Customer Reviews

Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors - Escape from the Garden of Evil

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This dvd is a great start for anyone starting/wanting to collect mid 80's cartoon-scifi. 4 excellent episodes from the great series of 65 episodes

But BEWARE this is NOT the beginning of the collection from the start. These are 4 episodes pick from the complete series at random. For example:

DVD Episode 01 - Series Episode 01 - Escape from the Garden
DVD Episode 02 - Series Epsideo 58 - The Vase of Xiang
DVD Episode 03 - Series Epsideo 41 - Steel Against Shadow
DVD Episode 04 - Series Epsideo 04 - Flora, Fauna and.....

So if you want to follow the story in a linear way I suggest you hold fire until (if they do) they release the full range of this random collection.

All the best
Chris-C

Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors is one of the best animated shows I have ever seen.
Since it was intended for children, you can't put it in a catagory with Cowboy Bebop, FLCL or Evangelion but the animation is nonetheless fantastic and the show itself was very ahead of its time.
With a complicated plot and its plethora of memorable characters, viewers can watch Jayce grow from a spoiled upstart to a humaintarian leader who puts the safety of others above his own needs. Jayce's willingness to sacrifice earns him several friends and additional enemies over the course of the series including the deplorable Dr. Zorg, a once dear friend of his father who now serves the series main villan Saw Boss, a tyrannical monster bent on universal domination.
This sustains the show for its 65 episode run and allows viewers to enjoy individual episodes while still weaving a larger narrative. Although volume I's episodes are not chronoligical, they are perfect for introducing Jayce to a new generation. If you are a fan of 80's cartoons or an anime fanatic pick this up and you won't be dissapointed.
By the way the cover art does not do this show justice, I don't know what monkey they had in charge of packaging but don't let it deter you from giving the show a chance.
Four out of five for the most unexpected anime from American TV in the 80's.

At last, the first DVD of this exciting series! I hope there are more to come. The music and atmosphere in this series is so fantastic, it was always my second favourite after The Transformers.

EPISODE LISTING:

- "Escape from the Garden" - With the help of a magical ring of great power, Jayce starts his quest to find Audric and the good plant he created that is the only way to destroy the Monster Minds.

- "The Vase of Xiang" - Jayce and his crew discover a message from Audric on a vase but it is stolen before they can decode it.

- "Steel Against Shadow" - Gillian tells the story of Valroth, a powerful weapon maker who made living armor to protect his people many years ago.

- DVD BONUS EPISODE: Flora, Fauna and the Monster Minds - Monster Minds are planted aboard the Pride to contaminate the water supply and force the ship to land on an uninhabited planet.

Try this cheap offer and become a fan too!!!! Mind that there will only be more episodes if this DVD sells good enough.

I loved this cartoon when I was little specifically because it did not talk down to it's audiences. It assumed that we would be interested in and then capable of following along a complex storyline.

Yes (like many cartoons in the 1970's and 1980's) there was lots of tie-in-merchandise for us to bug our parents about. But this series was always so much more than a transparent toy commercial. It is a powerful tale about humanity, biology, science, ethics, technology, and justice.

Audric is a scientist, but one of his experiments goes bad and creates the Monster Minds. Led by the psychotic Saw Boss, these machine-plant hybrids are bent on world domination. Taking over Audric's lab, the Monster Minds subsequently make it their lair.

Meanwhile Audric must reunite with his son, Jayce if the Monster Minds are to be defeated.

Audric created a magic root to defeat the Monster Minds, but it was split into two halves and his son has the other. If the world will be saved, that root has to be reunited.

Jayce is only 19 years old this season (and still acts brash) but he demonstrates considerable maturity in the face of everything he has to deal with on a regular basis.

Jayce is aided by Gillian (the technowhiz who designed the vehicles and the pragmatic pacifist).

Flora is Gillian and Audric's experiment which turned out right. She was literally born of a plant and thus can communicate with plants and animals. This also means that she can sense when the Monster Minds are near--and it is time for battle. Jayce and the other people think of her as a little sister, but she really has a pivotal role in this series. Because I was around her age when the series originally aired, she was my favorite character.

Other than the bad people (who we're supposed to not like) I don't hate anybody on this series. There is some violence, but it is generally mild compared to some of the other 80's 'battle cartoons' and certainly mild against some of today's offerings. Made at the height of broadcast cartoon popularity, this series is one of the few which really can draw in viewers of all ages.

It's neat seeing the first episode of this series and remembering how the Lighting League came into being, but I think season DVD sets should be released.

THE CARTOON:
Excellent animation. Great characters. Balanced storytelling. Superp series---one of my favorites before the dawn of the Thundercats (and even after). Makes me want to renew my childhood ambition of producing my own animated serial. Would purchase the entire Wheeled Warrior series on DVD in a heartbeat.

THE DVD:
Easy naviagtion. Great picture and sound. No digital snags. My only lament is that the opening sequence plays at the beginning of the DVD and not at the beginning of each episode, and that the closing sequence plays at the end of the third and bonus (fourth) episode.

I finally decided to pick up this dvd after recently picking up some other classic 80 toons. The show, although dated, holds up quite well in terms of the animation and storyline. The basic premise revolves around Jayce and his compatriots (the Lightning League) searching for Audric (Jayce's father) while trying to stop the Evil Saw Buzz. The show on its own, deserves 5 stars, but once again, UAV Corp released another dvd with random episodes. To make matters worse, they only included 4 episodes, which is shameful by today's standards. Hopefully another distributor will pick up the license and finally release this show in order in it's entirety.

Well now, finally got the title after waiting a week to recieve it from Amazon and I can't tell you how absolutely awesome this DVD is! 4 Episodes from the classic show intact and all. The menus are pretty bare bones and the opening only plays on load up, the ending only on the 3rd and "bonus" episode - but beyond that theres nothing to complain about, and for $10 its an absolute steal, especially for fans of the series. As for newcomers let me tell you this is still one of the most intelligent aired cartoon that I've ever seen, theres a few 80s isms like charatcers knowing things that they shouldnt but those are rare, rare instances, and the villains also break the mold with actually being intelligent, they do just what you'd expect an evil group to do, so it works out. As a longtime fan that hasn't seen the first episode in years it was also VERY nice to be reminded of how the show started off. I highly reccomend this show and DVD to anyone who likes a good sci fi setting fantasy romp, and its also by the same man behind Babylon 5, so you know its good. There are some things for UAV to improve on for the next volume (opening and ending around each episode and maybe some kind of extra), but overall its an excellent purchase. I look forward to seeing another volume in the future!

THE CARTOON:
Excellent animation. Great characters. Balanced storytelling. Superp series---one of my favorites before the dawn of the Thundercats (and even after). Makes me want to renew my childhood ambition of producing my own animated serial. Would purchase the entire Wheeled Warrior series on DVD in a heartbeat.

THE DVD:
Easy naviagtion. Great picture and sound. No digital snags. My only lament is that the opening sequence plays at the beginning of the DVD and not at the beginning of each episode, and that the closing sequence plays at the end of the third and bonus (fourth) episode.

This brought back good memories, they should have put the first four
eps in order.

I first discovered Jayce and the WW when I was a fresman in college and found it, to my surprise, very engaging and fairly mature for a "cartoon".

Most are not aware, including me at the time, that it was penned by Mr. J Michael Strazynski himself and he imported a few of his ideas from this series into Babylon 5.

http://www.wheelies.net/wwb5/secretsymbol.html

I think all B5 fans should begin to lobby "The Animation Station" to release the whole series on DVD in order. If nothing more than to be able to experience JMS's work early on in his career.