Customer Reviews

G.I. Joe Season 1, Part 1

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

With Rhino's remastering of The Transformers nearly complete, it should come as no surprise that their next target for a wide DVD release has been G.I. Joe. Often considered to be the best of the toyline-related cartoons made by Marvel and Sunbow, the show has remained quite popular even as it has become overshadowed by the various comic book series produced by Marvel and Devil's Due.

The episodes are re-mastered in similar fashion to other Rhino sets, which is to say excellently. There's maybe one "new" error in the episodes (involving a card read by Mutt that must have been changed late in production), and two that have been corrected by digital means. The intros and credits, however, are not restored (as seems to be the case for the majority of said clips on the sets so far). The sound has been restored again with a new 5.1 mix, but there's a new wrinkle-the original audio has been included for *all* episodes, and identified as such. (In the past, the 2.0 track has been a crap shoot between a down mix from the 5.1 or the original audio.)

As for extras, there are two good interviews with Christy Marx and Wally Burr, and 24 of the classic PSAs (many of which did appear on the G.I. Joe: The Movie DVD, though)-which leaves about a dozen PSAs across Seasons 1 and 2 to be shown on future sets.

There are some relatively minor drawbacks, though. Other than the Pyramid of Darkness episodes, the intro is the one from Season 2, as opposed to the correct Season 1 intro. None of the episodes conclude with a PSA before the end credits, which may or may not irk some (even though so many of the PSAs are collected on disc 4). The PSAs themselves are in dicey shape (as to be expected when the 35mm masters for them are nowhere to be found), but two are in particularly poor shape-Torpedo's swimming PSA is sped up (implying that the only surviving version is a poor transfer), and Quick Kick's warning about getting help from adults when building tree houses looks suspiciously like it was cribbed from someone's bootlegged copy from the '80s (which means an official version may be lost forever). Also, the two computer-corrected moments (one involving Destro's Robotopus in Pyramid of Darkness and the other involving a close-up in Cobra's Creatures") may irk some viewers. However, given the popularity of some of the episodes making their first appearance on home video (such as the Pyramid of Darkness 5-parter), it's impossible to give nothing but the highest recommendation possible to this box set.

Hey guys, if you still want this set at a reasonable price, there are still lots of stores that have them.
I'm not going to name them due to the fact that the third party seller a-holes would probably buy them to sell at their bent over prices.
They're just a bunch of punks trying to get rich off dvd sets since they're too stupid to be reasonable.

This dvd set is still selling at the $40 range at stores along with the Transformer sets.

Don't buy from the third party seller punks (good luck selling at your $80 price you a-holes).

I have three major complaints. First, the re-coloring of the show leaves a lot to be desired. Yes, the colors are more vibrant, but in a way it takes away from the grittier, military feel of the show. They also seem to overlap some of the detail, almost like you are watching an animated coloring book with smaller color palette than the original style.
Secondly, the line-up of episodes is all over the place on the timeline. It really makes me wonder who was in charge of that decision. I mean really, wouldn't have made more sense to, I don't know, maybe, KEEP THE EPISODES IN ORDER? It actually does disrupt the quality because some of the characters or story archs seem way out of place and don't align themselves with any kind of time continueum. Basically, you will be watching random episodes.
Thirdly, the opening sequence is from the THIRD season. I can't fathom why they would do this.

Still though, it is G.I JOE on DVD. So I guess it is still worth getting just to see all the episodes, but they really dropped the ball with every aspect on how they packaged it. At least Transformers stayed in order....

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.

GI Joe is the codename for American's daring, highly trained
special mission force It's purpose, to defend human freedom against Cobraa ruthless, terrorist organization determined to rule the world.

Growing up in the 80's, we had it all as kids. The best TV. Great movies(well to some people we did). With besides some sort of vague nuclear threat from the Soviet Union (that's basically Russia for you kids who lived in USA. or are too young to remember).But one sure thing we had something else - the best toys what got turn into cartoons.Kids now days will never know the joy of transforming Bumblebee Nor will they ever see the GI Joe where the evil Dr. Mindbender, under the influence of the mysterious Destro, collected DNA from leaders of the past to create Serpentor and usurp Cobra Commander as the rightful leader of COBRA. Instead, they're watching the Rugrats try to leave their nursery or something else.

The GI Joe cartoon was a Marvel/Sunbow cartoon series that became a regular series in 1985.The show is about a military special forces group saving the world from a terrorist group called Cobra. It had excellent animation, a sensational voice cast and the greatest audio and video editing ever.This show is real good gem from 80's for us over the age of 24 who remenber they joys cameing home and watching it.

Yo JOE!

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 ;)

I can't stop watching this DVD... G.I. Joe is back and just as awesome as I remember. Some of the transfer leaves a bit to be desired, the opening of the regular episodes is from the second season, the extras are paltry at best, and a couple of those seriously old-school PSA's looked like they were dubbed on somebody's half-broken dual-deck VCR; But, shut up, Mr. Yuk, 'cause G.I. Joe is on DVD and they're kicking Cobra's all over my big screen TV in surround sound. It's kinda crappy, it's super-violent in that syndicated eighties way, and the laws of physics are right out the window. But it's more fun than a transforming Thundercat fighting a teenage mutant Care Bear.
DVD highlights include "Twenty Questions," a level headed look at the relationship between the military and the media, the "Pyramid of Darkness" movie, which boasts the most Cobra technological advancements per episode(Giant A. I. water-robots and fire-breathing eugenic monsters in the first episode alone,) and that crazy/wierd two-part Synthoid Conspiracy with the seriously acerbic clone Duke. But not "Cold Slither," the episode where Cobra makes Zartan and the Dreadnoks into a hair band, or "The Wrong Stuff," in which G. I. Joes parachute from space to directly in front of Joe H.Q. They're both in Season 1 Part 2. Buy it at the end of April. Yo Joe.

I have been waiting a long time for this, and if you are a fan of GI Joe, or enjoyed the Transformer DVD box sets that Rhino has done, this is a must have. The picture and sound are great, and most of these episodes are even better than I remember them. Hope they hurry and put out the next set. YO JOE!

I only expected a walk down memory lane when I ordered the first season of G.I. Joe, but this collection absolutely took me back in time. Each episode...exquisite! The only drawback was the worthless interviews on the fourth DVD. The public service announcements(PSA) were as I had always remembered and unchanged. This DVD set is a must for anyone who watched and played G.I. Joe in the 1980's.