Rating: 
Summary: Prohibitive price
Review: Okay, so never mind the fact that producing a DVD has a set of costs having nothing to do with the production (writing, acting, other production values) of the original show for TV. Even still, GI Joe is a bunch of half-hour episodes. Buffy and Angel Season sets are an hour-long on TV and there are 22 of each a year. They sell for less than this GI Joe set. Plus, they have way more extra features. I loved this show when I first saw it at age 4, as I did Transformers, and mourned its death after the movie in 1987; what came after was awful, including the theme song ("Got to get tough" anyone). However, aren't both the realization that these stories are embarrassingly bad and the cost prohibitive to people who loved it once buying it?
Rating: 
Summary: Yo JOEEEEEEEE!
Review: This box set is an absolute must for anyone who grew up watching this series. They did a great job with restoring alot of the shows. The only thing that I wish they could have done was overlay a 5.1 Surround Sound version of the intro for the show.
If my childhood had to be wrapped up in a box to include shows from the past, GI Joe and Transformers would be right up there in the #1 and #2 position. I look forward to collecting more of the series as it gets released.
Rating: 
Summary: YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO JOE
Review: THIS IS THE HOLY GRAIL I WATCH it before i go to sleep when i wake up pretty much all day can't wait till season 1 part 2 comes out AND SEASON 2 AND REMEBER YOOOOOOOOOO JOE FOREVER
Rating:
Summary: YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO JOE
Review: THIS IS THE HOLY GRAIL I WATCH it before i go to sleep when i wake up pretty much all day can't wait till season 1 part 2 comes out AND SEASON 2 AND REMEBER YOOOOOOOOOO JOE FOREVER
Rating: 
Summary: Season 1?
Review: this isn't really a review. i just wanted to thank mr. james phillip bull for listing the episodes on the dvd. that helps me out a lot.
Rating:
Summary: Finally
Review: This release has been postponed many times since it was first announced, but it looks we will finally be getting it now.This volume should include the following episodes: The Pyramid of Darkness part 1
The Pyramid of Darkness part 2
The Pyramid of Darkness part 3
The Pyramid of Darkness part 4
The Pyramid of Darkness part 5
Countdown for Zartan
Red Rocket's Glare
Satellite Down
Cobra Stops the World
Jungle Trap
Cobra's Creatures
The Funhouse
Twenty Questions
The Greenhouse Effect
Haul Down the Heavens
Synthoid Conspiracy (part 1)
Synthoid Conspiracy (part 2)
The Phantom Brigade
Lights! Camera! Cobra!
Cobra's Candidate
Money to Burn
Operation Mind Menace
Battle for the Train of Gold
Cobra Soundwaves
Where the Reptiles Roam
The Gamesmaster
Lasers in the Night
Rating:
Summary: Almost There
Review: This was a set I had always wanted, and I am so happy Rhino finally put it out. The PSA's, only some of which were on the Movie DVD release, are on here, and that's the highlight and great to be able to show friends. I am disappointed to see that at least with the episodes I've seen so far, the 1986 opening titles are seen on "Season 1" episodes. I think partly because the 1985 version has always been a favorite of mine it's really too bad. (Do really need to see Serpentor, Sgt. Slaughter, Dr. Mindbender etc. on this set's opening titles if we don't see them in the episodes?) But still... I was so happy these are on DVD, and one COULD argue that after a while the syndicated airings always went with the 1986 opening. It could be worse. We could have gotten the "Got To Get Tough" opening ;)
Rating:
Summary: Season 1?
Review: While I am ecstatic that GI*JOE has finally been released on DVD, I am disappointed to see that these shows aren't "Season 1". If they are going to say Season 1 then they should release Season 1's shows!
Rating:
Summary: Yo (Bazooka) Joe
Review: While I preferred the TransFormers™ toys over the 4-inch G.I. Joe™ action figures & playsets back in my days of wee 'Norch-hood, I liked the G.I. Joe 'toon a fair sight more than the TransFormers show. Sure it had its usual array of silliness, hokey situations, scenes of sheer implausibility, and groan-worthy puns & "snappy" banter. But at least the stories weren't quite as preposterous, nor the dialogue quite as corny as the stuff I'd see and hear from those "robots in disguise". It also helped that there were a few genuinely funny moments here and there to go along with those of the "oh-my-God-he-did-NOT-just-say-that" variety.
Anyhoo, I found myself genuinely enjoying watching this collection of shows from the first half of G.I. Joe's first year, rather than sorta embarrassed like I was when I viewed & reviewed the TransFormers Season One DVD set (check it out at www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000063K17/qid=1094895477/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/103-6603244-2434208?v=glance&s=dvd) a little while back. Well, actually I liked all the eppies except the opening five-part mini-series. I thought they tried to cram too much into the adventure, and could have used a slower pace. And don't get me started on the "fatal fluffies"... yeesh!
Fortunately, the story quality took a quick upshot in the following eppies. Here's where I found myself treated to such G.I. Joe staples as jet fighters somehow managing to make 90-degree banks on a dime, the heroes falling several stories and/or off of high cliffs and somehow landing with just a few bruises, and every Cobra™ trooper hesitating a bit too long before a Joe lays a fist into his face. Oh yeah, then there's the unbelievably horrid marksmanship by the bad guys-- at least once per show you see the Joes charging some heavily-armed Cobra base/installment/what-have-you, and not one of the millions of enemy laser blasts fired at the good guys even nick 'em! The baddies musta' gotten their marksmanship training from the Cylons, hmmm? "Ruthless terrorist organization" my foot! And we mustn't forget all that property destruction by both sides with nary a fatality to be seen. Kinda like 'The A-Team', only more believable...
And we mustn't forget Cobra Commander™ (AKA "that whiny little b!+c#, as a former comic-shop coworker friend of mine called him) and/or Destro™'s umpteenth plan to rule the world and/or gain material wealth to try to buy the world, like Cobra Commander using a powerful laser weapon to-- wait for it-- carve an image of his masked visage into the light side of the moon ('Lasers in the Night'). Or Destro developing a device that incinerates all U.S. currency ('Money to Burn'). Yep, those bad guys and their scary contraptions sure made a mess of things that the Joes were somehow able to resolve in the space of a half-hour with commercials...
On the upside, I rediscovered my fave G.I. Joe character, who gets more than his fair share of screen time in this set-- which is no easy feat, seeing as how there's about a zillion characters to keep track of. It ain't Duke™, nor is it Zartan™, Cobra's hue-changing master of disguise. It ain't even the Baroness™, who I must admit is drawn quite...
Ummm... let's move on...
Lemme give ya a hint: he's a man of few words and even fewer brain cells. He trips and falls a lot (which is probably the REAL reason why he always wears that doofy helmet), yet somehow his shots always hit their marks. He's none other than that lovable dummy Bazooka™, the man who put the "special" in "special forces". He likes to kick @$$ and chew bubble gum (Heh, get it? Bazooka likes to chew bubble gum? Ya gotta love those double-meaning gags...). And when he's outta bubble gum you'd best make way, or he'll fall down whilst holding his namesake weapon which will cause it to misfire, and the ejected projectile will miraculously score a direct hit on an enemy target every single freakin' time! Needless to say, if they ever decide to make a live-action G.I. Joe flick, the dude who played Corky on 'Life Goes On' is the go-to guy for the part!
While I found this set's picture clarity pretty good-well, pretty good for a Rhino release, anyway-- the new 5.1-channel sound mix suffers from the same problem I've encountered with other DVDs of shows that were originally recorded in 2-channel stereo, but were remastered in 5.1 for DVD. And that problem is the background music and/or sound effects often overpower the spoken dialogue. Fortunately, there are also two 2-channel soundtracks to choose from, both of which give the dialogue proper auditory power.
The bonus features includes one of the show's writers telling her life story, her memories writing scripts for the show, and how comic books were a major influence and inspiration in her career as a TV 'toon screenwriter. Also included is the show's voice-acting director describing his job, and relating and memories about the show. I didn't find this piece terribly interesting, but at least the guy owns up to the G.I. Joe 'toon basically being a glorified commercial for the toys and playsets. As if it were a big mystery...
The most highly recognized extras are twenty-four public service announcements that give safety tips and life lessons to the youg'uns right before the closing credits roll. These PSAs are the reason why that geeky late-twenty-something-to-early-thirty-something coworker of yours always replies, "...and knowing is half the battle!" every time you say, "Now I know" (sad, no?). One of the PSAs has very poor audio and video quality for some reason.
Finally, there's the collectible mini-cel featuring Cobra Commander and Destro flanked by Crimson Guardsmen. It ain't much to look at, really...
Bottom line: G.I. Joe Seaon One Part One ain't a half-bad bit o' 80s kidvid nostalgia, but not exactly something I'd consider a "keeper" for my collection. Worth at least a rental, granted you can find it at the local video store.
'Late
Rating:
Summary: Better Than Expected!!
Review: With all the new releases of the Transformers on DVD, it was only a matter of time before G.I. Joe showed up. What a memory trip! Actually, the first thing I was struck by was the storylines. Compared to Transformers, the writing for most of these episodes is superb. (A few are still rather weak, though.) I have rekindled my love of Zartan, who now that I think about it, looks like a guitar player in a Norwegian Black Metal band. (How cool would that be?!) The episodes are great and I am still disappointed that Cobra cannot figure out the way to world domination has nothing to do with kidnapping scientists. They waste so much time that way. Anyhow, among the more amusing things in this collection are the sound effects. Listen carefully and you will hear all sorts of sounds from the Star Wars movies...lightsabers, TIE Fighters, blaster fire!! I have noticed this with Transformers, too. It is pretty funny to hear the Cobra troops fire a weapon that sounds like the floating training ball Luke uses on the Millenium Falcon. They don't even bother to edit out the sound of Luke flicking the light saber off. This is still a great DVD and I will certainly waste a lot of time watching the episodes instead of studying.
|
