Starchaser - The Legend of Orin (AKA: Star Wars and the Temple of Doom)

Starchaser: The Legend of Orin is an action/adventure animated movie released in 1985. Since it was clearly attempting to attract a Star Wars audience you would expect a 9-year old, such as myself, to have been all over it. However this was not the case. The truth is that I wasn't even aware of this films existence until 2005 (20 years after its initial release). The first place I encountered Starchaser was at a business conference. I was in my hotel room between sessions and while flipping through the channels I came across an exciting spaceship battle that I did not recognize. Curious, I left the movie on and quickly realized that what I was watching was an older animated movie that I had (surprisingly) never seen (at the time I thought it was from the late 70's or early 80's). Unfortunately I had to get to my next conference session and left the film before learning its name. With no real information to go on I let the movie bounce around in the back of my mind for about six months. Then one day while browse my local FYE I saw a DVD featuring characters from that same unknown movie, the movie was (of course) Starchaser: The Legend of Orin. The DVD was on sale for under ten dollars so I picked it up and gave it try. What I found was a truly unoriginal yet entertaining film.

Before I summarize the plot of this movie I want to talk about the story in broader terms. Starchaser shamelessly borrows - both in theme and design - from other popular films of the same genre. The parallels to Star Wars, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and even Heavy Metal are glaringly obvious. This led to heavy criticism regarding the films originality (or lack thereof), but while this unfavorable analysis is certainly founded I also believe it to be somewhat ... exaggerated. True, the movie is derivative, but it's not the one to one rip off that some would have you believe (especially when compared to stories like Eragon, which is basically Star Wars with Dragons). What you have are a bunch of popular ideas thrown in a blender, thoroughly mixed and served up in an entertaining way; and make no mistake the movie is entertaining. The story is well paced, with very few "slow" spots. The action is fun and there are even a few humorous moments. Sadly it's not all good news. I must admit that the characters - while enjoyable - are ultimately clichéd. You have the wide-eyed, naive young hero (Orin), the grizzled smuggler who acts tough, but ultimately has a heart of gold (Dagg), and of course there's the pretty young princess who's just along for the ride (Aviana). All of these characters (and others) feel like superficial stereotypes, a feeling that is undeniably present in many aspects of the movie. The villain Zygon is also emulative, both in appearance and motivation. I don't want to give too much away but let’s just say the played out theme of robots destroying mankind is well represented here. Other failings include a very forced and unnatural romance between Orin and Aviana, as well as a confusing, under explained mythology known as the "Kakann" (the mysterious power that resides within Orin).

I don't want to retell the entire movie here so instead I'll move forward with a brief synopsis. Our story begins with the young hero Orin. Orin lives as a slave in the hellish realm of Mine-World where he's forced to mine red crystals day and night (not that he would know the difference since Mine-World is entirely underground). After discovering a mystical sword hilt Orin is given the task of escaping his imprisonment and traveling to the surface world. Once there he must find the hilt's blade and free his people. Orin encounters several colorful characters along the way to help him on his quest. First is the thieving, Han Solo wannabe, Dagg. Initially Dagg wants nothing to do with Orin, but eventually he warms up to the "water moccasin" (that's Dagg's affectionate nickname for Orin) and the two traverse various planets using Dagg's starship (complete with wise cracking computer). Along the way they pick up a sexy robot secretary named Silica and the obligatory princess Aviana. Unfortunately Aviana is nothing more than a one-dimensional love interest for Orin with next to no motivation or characterization. To complete his quest Orin must defeat Zygon. Zygon is your typical cape wearing bad guy bent on universal domination. He's also responsible for the subjugation of Orin's people.

With the basic story now behind us I'll forge ahead with the movies production quality. The overall production value of Starchaser is pretty solid. Though it's not as good as a classic Disney film the movie clearly had a reasonable budget. My only real hang-up in terms of visuals was the use of rotoscoping. For anyone who doesn't know, rotoscoping is an animation technique where the animator traces over recorded live action movement one frame at a time (this can be quite time consuming). Personally I prefer the more expressive look derived from non-rotoscoped animation (same goes for that ugly motion capture technique that Robert Zemeckis is so obsessed with). Fortunately the rotoscoping used in Starchaser is done in a tasteful way (as opposed to movies like Wizards and the LOTR animated films). True some of the interaction between characters is awkward, but generally speaking the movements are fluid and realistic enough for me to be un-offended. But while the character animation is merely decent, the starship animation used throughout the film is excellent. Turns out Starchaser was animated for 3-D. Of course I've never seen the film in 3-D, but it's easy enough to tell that the main use of the format was during the spaceship battles. From what I understand to accomplish this feat the animators used computer generated models that they then rotoscoped. To maximize the effect we are treated to lots of dramatic shots of starships coming directly at the camera, and plenty of mid-air flips. Considering the movies age I was exceedingly impressed by this choreography. In all my years of sci-fi and animation fandom I have never seen anything quite like the ships in Starchaser. I would love to have seen them in the theater in actual 3-D.

The background paintings from Starchaser look very good as well. Once again, they're not as strong as a movie like Lady and the Tramp, but they are more than able to get the job done. With a diverse series of locations you are treated to everything from underground slave mines to swamps to deserts to pristine forests and even a futuristic cityscape. On the negative side some of the design work on  characters and starships is lacking, both in originality and aesthetics. The character design is such a mishmash of borrowed looks that it can become frustrating. Whether it’s the robots that look like something out of Heavy Metal, or the superhero cape sported by Zygon, I just felt like there was nothing new being offered from the movies design team. As for the starship design, the best word I can think to describe it is forgettable (but only in design, not in execution). When compared to things like Tie-Fighters, X-Wing fighters and especially the Millenium Falcon, the ships from Starchaser feel tame by comparison.

Like many aspects of Starchaser the audio from the film is noticeably recycled and dated. Things like laser blasts and starship sounds can be traced to various other films of the same genre. Of course I didn't expect the film to reinvent these sounds, but it would have been nice to at least see an attempt at originality. The voicing cast is manageable, but nothing special. Only Dagg's voice (performed by Carmen Argenziano) is remotely memorable. Musically Starchaser is certainly a product of its time. You can just feel the 80's oozing out of it when you listen to the booming orchestra (reminders me a lot of Ice Pirates). Where some would be critical of this I - on the other hand - found the nostalgia utterly charming.

Though I would never accuse Starchaser of being original, I none the less found the movie to be an enjoyable ride. Yes the film unabashedly "borrows" from other movies of the same genre, I just think that it does so in a charming way. Beside the vintage look and feel of 1985, what I really like about Starchaser is that it is a "complete" movie. There's a lot of feature film animation from the late 70's and early 80's that comes across as hodgepodge. For all of its shortcoming Starchaser never falters in its execution. Even the more ambitious elements - such as the rotoscoped/CG starships - look professional and polished. I'm not trying to elevate the film to classic, or even cult status. What I am trying do is tell you this; if you are a fan of 80's sci-fi/fantasy and you haven't seen Starchaser, you should check it out.

G.I. Joe - One of the absolute best (of the worst)

I would like to start off this review with an admission. G.I. Joe holds a very special place in my heart. I still remember the first time I saw the toy line at my local Children's Palace around the age of seven. Soon thereafter the cartoon premiered and I fell in love with the eclectic cast of wise cracking military heroes. So you'll have to excuse this review should I wax nostalgic to a disgusting degree, or appear biased in my opinions. All that said I would like to declare that G.I. Joe is one of the best action/adventure cartoon of the 1980s (shocking I know).

For those of you who don't know, G.I. Joe can be summed up very simply with the following opening credit narration: "G.I. Joe is the code name for America's daring, highly trained special mission force. Its purpose: to defend human freedom against Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world".

G.I. Joe the animated series premiered in September of 1983 and ran for a total of 95 episodes and one movie in length (even by the standards of the time this was impressive). The show began with a five-part mini-series titled "The M.A.S.S. Device" (1983). One year later the show followed this up with a second mini-series titled "The Revenge of Cobra" (1984). Finally, one year after that the official Season One of G.I. Joe began with another five-part story "Pyramid of Darkness" (1985). So basically the first 15 episodes were comprised of 3 five-part stories, then the show moved into an episodic format.

If you were to only watch these first 15 episodes of the series my bold declaration of greatness would certainly seem unfounded though. I say this because the first three story arcs are practically identical. Basically there is some kind of secret weapon developed by Cobra that will allow them to take over the world (there was a teleportation device, a weather denominator and a space station capable of creating a pyramid-like zone over the earth that no machines could function within, including guns. Go figure.). To save the day our heroes need to race across the globe and achieve certain objectives before Cobra does (kind of like a scavenger hunt, but for world domination). Finally the sinister scheme collapses in on itself - often times due to the stupidity of Cobra's inept leader Cobra Commander - and the day is saved. To say that these stories are derivative is an understatement. Yet once you get past them and begin watching the one-shot episodes things take a turn for the better. Ultimately it's this episodic format used throughout the rest of the series that allows G.I. Joe to truly shine.

Now I'm not going to try and tell you that this show isn't cheesy. It's every bit as silly as the other action/adventure cartoons of the time period: Transformers, Thundercats, He-Man etc. You may have heard jokes about pilots always being able to bail out their airplanes/helicopters before they crash, or sarcastic comments regarding the marksmanship of supposed elite soldiers who can never hit opposing troops (yet they can hit any non-living target they aim at). All of this is 100% true and is only the tip of the iceberg (I about died laughing when Snake-eyes started break dancing in one particularly silly episode). Still the writers of this show actually acknowledge the silliness and often make light of it, almost like a sly wink to the viewer. One example can be found in the episode "Lasers in the Night". In this episode Cobra Commander comes up with the bizarre idea that by carving his likeness into the moon with a laser (kind of like a cosmic Mount Rushmore) he will prove to the world just how unbeatable Cobra is. When Destro (resident arms dealer and weapons developer) finds out that this is the purpose behind the over elaborate scheme he actually berates him for being stupid enough to waste millions of dollars on something that amounts to nothing more than cosmic graphite. The same thing can be found in "Eau De Cobra". When Cobra develops an irresistible mind control love potion they decide to use it on a Greek shipping tycoon (apparently they wanted control of his shipping fleet). Well the bottle ends up going overboard during a struggle and divers from both G.I. Joe and Cobra try to retrieve it. In the end neither side gets it because a crab takes the perfume bottle into its hiding hole under the ocean floor. Naturally Cobra Commander is pretty pissed about losing his precious perfume to a crustaceans, but Destro just laughs and comments that it was a fitting end to an absurd scheme (my sentiments exactly). Of all the 80's action/adventure cartoons I've re-watched of late this is the only one willing to acknowledge its own ridiculous nature, and that was kind of refreshing.

The writers of G.I. Joe also do a good job of using a large cast. One of the benefits of having so many characters is that you don't need to use the same ones every episode. This helps keep the cast from becoming stagnate and with so many characters to choose from the show could mix and match them for different dynamics (though specific pairings like Flint and Lady Jaye or Alpine and Bazooka were common). I do have one complaint about this practice though. Some of the fan favorite characters like Snake-eyes and Duke suffer from severe under usage as the series progresses. This is a result of the show trying to feature new characters and thus push the corresponding action figures. Sadly this is just another example of how merchandise drove cartoons of this era with the focus of shows being on selling new toys and not on telling good stories.

Before I start examining the production side of this series I would like to take a break and talk about a game I thought up while watching this show (you must be 21 or older to play though). As an adult you have a tendency to notice things you don't as a child. For example G.I. Joe goes through more military hardware in a single episode than the entire US army would in a full scale war. I could not count the number of Sky-strikers (F-14 fighter jets), tanks, helicopters ect. that crashed and burned just in the first season. Whole squadrons of million dollar jets get destroyed on a regular basis. So here's the game. Get some friends together and set up some shots (liquor of your choice). Every time a G.I. Joe military vehicle is blown up you drink one. The last person left conscious wins! You can even change things up and have some people drink every time the battle cry "Yo Joe" is used, and others drink when the bad guys yell "Cobra". The possibilities are endless.

Now assuming everyone has sobered up from that awesome drinking game we'll continue. In terms of visuals G.I. Joe impressed me. While many of the 1980s action/adventure cartoons used the infamous minimal animation technique - which would result in choppy, stilted movements - G.I. Joe apparently benefited from a large enough budget to go with mostly full movement and thus the show still looks pretty good (though I must admit the use of movement is still "economical"). Characters are always on model and even though some episodes appear better than others the overall look and feel of the show is consistent. Backgrounds are equally impressive with nice paintings of exotic settings being the norm. Once again I have to say that of all the action/adventure cartoons of this era G.I. Joe stands out with some impressive visuals.

The audio elements of G.I. Joe are pretty solid as well. The actors give good performances while providing unique voices for each character. The villains of the series (Destro, Cobra Commander, Zartan) are especially good. Some of the accents are overdone (Barbecue's Boston accent for example) but on a whole this is one of the better voicing casts you'll find in the genre. The show's musical score also gets high marks and is one of the most memorable aspects of the series. The opening theme song is widely considered one of the best cartoon openings ever, and the in-show music is similarly strong (though perhaps a little dated). Unfortunately that same in-show music is so heavily recycled that you get sick of it fast. Despite being common practice I have to knock off points for using the same sound track over and over in the same way without even trying to mix things up a little. Even with these flaws I would still rank G.I. Joe as one of the better sounding action/adventure shows from the 1980s.

Taken in its entirety, I would like to reiterate that G.I. Joe to be one of best 1980's action/adventure cartoons you'll find. Though it contains many of the same failings found in other cartoons of the genre, G.I. Joe was willing to laugh at itself when others were not while pushing for a higher standard of production quality. As far as recommending this show I have to fall back on my standard conditional recommendation. If you don't like 1980's action/adventure cartoons stay far, far away. If you loved this series as a kid then you may have some fun revisiting it, even if it's just to see how silly the show really was. As for the DVD's themselves there are several options available. I bought the collectors edition complete series footlocker. This gives you all 95 episodes with a companion booklet, additional bonus material and a dog tag flash drive containing two silent comics. This is a good deal but also pretty expensive at $149.99. For those not interested in breaking the bank, the series is also being released in smaller chunks costing between $20 and $25 each. You get over twenty episodes in each volume and many of the special features found in the collectors edition.