Teaser : The international terrorist Doctor X has acquired the only working protype of a Soviet cybernetic soldier He plans to use it in building an unstoppable army! If it can pass it's final test-- the total destruction of Action Man!
One of the great things about the Action Man show , is its truly international, each episode happends in another place on earth and sometimes in the same episode various places are visited. This episode starts in Russia and is what I believe to be a very significant show as it shows what would later become the model of the future Robotic soldeirs of Dr. X that would appear in 2004 , as The X- ROBOTS
Review Done By: manetoys
In today's episode, Dr. X obtains the last of a series of Cybernetic android soldiers programed to do one thing. KILL! Our story begins in Russia, where we see what every male wants in there entertainment. Tanks and lots of stuff BLOWING UP!
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Soon after, The Action Force's arrives on the scene to stop the Skullmen from their mindless destruction. Unknown to them, a rouge mercenary makes off with some mysterious cargo. The Action Force defeats the Skull men, but it seemed to easy.
Comments by Jamar Miller: The above picture shows the obligatory uniforms for the Action Force for this episode. But as always they are very appropiate for the situtaion. Action Mans outfit will be used actually several times in the series either as a Virtual Reality Suit or a Motorcycle suit. I personally really like Natalies and Knucks Orange Jump/flight suits- End of Commentary
They learn they were duped and the real target was a security bunker nearby were the mercenary came from. He boards a jet and gets away. But what was it they wanted? What could've been in an old, abandoned security bunker that would have Dr. X's attention?
Well, next scene takes us to Dr. X's submarine where he congratulates his mercenary on a job well done and pays him. The mercenary however isn't happy with the money and demands more saying it was more dangerous than he expected. To get his point across, he places a bomb on the cargo and threatens to destroy it if he isn't paid double. Dr. X laughs it off and gives him extra pay telling him he "Admires his audacity" but as the mercenary walks away with his money, Dr. X then tells him that he "Admires audacity, but not reward it." and with a press of a button, the floor underneith the mercenary opens, dropping him out of the sub and into the sea. Never to be seen again in the series. (Comment by Jamar Miller: Too bad he looked like a pretty cool villian)
Geez, remind me not to ask MY boss for a raise. Anyway, Gangrene then opens the case and sees a lifeless robot. An android assasin. Once the high point of russian technology, but now abandoned. Does this mean the Rusians have something better? Ooh, makes you wonder. Dr. X reveals that this is the last working one though so perhaps not. At least, for now. Dr. X and Gangrene plan to use it as a model to create more, that is if it passes "The Ultamite test."
Three guesses what THAT is. Silly Gangrene had to ask though. He should've been dropped out of the sub with the Mercenary for that alone. The ultamite plan of course, being to "Destroy Action Man." Why can't these cartoons say kill? Boggles the mind.
Anyhoo, back in the city, Knuck gets fooled into buying a fake ring, Natalie shows concern of what Dr. X may be planning and Nuck appears to be hitting on her. O_o Afterwards, Action Man is seen reading a book entitled "saving your past, a guide to improving memory." Knuck is shocked as he should be, because Action Man can read Russian and even HE didn't know he could.
As they walk, Action Man puts the book in his trenchcoat and mentions that he seems to remember a friend named "James", but nothing else. He also expresses concern that Dr. X knows everything about him, but Action Man himself knows nothing. As they appraoch Action Man's car, AM sees a man in a trenchcoat and recognizes him. He has a quick flashback of a man like him climbing into a plane and waving. It appears to be that "James" guy he was talking about.
Below is the memories that Action Man regains in this episodes.
Thus ends the memory flashbacks for this episode.
Commentary by Jamar Miller : So What do we learn? Well this is one of the mysteries of the series that even I don't know and I havent been able to find out either, we learn that Action Man used to have a friend named James and we see him in Uniform getting into a Jet but that is all. The exact significance was never exactly revealed in the series or the bible for the series , that I have posted . However James and this particular aircraft does show up again, but not until Episode 20 : The Most Dangerour Prey, in this episode we learn a little more about James but it still doesnt answer alot of questions. This, along with the blonde that both Action Man and Ursala went to University with , (as seen in various flashbacks and the episode Past Peformance ) are the two things that have never been explained and are not even in the bible that is posted here on these boards :
AM should've beem suspicious that the man he was JUST talking about magicly appears in the middle of Russia but of course, he doesn't and chases after him and typically, it turns out to be a trap. "James" pulls a gun on him. Natalie gets the drop on him and gives him a kick, but "James" has some pretty hard abs. VERY hard abs. He doesn't even feel it, but Natalie is injuried from kicking him. Knuck tries to punch him, but has the same effect. They fall to the ground in pain. "James" looks at him and in a robotic voice says "Good bye" and a gun comes from his chest, tearing through his coat.
Now, if James could do THAT i'm pretty sure even Action Man would remember. Frankly, I kinda wanted to see him say in a high robotic voice; "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" I mean, Action Man's british, it could happen. Alright, maybe not. Anyway, we know now that "James" is really that russian robot assasin and shoots Action Man with that gun right on the chest, blowing him away and into the river. The robot reveals it's true form. Knuck rushes to the river, Natalie shoots at it, but with no effect. Dr. X returns on his jet to take the robot back.
Knuck and Natalie are still badly hurt from the fight and say their final words to Action Man thinking he's dead, but elsewhere, he climbs out of the river and checks his coat. The book he placed there took the laser shot, saving his life. I noticed Action Man tosses the book into the river. Is Action Man a litterbug? Ah well. He's saved the world enough times to dirty it up a little I guess. He tries to call Action Force Headquarters but his communicator is busted. He decides to use this to his advantage because now that Dr. X thinks he's dead, Action Man believes he'll get thingyy and you know he's right. Dr. X is a typcial villian and all typcial villians are full of themselves. Then he tosses the communicator aside. Action Man IS a litterbug.
Back at the sub, since Dr. X believes the robot killed Action Man, he decides that the robot will be pefect to make into an army ( Future X ROBOTS anyone?). But how is he gonna build more? The factory that made them was closed down as Gangrene brings up. Dr. X tells him that there are extra parts to make more robots hidden in the factory gaurded by automated weaponry.
Action Man returns to the bunker the robot was stolen from and looks at some plans on a nearby table to find a weakspot. He sees the symbol of the company that made the robot and takes it as a clue. (Comment by Jamar Miller: Ironically the weak spot is the same place as the X-Robots, I dont know if this was intended but hey its nice continuity for sure)
Dr. X and his Skullmen head for the factory. As stated, the automated weapons open fire, but the Skullmen take them down pretty easily.
An alert is signaled to Action Force headquarters. The boy in the wheelchair ( Jacques ) gets depressed though. Feeling it's pointless to go on without Action Man. Knuck tells him that's not how Action Man would want them handling this and through some talk, they decide to go after X.
The Skullmen finally break into the factory and while X monologs, Action Force attacks. X assumes they're nothing without Action Man and contiues as planned. Gangrene and the Robot break in but Action Man reveals to already be in the room with explosives that are all over the room. Dr. X gloats that not even his multigun can cut through the robot's armor and Action Man simply states that he'll have to attack from inside. The team break in and find Action Man and are of course happy about it. Action Man fires his gun right in the robot's gun hold, blowing it up halfway. The legs of the robot continue to walk into the room, activates the explosives and destroys all the parts to make more robots. Afterwards Natalie gives Action Man a big hug then Knuck decides to swallow his pride and give Action Man a "guy hug" AM simply states "Let's go home" and they do just that.
FINAL VERDICT
Good story. I liked seeing how Dr. X handles his "buisness problems" and they way everyone felt when they thought Action Man was dead seemed very natural. How Action Man destroyed the robot in the end is one of those things that seems obvious AFTER it's revealed. Another natural approach.
Interesting Notes by jamarmiller : This episode was written by Bob Forward, who is famous for the Beast Wars Series. You can find the interview that was done by Jamar Miller here in this section of the boards :
