G.I. Joe - Season 2, Part 1

Rating:
Summary: Half a cup of JOE
Review: "G.I. JOE Season 2 Part 1" includes a meager 15 episodes of the classic animated series. The last DVD set ("Season 1 Part 2") offered an impressive 28 episodes for just a few dollars more. Clearly, this set is egregiously overpriced and disappointingly incomplete -- but it's G.I. JOE on DVD so you MUST buy it ("THIS I COMMAND!") Why Rhino didn't just make a 5-disc set including the COMPLETE 30-episode season is beyond me, but I suspect Destro is involved somehow. Anyways, you have to love the awesome new menu animation featuring a CGI Cobra Commander and some funky techno music. And be sure to check out the Dolby Digital 5.1 track on the fifth episode of "Arise, Serpentor, Arise" to hear our beloved Joes repeatedly referring to Sgt. Slaughter as Sgt. SLAMMER and yelling "Full Force!" (instead of the traditional "Yo JOE!") - What's up with that?! I can't stand it when people get the JOEs names wrong! I'm not a big fan of Serpentor and Slaughter, but the episodes on discs 2 and 3 are topnotch G.I. JOE (and refreshingly Slaughter-free). New characters like Lowlife, Beachball, Lifesaver, Mainland, Busy-Signal and Dr. Fenderbender are a welcome addition; while old favorites like Duke, Scarlett, Flint, Lady Jaye, and The Baroness still get some quality screen time. Special Features include a couple of interviews and a few more "Now You Know" public service announcements. It would be nice to see some old Hasbro and Marvel Comics commercials on the next set...assuming there IS a next set. Until then, YO JOE!!! (...or, if you prefer, FULL FORCE!!!)

Rating:
Summary: Awesome DVD set!
Review: A great, albeit too short G.I. Joe set from Rhino. In regards to "Arise, Serpentor Arise" Part 5, the "Action Force" dialogue (i.e. "Full Force!" and censorship of more violent words like blood and bloody and slaughter) can only be heard if you select the stereo or surround settings. If you keep it on original broadcast audio (which I always do anyway) you'll hear the original audio track. Don't let that deter you from buying this great DVD set. Seems to me after multiple airings of the "Arise Serpentor Arise" series on tv way back when, that some of the sound seemed to fade in the later episodes and the music was gone, so repeated airings by networks and time may have been responsible for unaugmentable tracks. Thankfully though, under original broadcast audio, all original sound is present, including the wonderful music by Robert J. Walsh, some of the best action music I've heard in a cartoon. Disc 1 with the "Arise Serpentor Arise" series has by far some of the most action in the series and is great entertainment. The only problem is, my most favorite character, Cobra Commander, is replaced as the leader of Cobra. A travesty to be sure. Serpentor pales in comparison to him. Also, the extras are pitiful; couldn't they have interviewed Frank Welker or Michael Bell or other more prominent characters than Dial-Tone, like they did in the last series with Flint and Lady-Jaye? One more thing: Why does the CGI Cobra Commander have boobs? Or is that his uniform? Seems rather odd...

Rating:
Summary: Good, could have been better!
Review: After just owning this set for a few days, I am already nearly done with it. This season continues the Joes battle with COBRA but this was the beginning of the end.

For starters they introduced some really lame new characters to sell more toys. Some were quite welcome like Zarana (Zartan's sis who might not be as evil as we are led to believe) and the B.A.T.S. Unfortunately there are a lot of annoying characters added as well including Beachhead, Dr. Mindbender, more Dreadnoks (enough already!), that stupid Joe who refuses to use violence, some new general and the worst horror conceived...Sgt Slaughter!!!! The toon Slaughter was a muscled roid freak while in reality, the wrestler Sgt Slaughter was balding and had a beer gut. Talk about taking artistic liberties! Like I said the Dreadnoks became a bore at this point and really took time away from excellent COBRA operatives like Firefly, Copperhead, Wild Weasel and my personal favorite...the adorably vicious MAJOR BLUDD! Just whatever happened to him anyway?

I also did not like the addition of Serpentor. He really did take valuable time away from the superior and hilarious COBRA Commander. Not to mention his "This I command!" schtick got old real fast. The Commander was so awesome because he was the perfect mixture of evilness, comedy and fully-rounded brilliance. He is like your older gay brother who thinks he knows everything and is not afraid to let you know it either.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Cartoon Comes to DVD - But with Some Problems.
Review: As a huge fan of the GI Joe cartoon series, it was great pleasure to add this DVD set to my collection. However, there is a problem with episode #5 of Arise, Serpentor, Arise, in that is seems that the European version of the final episode made the cut instead of the North American version. All of a sudden, GI Joe is referred to as Action Force and Sgt. Slaughter is referred to as Sgt. Slammer. And the battle cry of 'Yo Joe' is replaced with 'Full Action'. It is quite annoying because the actors who originally voiced the characters are NOT the ones who do the voices overs for the European version, so it is very odd hearing two people voice over every character in the final epsiode.

All of the other episodes seem to be of their original North American quality.

Just keep in mind that when you purchase this set (versus either of the two season 1 sets), that you are getting less episodes (3 discs versus the standard 4 discs in season 1 sets).

Rating:
Summary: every g.i. joe is wicked
Review: first of all unlike some people who claim to be true joe fans the introduction of new caracters adds to the plot of this ongoing battle of good vs. evil the introduction of serpentor has finally came i have been waiting for this dvd to come serpentor is by far one of the greatest cobra characters around and finally having new dreadnoks is great i was really getting tired of seeing buzzsaw, torch, ripper, and the infamous zartan all the time i love the new addition of characters not to mention you can play the first disc in movie format to create the tv movie "arise serpentor! arise".

Rating:
Summary: This I Command!!!
Review: G.I. Joe season 2 part 1 introduces a whole group of new G.I Joes as well as Cobra's; none more apparent then Serpentor, who becomes the new leader of Cobra. This box set starts with the series "Arise Serpentor, Arise." "Arise Serpentor, Arise," was a movie quality cartoon, and takes up the whole first disk. It is an excellent story, and one of the best multi-part G.I. Joe episodes.

Season 2 part 1 also has one of my top three all time G.I. Joe episodes in "Sink the Montana." My top three favorite episodes are Excalibur (season 1, part 2), The Gamemaster (season 1, part 1), and Sink the Montana (season 2 part 1).

G.I. Joe season 2 part 1 is also the first time you see the G.I. Joe episodes start reaching for idea from other places. In the episode "Iceberg goes South," you see a very strong resemblance to "The Island of Dr. Moreau."

One of may favorite aspects while watching G.I. Joe is try to catch slip ups in the animation. In "The Rotten Egg," you see the suit keeps changing from blue to gray during a fight sequence at the end. To be honest, during the special features, there is a "messed up" animation feature where you can see in other episodes miss haps in the animation.

The G.I. Joe series is a must have box set for us who grew up watching this beloved cartoon. I love watching every episode; however, in Season 2 you can already start to see the decline of the series with too many characters, and the cartoons becoming not as original and fresh. These are still A+ cartoons, you just don't get to see Snake Eyes every episode, instead maybe one out of every five, which is a shame in my opinion. As I stated above, I still love watching each and every episode.

Grade: A


Rating:
Summary: Finally
Review: I am sooo glad these cartoons are out on dvd, but I couldnt disagree more with John Hobbs' review. Serpentor and Sgt. Slaughter were just an element of the beginning of the end for GI Joe. It was merchandising that brought about GI JOE: RAH's doom.
My big complaints about the dvd are there are only three discs and the extras are not that great.

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring series, lame special features
Review: I gave this DVD 5 stars for the original series. The bonus features are lame and a wasted effort. Over time a great deal of material has been produced on the Joes' background and weapons and that should be the basis for DVD bonus features. As to a previous reviewer's comment about patriotism in these troubled times I have to agree. Everyone coped with 9/11 in their own way, but I must say watching the opening segment of "G.I. Joe: The Movie"-- where the Joes defend the Statue of Liberty from an airborne Cobra attempt to blow it up, certainly raised my morale. If terrorists push us, we'll push back and prevail! That's the spirit of G.I. Joe.


Rating:
Summary: about friggin' time!!!
Review: i wish to start by saying that i disagree with mr. kinnear. serpentor is so far above cobra commander in villany that it places him in the leauge of all-time great bad guys (not necessarily on the top-ten or twenty list, but in that same league). I am glad that serpentor is introduced in season two, because while i know that he was a composite of history's great military minds (Ceaser, Napoleon, etc.), i forget exactly how he was created.
also, i think that the addition of sgt. slaughter was a brilliant move. The thing to remember is that GiJoe came in the same time frame that Vince was trying to build his old WWF empire by placing Hulk Hogan on every kid's item available. But, seeing Hulk Hogan on GiJoe would not only have been overkill on vince's part, it would have been downright stupid and utterly LAUGHABLE on the part of the writers. While slaughter was never a major superstar in wrestling, he did bring an additional militarious tough-man persona to the joe team that i think was a very savvy business maneuver that seemed very natural.
Anyway, it was a real treat for me to find season 1 on disc and i am eagerly awaiting the whole of season 2 (part two won't be out for another few months). Particularly with our current military situation, this series brings an additional sense of pride to the american way, and it's a great boost of patriotism to those seeking nostalgia. YO JOE!!!

Rating:
Summary: Worth all the money
Review: The G.I.Joe show was really good and full of good actions and good story line.
As for the DVD priduction, it is a must have if like the show or if you don't! it just has a wanderful presentation and nice collectable art cells.
I own them all up till to day and I will keep buying them as more come out.