G.I. Joe: The Movie is currently available for preorder on both
DVD and Blu-ray / DVD combo pack at Amazon.com.

’80s cartoon fans itching to fill the final slot in Shout! Factory’s expansive G.I. Joe A Real American Hero: The Complete Collection rejoice, for the company’s re-issue of 1987′s G.I. Joe: The Movie is almost upon you.  Shout! will be re-issuing the film to special edition DVD on July 27, day and date with its debut on high def Blu-ray.  I have to admit to never really being a fan of the various G.I. Joe television series, having watched them only rarely as a kid, but this screener has come close to making a convert of me.  Cobra-la-la-la-la-la-la!

The Film

That dastardly Cobra terrorist organization is at it again, trying to blow up the Statue of Liberty and, with the help of the ancient Himalayan-based serpentine civilization of Cobra-La, hankering to infest the Earth with horrible mutating spores.  All that stands in their way are the forces of G.I. Joe and a batch of new recruits led by trouble-maker Lt. Falcon.

Animated by Japan’s Toei Animation (Dragon Ball Z, Voltron, Transformers: The Movie) and featuring the voice talents of Burgess Meredith, Don Johnson and even pro wrestler Sgt. Slaughter (amusingly in the role of Sgt. Slaughter), G.I. Joe: The Movie makes for extraordinarily entertaining if entirely superficial film product.  The ludicrous plot pitting America’s finest fighting men (and a few women) against the combined forces of Cobra and Cobra-La ruler Golobulus and an army of giant creepy crawlies definitely appealed to my more childish sensibilities, and screenwriter Ron Friedman’s hilarious dialogue was more than enough to distract the rest of me.

Expect explosions.  Lots of explosions.  Sometimes even people explode, but it’s okay as they’re just the bad guys.  Pound for pound this certainly bests the recent Stephen Sommers abomination in terms of improbable action setpieces.  The Statue of Liberty opener is a nonstop barrage of primary-colored mayhem, death and destruction, and a hell of a way to start a film, cartoon or otherwise.  With little in the way of dramatic dead space and plenty of interesting design and flashy thrills G.I. Joe: The Movie is never boring, and I found myself unexpectedly loving it.  Good stuff.

The Transfers

Shout! Factory presents G.I. Joe: The Movie with two viewing options: A full frame 4:3 encode preserving the original video aspect ratio (the film never made it to theaters, being released direct to video after the poor box office performance of Transformers: The Movie) and a new 1.78:1 anamorphic variant sourced from a high definition master.  The latter is easily the way to go here, being sharper and offering more in the way of fine detail and with more information to the left and right of the frame (most obvious in the second set of comparison screen grabs).  Damage is pretty minimal in both transfers, and the elements look to have been taken good care of over the past 23 years.  Audio is presented in ample 2.0 stereo English for both transfers – there are no subtitles.

According to the press release that accompanied my screener, the simultaneous Blu-ray will feature just the 1.78:1 transfer in high definition, but will come packaged with the Special Edition DVD for those wishing to see the full frame version.

The Supplements

There’s slim pickings here compared to the other Shout! Factory releases I’ve covered, but what is here is good.  Heading up the assortment is a feature commentary from G.I. Joe writer and story consultant Buzz Dixon, which sounds quite informative from the snippets I’ve listened to thus far.  The package also features a brief production art gallery and a printable version of the original screenplay (complete with the “Duke is dead” ending).  My favorite of all the extras is probably the most superfluous: a collection of 8 G.I. Joe public service announcements that weren’t covered in Shout!’s earlier series volumes.  Covering such topics as eating healthy, getting your eyes checked and the danger of false alarms, these are a real hoot.

The Conclusion

I really, really enjoyed this one.  G.I. Joe: The Movie is good clean violent American fun, and I can’t argue with the presentation.  Shout! Factory is marketing this at a lower price bracket than some of their other releases ($16.97 SRP for the DVD edition, $26.97 for the Blu-ray / DVD combo pack), which seems just fine given the limited supplemental content.  Fans will definitely want to indulge.