35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic G.I. Joe, May 13, 2003
This review is from: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero!/The Revenge of Cobra (DVD)
When the original G.I. Joe miniseries were (finally) released on DVD in their original, uncut form in February, the Joe-watching public was promised a follow-up release with special features. That set (which you see now) has turned out to be well worth the wait.
Firstly, the packaging is more deluxe than the earlier release, and includes a booklet with a layman's history or G.I. Joe in general. Additionally, there's a Snake Eyes figure-a repaint of the original (more or less), with Timber (again, sort of, as it's not the original Timber mold from the '80s), which mimics the midnight blue color scheme from the MASS Device miniseries. The only drawback is that the packaging hypes Snake Eyes as "one of the premier characters" released in connection with the 1983 A Real American Hero miniseries-something that is far truer about Duke, who spent 1983 as the line's primary mail-in exclusive before being released in stores and was the star of the MASS Device episodes.
Second, of course, are the episodes themselves, which are the A Real American Hero and Revenge of Cobra miniseries, completely restored and remastered (and excellently so, at that). If you purchased the previous release, you know what you're getting here.
The last part of this set are interviews with writers Marv Wolfman and Ron Friedman. Wolfman's interview certainly informative, emphasizing the freedom he had while working for Sunbow (and equally emphasizing that character development is why Joe succeeded, in addition to that creative freedom), and how the toy companies might benefit from allowing that freedom to return in their cartoons. He also admits freely to liking Quick Kick (whose development he was most responsible for) and Cobra Commander, which is no surprise given how much fun he had with them in "Lasers in the Night" (an episode Wolfman is understandably proud of). The rest of Wolfman's interview discusses his politics and the politics that allowed for the '80s success of G.I. Joe, with a few jabs at the lesser cartoons of the '70s for good measure. Friedman's interview is, simply put, a trip. His comments are often funny (like the example slamming Kevin Costner's Robin Hood movie as a violation of the spirit of a popular franchise), and certainly worth viewing. He does seem to take a bit more credit for creating the series than some would like (including taking a direct jab at the old filecards), but he does illustrate the key points in how he wrote the initial miniseries very well, and in very entertaining fashion. This interview alone is probably reason enough to buy the set if you purchased the version without special features. All in all, another excellent job by Rhino.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
** Gen-X-er says YOOOOOOO JOE! ! **, January 18, 2005
This review is from: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero!/The Revenge of Cobra (DVD)
I am 32 yrs old and a girl! My brother got me into this series when I was a young teen and I was swept away. What a great animated series. They don't make animated series the way they used to... the 1980's and early 1990's were great for stuff like GI Joe and the original animated X-Men series. All you can do now is buy this great stuff. ** Now you know ... and knowing is half the battle! ** G.I. JOE!!!!!
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Good dealer, product damaged, June 29, 2011
This review is from: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero!/The Revenge of Cobra (DVD)
The dealer was honest, the package was closed and in it's original seal but the center of the DVD was cracked. Don't think they knew that when they sent it cause u can't see the disk so I don't think it was intentional. I was worried that the disk wouldn't play but it does so it's ok, however, I think it's susceptible to becoming a bigger crack and then it might not play. It's not from amazon themselves so I'm not sure what the return policy is
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