G.I. Joe Renegades: Season 1 [Blu-ray]

I'm a child of the 80's and while this show is definitely a departure from the original GI Joe, I think it's a great modern update to the GI Joe story. This time around rather than a full scale war between two massive, already established factions, it tells a possible origin story detailing how it might have all started with COBRA being a <covert> ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world in the guise of a massive global corporation and the JOES being a small band of freedom fighters (most of them military) trying to dig through the depths of COBRA's schemes to find out the truth and put a stop to it, even if that means they must become outlaws and be hunted by their own government and the military they serve in order to protect the world and expose COBRA's true nature and intentions.While still accessible to children, the dialog and stories are much more mature and serious in tone and the smaller cast allows for far more detailed characterization and growth (on both sides, not just for the good guys), especially considering they only had one season to do it.I truly wish that this show hadn't gotten put on hiatus for the sake of the big screen sequel and subsequently never renewed/cancelled (no doubt due in large part to the same reasons shows like Young Justice, Green Lantern and countless others were cancelled around this time on another network which shall remain nameless) because it was an excellent piece of story telling with the kind of overarching plotlines that you only see in live action dramas these days (shows like Arrow, The Flash, Gotham etc.) but I guess them's the breaks. I wish more producers in the US understood what many in Japan have long accepted; that adults do watch cartoons and accept them as a serious medium for story telling (shows like Batman: The Animated Series should have taught them this lesson long ago). Perhaps then shows like this wouldn't get cancelled so easily, especially if marketed the right way and to the right demographics.

A little background:This is my first GI Joe animated series. I am not familiar with the famed 80's cartoon, although to my knowledge this series is a little more serious and less cheesy.I enjoyed the story of the Renegades. It is told from a less-cheesy-but-not-too-dark frame and features decent enough plotlines for an animated series aimed at kids (most notably, the Joes realistic weaponry is replaced in this series by futuristic laser weapons). The main plot revolves around the Joes being accused of a crime against Cobra industries and being pursued by both Cobra and the military, although several subplots are explored. (A notable subplot being the two-part backstory of Snake Eyes)The Blu-Ray visuals look sharp with good contrast and saturation. It isn't particularly mind-blowing, but it looks great and serves the purpose. The sound really shines with a 5.1 DTS-HD MA track that really punctuates the action. I suspect it sounds a great deal better than the DVD or TV versions in this regard but I cannot comment completely. The season is separated onto 3 discs and several commentary tracks are included.I bought this Blu-Ray as a deal of the day blind buy after seeing only the pilot, and I am glad I did so. It's a great add to my collection as a 24-year-old fan of animated action series.

FYI, I grew watching GI Joe : a real american hero and was a big fan of the toys also.I had heard of Renegades, but I never watched it. I bought this blu ray and just finished watching it with my son. OMG what a great show! It was a new take, a prequel kind of thing. I am stunned at how good it was.The main characters were, slightly, reinvented and fresh. The idea of introducing secondary characters was great. If you were a big enough fan and read the filecards that came with the action figures you could quickly recognize their real name before the codename was mentioned.Artistically speaking, the drawing were amazing, a unique style that separated the show from the others.It's really too bad they didn't come up with a season 2, they should have waited for DVD and Blu ray sales. They should have considered that 40 year old kids like me would maybe not tune in every week, but would definitely buy it later. Oh well...Perfect for any GI Joe fan, don't hesitate to buy it, you will love.

What a nice find.

Item arrived ahead of time and in good condition

I love this series. It unfortunately builds up to a season two that doesn't exist but the ending is still satisfying. I'd say this series is most appropriate for 8-10 year olds, some of the imagery can be a little scary for younger children. It's a great storyline and fun for adults as well. I would highly recommend it to fans of G.I. Joe as well as those who enjoy action based cartoons in general. Very well done and a fun experience.

Take the general feel of some of your favorites from the cartoon we had growing up, splash in a few cameos from a few more, and put them in the general series feel from the A-Team we had growing up. You even have a large African-American man driving the van. That's pretty much my take on the series. And to be perfectly honest, I love it.

I've been looking for this show for a long time. Great series, doesn't dumb down important messages for kids, and treats them like adults. The Animation takes a bit to get used to if you're more used to Disney style animation. Voice acting is also top notch for a short 1 season series. A lot of time and effort went into this series. Really wish it wasn't canceled.

Enjoy this animated series on the format of blu ray

Great show