Challenge Of The Gobots: The Original Miniseries (Remastered)

I was in high school when the Gobots and Transformers were hitting the shelves and TV airwaves, although it's Transformers that I became more familiar with via the cartoon. (Ironically, the only transforming toy I ever owned, given to me as a gag gift, was--if I'm not mistaken--a Gobot or possibly some other off-brand, because it was an S-10 Chevy Blazer, identical to the one I drove. It was actually a cool little toy.) I never caught the GoBots on TV and was only vaguely aware of their existence. So, buying this was more of an old nerd's curiosity than any particular fandom. I'm only about halfway through the original mini-series, but I've seen enough of it to offer the following interesting observations:1) As I understand, Gobots actually hit the airwaves (and I think the shelves) slightly before the Transformers by a few weeks or months. It's interesting to note how uncannily similar the basic plot elements are. For example, nearly identical planets in the guises of "Gobatron" verses "Cybertron," were even the names are similar. The similarity of a robot civil war, which has two factions, where one is chasing the other to Earth (only in this case, the roles are reversed). Both have the bad guys creating a convenient way of beaming their minions back and forth to the home planet to negate the need of spaceship crossings—and so on. I don’t know who stole from who (unless it was truly an extraordinary coincidence beyond all probability—sure), but it’s fascinating to watch.2) This is from Hanna-Barbera, who, by this time, had decades of experience creating animated series—whereas the “Transformers” producers were, at least partly, more recent production companies. (Yes, there were some pros involved with Transformers, as well—but HB had been the king of Saturday morning television for decades, with Filmation as their only real competitor.) You hear some of the familiar voices, associated with Hanna-Barbera—and it can be argued that the Gobots cartoon has a more polished look, with fewer errors, than the first season of Transformers, although people, who did not grow up with 1970s animation styles, might find it jarring.3) But I will say that this DVD print of this Gobots miniseries is extremely high quality, which is fairly typical of physical media from Warner Bros., over other studios, in which it’s often hard to tell the difference between the standard definition DVD and the Blu-ray, if there is one. Just like all the major studios are pandering to mythical “modern audiences,” Warner Bros. can be annoying for a number of those same reasons. However, when it comes to the quality (and availability) of their catalogs on physical media, I’ve found the offerings of Warner Bros. to be consistently superior to their competitors, particularly when it comes to DVD—and even Blu-ray. Whatever process Warner Bros. is using to garner the highest quality capture of classic material from their original film print sources, I don’t know what they are doing differently than other studios, but they are doing it better. (Furthermore, they’re DOING IT—as opposed to not making it available at all, because they have a streaming service—which the title in question is probably not even on!) This Gobots miniseries is no exception. The DVD picture and sound is of such high quality that you can see every tiny spec of dust from the original film print. (Yes, that’s a good thing!) It looks and sounds fantastic.4) The final interesting thing to note about this Gobots miniseries versus the Transformers is the differences between the two artistic visions—to the point that it’s even humorous in some regard. The Transformers cartoon made no secret of its artistic license when it came to how the transforming toy differed in reality from its artistic interpretation on the screen (I would say, for the better). The cartoon form of the “Transformers” robots, as well as their vehicle modes, tended to have a more “realistic” look to them, as opposed to their more blocky forms in the toys they represented. The Gobots cartoon doesn’t do that nearly as much. The cartoon robots and vehicle modes on the Gobots cartoon look basically identical to their toy counterparts! So, even though it gives their cartoon interpretations a clunkier look, you can’t fault Hanna-Barbera for lack of authenticity! So authentic was it (and here’s where it gets funny!), the “mobile command center” for the “Guardians” (a.k.a. the good guys), looks so identical to the toy, that it even includes four tiny wheels below the plastic molding of what are clearly meant to be tank treads! But the cartoon includes the shape of the immobile treads, but it rolls on the four tiny plastic wheels underneath! I literally laughed out loud!5) The only real criticism I would give it: Why is the U.S. Army jeep portrayed as one of the bad guys? Shouldn’t he have been one of the Guardians?—particularly in the Cold War 1980s? Although, to be fair, you could say the same thing about Transformer’s Starscream and his brigade of U.S. Air Force-inspired F-15s, who were also bad guys. Suffice to say, Hollywood hating the U.S. military isn’t new.Beyond that, the story is fine. It’s typical kid-friendly adventure, and a charming watch for both the nostalgic and the curious (and by the way, unlike many of today’s offerings, your kids can actually watch it).

Excellent rendering of this classic 80s cartoon series. Gobots were terribly underrated. I bought this to watch with my two boys. They love Gobots now. I wish they would release the Rocklords movie!

The Challenge of the Go-Bots original mini series is one of those shows that if your into that era of cartoons or the concept of transforming robots you'll like it but more you'll probably love how silly it can get when it's desperately trying to be serious.The animation is pretty good but many times the robots come off as too human or too simplified in their designs compared to the toys they were based on and other robot series of the day. In some cases like Turbo they just come off as looking creepy or weird as a result.Basically the show tries to come off as a Transformers alternative but it essentially takes most of its plot and origins directly from that series and sort of does it haphazardly. Like your never really told why the robots are all Earth based vehicles on their home planet of Gobotron they just expect you not to question it.Just like Transformers there are two warring factions: The heroic Guardians and the evil Renegades. The Renegades eventually escape imprisonment and make their way to Earth followed by the Guardians hoping to protect the planet and its inhabitants from the villains with the help of human allies on each side.Speaking of the human of the series you can also count on the fact that nearly every time the Go-Bots get around the humans they do things that should kill or injure them but nobody ever gets more than a little shaken up or scared. It's especially funny how many times the Guardians, the heroes of the series, do this.If your looking for an alternative to Transformers that is more kid friendly or just a fan of the transforming robot genre I highly recommend this series.

I had never seen these shows when they originally aired. It's an interesting cartoon.

GoBots is a must have for anyone who likes Robots along the lines of the Transformers, but here presented in a slightly clumsy but very likeable way. This series is a Hanna Barbera Production and has all of the familiar sound FX, style, and music of many of their classic productions.Here we have the powerful villain Cy-Kill, a motorcycle/robot hybrid from the planet Gobotron who's sole purpose is to take over the earth and destroy Leader 1, a fighter Jet/robot who does his best to help humanity.This set includes the introduction to the Gobot world Gobotron, and the Gobots first encounters with humans. Scooter, a red scooter/robot hybrid is strongly showcased here, and the show includes the voice of Frank Welker.The action is plentiful here, and the story line very interesting. You'll also see plenty of the star robots and their interactions with the human scientists and the evil scientist cohort of Cy-Kill. It's a joy to watch this classic show once again, as these skilled but somewhat clumsy robots engage in an unending battle of wits and laser fire. Highly recommended for Robot fans looking for a very unique animated show about robots.Storylines: 8/10Robot Selection: 8/10 Many classic robots are hereMusic: 8/10Sound FX: 9/10Action: 8/10Fun to watch: 8/10Overall: 8/10.If you want the entire series on DVD, put forth a purchase of this classic robotic series now, so the series has enough sales to warrant more videos.On a side note, when is the Hanna Barbera Pac Man Cartoon series going to hit DVD? It's digitially available, but not on DVD yet. UPDATE: Pac Man now on DVD. Thanks Hanna Barbera for releasing it. Now we just need the full GoBots series please.

Fun watch with some great action

Perfetto come da descrizione!!! Arrivato senza problemi, nei tempi indicati.

Da die Pilotfolgen nicht bei der Serie dabei sind habe ich mir die Disc separat gekauft. Ton- und Bildqualität sind, dem Alter entsprechend gut. Für Fans der Serie, klare Kaufempfehlung.

Après des heures de visionnage de VHS de mauvaise qualité, on est satisfait de voir une bonne qualité d'image sur ces épisodes d'une série mythique de mon enfance. Pour autant, je suis surpris que ce soit là l'unique possibilité de voir cette série: en effet, il n'existe à ce jour aucun autre DVD et celui ci n'offre que 5 épisodes. Pour une série qui, à son époque, rivalisait si bien avec Transformers, devenue depuis une énorme franchise populaire, on peut s'étonner. Pour ma part, je préférais Le défi des Gobots. Les personnages principaux étaient plus développés et l'histoire se dispersait moins parmi des dizaines de robots différents.On trouve ici les 5 premiers épisodes qui peuvent être lus soit d'une traite, soit un par un via le menu qui est fixe et simple. Les épisodes contiennent même les "eyecatch" (avertissements de publicités).Attention, la version française n'est pas incluse et il n'y a pas de sous-titres, même en anglais.