G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero - The M.A.S.S. Device [DVD]

I just got around to watching this show today, and took a nice trip down memory lane. Back when this show aired as one 90 min film on television, during primetime, my dad recorded it for me with his new vhs recorder. I watched this animated G.I. Joe M.A.S.S. Device movie so much that when I was into my teens, it finally unwound inside my vhs player.This show is a pretty good example of Sunbow, Marvel, and Hasbro's collaboration of ideas and toys that somehow had the magic of entertainment at its finest. If it had been filmed instead of animated, its possible that it would have been remembered as an classic film in the same way that Superman The Movie was. The characters are witty, well dimensionalized, and acted . . . the characters are also very much standout, in that way that they have souls. The humor is well placed, even adult at times, and at others kinda silly. It's got everything for everyone, even strong willed women in the Baroness and Scarlet. This was something very rare in film the year of 1983, and they were leading heroes in a primetime animated movie. UNBELIEVABLE.This dvd is available here on Amazon for just a little over five dollars . . . why isn't it sold out by now?

I opted for the 1.1 DVD set over the massive complete box set...and for good reason. There's fantastic childhood memories of this show. Especially loved the The M.A.S.S. Device 5-part miniseries, which this set contains, but this is about all I can handle. The over-the-top repetitive music and hearing "Yo Joe!" and "Cobra!" several times in a single episode left me almost cringing. There's no way I can get through a 90+ episode series, so this 1.1 set is good enough for me.DVD quality itself is decent. Shout! Factory does a good job, as usual.

Here it is- the excellent series I loved as a kid & continue to enjoy today.G.I. Joe is kind of set in today's world, except with an 80's-feel mixed with laser weapons & futuristic technology. It's essentially a kids-to-teens show, although big kids of all ages can easily, greatly appreciate this. :)Contents include...- The M.A.S.S. Device- Introducing G.I. Joe. The Joes & Cobra are in a race to assemble a powerful device, and this race sends them battling all across the globe. It's a 5-part, formulaic episode, which is similar in many ways to the other multi-part episodes included here. I like this, as it introduces a great many characters, yet the series really captured my attention with the great Revenge of Cobra.- The Revenge of Cobra- This is maybe my favorite story in the entire 80's series, and it's one of my all-time favorite animated cartoons! To me, the introducing of Shipwreck with his desert sailing ship is worth the price of admission by itself. It begins with an explosive conflict in the desert as a G.I Joe convoy transporting a powerful laser-core is all-out ambushed by Cobra. We get introduced to many new colorful characters and creative action sequences. Cobra is building a weather dominator with the help of Destro, which will bring the world to its collective knees. It's G.I. Joe to the rescue!- The Pyramid of Darkness- We see a similar, formulaic, 5-part story presented for the 3rd time. It's still entertaining as-is, yet with the risk of becoming too predictable being something to consider, it's understandable we now see the series switching to mainly single-part episodes for the rest of season 1.The rest of this disc set is great as well. The genius voice-work of Chris Latta as Cobra Commander is one of the main reasons this series is still excellent to me. Fans with sharp ears might hear a few sound effects lifted directly from Star Wars. Many bits & pieces of 80's pop culture influenced this series. I'm thinking people will have a good idea whether they like this series or not after buying this 1st set. Starting with Season 1.1 is highly recommended.

The GI Joe A Real American Hero franchise (Toys, comics, and cartoons) played a huge role in my formative years. Being that I am currently member of the US Military, I frequently joke that I joined because the role that GI Joe played in my early childhood. As a kid, the GI Joe toys and cartoon ( not so much the comics because they were aimed towards a more mature crowd)were great "inspirers" of my imagination. I fondly remember watching the cartoons, and playing with my "Joe's" for hours with my friends.This DVD set, is a great trip down "Nostalgia" Lane. I wouldn't call the story writing, anything to marvel at (these were specifically marketed to kids), and even the animation isn't that great compared to today's standards. If you are looking for a "compelling" cartoon series, you are barking up the wrong tree, and I recommend you check out Hiyao Miyazaki. However, if you put your "5-8 year old goggles" on, these stories are very enjoyable. Personally, as an adult I really enjoy "travelling back in time" and watching cartoons in the era I grew up in. I personally get great enjoyment in seeing 20 GI Joes open fire on 20 Cobras, and vice versa, with no one getting shot or seriously hurt. When watching this, you need to consider the times and the restrictions put on artist, in regards to how much violence could be depicted in cartoons, which were far more restrictive than now. If you are looking to re-live some great memories from your childhood, this is your ticket.The DVD set includes some cool speical features, and I really enjoyed the PSA's, 80's toys commericials, and the interviews with GI Joe writer Ron Friedman. This DVD also includes the 1963 TOY FAIR presentation, that Hasbro gave, to introduce the original 12" GI Joe to the toy market. I thought this was a great piece of history, and something I did not expect to find in a product based upon the 3.75" action figure line.I really like the box packaging this DVD set comes in. After you are done watching the cartoons, you can set up the DVD set as a nice display piece.Overall, this DVD set is pretty awesome. I will most likely picking up the rest of the "Sunbow series" at least. For the adult collector this is a great piece of nostalgia, for a brand you probably already like, and for a family man like myself, it is a cool way to share one of my hobbies with my kids. Definitely a great buy!

GI Joe was by far one of the best cartoons made during the 1980's. The series follows the exploits of a group of elite soldiers called GI Joe who protect the world from an evil terrorist group known as Cobra.Despite the military theme the series is fairly tame. The characters use laser guns instead of regular guns and no one actually gets shot so it is more than suitable for young children. I personally loved the series for its blend of action, comedy and morality. As well as its rich variety of characters both good and evil. The most notable being the fearless GI Joe leader Duke and the diabolical yet cowardly Cobra Commander (voiced by the late, great Chris Latta). Fans of the series, such as myself, will be delighted to know that this dvd contains 8 hours of GI Joe cartoons and extras. Including three of the anual 5 part stories such as "The MASS Device", "Revenge of Cobra" and "Pyramids of darkness".Among the extras are interviews with the series writer as well as an archive of some of the old GI Joe toy commercials and a booklet outlining the episodes. But if you purchase it brand new you shoul also find a set of GI Joe/Cobra transfer tattoos included in the case.The only downside is this dvd is region 1 so make sure you have a compatible dvd player. If you already have a region 1 or multi-region dvd player then dont hesitate to buy this as it is 80's cartoon making at its finest. Fans of the series will not be disappointed.

Much like Hasbro's Transformers, this was based on a toy range and designed to sell toys and again like Transformers a lot of thought went in to creating plot and characters resulting in one of the best cartoon series of the 80's. This boxset is region 1 only so make sure you have a compatable player before buying as for some reason the show is unavaliable in the uk apart from the movie. Going by the name Action Force in the UK with all G I Joe references removed and replaced with Action Force, this will be the first time that myself and many other UK fans will have seen the show as it's original G I Joe and sees the Joes, originally a single action figure but now a special forces team with their own abilities take on terrorist group Cobra who also all have their own abilities to stop them taking over the world. No bullets were allowed so everybody has lasers instead and the show is a lot of fun bringing back a lot of 80's memories. Boxset contains the 3 mini series that started the series off and the first 8 episodes of season 1.

Very good

This is a great DVD set. Good sound and picture quality. My daughters (age 5 & 7) and I love watching this together. I saved some of my old G.I. Joe toys from when I was a kid, so they love seeing all the action figures and vehicles on the big screen. They also claim that they've seen Destro in our city a few times. It all amounts to some good family fun and memories.

Along with The Transformers, this was one of my favortie cartoons ever, I can only hope that the same treatment will be give to G.I. Joe as was to The Transformers by Rhino, and that we can hope to see box sets of the G.I. Joe seasons following this one. I can't wait to see these episodes on dvd, to see Cobra Commander, Duke, and Snake-Eyes again will be fantastic. If you are a fan of G.I. Joe, this is a must, and the only way that Rhino will release more is if people buy the ones out there, so get this one and cross your fingers.