For this edition of TRR DVD Revue, we are setting the wayback machine to the mid 80′s when Cartoon ruled the airwaves. While Hasbro brought us Transformers on the small screen, another line of robots created the “robots in disguise” craze first. They were the Tonka line produced GoBots. Thanks to the cartoon giant Hanna-Barbera, they created a series that tells the tale between the heroic Guardians and the evil Renegades. Let us talk about the Challenge of the GoBots miniseries that made its way to DVD this week.
To look at the miniseries for the first time in years, brings back some memories of watching cartoons while eating cereal on a Saturday morning. The GoBots tells a unique yet similar tale of how a group of ancient human beings fought a civil war against the Renegades on the verge of their own extinction. After the dust settled, a man known as the “Last Engineer” saved his people by replacing their body parts with mechanical ones making them in a robot race. One of the main differences that I like about the GoBots were that there were women on the team. Unfortunately, the robot known as Crasher was part of the evil Renegades. Fans will remember Leader-1, the top dog of the Guardians who can instant change into a Navy fighter jet. Other characters in the series include Turbo, Scooter, and Cop-Tur. The main heavy of Renegades is Cy-Kill, the former friend of Leader-1 who turns his back on the Guardians and hates Leader-1 with a passion.
Preview Clip
This DVD features all five episodes of the miniseries that started the syndication series. I like the digital remastered quality of the five episodes. The animation looks much better compared to the original airing of the episodes back in 1984. Even though there are no additional features present in the DVD, the fans of the GoBots would not be disappointed of reliving their childhood for the moment. Is this DVD worth the twenty-six year wait, I say yes especially since Transformers is ruling the big screen and pushing out DVDs like no tomorrow. The challenge of the gobots this time is to get some of the mechanical pie.
DVD GRADE: B
TRR DVD Revue by Dean Rogers
