Customer Reviews

X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Made in 1989, Marvel comics decided to give it's most profitable comic book (X-Men) the animation treatment. In Pryde of the X-Men, Marvel took the 'Wizard of Oz Approach' to storytelling as we see a new-comer to the X-Ranks in the character Kitty Pryde. Kitty is born a mutant who finds she can walk through walls. Scared and confused by her mutantcy, Kitty is sent a letter to attend the Xavier Institute to learn how to control her mutant abilities. It is here that she (and we) are introduced to the X-Men. A group of persons who share a similar past. Like Kitty, they too were born with wonderous powers. The welcome is short lived though as the evil Magneto breaks into the X-Mansion where the X-Men live and steals a powerful computer circuit. The X-Men and Kitty Pryde must find out why and stop Magneto's terrible scheme. Made with an animation style that mirrored successful cartoons such as G.I. Joe and Thundercats, Pryde of the X-Men had a great visually appealing look. Although this was the only episode made, audiences were not to wait too long for more adventures from the merry mutants. In 1992 and 2000 the X-Men were re-introduced to new generations of fans. I highly recommend this adventurous video.

For any xmen animated series fans, Pryde of the X-men is a must have item. Done with amazing quality, it's a shame that the current series doesn't follow this avant-premiere movie. It's a classical X-men team, with the heroes who give the group his fame... END

This was the first x-men video ever made. It had lots of action,cool mutant powers and evil mutants trying to destroy man kind. Who will stop these evil mutants? Who else the x-men! The powers of the x-men: Cyclops can shoot destructive beams of energy from his eyes,the Dazzler cand turn sound into lazer blasts,Nightcrawler has mastered the power of teleportation,Colossus is strong and he can turn himself in to steel and is imposible to be harmed,Wolverine has razor sharp claws that can cut through any thing known to man,Storm can controll weather,the newist member of the team Kitty Pryde can walk through solid objects and finally Professor Charles Xaiver can controll peoples minds. Now the powers of the brotherhood of evil mutants: Magneto can controll meatle,Toad posseses great agility,Juggernaut has great strength,Pyro can controll fire,the Blob has no mutant powers but yet he is strong and finally the White Queen she has telepathic abillity. I have the video in mint condition up stairs in my room in a 1 dollar display case next to my vcr.

You may not know that in between guest appearances in SPIDER-MAN & HIS AMAZING FRIENDS and their own animated series launched in 1992, there was an X-Men cartoon pilot in 1989 that never panned out into an ongoing series. This 22-minute-long PRYDE OF THE X-MEN pilot is only available on VHS tape. The animation on it looks pretty good, too.

Amidst the expected tropes and retreads, a few interesting tidbits stand out in this pilot episode. We eye the X-Men cast, and the roster lists the usual suspects: Professor X, Cyclops, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine, etc. But one unexpected X-Man stands out, and that's Alison Blaire a.k.a. the Dazzler, and she seems slated to get more run here. Then there's the matter of the grumpy Wolverine flaunting an Australian accent (what's up with that?), and I guess there's a certain irony in that Hugh Jackman who plays Wolverine in the movies is an Australian. And then, maybe because the group name "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants" doesn't sound relevant enough in these darker contemporary times (but remember that this was before 9/11), the X-Men are soon butting heads with the Brotherhood of Mutant Terrorists.

The Brotherhood is, of course, headed up by Magneto, Master of Magnetism. In this incarnation, Magneto has got no redeeming qualities whatsoever (he keeps kicking the little dragon). His nefarious scheme this time around involves stealing a power circuit from the X-Men, and this has to do with his intent to divert a comet and send it hurtling towards Earth. For Magneto, it's another attempt to assert his mutantkind's dominance and to enslave humanity. For the X-Men, it must be a Tuesday.

14-year-old Kitty Pryde is the newest X-Man and it's apparent that she's meant to be the viewer's stand-in. We regard the X-Men's outrageous world thru her incredulous eyes, and I bet you'd initially freak out, too, if someone as demonic-looking as Nightcrawler were to approach you. Meanwhile, Wolverine spends the entire episode talking smack about Kitty. In this one, Stan Lee narrates the story, just as he did in SPIDER-MAN & HIS AMAZING FRIENDS. In this one, the White Queen is a straight-up villain and she sounds like an old hag. Overall, this pilot was well produced; it seemed a promising beginning, even if it presented a standard premise and that theme song was really hokey. It surprises me that PRYDE OF THE X-MEN was never made into a continuing series. I mean, this is a debut episode that culminates with a battle in space for all the marbles. That's doing it big.

The VHS tape also features a PSA from the VSDA with Spider-Man encouraging everyone to vote. I have no idea why I'm mentioning this last, or at all. Anywho, here's a shout-out to what could've been.

The animation is kind-of cool & nice-looking. The storyline is solid and makes sences. The fight scences are slow but still fun to watch.Some of the voice actiing is not great but pretty good. The only not-so-good thing about this show in my mind at least are the voices of Kitty Pryde & Toad which both tick me off. other then that,it is still a good tape to watch. I give this video a 9 out of 10.

"X-Men, X-Men, X-Men
Today is the day
X-Men, X-Men, X-Men
They're on their way!
Magneto's hordes are on their way,
Out to pillage and plunder,
Whenever things go wrong,
Our heroes come in like thunder!
X-Men, X-Men, X-Men
Saving the day
X-Men, X-Men, X-Men
Coming your way!" - Theme song of Pryde of the X-Men

On with the review:
I used to watch this when I was younger - last time before now I saw it was probably '96, because I LOVED X-Men all of the time. Now with my request granted by my parents to purchase the VHS for Christmas, I didn't watch it for a while til' today with my mother - She liked it as much as I did from my childhood and my opinion hasn't changed.

Animation: Excellent for a cartoon made by the same people who did G.I. Joe, 80's Spider-Man and Transformers
Music and Voice-acting: Opening theme's catchy but the lyrics (shown above) need work for memorization and my mother admits the acting is good so I agree... but what makes it so campy is: Why does Wolverine sound Australian? Another great thing about the voice-acting is narration by Stan Lee of Marvel Comics, Stan the Man speaking to All True Believers!
Plot: Chronicles Kitty Pryde's time when she joined the X-Men, Magneto has broken free of a military convoy and has taken the Cerbero Power Circuit to use the Scorpio comet to destroy the Earth and the X-Men must stop him before it's too late
Best of all: Features a voice-acting promotion commercial with Spider-Man and the show inspired Konami to create the all-famous X-Men the Arcade game (In which one of the cabinets is for 6 players, whoa!)

So therefore, if you're X-Men fan grab a cassette of this and if you like 80's cartoons, enjoy

-J. Garten

I loved the cartoon. Toad was a ugly looking circus freak and dumb. The danger room or the training facility was quite entertaining. The asteroid "m" fight was great as each X-Men except Xaiver and Storm mad progress to destroy Magneto's diabolical plot. It was there when I became obsessd with the X-Men franchise.

THIS IS THE PILOT FOR THE CURRENTLY SYNDICATED X-MEN ANIMATED SERIES! AND IT HOSTS MANY SUPERHEROES THAT NEVER GOT LARGE ROLE IN CARTOON LIKE DAZZLER, SHADOWCAT, AND NIGHTCRAWLER. IT ALSO HAS SOME VILLIANS THAT WERE NEVER SEEN THIS EVIL IN CURRENT SERIES; SUCH AS WHITE QUEEN, AND TOAD!

I really liked this movie. It explained to me how they got one of their characters. It was greatr!

This movie is a one-shot tie-in to the old-school side-scrolling X-Men arcade beat-'em-up. It is only loosely tied to the comics, it's not meant to literally match any particular series or incarnation of the team.

[This explains all the discrepancies that other reviewers are complaining about.]

The arcade game was my all-time favorite (especially the 6-player extra-large cabinet) and I love this movie just as much. Both have a cheesy 80's polish that make them irresistable.