Voltron - DVD Releases

DVD Releases

In Australia, DVDs of all episodes of Voltron were released by Madman Entertainment as the 20th Anniversary Edition, Lion Force Voltron Collection. The original series was released in five volumes between August 2004 and July 2005, under the name "Voltron: Defender of the Universe". Each box is in the color and style of one of the lions with a metallic glossy inner DVD-case. Another three volumes of "Vehicle Force Voltron" were released between August and December 2005. Additionally a "Best of" 2-DVD set was released in November 2006 featuring five episodes from each series. Finally, a 24-disc boxset subtitled The Lion and Vehicle Force Complete Collection was released on June 24, 2009. Madman Entertainment has since relinquished the rights to the Voltron series and has since been re-released by Beyond Home Entertainment. Previous licensees of Voltron in Australia have been CBS/Fox Video and Manga Entertainment.

Prior to the release of the boxed sets, a promotional DVD was released for Voltron. It is packed in a threefold glossy cardboard folder. The folder features full-color artwork and text about the then-upcoming release of Voltron on DVD. The disk has an image of Voltron, and is labeled for promotional use only. It features the first episode ("Space Explorers Captured"), and several promos for other series.

In Region 1, Voltron was released on DVD in its original broadcast form and remastered by New York–based distributor Media Blasters in five volumes between September 2006 and December 2007. The volumes contain approximately fifteen episodes each, along with special features such as interviews with producer and director Franklin Cofod, and various others involved in the original and current productions. The first volume of Vehicle Force Voltron was released on December 23, 2008, as Volume 6 with Volume 7 further released in March of 2009 and Volume 8 released in July of 2009.

World Events Productions Ltd. confirmed that many copies of Voltron Volume 6 in Region 1 suffer from a manufacturing defect. The defect causes the disks to "grind", shake or freeze when played in DVD players. The manufacturer, Media Blasters, shipped replacements, but many of the replacements suffered from the same problem. The defect could be seen on many of the disks as a "water mark" on the back side of the disk.

Additionally, the Fleet of Doom special was released on DVD early in 2007, as an online Voltron.com exclusive. Fleet of Doom was a special crossover film where the Vehicle and Lion Voltrons joined forces to defeat the "Fleet of Doom" (Doom and Drule Empires). The special was originally released in 1986, but was never released in Japan. Media Blasters released Fleet of Doom on July 28, 2009 as a full retail release. A Blu-ray version was planned, delayed many times and is now officially canceled.

The first volume of the original series was released in the UK in 2007 by Manga Entertainment.

According to TVShowsOnDVD.com, Voltron: The Third Dimension was to be released on DVD at some point, but no release date has been announced currently.

Media Blasters also released the two Japanese shows that made up Voltron — Beast King GoLion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV — each in their original, unedited Japanese form, with English subtitles. Volume 1 of GoLion was released on May 27, 2008, Volume 2 on August 12, 2008, and Volume 3 on November 25, 2008. GoLion was re-released as a complete chronology set with all 52 episodes on April 13, 2010. The first Dairugger XV DVD collection was released on February 23, 2010, the second Dairugger XV collection was released on May 25, 2010. The third and final collection was originally scheduled to be released in September 2010, but was repeatedly delayed and finally released on January 4, 2011.

As of mid- 2011, Classic Media now owns the rights to Voltron on DVD.