G.I. Joe: The Movie [DVD]

First off, my review is not about the movie itself. This is not the first time I’ve bought this quick-paced, fun movie and that should speak volumes of how much I love it. Between the Transformers animated movie (which came out shortly before this did) and this, I would honestly pick this one.My review is on this Blu-ray release.This is, by far, the cleanest version of this movie to date. That being said, it KILLS me that their solution to make it widescreen was to CUT OFF the top and bottom of the screen. One of the biggest reasons I’ve loved this movie over so many years is strong story boarding they used. Super-solid compositions. It’s very clear that, unlike the Transformers movie, this movie was meant to be seen on 4:3 TV’s over theater screens.I’m sure to the more flexible or less inclined this will probably not be a big deal and they’ll love the fact that there are no black bars on the sides. For me, I feel like everything is cropped way too tight and many of the compositions don’t have as much impact. In my opinion, they should’ve kept it 4:3 with black bars.At the very least the DVD included in this set has a full-screen (actually now NOT full screen but is a remnant definition of 4:3 from back before TV’s weren’t widescreen format) version.

When my first copy arrived in the mail, I just thought that one was defective because it just would not play. I returned that, and Amazon sent me a second copy. But when trying to play the movie, that copy also would not work on my PlayStation 4. My console is updated and everything, and my other movies play just fine. I don’t know what the deal is, but I am incredibly disappointed.

We first bought the DVD version and couldn't play it in any of our DVD devices (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS4). It crashes all three when you choose to play the movie from the main menu. We returned the DVD to buy this Blu-ray/DVD combo. I tried the DVD again and had the same experience. But I may have found a way around the issue it by accident. Instead of jumping to the main title to begin the movie I skipped through all the initial preview chapters one at a time. I eventually landed on a choice between widescreen and full screen. I chose wide and then it takes you to the title screen. Playing from this point works. Perhaps it is just encoded with bad menu logic. Now we know how to get it to play. And knowing is half the battle!

Alright, let’s talk about the G.I Joe Movie. :)It is every bit as fun as you remember it. I guess when it came out in the 80s people were put off by it because it was a different tone compared to the classic series. But let’s be honest, it’s a million times better than the modern movies. It’s meant to cool, and the movie is epic!This special edition version you will get two discs. One for Blu-Ray and another for DVD. Which is a mistake that the Transformers Anniversary collection made. On that set we should’ve gotten one Blu-Ray and one DVD.Unfortunately you will not get a digital copy, and neither can you convert this Blu-Ray with Vudu Disc to Digital. You also cannot buy a digital version of this film from Prime Video. They have yet to release it digitally.The movie itself is great quality than when I first saw it. One big downside is that there is no subtitles for the movie. So if you don’t understand some of the characters, you probably never will. The only language on the movie also is English. So if some of you speak a different language, I’m sorry.The DVD version when you load it, has an option to view in Widescreen or Fullscreen. Which of course, most of us would choose Widescreen because we have flat screen TV’s now unlike in the 80s.I’ve seen a review that says it will not play on a PS4. To my fellow reviewer on Amazon I would like to say, it actually does. It plays on my PS4 perfectly, maybe your copy is defective? You can always order a replacement or let Amazon know. They will give you a replacement for free if necessary. I’ve attached images to this review to show that it can be played on a PS4 without problem and loads.If you’re a big fan of G.I Joe. I highly recommend, also, this might be a good one to show your kids. Let them see the classic goodness so that they are not spoiled by the modern awfulness. ;)

I am a fan of this movie, granted, mostly through nostalgic eyes. The movie definitely benefits from the blu ray format, not quite as much as the Transformers The Movie did, but it did show improvements. Colors and lines look more crisp and defined. Audio is cleaned up from what i remember of the vhs release.However.Like another review mentioned, their solution to making a full frame 4:3 movie widescreen for the blu ray was to chop off the top and bottom of the frame. I'm mildly claustrophobic and this movie made me uncomfortable for the entire viewing. Almost unwatchable.At least it comes with a dvd with the original aspect ratio.

I remember watching this on TV as a kid. There's no avoiding the fact that it's pretty bad. It's job is to sell toys after all. And compared to another toy selling movie from the same era(Transformers) it's noticeably lower in quality. On the other hand it does hit all the nostalgia buttons, it's so ridiculous that it often crosses into the so bad it's good territory, and the opening remix of the GIJoe song is surprisingly catchy. It's not for everyone but if you are a fan of 80's cartoons or GIJoe it's probably worth a go. Really four stars for GIJoe and 80's cartoon fans, two stars for everyone else.

Bluray is Region A so was unable to watch as all my Bluray players are Region B but I did review the DVD of GI Joe. It s not as good as the regular animated series but still an interesting watch. Obviously, I couldn't gauge whether the picture quality on Bluray was better than the DVD but quality of the DVD was fine for such an old animated movie. I think I agree with other reviewers that there was not a lot of money spent on this in comparison to Transformers the Movie. The animation in Transformers the movie was much better.

Great show, brought me back to my youth. My own boys now love this movie.

Terrible picture quality- worse than my old vhs copy of it- really ruins the experience. Dunno if it's just a bad copy I got- or it's a bad transfer. Shame love this movie. Was only £4 so won't return. Hope they do a master copy as they did with TFTM. 😔

If you have kids who like the recent G.I. Joe movies then they will probably love this. It has five episodes on the disc (Cobra's Creatures, Countdown For Zartan, Cobra Stops The World, Jungle Trap and Haul Down The Heavens). I actually prefer these old jingoistic saturday morning cartoons to the movies!

Still a great movie