This is a direct paste of my post in another thread but in case it gets missed I thought I'd start a new thread:

I live in the UK and my pre-order was sent to me last week! Don't ask me why, but at least it allowed me to cobble togther a quick review.

As for CGC's quote; "Lets just hope its better than that Spy Troops Crap!!", if he's the type to be so dismissive of SPY TROOPS (which I enjoyed) he probably won't like VALOR VS VENOM either. Having said that, it is a LOT better than SPY TROOPS. For a start it's longer: At 77 minutes it's almost twice the length of the first film. This allows for more characters and locations to be included, and boy are there plenty! The opening raid on the zoo plays out as the production credits display on screen. It's a nice touch that makes this feel "more of a movie". It's also nice to see civillians appearing (a zoo security guard and some kids) as SPY TROOPS seemed a little bereft of background characters. The animation of vehicles and backgrounds is FAR better this time. Characters themselves, while having more detail, still look a little too 'unreal', but hopefully it's a learning curve for the production team and even this will improve in any subsequent films. Special effects such as explosions,, even though they are still composited in as with SPY TROOPS, are far more convincing this time. An experimental JOE device for causing a cloudburst is beautifully realised. Also spectacular is a scene where a BAT head plummets to earth after being blown from the gun turret of a NIGHT ADDER.

I won't go into plot details too much - It follows the toy concept pretty accurately. I was suprised to see that VENOMOUS MAXIMUS is actually a mutated GENERAL HAWK. It's a nice idea but makes it tough for the two figures to co-exist (which they will in my universe!). MAXIMUS himself is an excellently realised character and threatens to usurp COBRA COMMANDER as head of the organisation soon after his creation (shades of SERPENTOR).
How GI JOE take on this threat is told in a very evenly paced way, thanks to the experience of Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens as writers of many a cartoon series. The finale is far more than just a big gun-fight, with the JOE's employing brains as well as brawn to win the day. Humour is far more sophisticated this time round too - even a potentially embarassing moment when DUSTY gets magnetized (you'll see!) is well handled and actually contributes to the plot.

It's interesting to note that this time round, GI JOE is definately a "secret organisation" unlike the Sunbow 'toon. When the BARONESS (in disguise) reels off facts about GI JOE to HAWK, he denies everything. Team members have their JOE logos concealed beneath velcro patches now...

Characters get a lot more to do in this story: TUNNEL RAT has a major role, as does JINX and KAMAKURA. Even WET SUIT gets a look in this time, but in a small cameo. It would have been nice to see ROADBLOCK take on the role given once again to HEAVY DUTY. I've nothing against HD at all, but prefer Marvin a lot more! BEACH HEAD now has a far better voice (similar to his "original") while GUNG HO turns up with his Cajun lilt. FLINT still looks a bit young, but at least he gets more to do this time.

There are superb battles here! A Cobra attack on a JOE base (they have more than one this time!) begins with BATTLE HORNETS strafing the place (and they look great on screen!), is followed up by a NIGHT ADDER attack being intercepted by (desert camo) TIGERHAWKS before THUNDERWING reinforcements turn up. It all sounds very busy, but unfolds beautifully on screen. STORM SHADOW now takes on JINX and KAMAKURA as well as SNAKE EYES, and a motorcycle chase involving them all is superb. It all culminates with a showdown on a hanger roof (while the afore mentioned battle is taking place!) as STORM SHADOW awaits pick-up and KAMAKURA brings down a NIGHT ADDER by slicing off a wing with his sword. Believe me, it works better than it sounds!
Other great touches include COBRA's snow-bound base and a showdown between the new ICE SABRE'S and COBRA SNOW WOLVES (lots of 'em!). the moment when a SNOW WOLF lunges in through the open cockpit window to grab FROSTBITE made me jump (as well as it being a sort-of punchline to a little gag!)
Oh, and the reason the new figure of FROSTBITE comes packaged with a paint-ball gun is fully explained! Other good points include the 'comedy double act' of SLASH and SLICE. At first you wonder "what the.." but it grows on you. Also, the BARONESS actually disguises herself this time (as in the Sunbow series) as a "granny" - A very welcome touch. Although she still looks odd, I find this BARONESS far more fanciable than the SPY TROOPS version. Unfortunately, DESTRO looks absolutely awful this time round.

This leads me to a few other critisisms. HAWK's voice is just wrong (IMO) and his appearance looks off too. Faces of the other characters still seems too ugly as well, and some movement is a little awkward. The incidental score is better than SPY TROOPS, but the song at the end is not great ("The Unseen Glory" I think it's called) but just okayish. I was also disappointed that FIREFLY still hasn't made an appearance (no ZARTAN this time either!). The use of a BUILT TO RULE vehicle is a little cheesy, despite it being pulled off as well as possible, and the lack of COBRA infantry forces such as VIPERS (the entire non-Venom enemy ranks consists of the new brick-red BAT) is a let down, although this does allow the prescence of OVERKILL in quite a meaty role (and he has a cool voice).

This really does feel far more 'epic' than SPY TROOPS. The diversity of locations (for JOE and COBRA) makes the film a lot more fun. Extras are pretty much as before, but even without any, the main feature is well worth owning. Some people will hate it of course, as they seem to have a resistance to seeing GI JOE presented as a children's property (which, after all. it is!). But the thrill of seeing the MOBILE COMMAND CENTRE pull up outside the gates of the zoo will hopefully give a kick to some of the most jaded viewers.

Here's a "cast" list of regulars (from memory):
JOE:
General Hawk
Duke
Flint (odd colours!)
Snake Eyes
Scarlett
Beach Head (doesn't do much, but a great voice!)
Gung Ho (the Wave 1 version, with hair!)
Jinx
Kamakura
Tunnel Rat (nice voice and a meaty role!)
Heavy Duty
Hi-Tech (a bit more annoying than last time)
Dusty (much bigger role)
Frostbite
Link (starts as a civilian ex-Navy SEAL but is recruited to the JOES at the end)
Shipwreck (far smaller role this time)
Torpedo (hardly registers)
Wet Suit
Ace (voice only)
Slipsteam (I think: He isn't seen and speaks a single line of dialogue, but I didn't see him credited at the end so maybe it was ACE talking!)
Wild Bill (much reduced role, but at least he dons his shades near the end!)

Cobra:
Cobra Commander (helmeted version)
Destro (does very little)
Baroness
Storm Shadow (looking REALLY good in his VvsV outfit!)
Dr. Mindbender
Venomous Maximus
Slice
Slash
Electric Eels (involved in a great underwater fight!)
Wild Weasel (mainly voice only, barely glimpsed!)
Razor Troopers (It's not too clear if one of them is Razor Claw himself)
Desert Scorpions
Snow Wolves
Overkill
Bats
Coil Crushers

(edited to add "cast")

Nice review. I watched it last night and I enjoyed the movie. The cloudburst and the motorcycle chase looked fantastic. The making of featurette, music video, and trailer were all presented in widescreen, so I do not understand why the movie was in full screen format. However, the transfer of the film looked better than the Spy Troops transfer. I liked that they kept most of the same voices from Spy Troops and I like the new character additions like Jinx.

I am a father of two sons. They both sat still the whole time it was on. They thoroughly enjoyed it. As a Joe/COBRA fan, myself, I also enjoyed it. IT'S A KIDS SHOW !!! Watch this movie in the same state that a child would watch it. Yeah, there were plenty of things that don't match the original cartoon series, but come on ppl, it's been twenty years since the first cartoon. In real life, ppl change in such a time frame. So, doesn't it make since that Joe/COBRA characters would change, as well. Plus, voice actors come and go, in that time frame.
The only problems I had with it were Gung-Ho having hair. I guess, after twenty years, with the help of Rogaine he could have grown some by now. However, he still looked more like Double Clutch than Gung-Ho.
I wish there were Vipers and Neo-Vipers running around, and less B.A.T.S. This, however, is a easy segue into the whole "B.A.T.S. Uprising" thing, or whatever it's called. Which, BTW, a lot of ppl on this board seem to want.
I really liked Overkill, because of the throw back homage to Max Headroom. I loved that guy/show. Plus, at least he isn't boring.

Since I've watched the film twice more I must admit that the song "GLORY UNSEEN" is really starting to grow on me. I still prefer "EYES OF A HERO", but this new one is catching up fast....

This movie is really fun. With the exception of an extremely goofy-looking/nonthreatening Destro and a miscast Dr. Mindbender voice, I think it's a total success (Kamakura's wing slice made me downright giddy). The movie really grounds the new toys in an exciting universe, way more than Spytroops did, and for the first time since its relaunch, I think Joe has a chance of earning some new fans outside us nostalgia-seekers/adult collectors and not fading like MOTU.

I hope VvV, and its follow-ups, get promoted hard so maybe 2006 can be like 1986.

Good movie! Thumbs down to hawk being venomius maximus now u can't use him as a different charater as state in the being of this thread. Some voices good work others "What were u thinkin". Destro worse charater in the movie! IMO

Wow! I wasn't too impressed with Spytroops but VvV rocked!! The creaters really outdid themselves in my opinion. I loved almost every minute of it. They fixed Beachhead but Destro got worse.

Why it rocked:
-incredible animation
-awesome theme song
-lots of characters
-Kamkura taking on a Night Adder
-Hawk being reverted to his old self
-nice setup for the next movie!
-Much longer then Spytroops
-includes Venimous Maximus TCG card

Complaints:
-Destro's head is too big and he acts like an idiot
-No Zartan and still no Firefly
-Looks like we have a whole nother year until the next theme let alone the next movie. :o(

For anyone who's on the fence about picking this baby up, I suggest you do so. Chances are you will be entertained if not very impressed.

Just watched it, I enjoyed a whole lot, but some of the animation looked incomplete (objects passing through one another). I really didn't feel like maximus was fleshed out enough, and I though overkill would have a cold metallic voice. I had hopes of seeing more toys invovled such as maybe alley vipers taking the adults, or swamp rats. But the comedy was funny i laughed quite a bit. Glad I bought it. Oh yeah Destro reminded my of goldfinger but not as a menacing villian but as a fat head.

I enjoyed it butt didn't like the gung ho voice maybe its just me but he sounded a little to much cagun to me.

I picked this up at walmart last night,when I got it to the register and was charged almost $14.00 for it I was angry and thought it was way over priced.However I bought it anyway.I really didn't expect it to be very good.I was suprised at how good it was.After watching it,I have to say I really enjoyed it.It was way better than spytroops.Anyone who hasn't picked it up because of the high price should pick it up,it's a really fun movie.I really haven't liked a lot of the VvsV figure line.However after seeing the movie I really want some of the figures now.

By the way, what is the DVD Rom game thing on the VvV DVD? I couldn't seem to get it to work on my comp even though I meet the requirements.

Also, I assume Venimous Maximous is the only promo card. Anyone get anything diffeent?

"By the way, what is the DVD Rom game thing on the VvV DVD? I couldn't seem to get it to work on my comp even though I meet the requirements.

Also, I assume Venimous Maximous is the only promo card. Anyone get anything diffeent?"

The game is similar to those found on the mission discs (ie: not very good!) and involves SNAKE EYES in the centre of an arena (viewed from above) and attempting to throw approaching enemies off the sides by kicking, punching & leg-sweeping. There's little to distinguish it from those other games, right down to the slightly tatty 2-D graphics. Can't remember the title right now, but you're not missing anything, believe me!!

And I too got the VENOMOUS MAXIMUS card in my DVD. As my disc appears to be a Canadian version it's safe to assume that the same card comes with every pack.

Using a bit of judicious editing, I was able to pull Juniper's "Glory Unseen" off the DVD in MP3 format. If someone's interested in hosting this for the benefit of others, send me an e-mail and I'll kick over the file.

-Axcess

cool guys , i think i am going to have to pick this up.
i am loving seeing the 2am comedy central commercials

I just watched it Fri night.

I haven't read anyone's reviews until just now. So while this is repeating what many of you have said here goes:

I liked it! I think we are now getting over the "shock" of accepting the characters in CGI. And, it was much better this time. A definite improvement.

Beachhead- Fixed voice - yeah!
Shipwreck - changed voice - boo!
Gung-Ho - First thing I thought when I saw that he had hair - bad!
Also, cajun voice - bad! To me sounds too much like Gambit from
the X-Men.

Jinx - good choice - brought much needed color.

Not to happy with all the Ninja's they're bringing into the show though.

Lots of other characters - good!!

I picked this up at walmart last night,when I got it to the register and was charged almost $14.00 for it I was angry and thought it was way over priced.

Wow, I can't believe you would think it costs too much! I thought it was a great price, but I did get it on sale.

I was going to buy Sly Cooper 2 for the PS2 anyway and it came with a $10 Gift Card. So, it was on sale for $12.99 - the $10 Gift Card = $2.99. So, with tax it cost $3.83.

Anyone else do this?

Just watched it this morning...

Pros:
- Am glad Beach Head has more of an Alabaman accent where he IS from,
rather than the surfer dude accent
- More characters with more roles ie: TRat, Flint, Kamakura, Jinx etc

Cons:
- I didnt like Destro's eyes
- The TomaXamot irritating trademark of finishing off each others sentences
was too irritating for me
- Not enough Vipers/Neo-Vipers

Other than that, my 6yr old boy really liked it. He would run into the room
and grab one of the canon fodder troops I had when a character would
appear ie: Cobra Commander, Destro, Baroness etc

Guess I got a little confused reading the original post - I thought
there wasn't going to be a happy ending! (i.e. from the statement that Hawk and Maximus can't coexist)

I'm not quite entirely diggin' the CG - might take a little getting used to, but the swordfight scenes especially seemed a little too choppy, which confuses me, given the complexity of Transformers' Beast Wars toon and the advances shown in Shrek, among others.

Great storyline, but the facial expressions have got a long way to go. Scarlett, especially, kept reminding me of that CG wonder movie (Sarcasm on full) - "Final Fantasy: The Spriits Within". Technologically a great feat, but needs a bit of fine tuning b4 I can buy it completely.

The voice talents, for the most part, were very well done. We're kinda spoiled by the Sunbow cartoon version and the pure talent involved, but these guys are definitely passable. Dr. Mindbender actually sounds a lot like I thought he should! LOL And Gung Ho sounds a little more like a Cajun in this movie than the cartoon. Though someone else was dead on - he DOES sound a lot like Gambit.

Overall, a pretty good movie, though I was occasionally snapped out of my blissful viewing by a technical glitch or two.

After the horrors of Spytroops, I was seriously considering passing Valor Vs Venom up, even though I expected it to be a little better, because of the choice of writers (I'm a Lost World fan) and the promise of a better Beach Head voice. Mukkidog's review really helped make up my mind.

The best things about this movie versus Spytroops are (IMHO):

+New Beach Head voice! :D
+Addition of Jinx.
+Cobra Commander isn't cackling every other sentence.
+Great writing (Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, thank you!)
+The Baroness in disguise (reminds me of the original cartoons)

The flaws are (IMHO):

-Lack of "real" Cobra troops. (When did CC switch to an all B.A.T. army?)
-Destro. (Redesign and get another voice!)
-Still needs to be longer! ;)

I hate that we have to wait so long for the next one. Can't they just give us a new movie every other month? Please?


Richard J.

I was very surprised by how good the movie was. It is probably the best "Animated" Joe story I've seen. Granted I am not a fan of the cartoon series (either of them) or the GI Joe Cobra La movie. Spy Troops was so so in my opinion.

Well the animation in VVV is absolutely beautiful. The voice acting was a lot better than Spy Troops. Beach Head said one too many "Bros" but other than that Jeff Spicolli from Fast Times At Ridgemont High was gone. The Destro character was a bit underwritten but that is to be expected with so much going on in the movie. The interaction between Jinx, Kamakura, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow was fantastic and in line with the Marvel and Hasbro universe. It was also nice to see Scarlett getting a lot of air time. Although it did seem she had the.. urr.. Pamela Anderson augmentation surgery.

I really enjoyed this movie. It was better than some of the major flicks I've seen recently.

I enjoyed it butt didn't like the gung ho voice maybe its just me but he sounded a little to much cagun to me.

Gung Ho is Cajun, that is what he is supposed to sound like.

DVDtalk.com has posted a nice review:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=12321

man, I posted a long review and random thoughts post... but it disappeared...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

I watched the movie last night and I have to say that I liked it! I really didn't care for many of the Cobra characters though. Destro seemed weak and his head was to fat. Baroness was about the same. Slash and Slice were just goofy. I really did like the Cobra Commander uniform though. Black with gold highlights really sets him off. Too bad the figure wasn't made that way.

I really enjoyed the action in the movie. Aircraft combat, motorcycle chase, gun fights and even ninjas. It was all good. Thumbs up!

One thing that was really weird to me....

Why were so many characters NOT in their Venom Vs Valor outfits?

What was the point of doing a new outfit for Tunnel Rat if he is just going to be in his Spytroops outfit?

Gung-Ho just weirded me out... Vs1 is 3 years old at this point. There has been a new version since then AND a VvsV version is coming out.

I fully enjoyed the VvV Movie. Overall it was very action packed... showed a ton of the different toys that have shown up the past year (and then some) and managed to overall tell an interesting story. It was ashame that Venamous Maximus doesn't survive as a character becuase to some degree it makes him useless as a figure.

The main negatives (since often times people like to talk negative than positive and I don't mind airing my Negatives with you)... the plot line was a little too much Serpentor-ish for my tastes. Also the Venomized people being civilians sort of defeated the purpose of those characters since GI Joe wasn't about to kill innocent civilians (though they had to put in the BATs so as to give GI Joe something to kill :p ).

So overall it was a fun ride... with a plot that not only exposed the majority of the whole VvV line of figures and vehicles but also shut the door on most of the interesting parts (Venomous Maximus, the Venomized Troops, and so on).

The main thing I felt though at the end was a longing for more GI Joe. More animated shorter stories that are focused more in on a select group (not a specific group) of Joes & Cobra peeps per story. I WANT A NEW SERIES! VvV showed me that despite Spy Troops... GI Joe could go CG and the characters still have... um... character. So imo they need to go ahead and make a new series using all these art asets. Get Larry Hama in on atleast some of the writing. And make the wait between movies non important since there would be a series to enjoy.

I really did like the Cobra Commander uniform though. Black with gold highlights really sets him off. Too bad the figure wasn't made that way.




They did!!! You must have missed him!

http://www.yojoe.com/action/04/cobracommander16.shtml

[QUOTE=nightc1]! VvV showed me that despite Spy Troops... GI Joe could go CG and the characters still have... um... character. So imo they need to go ahead and make a new series using all these art asets. Get Larry Hama in on atleast some of the writing.

You seem not too fond of Spy troops, but like Hama as a writer. Did you know that he wrote Spy Troops?

Axcess, were you able to get the MP3 of Glory Unseen hosted on a site? If so, what site? I'm dying to get an MP3 of it. Thanks.

No such luck. No donation of space, no MP3. I unfortunately don't have the available space, or I'd host it myself. I've got both "Glory Unseen" and "Eyes Of A Hero," but without space... <shrugs> Pretty useless.

Well, I think my post fits here than as its own thread, so...




Well, I rented the DVD, my sister and I watched it, and we were disappointed in a few ways.

Anything that makes the 1987 movie look like classic cinema needs to be talked about.
I could go on and on about the plot of this movie, or the issue of "concept vs. execution," but I think I'll focus on an aspect that's been largely ignored: How the characters are portrayed.


Dr. Mindbender: At some point in the last twenty years, Dr. Mindbender finally came out of the closet. Sure, there had always been some suspicion, what with his shirtless-and-purple-pants motif, but most of the "talk" was in the form of internet-goers snickering amongst themselves. True suspicion developed when he began plucking his eyebrows. More people began to talk when Queer Eye for the Straight Guy became his favorite show, and when he started to pick up their speech patterns and mannerisms... well, there you have it. I swear, he and Hi-Tech had kind of a thing going.

Cobra Commander: Oh, the heights from which the mighty have fallen. Cobra Commander has lost all pretense of being a serious villain in this movie. From the first moment when we saw him randomly running around screaming incoherently to his final offer of a "Sizeable bribe," CC was nothing but an absolute goofball. At least in the cartoon, he had his rare moments of glory, and you could actually imagine him owning Cobra to begin with. In this movie, he was more pathetic than the time he had been turned into a snake.

Destro: Destro received a mixture of the treatment that Cobra Commander and Dr. Mindbender got. He simultaneously became both stupider and strangely effeminate. My sister took note of the scene where he "played" his fingers over hawk's chest, and Baroness slapped him. it was kind of... sad. He acted like he was just a pointless yet goofy bodyguard... and those eyes were way too close together.

Baroness: She barely did anything in the movie, but the guys who did the CGI apparently know nothing about the female form. Baroness looked positively deformed. Thus saith my sister. And me. Too.

Overkill: Overkill reminded me of somebody I know back at work. This guy would do everything while muttering about his coworkers, often spending his time trying to get everybody else fired. He lost his job just this last week. Need I say more? (Although I did like his new robot arm attachments)

Real Ultimate Power Ninjas: Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes were okay. Jinx wasn't all that annoying. Slice and Slash are the new Bebop and Rocksteady. And Kamakura... well, he provided more comic relief than Cobra Commander. "Watch me with my sword! Mmph! Erg! Agh... uh... crap."

Venomous Maximus: His characterization was actually pretty good, although the voice actor needed to be replaced. I did notice that VM constantly shifted between "Can withstand gunfire at point-blank range" and "Is punched out by Heavy Duty." Also, they really didn't do a good job with his face or his mutated arm.

Other Venom Troopers: They were done well. Some of them were positively disturbing. I just want to know... why did the Sand Scorpions' sunglasses melt away when they were de-venomized?

Duke: Meh. I kept forgetting that he was there. Although he did sound a lot like Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor.

Flint: Same here.

Shipwreck and Polly: formerly, Shipwreck was a strange mixture between a tough guy and George Bush Sr. Now, he's that guy who works at the Del taco down the street, except with better english skills. I noticed that Polly was voiced by the guy who played Goku in DBZ's first season, which brings the tally up to 4 washed-up Dragonball Z voice actors. Polly also had trouble remaining centered on Shipwreck's shoulder, choosing instead to drift through his body.

Tunnel Rat: He was okay, except that for some reason his teeth shone like metal.

Gung-Ho: I shouted a random "Cajun" word every time that he spoke. "Gumbo!" "Jambalaya!" "Voodoo!" "I Guarantee!" "Mardi Gras!" Somehow, it made his dialogue better.

Wild Bill: Pennsylvanian cowboys are more cowboy than Wild Bill in this movie. I should know. I used to live there.

Wild Weasel: He was in this movie?

Link Talbot: I am afraid of Link. Afraid that someday he will snap, and kill us all. Tell me, did anybody else notice this? link spent the entire movie fully tensed-up, breathing through his mouth, and straining in his effort not to kill everybody on sight. Oh, help us if he ever truly does Hulk out.

Hi-Tech: believe it or not, Hi-Tech was funny. He also was, however, nearly as effeminate as Dr. Mindbender. Those two worked too well together. On the plus side, though, Hi-Tech behaved like just about every computer geek I've ever known: he insulted everyone and everything but himself. Constantly.

Dusty: Dusty's face was made of rubber, and he never kind of did anything noteworthy except get covered in metal and clean his uniform... which, for some reason, bothered me. Is this what happened to that kid from Charlie Brown when he grew up?

Heavy Duty: Typical "TOKEN BLACK GUY," as opposed to Link Talbot.

Scarlett: Scarlett was also deformed, much like the baroness. My sister pointed out that her, um, chest area kept changing shape and size throughout the movie, and I noticed that she had the face of an old woman. I do wonder just how much surgery she's had after seeing this movie.

General Hawk: Hawk's characterization was pretty good. But then again, he only got five minutes or so as himself. I did like the "Hey, where's Duke?" *The van with an unconscious Duke drives by* scene.

...Also, if the G.I. Joes are so secretive, then why were they playing paintball and giving awards to random kids?


...never mind. I'm using too much logic.


P.S. Just to add something, while yes, I joked about the "gayness" of some of the characters, I did notice some genuine homosexual overtones in the cartoon. Whether or not any of us are for or against the preference, it seems incredibly out of place in G.I. Joe, of all things.

Dusty: Dusty's face was made of rubber, and he never kind of did anything noteworthy except get covered in metal and clean his uniform... which, for some reason, bothered me. Is this what happened to that kid from Charlie Brown when he grew up?


Haha! I thought the same thing. Why is Pigpen in a G.I. Joe cartoon?
You forgot to mention some characters like Beachhead which I thought they finally got right. Unlike Dusty which the writers again somehow thought his codename meant he was "dusty as in dirty".
Chief Torpedo: hardly got to do anything!
Wild Weasel: Yes he was there for that brief dogfight. Plus he was typical WW I thought.
FYI Venus Terzo does the voice of Jinx who also did the voice of Blackarachnia in Transformers Beast Wars.
Just as I thought those VvV BATs are more fragile than the Spytroop versions! As I had predicted when I saw the figure. :p
Now to my confusion I was wondering why some of the characters weren't in their VvV versions. Just as Mike JT realized this. This was for all intents & purposes a long commercial. For example Scarlett's uniform looked nothing like the horrid toy version. That was a good thing. ;) However Shipwreck was still in his Spytroops uniform while the Piranha attack boat was featured. Where was Depth Charge in that scene?
Gung Ho grew hair! Gen. Hawk did look like his toy but was actually wearing Heavy Duty's coat! Ummm I thought Vipers were going to be used as test subjects.
If you are going to make a commercial at least use the versions of the toys that will be out.
Overall it was better than Spytroops. Still I didn't care for it.

I at long last was able to rent this the other day (I guess it bodes well for future GIJOE animation that this thing seems to be so popular) but I did not like it very much. The duel between Storm Shadow and Kamakura on the roof was the part I liked most.

At least some of it could be that I do not like low-budget CGI animation compared to the ol' school of the original animation. But I think the "flat" classic caricatures look more like people than CGI.

The plot was not that bad; it was similar to a so-called "classic" episode. The script could have been worse. But the voice cast have NOTHING on the original voice actors. I am open-minded enough to imagine characters with new voices, and the VvV voice actors are not untalented, they just do not measure up to Christopher Latta (RIP), Michael Bell, BJ Ward, Mary Lewis, and the rest. Having been watching the original 1980's episodes on DVD recently (many for the first time in years and one or two for the first time ever) I see that a great deal of the characters' appeal was from the voice acting. COBRA Commander may be one of the most perfectly realized animated characters ever, though very under-appreciated.

Destro was always my favorite character and to say that VvV takes the character in a new direction is a very...tactful...understatement. I did not like it at all, and hated even more the way he was drawn, like a buffoon. It was nice to see Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow take each other on in animated form, however, as in the original animation Spirit was used most often as Storm Shadow's enemy counterpart.

It is very difficult for me to give an unbiased critique of VvV on its own merits. If I were to say it is an "interpretation" of the GIJOE characters the way the original animation was and the Marvel Comics series, and the current comics series, then I'd say that it was, in my opinion, overall an unappealing interpretation in most respects with some occasional appealing moments.

to make a movie that the older fans and kids would like you need to use the more mature comic characters and more realistic stories while at the same time having the comic aspects for the kids ... the fact is kids eat up violence these days CC was so fawkin stupid and hawk sounded like a hillbilly ,and duke like the manager of a target , on the other hand beachhead was finally portrayed corectly as the rough neck soldier he is , and snake eyes was the ninja hes supposed to be (but with no commando aspect)... gi joe has sadly gone from soldiers to goofs in cartoons

All I have to say is that Hasbro does not have a clue in understanding the true nature of the forces and fangs of the glorious leader that is COBRA COMMANDER!!!!:mad:

I swear, CC behaved just like a circus clown.