January 26

G.I. Joe : “Arise, Serpentor, Arise!”, -1986

Welcome back to another brand new episode of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers! Dion Baia and J. Blake are taking a trip down memory lane, covering an epic story from a monumental television series from our collective youth. The boys are revisiting the animated classic G.I. Joe, and the 5-parter storyline that premiered Season 2 and reset the series, called “Arise, Serpentor, Arise! “, from 1986.

 

Arise, Serpentor, Arise! VHS cover

Blake and Dion analyze the origins and history of G.I. Joe as a toyline from Hasbro, and how with its reinvention in 1982 (with the help of Marvel Comics), became one of the biggest and most popular toy lines in history. In typical SNMS fashion, they discuss the Serpentor storyline and utilize as a cross reference, the differences in the comic book‘s story arc, to unpack how ahead of its time this and other core stories were in G.I. Joe, and how the Season 2 reset launched an entire new line of toys for us to buy. So come on and have a listen as the boys revisit a classic, on an all new edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

*The 1945 Robert Mitchum/Burgess Meredith film is titled The Story of G.I. Joe, not just G.I. Joe.

*Dion misspoke and said Lifeline when he meant Lift-Ticket, who piloted the Tomahawk helicopter.

Extras!

As discussed in the podcast, Blake & Dion attended Hascon in September of 2017. Here are some photos they took of the G.I. Joe display (We apologize for the reflections in some of the pictures- we just couldn’t eliminate those pesky things; and for the framing of other pics- we were moving as quickly as we could to see all the displays! ):

For more extras, click more!

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January 12

Highlander, 1986

Happy New Year and Welcome to 2018‘s edition of Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers! For the first episode of the year, J. Blake and Dion Baia decided to tackle a film that spawned an entire franchise across all forms of media, despite flopping at the box office. The boys are heading to Scotland this week as they cover the immortal classic, Highlander, from 1986.

Highlander

Dion and Blake get into the backstory of this immense series that spans films, television, animation, books, comic books and audiobooks. They analyze the elements that, like catching lightning in a bottle, came together to make this epic a classic. They unpack the differences in the original screenplay and novelization, that expand the backstories of the characters in Highlander particularly that of the Kurgan. Blake and Dion discuss the fascinating idea of reading into and applying your own themes and subplots after repeated viewings, that may not be overtly apparent in the film. They also chat about the lore of this series, and the heavy themes that are layered within the story. So who was originally cast as Connor MacLeod? What elements of the movie’s mythology make this film a timeless and classic story that transcends into a entire Highlander universe? And is Dion actually a Laird? Well come on down and take a listen as There Can Be Only One, podcast for 2018, and that is the one you have before you, Saturday Night Movie Sleepovers!

Extras!

Check out stills from this deleted scene between the Kurgan and Yung Dol Kim, that was forever lost in a fire! 

Here’s Clancy Brown on the red carpet talking about the film at the 30th anniversary screening!

Take a look at Christopher Lambert, Clancy Brown and Celia Imrie at a Q&A following a 30th anniversary screening of Highlander!

Have a look at screenwriter Gregory Widen discuss the Kurgen and his backstory!