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75 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely worth it but for those who owned the previous season 1, is it worth the double dip?, July 13, 2009
"G.I. Joe - A Real American Hero" is literally the classic animated series that became an iconic series for thousands of fans who loyally collected the many awesome merchandise from Hasbro and continues to be a popular toy line today.
Although, the series was released in 1984, the series has spawned several of animated series and CG films. In 2008, the 3 3/4 action figures and vehicle line celebrated its 25th Anniversary and in 2009, earlier in the year, fans were treated with a more darker and more violent animated series with "G.I. Joe Resolute" and by the Summer of 2009, would be treated with the live action film and a release of a G.I. Joe video game.
So, what better time than now but to enjoy the classic 1985 animated series through SHOUT FACTORY's "G.I. JOE - A REAL AMERICAN HERO - SEASON 1.1" on DVD.
The DVD release is the second release of the popular animated series (the first was released through RHINO, note: RHINO only released season 1 and the first half of season 2) and both releases has its key differences which I will discuss further in my review. It's important to also note that some of the episodes for the first season were featured on DVD's that were included with various Hasbro toy box sets released in early 2009.
For starters, the series is not based on the original GI Joe toys that were released in the 1960's but is based on the Hasbro toyline which started in 1982 and the comic book series from Marvel Comics. The series was created by Ron Friedman and the first season on this DVD set comprised of three mini-series that aired in 2004-2005. The mini-series which consisted of "The M.A.S.S. Device", "The Revenge of Cobra", "The Pyramid of Darkness" and five separate episodes.
Here is a brief synopsis (no spoilers) for each episode:
DISC 1: THE M.A.S.S. DEVICE
* EPISODE 1 - The Cobra Strikes - Cobra has developed the ultimate weapon known as the M.A.S.S. Device. and attempt to steal a military satellite. Duke is captured.
* EPISODE 2 - Slaves of the Cobra Master - G.I. Joe tries to counter Cobra's M.A.S.S. Device with their own.
* EPISODE 3 - The Worms of Death - GI Joe takes the battle against Cobra undersea. Meanwhile, Snake Eyes goes to the arctic to find a radioactive crystal element.
* EPISODE 4 - Duel In The Devil's Cauldron - Cobra and G.I. Joe try to get the final element to activate their own M.A.S.S. Device.
* EPISODE 5 - A Stake In the Serpent's Heart - Destro takes Scarlett as a prisoner and the action-packed finale of the first G.I. Joe mini-series.
DISC 2: THE REVENGE OF COBRA
* EPISODE 6 - In the Cobra's Pit - Cobra attacks a G.I. Joe convoy and steals a high-powered experimental laser.
* EPISODE 7 - The Vines of Evil - Flint, Mutt, Junkyard and Roadblock are caught by vines in the Cobra's Pit of Chaos.
* EPISODE 8 - The Palace of Doom - G.I. Joe sends various teams to different regions around the globe to find the three fragments of the Weather Dominator before Destro and Cobra get to it.
* EPISODE 9 - Battle On the Roof of the World - Cutter, Wild Bill and Spirit battle the Baroness and Cobra on the Island of No Return.
* EPISODE 10 - Amusement Park of Terror - Storm Shadow infiltrates Joe headquarters. Meanwhile the battle in the Arctic continues.
DISC 3: THE PYRAMID OF DARKNESS
* EPISODE 11 - The Further Adventures of G.I. Joe - Tomax and Xamot seize control of G.I. Joe's Moon Star space shuttle.
* EPISODE 12 - Rendezvous in the City of the Dead - Shipwreck and Snake Eyes try to evade capture from Cobra.
* EPISODE 13 - Three Cubes to Darkness - G.I. Joe captures Tomax and Xamot plans to rescue him.
* EPISODE 14 - Chaos in the Sea of Lost Souls - Alpine and bazooka are joined by Quick Kick. Meanwhile, Cobra Commander activates the Pyramid of Darkness.
* Episode 15 - Knotting Cobra's Coils - G.I. launches a full-scale assault on the Cobra Temple.
DISC 4:
* EPISODE 16 - Countdown for Zartan - Zartan infiltrates the Worldwide Defense Center and tries to destroy it.
* EPISODE 17 - Red Rocket's Glare - Cobra uses Tomax and Xamot's company Extensive Enterprises to purchase the Red Rocket food chain and use its location for secret missile launching bases.
* EPISODE 18 - Satellite Down - Cobra knocks a secret military satellite out of orbit and G.I. Joe races to its location before Cobra gets to it.
* EPISODE 19 - Cobra Stops the World - Cobra plans to take control of the world's fuel supplies.
* EPISODE 20 - Jungle Trap - Cobra kidnaps Dr. Shakur and plans to attack cities using the flow of lava.
* EPISODE 21 - Cobra's Creatures - Cobra plans to use the animals of the world against humanity.
* EPISODE 22 - The Funhouse - Flint, Bazooka and others hve to fight their way through the deadly Cobra Temple.
"G.I. Joe - A Real American Hero" will be released on July 14th but the 17-disc, 95 episode complete series will be shipping on June 22nd and will be bundled with many special features including a USB "Dog Tag" 1GB flash drive, collectible booklet and more..
VIDEO & AUDIO:
"G.I. Joe - A Real American Hero" is in full color and presented in Dolby Digital. I have been asked by many G.I. Joe fans how SHOUT FACTORY's DVD's compare to the original RHINO DVD's.
In terms of video quality, there is a slight (very slight) difference between SHOUT FACTORY's picture quality and RHINO's picture quality. SHOUT FACTORY features a little less compression it would seem. I was comparing the scenes and it's very slight. In fact, SHOUT FACTORY's version seems a wee bit brighter.
But I wanted to compare a scene in the first episode where Cobra Commander and Destro were overlooking a computer after they were looking at crystals for the M.A.S.S. device. The reason I chose that scene is because it exhibits a lot of dust and scratches, compression and wanted to see if it was cleaned up. One thing I notice that both still had similar issues but a main key difference was that the size of the dust in the RHINO version were clumpier. Granted, its there if you pause and look at a frame but for most people, they are not going to see this. But there was no digitally remastering for those who were interested in knowing. The dust and scratches still exist and are part of the master.
I was also asked if the errors from the original series such as two Timbers in a scene or Scarlett sporting a mind control device (when she wasn't supposed to wear one, among a few errors from the original animation were fixed in this new release. These errors were part of the original master and is on the final cut. So, I doubt there will be any measures to correct those errors and that it's more than likely these will permanent errors that are part of the original animation.
I was also asked if the opening themes were the ones featured on the original broadcast. And the opening theme for all episodes on Season 1.1 is the version with Flint pointing as starting off with his scream of "Yo Joe!" and ending with a large Cobra spaceship crashing into the ground.
As for audio quality, this is where the RHINO and SHOUT FACTORY versions are quite different. The RHINO version features a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio which utilizes the surround channels and the LFE of your subwoofer and shows up on my receiver as Dolby Digital 5.1. Vocal tracks were featured on the center channel, music on the surrounds (and were louder than the dialogue track) and utilizing front channel and the subwoofer for the booms.
For the SHOUT FACTORY version, the audio is featured in Dolby Digital but does not take advantage of surround channels or LFE. In fact, the setting I ended up choosing on my receiver was "All Channels on Stereo".
SPECIAL FEATURES:
"G.I. JOE - A Real American Hero - Season 1.1 comes with a good number of special features. Included are:
DISC 1:
* Looking Back with Writer Ron Friedman, Part One - (7:03) Ron Friedman talks about why he had a voice over on opening theme of what G.I. Joe and Cobra is. Also, discussion of how he learned to write for children and how to get them to buy the merchandise and how he was involved with test groups for the toys.
DISC 2:
* Looking Back with Writer Ron Friedman, Part Two - (7:03) Ron Friedman talks about how he was hired from Hasbro and how important it was for him to create the characters and get kids to enjoy the characters and buy the merchandise. And how he would make episodes focusing on a primary group of characters and swing characters and how he came up with the style of voices for the characters.
DISC 3:
* Looking Back with Writer Ron Friedman, Part Three - (4:44) Ron Friedman talks about how he teaches a class in screenwriting at USC and Chapman University and how he asked by his students about his work on G.I. Joe and is asked to sign autographs and how he loves the G.I. Joe fandom.
DISC 4:
The fourth disc contains quite a number of special features. Bare in mind that these commercials are old and are not in the greatest of quality but nevertheless, was great to see included in this Season 1.1 set.
* Knowing is Half the Battle PSA's - (3:42) A total of seven PSA's that can be played separately or to play all. PSA's featured:
--- Alpine - What to Do When You're Lost
--- Barbeque - What to Do If Your House is On Fire
--- Deep Six - Don't Swim When It's Storming
--- Mutt - Don't Pet Strange Dogs
--- Quick Kick - Take...
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
YO JOE!, July 24, 2009
A team of militant heroes codenamed "G.I. Joe" lead by the couragous Duke struggle to fight for the freedom of America and the world from the threat of the manicial terrorist organization known as COBRA lead by the evil Cobra Commander and steel-faced fiend Destro.
This show became one of the most iconic animated shows of the 80's besides Transformers, Real Ghostbusters and He-Man and is one of the best cartoons ever. The show is based on Hasbro's action figure series much like "Transformers" was in 1984 but in 1983 Sunbow/Marvel animation made three annual mini-series based on the figure series which came in 1983, 1984 and finally 1985 where it lead to a successful TV animated series that earned high ratings among people of all ages. I love how the show has smart writing including tons of action and excellent characters from sexy Baroness, beautiful Scarlett, lovable sailor Shipwreck, hard cooking and hardcore fighter Roadblock, and more which helped made this a favorite among all ages even in the 80's.
This DVD has the first three Miniseries which started with 1983's "An American Hero: The M.A.S.S. Device" has the debut of Destro who joins with Cobra Commander's COBRA team as they develope a powerful weapon called the M.A.S.S. Device which can beam and transport objects, buildings and even people to their place, when Cobra decides to use the thing to steal a military satellite, the JOE team is on the rescue to destroy the device. Next "The Revenge of Cobra" has the COBRAs attacking G.I. Joe as they hatch up another evil scheme called The Weather Dominator which is a weapon that can change the worlds's climates as now Duke, Flnt, Mutt, Roadblock, silent but deadly Snake-Eyes and of the rest of the JOEs must disconnect the weapon from harming the Earth and finally "Pyramid of Darkness" has deadly twins Tomax and Xamot with Cobra Commander, Destro, Baroness and the COBRAs has taken over a G.I. Joe Spaceship as they use their sattelite to create a pyramid-like zone around the world of energy to take electricity off the Earth and wants the world to be completly dark unlessJoe can do something about it. Now to the real meat where the show begins starting with "Countdown For Zartan" has master of disguise Cobra member Zartan who disguises himself as a French researcher and implants a bomb within the Worldwide Defense Center building for time is ticking for the bomb as the Joes must find it or else it would go into smithereens. "Red Rocket's Glare" has the Cobra twins Tomax and Xamot who secretly own a company has purchased the Red Rocket food chain leaving people almost out of business but using the company secretly for a missle launching base, Roadblock's uncle and aunt are in danger of losing their business unless Roadblock can straighten things out with the conspiracy the twins are scheming. "Satellite Down" has a secrety military satellite blown out from space until a jungle by Cobra, the Joe team with Cobra have competetion to retreive it as they meet an unsusal tribe of ape-like people that also seeks the device as well, "Cobra Stops the World" has Cobra Commander who has a wicked plan of control the oil supplies of the world as he detonates oil tankers and supplies with a simple remote, G.I. Joe member Sparks finds out the weird frequence Cobra is using to demolish the tankers as the Joe team use technology against technology. "Jungle Trap" has Cobra wanting to destroy all cities with hot lava from volcanic activity as a professor named Dr. Shakur has been kidnapped by Cobra Commandor as he's forced to use his technology to get to the Earth's core to make volcanic erruptions, the Joe must go into the jungle base of Cobra to destroy the newest weapon and save the scientist. "Cobra's Creatures" has a new member of Cobra named High Ferq who uses a device that controls all the animals of the world to go against humans including the G.I. Joe dog Junkyard who goes bannanas, now its up to the Joes to destroy the device and even return the dog back to it's regular self. And finally "The Funhouse" has Flint with Bazooka, and other Joe members who are in a trap made by Cobra in a temple as they must solve a labyrinth of death and fight Cobra.
All episodes including the mini-series are digitally remastered with great picture and sound with great extras like a three part interview with one of the writers, Knowing is Half the Battle PSAs, G.I. Joe original 1963 Toy Fair presentation, printable Jungle Trap script and G.I. Joe Toy Commercials.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A classic bit of 80's fun, July 14, 2009
I myself am incredibly surprised lately as to how icons from my youth have become so huge 25 years later. First Transformers, now G.I. Joe. In some key ways, G.I. Joe was a better show than Transformers. The writing was better, the stories and character development was deeper, and G.I. Joe also had a lot of mature subject matter for a kids show. This definitely was a show that at times was PG rated. I don't just mean the violence, but there was even some subtle sexual content thrown in at times. This first season was definitely entertaining, and some episodes were really, really funny. I mean that in all seriousness too. The show could be serious one minute but downright silly the next, but this would be an intentional and charming touch that became a signature of the series, as it got better as it went on.
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