Product Details

• Actors: Jason Marsden, Matthew Yang King, Kevin Michael Richardson
• Directors: Randy Myers
• Format: Animated, Blu-ray, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Shout! Factory
• DVD Release Date: September 25, 2012
• Run Time: 570 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0089BSNUG
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,582 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

When a spy mission against Cobra Industries goes awry, a group of young G.I. JOEs is forced to hit the road as fugitives. Now the team members (Duke, Scarlett, Roadblock, Tunnel Rat, Ripcord and Snake Eyes) must use their wits and elite training to prove their innocence to the world before being caught by the authorities, Cobra or another elite military team called the Falcons.

With exciting, action-packed storytelling, spectacular animation and incredible voice talent (including appearances by Clancy Brown (Carnivàle), Michael Emerson (Lost), Phil LaMarr (MADtv), Peter MacNicol (Ghostbusters II) and Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man) G.I. JOE Renegades is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars (4.5 stars) Exciting, fresh and different kind of storyline for "G.I. Joe" fans. Recommended! December 1, 2012

By Dennis A. Amith (kndy) TOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

"G.I. Joe: Renegades" is the latest action series from Hasbro Studios.

And similar to their successful "Transformers" series which features the main characters in different storylines with each series release, Hasbro Studios follows a similar trend after the TV series "G.I. Joe: Sigma Six" and the more adult-themed series "G.I. Joe: Resolute".

While G.I. Joe has been a successful toyline since 1964 with its 12 -inch figure lineup, it wasn't until the "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero" 3.75 action figures were released that many children would flock to the toys and purchase the action figures, vehicles and playsets, thanks in part to the Marvel Comics comic-book series and the animated series which would begin in 1985.

Possibly the most unique aspect of G.I. Joe, unlike it's Hasbro counterpart with "Transformers and "Star Wars" is that, while those series continues to attract a demographic of all ages, "G.I. Joe" is one of the most unique series where its collectors are adults who grew up with the "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero" toys from its 1982 release or its re-appearance in the '90s.

And while those who grown up with the toyline have introduced it to their children, many adults continue to show their passion for the toys and the animated series on forums and even a convention dedicate to G.I. Joe fans.

And with the second live action movie, "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" about to make its release (including the toyline), what better time than to get the children acquainted with the series and also get excited for the movie by releasing "G.I. Joe: Renegades" on DVD. Shout! Factory will be releasing the first half of episodes "G.I. Joe: Renegades: Season 1, Volume 1″ in June 2012.

"G.I. Joe: Renegades" is possibly the most unique G.I. Joe storyline so far. Mainly because the series begins with the Cobra Industries being seen as the good guys, while a small group of military officers from The Falcons form "G.I. Joe" which is led by Lt. Shana "Scarlett" O'Hara (previous series had featured Duke as the main leader of the team) and when things go wrong with an explosion at Cobra Industries, G.I. Joe is blamed for it.

The group is now wanted by the government and are being pursued not only by Cobra Industries but also by the Falcons. The series focuses on the group as they visit different areas while they are on the run and trying to clear their names.

Only 26-episodes were created in the series and while the DVD version is split into two volume DVD releases, the Blu-ray release contains all 26 episodes from season 1.

Here is a brief spoiler-less summary of each episode of "G.I. Joe: Renegades″:

EPISODE 1 - The Descent, Part 1 - A new group consisting of military officers of the Falcons are on a mission and are known as G.I. Joe, their job...to investigate Cobra Pharmaceuticals.
EPISODE 2 - The Descenet, Part 2 - After an explosion at Cobra Pharmaceuticals, the media has branded G.I. Joe as renegades and are now fugitives that must be captured. Meanwhile, Flint, the leader of the Falcons is in charge of capturing G.I. Joe.
EPISODE 3 - Rage - Tunnel Rat is kidnapped by Cobra Industries Scrap-Iron and is being used for testing on a suit made for James McCullen and M.A.R.S. Industries.
EPISODE 4 - Dreadnoks Rising - G.I. Joe are now in a Kansas town where people are being terrorized by Zartan and the Dreadnoks. The group try to help the locals.
EPISODE 5 - The Package - The Baroness wants mercenary Major Bludd to assassinate a former Cobra employee, a man who goes by the name of "Breaker".
EPISODE 6 - Return of the Arashikage, Part 1 - The group stays at Snake Eyes dojo where they meet his first apprentice Jinx and learn about his connection to Storm Shadow.
EPISODE 7 - Return of the Arashikage, Part 2- Snake Eyes and G.I. Joe go after Storm Shadow who has kidnapped Jinx.
EPISODE 8 - Busted - Duke is wrongfully imprisoned and G.I. Joe must break him out of prison.
EPISODE 9 - The Enemy of My Enemy - The Joes infiltrate a Cobra stronghold, meanwhile Cobra unveils Cobra Commander and Destro.
EPISODE 10 - Fire Fight - Cobra gives orders to Firefly to burn a resort town, meanwhile G.I. Joe and a firefighter named Barbecue try to stop him.
EPISODE 11 - Homecoming, Part 1 - Duke's family is being targeted by Cobra and we learn about the past between Duke and Flint.
EPISODE 12 - Homecoming, Part 2 - With a few of the Joes captured by Flint, the remaining Joes have been branded "Springfield Four". Meanwhile, Storm Shadow returns.
EPISODE 13 - Brothers of Light - Tomax and Xamot disguise themselves as the Brothers of Light, spiritual healers.
EPISODE 14 - Knockoffs - Flint and Lady Jaye release Zartan from prison in hopes he will help them track down the Joes. But when Zartan uses Baroness' camouflage suit to escape, the Joes and Falcons team up alongside Wild Bill to search for Zartan.
EPISODE 15 - White Out - Dr. Mindbender creates prototype "Shadow-Vipers".
EPISODE 16 - Shipwrecked - Hector "Shipwreck" Delgado helps the Joes transport a canister containing a prototype Techno-Viper stolen from the Cobra lab to Washington D.C. in order to show proof that Cobra Industries are working on illegal activities.
EPISODE 17 - Castle Destro - The Joes are trapped in Destro's castle.
EPISODE 18 - Union of the Snake - The Joes decide to crash a communications summit held by the Baroness.
EPISODE 19 - The Anaconda Strain - The Joes uncover a deadly virus known as the Anaconda Strain.
EPISODE 20 - Prodigal - The Joes raid a Cobra medical facility to search for a Patient X, but they soon find out, it's a person they know quite well.
EPISODE 21 - The Anomaly - Dr. Mindbender goes to work on another human/Bio-Viper hybrid.
EPISODE 22 - Cutting Edge - Scarlett and Snake Eyes sneak into Cobra Commander's secret facility. Who is the mysterious ninja that has attacked Cobra Commander's home?
EPISODE 23 - Cousins - Flint hires Corporal Hershel Dalton a.k.a. Heavy Duty to apprehend his cousin Roadblock.
EPISODE 24 - Going Underground - The Joes investigate a series of earthquakes caused by Cobra's massive drilling excavator.
EPISODE 25 - Revelations, Part 1 - Scarlett learns the truth about her father.
EPISODE 26 - Revelations, Part 2 - The Joes take on Cobra Industries head on.

VIDEO:

"G.I. Joe: Renegades: The Complete First Season" is presented in 1080p High Definition, 1:78:1 aspect ratio. The picture quality is actually noticeable on Blu-ray compared to its DVD counterpart. Sharper, vibrant colors when it comes to reds. More clarity can be seen in the overall animation.

I have to admit that I was not exactly captivated by the new look of G.I. Joe in "Renegades" as it was a major departure compared to the original and also "Sigma 6″ and "Renegades". In some way, it reminded me of a Japanese anime style used in the series "Hakkenden" but then I started to appreciate the look because it was different. I figured with a storyline that was so different from any other storyline in the series, why not have a new look to differentiate it from other G.I. Joe lines and if that was case, the company succeeded.

The fact that "G.I. Joe: Renegades" has its own style, it's starting to grown on me and love the fact there are many characters introduced but also seeing these new character designs for characters (both G.I. Joe and Cobra) that I grew up with and collected. And I have to say that Hasbro also pulled off the animation to action figure very well (especially with the Storm Shadow action figure from "Renegades").

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

As for the audio, "G.I. Joe Renegades" is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and PCM Stereo. For its lossless soundtrack, I heard effects via the surround channels that are more evident on Blu-ray vs. its DVD counterpart. For example, in one scene, I could hear Duke's rocket pack through the surround channels, also hearing other ambiance that I never detected during my original DVD review. So, there is much more dynamic range and use of the surround channels when listening to the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack.

Dialogue and music are crystal clear and was impressed by the differences between the Blu-ray and DVD version of "G.I. Joe Renegades".

SPECIAL FEATURES

"G.I. Joe Renegades: The Complete First Season" comes with the following special features:

The Descent, Part 1 Audio Commentary - Featuring executive producer/developer Jeff Kline, story editor/writer Henry Gilroy, VP of Development for Hasbro Studios, Mike Vogel and consulting producer, Theresa Trujillo.
The Descent, Part 2 Audio Commentary - Featuring executive producer/developer Jeff Kline, story editor Marty Isenberg, VP of program and development of HUB, Ted Birselli and supervising director Randy Myers.
Return of the Arashikage, Part 1 Audio Commentary - Featuring writer Greg Johnson, supervising director Randy Myers, composing team members Starr Parodi and Jeff Fair.
Return of the Arashikage, Part 2 Audio Commentary - Featuring director Kevin Altieri, storyboards Patrick Archibald, location designer Kenny McGil and production coordinator Tim Wolkiewic.
Busted Audio Commentary - Featuring director Scooter Tidwell, storyboard artist Armen Mirzaian, production coordinator, Jerry Regan and prop designer, April Eriksson.
Castle Destro Audio Commentary - Featuring director Nathan Chew, animatic editor David Fain and story editor Henry Gilroy. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great show, too bad it's dead January 15, 2013

By Moviedude

GI Joe Renegades recasts the core characters of the franchise as a modern infiltration outfit on the lam against Cobra Industries, an all-encompassing multinational that is secretly building assets to undermine the governments of the world. Although this seems like a pretty huge paradigm shift from the 80s cartoon, it actually goes a long way to enabling MORE over-the-top adventures. In classic GI Joe, Cobra was a terrorist cartel that somehow kept building huge snake-themed temples in the middle of America, while here it makes sense that an omnipresent business would dwarf the resources of a handful of commandos.

Renegades wears a veneer of dark seriousness, but at its core it is a logical extension of the show we grew up with. If anything, it feels closer to how most kids ended up playing with their Joes- Snakeyes, who was criminally neglected in the Sunbow program, gets plenty of awesome ninja action scenes here, and the smaller cast in general permits the other characters to similarly shine. Duke and Scarlet's personalities, which were kind of generic before, have been replaced with dry acerbic wit in this pilot, but as the show goes on, they become more rounded and likeable. I personally lament the serious spin and limited screen-time they gave Shipwreck, but we can't have everything. And the program does a great job of working in familiar characters in more varied ways- for instance since Cobra is already a giant evil corporation there is no need for Extensive Enterprises so Tomax and Xamot are now cult leaders. It sounds odd, but it totally works.

So to the title of this review. After a great first season, Renegades was put on hiatus to avoid conflicting with the second GI Joe movie (I'm not sure how that would work exactly but whatever). Then the movie itself was pushed back to incorporate more of Channing Tatum, and the show got delayed again. Factor in some significant crew deaths during that time, and at this point a season 2 seems pretty unlikely. It's sad, because the art and voicework here are top-notch, and the story that spans season 1 is pretty outstanding. The good news is there are a lot of episodes to enjoy, and the season finale does create a pretty satisfying ending (with a lot of loose ends, of course).

PROS
-Great production values
-Good voicework
-Well-done action
-Solid and compelling overarching plot

CONS
-Probably only one season
-Not enough Shipwreck

5.0 out of 5 stars First time GI Joe viewer April 23, 2013

By Courtney C. Johnson

Amazon Verified Purchase

A little background:

This is my first GI Joe animated series. I am not familiar with the famed 80's cartoon, although to my knowledge this series is a little more serious and less cheesy.

I enjoyed the story of the Renegades. It is told from a less-cheesy-but-not-too-dark frame and features decent enough plotlines for an animated series aimed at kids (most notably, the Joes realistic weaponry is replaced in this series by futuristic laser weapons). The main plot revolves around the Joes being accused of a crime against Cobra industries and being pursued by both Cobra and the military, although several subplots are explored. (A notable subplot being the two-part backstory of Snake Eyes)

The Blu-Ray visuals look sharp with good contrast and saturation. It isn't particularly mind-blowing, but it looks great and serves the purpose. The sound really shines with a 5.1 DTS-HD MA track that really punctuates the action. I suspect it sounds a great deal better than the DVD or TV versions in this regard but I cannot comment completely. The season is separated onto 3 discs and several commentary tracks are included.

I bought this Blu-Ray as a deal of the day blind buy after seeing only the pilot, and I am glad I did so. It's a great add to my collection as a 24-year-old fan of animated action series.