffs she was a professional tennis player. In early episodes of the series, April had an unrequited crush on Saber Rider, which may explain why in the WEP produced episodes, April has a robotic horse named Nova with the abilities of Saber's Steed.
SABER RIDER COMING TO DVD FALL '08's Details
Status:
Single
Zodiac Sign:
Gemini
SABER RIDER COMING TO DVD FALL '08 is in your extended network view more
About me:
VCI Entertainment and WEP are proud to announce the DVD release of Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs. Coming to DVD in the fall of 2008. You will be able to own all 52 episodes of this iconic classic anime series.
Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs was an animated TV series that aired from 1986 to 1989. The writer, Marc Handler,
was also behind Voltron: Defender of the Universe.
Originally a 1984 anime series known as Star Musketeer Bismarck (Sei Jūshi Bismarck) created by Studio Pierrot, it achieved success in Japan.
The series is set in the future, when humankind has reached the stars. There are many outposts and settlement worlds in the galaxy with Old West influenced names, such as “Planet Uma” and “Planet Durango”. There are also outlaws, bounty hunters... and sheriffs. Saber Rider is the leader of the Star Sheriffs.The Star Sheriffs are the special operatives of Cavalry Command, their main assignment is to protect the Galaxy from the growing threat
of the Outriders.
The Outriders are beings from the Vapor Zone Dimension, led by the powerful Nemisis, who have the ability to travel between dimensions. The growing threat of giant enemy Renegade Units forced the Cavalry Command to create RAMROD, designed and constructed by Commander Eagle, and his daughter, April Eagle. Ramrod Equalizer Unit is mostly used as a large spaceship (Vehicle Mode), but it can transform into a shape of 250’ high robot (Challenge Phase).
CAST LIST - VOICE ACTORS Rob Paulsen - Saber Rider, Jesse Blue Pat Fraley - Fireball Pat Musick - April Eagle Peter Cullen - Narrator, Commander Eagle, Nemesis, Ramrod B.J. Ward -Emily Wyeth Sincia Cam Clarke - Philip Lennie Weinrib - Colonel Wyatt Neil Ross - Buck Grimmer
NEMESIS A huge, darkly clad and masked being, Nemesis is the evil genius in charge of the renegade Outriders. He created the Vapor Trail that allows the Outriders to cross from their dimension into the human dimension and he is the mastermind behind their insidious schemes. In the last episodes of the series it is revealed Nemesis is a cyborg, and his consciousness also existed as the Nth Degree, a powerful computer on the Outrider's artificial homeworld.
Saber Rider is the only member of the Star Sheriffs to meet Nemesis one-on-one. In the episode "Stampede," the two faced each other in a laser sword duel after Saber crossed into the Vapor Zone in the wake of an Outrider ship travelling along the Vapor Trail. When Saber Rider was on the verge of winning the duel, Nemesis saved himself by emptying the oxygen from the chamber where they were fighting (Outriders do not need oxygen), rendering Saber Rider unconscious.
JESSE BLUE A somewhat unusual looking character with blue-green hair and a sarcastic streak, Jesse Blue was a promising cadet at Cavalry Command until he fell in love with April Eagle during a training exercise. When April rejected his advances and inadvertently embarrassed him in front of the other cadets, he turned against the Star Sheriffs and cultivated a personal grudge against Saber Rider, thinking it was April's affection for Saber Rider that made her refuse his love.
RAMROD Ramrod (voiced by Peter Cullen who voiced Optimus Prime in the 80s cartoon series Transformers) was developed by April Eagle (in the American version) as the technological "miracle weapon", with which mankind could oppose the Outriders. Although it can be flown by one person, the ship is designed to be operated by four people, each sitting in separate units that control specific functions: navigation (April), gunner unit (Colt), pilot (Fireball) and the commander/tactician (Saber). Once the transformation sequence is initiated the ship transforms into an enormous combat robot the Star Sheriffs sometimes refer to as the "Big Sheriff". The battle conversion to robot form is used mainly when the Star Sheriffs encounter the Outrider's form of giant robot, which is known as a Renegade or Desperado Unit.
Ramrod was named Bismarck in the Japanese version, hence the name Sei Jūshi Bismarck. The Americanized name for the battleship Bismarck, "Ramrod", possibly originates from a cowboy slang whereby "Ramrod" refers to the person-in-charge of an outfit, the leader of the pack, or the person who gets the job done.
A highlight of every episode is Ramrod's transformation from an airborne battleship into a giant robot. When the Ramrod Equalizer Unit undergoes the "Challenge Phase" it calls out its rallying cry in a heavy Western drawl, "Head 'em up, move 'em out. Power stride and ready to ride!" The Ramrod vehicle will transform into a giant robot packing an oversized six-shooter at the hip, and appears to be wearing a cowboy hat and a cape. In "Maverick Quick-draw" mode, an array of assorted cannons will be deployed at Ramrod's chest, delivering the final blow to send an Outrider "Desperado Unit" back to the Vapor Zone.
I just got mine yesterday! Alas, it is not the complete season, just the first 17 episodes. Still it's a treat! I wonder when VCI is gonna finish up...
