Comparison between the American Version (represented by the German DVDs released by Anime House) and the Japanese Version included in the limited Seijushi Bismark DVD box-sets 1 and 2 released by Pioneer LDC.

Runtime of the American Version: 00:21:42:09
Runtime of the Japanese Version: 00:24:08:22


Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs is a 52-episode American TV series with a Japanese origin. The series combines Mecha-Anime and western-elements.
The theme song (performed by Dale Schacker) has a cult status and alwaysw brings back childhood memories every time you hear it.

Naturally, the series was also licensed for other countries: England, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Poland, Russia, China, and others just to name a few. The series was also very popular in southeast Asia. It was pracically marketed and released all over the planet so you can really say that it was a huge success.

The Story of Saber Rider

In a remote future humanity lives on the planet Yuma. Soon, they start to colonize other planets. The Galaxy soon is called "New Frontier". To maintain all the laws and regulations, humanity created the Cavalry Command to protect all the planets. The peace is disturbed when aliens known as Vapor Beings or Outriders attack the planet Alamo. Unfortunately, the Cavalry Command's intervention comes too late - the battle of Alamo ends in a tragedy. Both the Outriders and the Alamos lost heavily. The Outriders fall back and planet Alamo breaks contact with Yuma. 15 years later, the Outriders strike again. The humans are heavily ountnumbered and seem to have no chance. Their last hope is a secret project which is called Ramrod - a huge battleship which is capable to transform into a giant robot. The project is planned under the direction of Commander Eagle - leader of the Cavalry Commando's special unit "Star Sherrif". When a spy named Vanquo finds out everything about Ramrod they face a race against time. Star Sheriff agent Saber Rider is supposed to catch Vanquo before he makes Ramrod's secret location public. When his mission fails, Saber Rider forms an alliance with race driver Fireball and headhunter Colt. In company with Commanrer Eagle's daughter April they're able to save Ramrod and use to obtain and keep peace for the New Frontier.

The Origin of Saber Rider

The series is based on the anime series Sei jûshi Bismarck produced by the Japanese company "Studio Pierrot.CO LTD". In Japan, the series bombed, therefore it was sold to the American company "World Events Productions"(WEP) in 1986. WEP wanted to create a child-friendly series for afternoon television in the tradition of other Sci-Fi-western series such as Galaxy Rangers or Bravestarr. Therefore, they had to change a lot of things.

The Story of Seijûshi Bismark

It's the year 2069. Humans have left the earth to colonize other planets of the solar system. However, the peace they wanted to achieve recedes into the distance - the aliens "Deathcula" attack the planets of the solar system. The humans mobilize against the offenders and form a confederation to fight against the Deathculas. However, some sectors refuse to be a b part of this confederation and choose to fight on their own. One of these "mavericks" is planet Ganymed. While the confederation is already able to defend itself against the attacks, there's a decisive battle between the Deathculas and the army of planet Ganymed. The battle is lead by General Domes. Domes asked the earth for help but didn't get any. The battle seemed to become a shellacking when susdelny pilot Shinjiro Hikari steps in the battle. Thanks to the spacepilot's brave behavior they were able to beat the Deathculas. However, Shinjiro pays for his fame with his life. The following time of piece is characterized by the cold-hearted relationship between Ganymed and the earth since general Domes lost any trust in the humans living on planet earth. The Deathculas had to return to their home planet Meteus and then tried to rebuilt their army. 15 years later in the year 2084 the enemy strikes again and starts to attack all the peoples (who now live in peace with each other) of the solar system. The solar system cofederation can't protect all the humans on all the planets who are unable to defend themselves against the enemies. Scientist Dr. Charles Louvre develops a new battle group which is called "Bismark". It is a special unit which is capable to transform into a giant robot. With this weapon they now have the strength to fight back. The team consists of 4 high qualified and very different persons: 17-year-old Japanese Shinji Hikari, 16-year-old American Bill Willcox, 18-year-old Richard Lancelot from Scotland on his Majesty's service, and 15-year-old Marianne Louvre from France who is Bismark-designer Charles Louvre's daughter.

This information was taken from the German "Seijûshi Bismark" webpage.

Editing the Series

Names

• The series (obviously) was renamed from "Seijûshi Bismark" to "Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs".
  
• Almost all the persons, places, planets, organizations, and vehicles were changed / Americanized (for this, take a look at the chart below).
  
• Many of the places/vehicles/etc. were named after American words/cities such as Eagle, Yuma, Colt, New Dallas, Dakota, Alamo, and so on. Thus, they eliminated all the Asian-sounding names.
  
• By changing the names they also blanketed any connection to the real world. In the Japanese version the series takes place in our solar system. Because of the different names for the planets, the American version takes place in an unknown galaxy far away.
  
  Intro and Credits
  
• The intro as well as the credits are completely different. For further details, look at the main report of the first episode.
  
  Music and Sounds
  
• All the music for the American version was composed by Dale Schacker and has a "Wild West" feel to it.
  
• All the sounds were (gunfire, engines of space ships, and so on) were edited / added by the American company.

Story

The central topic of the Japanese original is an unadorned war where innocent people die.
Thus, the Japanese version is rather violent and (despite the humor) has a very serious and aggressiv undertone.
To form this into a childrens TV series they had to change this undertone as well as reduce the violence.
They also changed a lot of other things (either for the different American notion or other reasons), resulting in a completely different series in terms of story as well as mood and style.

• Diferent Background Story
  The background story of the series was completely changed (for this, read the paragraph "Outriders").
  
  
• Different Story of the Episodes
  The crucial course of the episodes stayed intact but had to be adapted to the American mentality as well as the American TV standards (some characters stayed alive even though they were killed in the Japanese version). This sometimes changes the whole story of the episodes.
  
  
  
  
  

  Shortened Scenes

  
  
• Violent Scenes
  They mainly cut out violence against human beings (especially if the scens show humans being shot, hit, or blown to bits). However, they also cut out drastic violence against the alien Outriders.
  
  
• Morally Alarming Scenes
  Morally alarming scenes (e.g. the consuming of alcohol, bad/aggressive behavior, violence against kids, kids carrying guns, ...) had to be cut out.
  
  
• Humor and Emotional Scenes
  Funny scenes (including weird facial expressions) as well as emotional scenes were cut out.
  
  
• Dialogues
  For each episode they shortened numerous dialogues. They did this in order to fit the dialogues to the American dialogues (which were more or less rewritten) in terms of length, timing, and lip synch.
  
  
• Various Scenes
  For all the episodes thes deleted various scenes (e.g. pan shots of buildings and places).
  These scenes probably didn't quite fit in the American storyline or were just not needed there.
  However, they mainly cut such scenes away to achieve a consistant runtime for every episode.
  
  
• Framecuts
  There are numerous cuts that only cut away a few frames and that would fit into the above-mentioned category. Lots of these cuts are probably a result of a faulty master or something like this.
  Every now and then they cut a few frames away to eliminate minor mistakes (e.g. a black screen in the middle of a scene).

The Characters

One of the major changes of the series are the characters. Especially the "leader issue" has far-reaching consequences for the whole series.

• Alteration of the Ages
  The main characters are older. In the Japanese version they're aged between 15 and 18. In the American version they seem to be way older.
  
  
• The Leader Issue
  The "leader issue" is one of the main differences of the series and concerns the characters Saber Rider and Fireball.
  
  While in the Japanese version Fireball (Shinji Hikari) is the leader of the Star Sherriffs (Team Bismark), the American version made his older brother Saber Rider (Richard Lancelot) the leader of the team.
  He's the leader because he's the oldest, most experienced and most balanced characters of the bunch; Fireball is a little younger and hastier.

They had to change several things in order to make Saber Rider the leader of the troop.

• Saber Rider now is the name giver of the series.
  
• Saber Rider also is the narrator of the story. In the first episode he introduces the series like a story by telling the audience what the series is all about. In the individual episodes he always introduces and ends the story. This makes him a person of authority which makes it easier to accept him as the leader.
  
• Whenever Fireball gives orders or commands, they tried to cut these out as often as possible or just replaced them by orders/commands given by Saber Rider.
  
• Even though Saber Rider often rather stays on the sideline, he still very often is a conversational topic and gives orders.

Even though they really tried to cover up Fireball's position as the leader of the group, it still doesn't work every time.
Fireball still is a way too dominant character. He mostly assumes control and almost constantly gets the final word for important decisions. Additionally, he's always standing in the front while Saber Rider can rather be seen in the far right.

Additional Changes of the Characters

• In the Japanese version, April Eagle (Marianne Louvre) is 15 years old and therefore acts more childlike and emotional than the other characters. In the American version she seems to be a little more mature.
  
  
• Archenemy Jesse Blue (Perios) is not a human being in the Japanese version, he's an Outrider (Deathcula) and also their security chief.
  In the American version he's an arrogant ex-cadet of the Star Sherriffs who fell in love with April Eagle. Because of injured pride and rejection he leaves the team and defects to the Outriders. He wants to prove to April that he's a good fighter. This background story is told in 2 additional episodes that were exclusively produced for the American version.
  
  
  
  
  The Outriders (Japanese: Deathcula)
  
• In the Japanese version, the Outriders are an intelligent and brutal alien race who want to conquer the human galaxy.
  
• In the American version teh Outriders are rather stupid. They often have sily conversations along with dumb-sounding voices (one example would be a scene where one Outrider asks another one what time it is. The other Outrider replies that he doesn't know the time since he doesn't know how to read a clock.).
  
• The Outriders are said to be "phantom beings" who don't die but rather jump back to their own dimension every time they're wounded/shot. The American version underlines this fact by several dialogues that talk about this ability.
  This change suggests that the Outriders can't die. This also means that it doesn't matter how many Outriders are killed in each episode. This makes the American version a little less menacing than the Japanese version.
  
• The reasons to why the Outriders attach the humans is rather ridiculous:
  
• In the Japanese version, the Outriders want to conquer a new habitat since their home planet was completely destroyed and exploited. Additionally they want revenge for their critical defeat.
  
• In The American version the Outriders attack the humans just for fun.
  Since the Outriders neither have feelings nor fun they want to win a war against the humans in order to find out what fun is.

The Dubbing

The dubbing is the key element of the changes as well as the censorship of the series. Due to the change of names and the plot as well as the censorship, most of the dialogues had to be re-written. Some dialogues were just rephrased, while several were mitigated / changed in order to make them funnier than in the Japanese version. Other dialogues were completely changed. The American version also offers dialogues where the Japanese version is just silent. Most of these additional dialogues are just for the sake of fun.


Censorship via Dubbing
With the help of the dubbing the characters sometimes say things that are included to censor the series. These dialogues are mostly very conspicuous and one of the series' trademarks.

• One of the best examples are the stupid dialogues of the Outriders (for a more detailed description, read the paragraph "Outriders").
  
• Humans are never killed but shot with capture guns (they often switch their guns to a torpidity-mode).
  
• If any secondary characters die in the Japanese version, the American version usually contains dialogues that "save" them from death (such as "He's just unconscious but not heavily injured.").
  
• Every time the Outriders attack, they only destroy remote-controlled cars or emptiy / evacuated buildings.
  
  
  
  
  

  Miscellaneous

  
  
• Deleted Episodes
  5 Japanese episodes were completely deleted since they didn't fit in the concept / idea of the American producers. Two of these episodes include a character named "Captain Holiday" who's constantly drunk.
  
  
• Added Episodes
  6 episodes were exclusively produced for the American version. The drawings are a little worse than those of the original episodes and are include a very stereotypical Wetern community by e.g. also including native Americans.
  
  
• Inserted Scenes
  A regular method was to include scenes from other episodes. Most of the time they added some dialogue-scenes to feature characters that were originally not included at this point in the Japanese version of the episode. Many of these scenes are rather irrelevant for the story and often just inlcude funny dialogues.
  
  
  
• Altered Order
  For the American version they altered the order of the episodes. One can only spaculate to why they did this. Maybe the storyline was the main reason for this akteration. In the first two thirds of the episodes, Commander Gattler is the opponent of the Star Sheriffs. In the last third you only have Jesse Blue as the main villain. By changing the order of the scenes, the series seems to have a little more variety, however, this also carries problems. During the episodes with Jesse Blue, Commander Eagle originally was taken hostage - not so in the episodes with Commander Gattler.
  Additionally, there are episodes including Gattler that take place after his last appearance in the episode "Gattler's Last Stand". Even though they could explain this inconsistency by saying that the Outriders don't die but just warp back to their own dimension - then again, if that's the case, why did they call the episode "Gattler's Last Stand"? This just causes confusion.
  
  For the German version (which is the main source of this report) they used the original Japanese order of the episodes. Only the 6 episodes that were exclusively produced for the American version were not included in a sensible way but rather just included after the last epsiode. For the DVD they remedied this mistake.
  
  
  
• Inserted Transitions
  The American version regularly fades from one scene to the next one. In the Japanese version this happens way less frequently / not at all.

Animated Transitions
In the American version there are 2 types of transitions:

• Sword-Transition

A transition-effect that pays tribute to the titular character.

• Transition

This type of transition moves fast from right to left / left to right. Depending of the direction of the movement, the transition is either green or brown. This type of transition originates from the Japanese version, however, there it occurs way less frequently.

• Non-Animated Transitions

Most of the transitions are just regular transition effects that you know from movies.

Examples:

The DVD

Saber Rider

• In the years 2003/04 the complete season was released as a DVD box-set with 10 DVDs. In april 2007 they also released a limited collector's edition that included pewter figures of the main characters.
  After this limited box-set was (almost) out of print, they released yet another edition of the series in september 2009. It was released in 2 different boxes (each including 5 DVDs).
  
• In the USA they at first released a "Best Of" DVD, including 10 episodes of the series. Then in november 18th, 2008, they startet releasing the complete series in 3 different box-sets. Finally, in October 2009, they also released a complete box-set (including 6 DVDs) with all the episodes in 1 box.
  
• In the UK they momentarily just sell a DVD that includes 4 episodes.

Seijûshi Bismark
The Japanese original was released in 2 seperate DVD-boxes as a limited edition in Japan.
Unfortunately they don't include any subtitles and have so far only been released in Japan. By now, these DVD-boxes are very rare and unbelievably expensive. So far, there are no future plans to release the series in any other country.

Comparison of the Names

You now will see a list of the most important characters along with their names in both versions.

Japanese Version:	American Version:
Deathcula	Outrider
Team Bismark	Star Sheriffs
Solar System Confederation	New Frontier
Planet Earth	Planet Yuma
Planet Ganymed	Planet Alamo
Shinji Hikari	Fireball
Richard Lancelot	Saber Rider
Bill Wilcox	Colt
Marianne Louvre	April
Chales Louvre	Commander Eagle
General Domes	King Jarred
Hyuza	Nemesis
Perios	Jesse Blue
Zatora	Gattler
Bismark	Ramrod
Road Leon	Red Fury Racer
Donatello	Steed
Arrow Striker	Broncobuster

Comparison of the Images

The Japanese version has a better image quality than the American version.
For this comparison, the images come from the German and the Japanese DVD. Generally, the image of the German DVD is more blurred and paler. Additionally, the German DVD includes interlace flickers (resulting from a bad transition from NTSC to PAL) which are very apparent when you watch the DVDs.

Japanese DVD:	German DVD:

Conclusion

It's not easy to say which of the versions is the better one. The Japanese version is more complex, more serious and more realistic than the American version. The American version tones down the violence and pretty much erased death from the series. There are a few plotholes which most of the time result from all the alterations from the American version. However, the great dubbing of Saber Rider as well as the music are a great advantage of the American version. Still, the Japanese version has quite a good soundtrack as well.

So, it pretty much is a matter of your own taste, so check out both versions and make up your own mind.

If you want to have more information on Saber Rider and Seijûshi Bismark, there are plenty of webpages to choose from.


We would like to thank the following webpages for supplying us with background information about both of the series, covers, and translations for this report:

• Yuma City
  
• Seijushi Bismark
  
• Saber Rider Kreativ Portal

Note:

• The time designations refer to the Japanese version.
  
• To ensure a comparison that is frame-exact, the version was converted from NTSC to PAL.
  
• The Japanese titles of the episodes will be translated - therefore, they might not be 100% accurate.
  
• Framecuts up to 5 frames will be ignored for the reports - after all, they're already very extensive; including every single difference would just simply break the mold. However, if any of these cuts include important footage, they (of course) will be mentioned.
  
• Both versions always include a little preview of the following episode. These previews won't be mentioned in the reports.

Plot Differences in Episode 4

This time the differences concerning the stories are not that extensive.

In the Japanese version, Fireball is appointed captaion of Ramrod.

In the Japanese version the story takes place in the magma power stations and in Saber Rider it takes place in a cavalry outpost.

The Intro

00:00:00
Runtime of the Japanese intro: approx. 1.43 min
Runtime of the American intro: approx. 1.29 min
If you want to have a look at a more detailed comparison of the intros then have a look at the report about episode 1.
14 sec.

Title of the Episode

In the Japanese version, the title of the epsiode is shown during an additional scene right after the intro. In the American version the title of the episode is shown during the beginning of the episode. The Japanese version is 5 seconds and 24 frames longer.

Seijushi Bismark

Saber Rider

5 sec. and 24 frames

The Pursuit of the Iguana

02:17:04-02:20:18
While Colt sneaks up to the iguana, the animal jumps up twice. The time in between the 2 jumps was shortened from 3.5 seconds to 21 frames. Therefore, Saber Rider is about 2.5 seconds shorter than Seijushi Bismark.
2.5 sec.

02:39:12-02:44:11
From a distance you can see how Colt runs after the iguana. In the Japanese version Colt at first is not on the screen - he enters it from the right. In Saber Rider Colt is already on the screen when the scene starts. They cut about 1.5 seconds out.
1.5 sec.

02.58.15
At this point you see the good old Saber Rider transition. The Japanese version directly cuts to the next scene.
+2 sec.

03:17:10-03:20:08
Colt approaches Fireball and Saber Rider. The scene is about 1 second shorter. In the Japanese version Colt at first is not on the screen but enters it from the right. In Saber Rider he's already on the screen.
1 sec.

04:27:13-04:29:10
Fireball scratches the back of his head a little longer since Saber Rider and Colt talk a little longer in the background.
+1.5 sec.

04:47:12
At this point they added a different dissolve. This dissolve technique and the Saber Rider transition are the most frequently used dissolves of the whole series.
+1 sec.

Flight to the Outpost

04:51:21-04:55:23
You see Ramrod's control room and the 4 main characters. Each of them has a short dialogue. In the Japanese version this scene lasts 6 seconds. In Saber Rider they cut out 4 seconds. Only Saber Rider speaks. He asks the others if they're ready.
4 sec.

Added Scenes
04:51:21
After the previous cut the American producers added 3 scenes of dialogue of Colt, Fireball, and Saber Rider (they originate from this episode). The 3 scenes were slightly shortened and then added to this point.
To Saber Rider's question, Colt and Fireball respond that they're more than ready. Saber Rider then tells Fireball to start the engines. At this point, the Japanese version continues and Fireball starts Ramrod. Saber Rider at this point is 4 seconds longer.
+4 sec.

05.22.04-05.25.10
You don't see Fireball turning to Colt and issuing a command.
3.25 sec.

Added Scene
05.22.04
Again, they added scenes of dialogue from this episode.
Saber Rider: "Then kindly engage your Winchester tracking controls."
At this point, the Japanese version continues where Colt takes the order from Fireball. Since they cut the "original" order out it looks like Saber Rider was the one to tell Colt what to do. Again, they tried to underline Saber's position.
+3 sec.

05.41.09-05.46.19
April's dialogue is 6 frames shorter.
6 frames

Postponed/Shortened Scene
06.04.24-06.13.11
This scene was shortened to 1.5 seconds and postponed to 04:51:21. Saber Rider's version of this scene is 7 seconds shorter. However, at the point where they added the scene, Saber Rider logically is 1.5 seconds longer (which was already mentioned).
7 sec.

06.15.12-06.16.11
A short scene of Fireball just before the landing.
1 sec.

Added Scene
Instead of the shot of Fireball you in the American version see a scene which was originally shown at 05.46.21-05.50.20.
Saber Rider: "All right. Let's go see what we're up against.“
The scene was shortened to 2.5 seconds.
+2.5 sec.

06.16.12-06.23.12
The tracking shot outside the outpost is about 1 second shorter towards the end.
1 sec.

07.34.02-07.39.01
A tracking shot over the destroyed building was shortened.
5 sec.

The Ambush

07.47-23-07.49.15
The Star Sheriffs are being shot at from ambush. They can only save themselves by jumping out of the firing line. There's a missing close-up shot of Colt lying on April. The camera zooms out a little. April shouts something. The American version continues when April addresses Colt. They probably cut the scene away because April's scream is rather childish. In Saber Rider she seems to be a little more mature.
2.75 sec.

07.55.22-07.58.06
The Star Sherrifs are being shot at from ambush. You don't see Colt and April rolling over the floor to dodge the shots. In saber rider you only see their last roll.
2.25 sec.

08.15.10-08.15.22
Now follows a shootout with the Outriders. Fireball takes shelter behind a wall. When the wall is shot into pieces you don't see Fireball's weird facial expression.
0.5 sec.

09.03.00-09.04.03
Colt gives the others cover and is being shot at. Before he dodges the shots, he makes a stupid facial expression.
1 sec.

09.06.10-09.07.11
One of the Outriders is hit in the face. In the Japanese version you see the shot and the Outrider falling to the ground.
1 sec.

09.57.17-09.59.19
You don't see Saber Rider hitting an Outrider's head with his sword. However, they did include the scene where he splits the Outrider in half.
2 sec.

10.07.19-10.09.01
From off screen you an hear the Outrider being hit by Saber Rider's sword. You don't see the Outrider falling to the ground in slow motion - the sword is sticking in his heart. When he falls to the ground, the American version continues.
1.25 sec.

10.12.01-10.12.24
Saber Rider pulls his sword out of the corpse. The body moves a little and the head tilts backwards.
1 sec.

10.14.22-10.16.10
In the Japanese version Colt says something.
1.5 sec.

10.29.18-10.31.24
Fireball jumps on the Outriders' spaceship. There's a long shot of the Outrider choking Fireball. However, you don't see the close-up shot of the choking and Fireball's head being pushed backwards. Fireball is able to straighten himself shortly. Now the American version continues. Fireball's head is pushed backwards again before he hits his opponent in the face.
2.5 sec.

10.56.02-10.56.05
When a space ship explodes you see the word "POW!!" written out in huge letters. The American producers deleted this scene for Saber Rider.
3 frames

11.10.12-11.14.16
This dialogue was shortened.
0.5 sec.

11.14.17-11.18.16
A short tracking shot of the building was cut out. Saber Rider says something in the background.
4 sec.

11.18.17-11.25.18
This dialogue was shortened. Even though we don't know the exact words of the original dialogue you can definitively say that the shortage was done due to censorship.
Saber Rider: "Vapor beings don't give up that easily. When we blast them it just sends them back to their own dimension. It doesn't help them if they keep trying."
This dialogue can be heard during this scene and the following one. This constant talk about Outriders just getting sent back to their own dimension is a classic example of the Saber Rider censorship.
1.25 sec.

11.46.15-11.57.15
The 2 scenes during the middle of the episode were cut out.
11 sec.

The Briefing

11.57.16-12.10.00
A short black screen was cut out. The following tracking shot over Ramrod was shortened.
12.25 sec.

Added Scene
They added a Saber Rider transition.
+2 sec.

12.59.05-13.07.05
A flashback about events from the first episode was cut out.
8 sec.

13.11.17-13.13.06
Saber Rider and Colt argue a little longer.
1.5 sec.

Toss a Coin

13.47.13-13.52.00
2 scenes where they watch the coin were cut out.
4.5 sec.

Added Scene
14.15.11
When Colt flies off they added a short scene. Colt starts the ship and says "Stallion Power on!“ Just as Fireball, Colt also has his mantra when flying off.
+3.5 sec.

The Quest for the Outpost

15.08.10-15.12.09
The end of the trackingshot as well as a short long shot of the outpost were shortened.
4 sec.

15.48.20-15.50.08
When Colt shoots the Outrider spaceship you don't see it exploding.
1.5 sec.

The Renegade

15.55.11-15.58.11
The Renegade appears in a close-up shot. Then it cuts to a long shot - you can see both Colt and the Renegade.

Seijushi Bismark
The Japanese version shows the tracking shot three times in a row. The three tracking shots aren't equally long. Colt says nothing.

Saber Rider
In Saber Rider you only see the first tracking shot and the last 5 frames of the last tracking shot. These 5 frames were added to smoothly fade to the long shot.
Colt: "This is great... That thing's getting ready to blast me and I'm stuck here like a sitting duck."
Saber Rider misses out on 1.5 seconds of footage.
1.5 sec.

16.13.07-16.16.21
The tracking shot starts a little later in Saber Rider.
3.5 sec.

16.18.19-16.20.04
The long shot at the end of the tracking shot is shown a little longer in the japanese version.
1.5 sec.

Added Scene
16.20.04
They added a Saber Rider transition.
+2 sec.

Added Scene
16.45.16
Ditto.
+2 sec.

17.47.04-17.48.13
The scene is shown a little longer before Colt gets in the cockpit/ready to fly off.
1.25 sec.

17.52.05-17.57.03
April's dialogue is shorter.
8 frames

17.57.04-18.04.06
7 sec. of dialogue between Colt and April were cut out.
7 sec.

Added Scene
18.06.16
Colt's "start scene" was added again. He shouts "Stallion Power on!"
3.5 sec.

18.32.16-18.36.02
The dialogue was extended for about 1.25 seconds. A part of the scene shortly freezes.
+1.25 sec.

Added Scene
18.36.02
Again, they added a Saber Rider transition.
+2 sec.

18.53.08-18.56.01
This scene is 7 frames shorter.
7 frames

18.56.03-19.02.20
A short scene was cut out. The camera moves away from the smoking mountain.
6.75 sec.

19.17.16-19.18.24
The Japanese version's scene is 1.25 seconds longer before Ramrod appears.
1.25 sec.

19.58.18-20.02.17
After Fireball hit the button, there's a missing shot of the brightly illuminated control room.
4 sec.

The Transformation Sequence

If you want to have a more detailed comparison between the different transformation sequences have a look at the report of the first episode. Since these sequences are constantly repeated, here's a short summary of the differences in this episode:

In the Japanese version you don't see any lightning on Ramrod. In Saber Rider there's lightning all the time. When Ramrod's legs are lowered you also in Saber Rider don't see any lightning.
No difference in time.

In the Japanese version Ramrod's hand and fist are shown longer. Additionaly, the fist gleams. The Japanese version is about 2 seconds longer.
2 sec.

Added Scene
The transformation of the control room was added in Saber Rider.
+14.5 sec.

The Ending of the Transformation Sequence

Seijushi Bismark
After Ramrod completely transformed you see a different ending in the original version. You see a close-up shot of Ramrod's head. Then follows a black background in front of wich the 4 characters run past it. Finally, there's a long shot of Ramrod (without any lightning).

Saber Rider
After Ramrod completely transformed you see a short close-up shot of the control room, followed by a long shot of Ramrod with lightning and a different background.

The Japanese version is about 9 seconds longer than Saber Rider.
9 sec.

21.32.17-21.35.16
The scene where the Renegade burns was extended for Saber Rider - for this they re-included a short part of this scene.
April (in the background): "Talk about a meltdown...“
If you look closely you see that the Renegade goes into pieces twice.
+2 sec.

21.44.00
In the Japanese version follows a dissolve to the next scene. In Saber Rider there's a black screen in between the fade-out/in of the scenes.
+18 frames

Seijushi Bismark

Saber Rider

21.44.06-21.48.03
You now see a shot of the horizon with planet Jupiter in the background. Then the camera moves downwards to Ramrod. In Saber Rider the horizon is only shown for 0.5 seconds.
3.5 sec.

Let the Iguana Go

Added Scene
21.56.20-22.03.01
At this point you see a dialogue of Colt. In the Japanese version this scene is 6.25 seconds long. In Saber Rider they re-included a scene from this epsiode. After 2.5 seconds you see Colt inside the cave with the Renegade waiting in front of it. The scene is surrounded by a white frame (indicating that this is a flashback). After this short scene the dialogue continues. During the whole scene, Colt has some very superb and moral lines. Fireball asks him if the iguana can do any tricks.
Colt sagt: "No but I've learned a few things. When I was trapped back in that cave... I found out what it feels like to be a little critter caught by a big critter. Now I know it's wrong to keep any critter that doesn't want to be kept - even a little (?) lizard. Surprises you guys, huh?“
Unfortunately we don't know what exactly he says in the original scene. The added scene has a total runtime of 5.5 seconds. The dialogue scene is 2 seconds longer than in the Japanese version.
Overall, this scene is 7.5 seconds longer in Saber Rider.
+7.5 sec.

22.33.06-22.37.07
You don't see the camera zooming to Fireball during his interior monologue.
4 sec.

22.37.08-22.38.19
The camera moves away from the characters. The tracking shot starts about 1.5 seconds later in Saber Rider.
1.5 sec.

22.42.21-22.47.21
Before the scene fades out and the credits roll, the scene lasts about 5 seconds in the original version. In Saber Rider it only lasts for about 1 second.
4 sec.

Saber Rider's Final Monologue

In the American version Saber Rider (=the narrator) always has a short final moral monologue. The monologue begins after Colt set the iguana free.
"The iguana never did get the sunglasses he'd been promised. But he did us a great service. He reminded us just what a big place the New Frontier is; big enough for all creatures - Great and small."

The Credits

A more detailed comparison of the credits can be found in the report about the first episode of Saber Rider.

Runtime of the Japanese credits: 00:01:19
Runtime of the American credits: 00:01:02
17 sec.