I happened to be browsing Japanese Video Site Nico Video/Nico Nico Douga and found someone uploaded a bunch of early test footage from the film. AFAIK, the only thing we've seen is the trailer (which is at the end) But we get to hear voice acting and see a bunch of clumsy model animation. Still a must see if you haven't seen it. I hope that's the case, otherwise I'll feel very foolish. http://d.hatena.ne.jp/video/niconico/sm10800448

Hey .. that was pretty cool! Thanks for sharing ... I hadn't seen the beginning bit before.

Very cool! I'm guessing maybe that was supposed to be the Snack J??? Thanks for sharing that with us, Cain!

The first part was one I haven't seen before either! Thanks for sharing, Cain!

The footage of the five of them (at the Snack J?) was new to me! Thanks for posting this, Cain! I have to say, though, that adding that scene to the rest of what I've seen (footage and still images), has me rather not liking what Imagi was doing with Joe's character. I guess it irks me to see Joe presented as some sort of low-life crook, and one who openly mocks the idea of a "facility for superheroes to fight evil spacemen" while twiddling his fingers, and then calls it a "scam," calls Ken "Captain Cub Scout" and says "the second this stops being fun, I'm out the door." This seems worlds away from the Joe who was rescued, taken in and raised by Dr. Nambu from about age 9 on, who's practically a brother to Ken, who takes the Science Ninja Team and its mission very seriously and who has burned for revenge against Galactor for years! Sure, Joe's often angry and impulsive and sometimes openly disagrees with Ken, but he has tremendous dedication and discipline too. To me, he's a soldier, not some kind of rebel/punk. Granted, this is all demo footage -changes might have been planned, and I imagine that Imagi's story was going to show Joe undergoing an inner change throughout the movie, ending up different than he was in the beginning. Still, it kind of bugs me... I think there was lots of scope for an interesting "Team origins" story that adhered a lot more to what canon there is about Galactor's origins and how the five Ninjas were brought together and trained by Dr. Nambu, but that also filled in many of the big gaps for this time period where there is no canon.

You said exactly what I felt, LB! I must admit I sat back thinking 'well, if that's what they were going to do to Joe then I'm glad it didn't make it...' Like the OAVs they seemed to go for a team made up as the need arose - not a team together from childhood because the threat was there. That changes everything we know about the KNT and doesn't allow for the natural affection and familiarity that I, for one, love about the original series. I know that in a movie you have finite time to deal with to get the story out there and a newly made team is easier to showcase than one that has a history that comes out over two years of weekly episodes, but surely they could have done something to suggest it?

Cool! Thanks for sharing!

Originally posted by green You said exactly what I felt, LB! I must admit I sat back thinking 'well, if that's what they were going to do to Joe then I'm glad it didn't make it...' Like the OAVs they seemed to go for a team made up as the need arose - not a team together from childhood because the threat was there. That changes everything we know about the KNT and doesn't allow for the natural affection and familiarity that I, for one, love about the original series. I know that in a movie you have finite time to deal with to get the story out there and a newly made team is easier to showcase than one that has a history that comes out over two years of weekly episodes, but surely they could have done something to suggest it?

Open the movie with either Katse and X (followed by mecha attack), or a mecha attack. Cut to UN or ISO meeting with freak-out. Either someone asks Nambu to deploy his team (again), or he introduces his team. Nambu VO as team assembles. Begin main plot of the movie. Plenty of scope for sequels.

Originally posted by green Like the OAVs they seemed to go for a team made up as the need arose - not a team together from childhood because the threat was there. That changes everything we know about the KNT and doesn't allow for the natural affection and familiarity that I, for one, love about the original series. I know that in a movie you have finite time to deal with to get the story out there and a newly made team is easier to showcase than one that has a history that comes out over two years of weekly episodes, but surely they could have done something to suggest it?

We think alike! I'd like to think a good story could be made of how Dr. Nambu's disparate collection of five young people (some indications of their various origins could be given via allusions in conversation or brief flashbacks) became aware of (how much does he tell them, and when exactly? When does he tell Joe that Galactor killed his parents?) and accepted Dr. Nambu's secret plan for them, trained for it and learned to both function as a combat Team and as a family. I could see there being some rivalry between Ken and Joe (especially once a pretty girl -Jun- arrives in their midst) and would like to see a story that explains just how their invidual rank positions (and vehicles, cover occupations etc) came to be selected. (I'd also like to think that Dr. Nambu thought he had a lot more time to train them before war with Galactor broke out, and that he had to send them into combat at younger ages than he'd ever intended!) This could be interspersed with scenes featuring a mysterious Katse and Leader X, showing hints of Galactor's origins and indicating its plans for global conquest... as soon as its feasible. Then, Galactor attacks something. Is the actually Team ready? Can they pull together and succeed? Anyway, this is all just hasty what-iffing here on my part, and I'm far from expert at what works on film instead of on a written page!

They could certainly do something relatively short that explains all of that. If you've ever seen the movie Up, think about how the first 5 minutes or so of that film conveys a wealth of background story. It's really amazing what they can do if they put their minds to it.

What I outlined could take maybe fifteen minutes of the movie, if that much, and all we need is for the rest of the movie to build on that. Joe could remember that Galactor murdered his parents, but depending on his age when it happened, he might not remember that his family was in Galactor. In any case, the movie could end with the team a few steps closer to finding out the location of Galactor's main base, the organization seriously inconvenienced, and so on. And costumes and vehicles should be based on the original designs, appropriately modified for the new decade.