G.I.JOE A REAL AMERICAN HERO Season 1.1

Written by Ron Friedman
Voices of Chris Latta, Arthur Burghardt, B.J. Ward, Morgan Lofting, Keone Young, Bill Ratner, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Zack Hoffman & Michael Bell

1983/480 mins/Color/Dolby Digital Stereo
1.33:1/English/US/NTSC Region 1

Review from the Shout! Factory DVD

"G.I. Joe is the code name for America's daring, highly trained, Special Mission force. Its purpose: To defend human freedom against COBRA, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world."

America’s elite military team, G.I. Joe is ready to battle the evil terrorist organization known as Cobra in Season 1.1 of the classic cartoon series. Based on the Hasbro toys originally released in 1963 but that reinvented itself in 1982 when the first 3 3/4" figures were introduced in carded packs. The cartoon had its beginnings with two five-part mini-series, and then became a regular series that ran in syndication from 1985 to 1987.

"Yo Joe!"

The MASS Device
COBRA steals an experimental teleportation unit, known as the MASS device, which has the ability to transport matter to any global location, using a satellite to relay the teleportation beam. G.I. Joe must stop COBRA by creating a MASS system of their own, but first they'll need to gather the three rare elements that power the device, which consist of radioactive crystals, heavy water found in the depths of the ocean, and fragments from a giant meteorite. The elements are located in three different environments. Duke, Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Gung Ho, Stalker are introduced along with Cobra Commander, Destro and the Baroness.

The Revenge of Cobra
COBRA has returned in force, armed with a new weapon created by Destro — the Weather Dominator, which is able to manipulate storm systems. Damaged in a preliminary battle, the device breaks into its three component pieces, which scatter across the world. The G.I. Joe team must recover the pieces before COBRA and their weather weapon. Flint, Roadblock, Shipwreck, Lady Jane and Spirit are introduced along with Storm Shadow, Zartan and the Dreadnaughts.

The Pyramid of Darkness
This time the story centers on Cobra's attempts to build and maintain a new weapon (of the title) that will neutralize all electrical power in the Earth's Northern hemisphere. Four giant "control" cubes are to be placed at key locations around the globe. Once the Joes orbiting space station is seized, the cubes are activated and the pyramid is complete. The Joe force must battle Cobra to destroy the pyramid and find the terrorist organization's secret headquarters.

This box set also features seven episodes from the regular series. Unlike most of the 1980s cartoon, G.I.JOE stills holds itself extremely well with rich plot-line, super animated artwork, and well developed character personalities from both the G.I.Joe and Cobra.

Each episode is presented in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratio (full frame). The image is surprisingly good with rich and vibrant colors and hardly any defects. I never expected it to be that good. The English Dolby Digital Stereo is loud and clear. Just like their TRANSFORMERS box set, Shout! Factory added a “Play All” feature that offers the option of playing the multi-part episodes seamlessly.

The set features three "Looking Back With Ron Friedman" featurettes of about seven minutes each in which the original writer recalls his involvement with the series. Also on the set are the now extremely funny "Knowing Is Half The Battle PSAs", some archival Hasbro Toy commercials (some in really bad shape), the original G.I. Joe 1963 Toy Fair Presentation that you have to see to believe, a printable script for Jungle Trap and a G.I. Joe tattoo set. Overall this is a must own box set for what I consider to be the greatest cartoon from the 1980s.

"Now we know.
And knowing is half the battle.
GEEEEEEEEEEEE IIIIIIIIIII JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOE"

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Review by Kim Dubuisson. All Right Reserved. 2009. ©