User reviews

This is another under the radar gem. This show like a lot of cartoons was based on the toy line which for it's time was a big hit much like "G. I. Joe" and "Transformers". But as time went on this franchise has become forgotten.

The animation is solid, it's as you would expect from 80's animation but it all works well and wouldn't want it any other way. I really do love the concept of futuristic spy action, it's always cool whenever you take an age-old concept/genre, but you put it in a different setting.

Despite being spy action it's different as it's more based on direct action and one heavily focused on both the gadget and vehicular combat elements that you would see from James Bond movies. But also makes sense with the 80's decade as there were shows like "Knight Rider" and "Airwolf" which were based on super vehicles.

Characters on both sides are decent they each have unique personas and serve their functions, they're not exactly three dimensional but like with most 80's action and animated shows they're not always known for great depth so you can't expect too much. Let alone were really in this show for the action anyway.

One character that stands out is the leader of Venom is Miles Mayhem who is a solid villain and an underrated animated villain. The character kind of looks like General Ross from "The Incredible Hulk" which you can say just adds to this guy's villainy. It's interesting and kind of funny how he is always wearing his generals' uniform much like how Oliver Wendell Douglas from "Green Acres" always wears his expensive suit while doing farm work.

The guy is true to his last name as he's pretty much the typical power mongering archetype but it's the execution that makes him stand out. He's a little over the top but in a good way which is part of what makes him funny; there is also a little menace as he is determined to get his way at all costs, whether it's a scheme to get rich quick, steel resources for his takeover campaign, or whatever scheme pops up like popcorn in his evil popcorn popper called a brain.

The action is solid well-choreographed as the characters use the Masks and the vehicles well. There is ground combat with the Mask which are cool and is unique as the weapons utilizes are Masks. I really like that because it's something different as their using non cleche weapons, and the way the battles are handle are sort of like superhero battles where the characters use superpowers, though here the characters use tech.

I really love the vehicles which are cool as a weapon within a weapon or two vehicles in one. Where you look at them at first and they look like any other vehicle you see every day but once they press that button, they turn into something else. Which I thought was cool and a nifty concept, it makes me which I could have that for the vehicle I own and drive, would be handy for road stalkers or crazy road ragers on the road.

The vehicular battles truly are the real kicker, it's just so awesome seeing those vehicles in action and both sides trying to blow each other away. Two favorite vehicles of mine are Matt Tracker's Car the Thunderhawk which is just so cool looking as it's sort of the DeLorean from "Back to the Future but also James Bond's car intermixed as it has all the gadgets and weapons he needs.

The other thing it can do is turn into sort of a jet fighter giving him both ground and air superiority; though the only inconstance are the fact the open doors expose the interior sides of the car which makes me wonder what the heck protects Matt when exposed.

Another vehicle I like is the Switchblade where it's a helicopter which turns into a jet fighter as well. This is cool even though he has air superiority he has two types of control of the sky, where with a chopper he can fly in mid and low range as well as land where he needs but his combat power is minimum. With his jet mode he can go higher and faster and have more powerful attacks in the air and ground.

I love the designs of the masks, each of them has different functions, I love that they're the main weapons which makes them cool but also non cleche. Each of the masks are tools and weapons by their nature only you wear them, and they can discharge at vocal or thought command. Which kind of makes it easy and less clunky than to always carry weapons in different places wherever you go. Though I always wondered if they had a digital gauge to know how much charge their masks always had and where the outlet is for recharge.

The theme song is just excellent, it's one of my favorite theme songs of all time. The song of course was done by the same guy that did the theme for "Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors" which makes this all the better. The song is just so memorable along with the intro to it, it just tells you all you need to know but also just really pumps you up, letting you know you're in for some fast and furious action.

The only bad things about the show are Matt's kid Scott and that stupid robot. Both characters I always thought were out of place, annoying and useless. This show could of easily of done with Matt just being single and not a single father which really did nothing for the story.

The other problem is the show can be on the predictable side as most of the plotlines in the show kind of blend together which is a fundamental problem procedural shows like "Hawaii Five O", "CSI" and others have. However just like those shows, this is a problem to easily get past as this only occurs sometimes.

And last it was the second to last season which wasn't very good as it felt like a completely different TV show. This is a fundamental problem certain shows in their twilight seasons suffer from like the final season of "Castle" which sucked. Either because they were running out of gas in the ideas tank or trying to go a different direction which always turns out to be the wrong one.

I'd personally love to see a revival animated series, but one with a more mature feel where it's darker and the stakes are truly high. This animated series could continue off or be slightly inspired by the IDW comic book mini-series (for the record was cool) or do your own thing it's up to them as long as it works. And having a revival animated series might not be far off as there is the possibility of a live action film adaption about to be made which I deeply hope won't break down. Well thoughts to consider.

"M. A. S. K." is a good fit.

Rating: 3 stars.

Be part of the biggest MASK community worldwide! Join our forum @ http://www.world-of-cartoons.de/mask/index.lang+English.html If you need any information about this great toyline and series you'll find it there! Greetings from Germany Matt Trakker Be part of the biggest MASK community worldwide! Join our forum @ http://www.world-of-cartoons.de/mask/index.lang+English.html If you need any information about this great toyline and series you'll find it there!

Greetings from Germany

Matt Trakker

When this show first hit syndication nearly 35 years ago, it got lost in a busy tv cartoon landscape and was forgotten by many people. Today it is considered a cult classic and was based on the toy line of the same name that was popular with Gen X kids as well as early millenials. The animation is well done and it's from Dic, the studio behind inspector gadget and many classic cartoons.

This is a good cartoon to check out if you're looking for those cool action toons you grew up with. Just becareful you don't run into any of the final season racing episodes -- those will sour your views of this amazing show...(make sure you get the episodes made by DIC Animation, NOT KENNER!)

A covert team of superheros lead by Matt Tracker, use the powerful technology of MASK to attain super powers in order to combat the evil forces of VENOM. Each MASK member has a special cool-looking vehicle to help them in their fight. The catch is, VENOM forces also have special mask technology which makes them somewhat formidable foes.

I grew up with this show - I too had to wake up at 6:00 am to see it, but it was worth it!

This has to be one of DIC's better shows. It's action-packed, with reasonably interesting storylines. The characters are drawn and animated with depth - basically the artwork is polished and very desirable to look at. It's definitely well worth looking into in your 80s toon nostalgic quest!

This show should be brought back to re-air in the United States or be released on DVD. This is one cartoon that was of a group of eleven that had advice scenes at the end of each show. I have a petition that is trying to either get the show back on TV or released on DVD so everyone can enjoy it again and let the younger generations see it for the first time. The website address for the petition is Http://www.petitiononline.com/mask/petition.html

Please sign this petition so we can try to convince the owners of the show to either put it on TV again or release all of the Episodes on DVD. This is one show that should be seen again and the toys be released back on the market.

Not only have I seen this show I still have my whole collection of the merchandise create based on this show. I loved this and hope that cartoon network or some other station would pick this show up and feature it on there station.

MASK was one of the iconic cartoon's of the 80's. There is not a single person I know who grew up at this time that didn't love it or at least know all about it. We are in a time where the previously unimaginable is now completely possible and to re-produce this cartoon into a front line movie would have the sci-fi lovers flocking to the cinema's around the world. We have seen the success of Transformers and there is yet more to come on that front, lets bring in Chris Nolan and Michael Bay (what must be the ultimate movie tag team we could hope get together) to look at a new, grown up action packed style of MASK and bring it to the level our imaginations had it at all those years ago.

I loved M.A.S.K on Sky Channel during the 80:s. I loved it because it had action and excitement. It also showed a bit of the future what was to come. This show was so ahead of its time. During this time Sky Channel ruled showing all the coolest cartoons ever between 07:30-12:00 on Saturday and Sundays. Everything from M.A.S.K, Transformers, Jayce and the Wheeled warriors, He-Man, G.I Joe and so on. When will the big movie companies do a real movie of M.A.S.K, Jayce and the Wheeled warriors as they did with the Transformers? It would be so cool to see! I grew up with this and formed me to who I am today a computer nerd having fun everyday during the days =).

MASK was totally out of this world like many cartoon shows from the 1980's-but it was so brilliant.

The good guys were MASK, the bad guys were VENOM. Each episode MASK would battle the forces of VENOM and foil their wicked plans.

Each character had a mask which could perform a specific function. For example one of the good guys had a mask which could lift things into the air;another guy had a mask which could help him fly. The bad guys had their fair share of masks too;such as a mask that shot out stiletto darts and one that was a flamethrower. It may have been a cartoon but where on Earth did the good guys and bad guys get such technology and how could they afford it?

The vehicles were rather cool as well. We had planes that could turn into helicopters and vice versa; we had a racing car that could fly; the vehicles were superb. The characters in this show must have been billionaires to build such machinery (if that's the case why were the bad guys even bothering with a life of crime if they were that rich).

I must just mention Boulder Hill which was the good guys base. It was a gas station that used to change into a defence HQ and it was the nerve centre for M.A.S.K.

All in all, a brilliant cartoon. Let's just hope it's never made into a live action movie because it would cost billions to make.

Wow.I can't believe this cartoon popped into my head today.....And then to boot i see that it's available on DVD.What an awesome series.And this was one of the few shows where the merchandise was a great as the show that spawned it. I had the red car that flew,Boulder Hill,the rig and the helicopter. The fun i had with these things is impossible to truly explain in words.I cannot wait to get my hands on the DVD set and watch this gem of a show with my own son as well as a few friends that enjoyed it as well.Now if only they would release the Bionic 6 on DVD i'd be in Shangri-La.Some Thunderhawks would be nice as well though i don't think that show ever really lasted long enough to hit the same status.These days the cartoons that i see my son and his friends watching seem to have little to no plot or character development.They all seem to be different versions of Ren and Stimpy to be honest.Minus the funny dialog or great(for its time)animation.Though in all fairness i must admit that i do believe Avatar to be the best cartoon series to ever run on TV.

the Transformers meets G.I. Joe and there was even a big semi-truck that transformed into a base of operations that was kind of like the leader from Transformers...

And some of the kids had the semi-truck but most of us had the green motorcycle/chopper and that red car that turned into a get by opening its doors like the Delorian in Back to the Future...but it couldn't travel through time and....

...trust me, when you are 5 it was all EXTREMELY cool and the cartoon was just as cool and they all wore masks like some execution squad operating in secrete out of a mountain with a volcano that wasn't a volcano, but really a gun tower hidden under a rock and...

...and there were bad guys and that didn't matter because everything turned into something else and that was the real cool part and they all worse masks and mommy, daddy, please buy me one and....

...and then you are in your 30s and still watching cartoons because that's what Saturday Morning cartoons did to your psyche and you come across this on youtube and wonder "why on earth did they take mindless ridiculous trash like this away from children?" Because like all the cartoons little boys my age loved it is really hard to explain, and doesn't make any sense to an un-warped by cartoons adult mind and is just super fun.

It's fun, fun, fun and I am sure one of the cars might have been a T-Bird and big daddy government took it away along with every other Saturday morning cartoon.

As a child in the 80's I grew up with the shows that required talent in creating. MASK, Transformers and GIJOES being good examples. Now instead of great animation like this i see Angela Anaconda and Hey Arnold on the cartoon channel. Shows that require absolutely no animating skill to create. MASK and other 80's cartoons required talent and could keep a child busy... MASK was a little known show but i loved it so much because it mixed the two biggest 80's cartoons(Transformers/GIJOES) into one great show. You had your heroes and villains wearing masks, fighting in vehicles like GIJOES. Then you had your transforming vehicles like in Transformers. This show stands as my favourite ever, it is a huge part of my childhood and once i sat in front of the TV to watch, nothing could pull me away. It is a damn shame this kind of programming isnt on anymore, but you probably know why, because its violent and will cause school shootings.(sarcasm)... If you liked 80's cartoons and by some odd miracle see MASK in your local video store, rent it if you liked 80's cartoons...

"M.A.S.K." (the abbreviated form of an organization called "Mobile Armored Strike Kommand") was an increadible show at its time. How I wish shows of this calibur were created still today.

This show was a pioneer in the animation business of world crime fighting shows. Along with a handful of others, there occured a revoultion in the mid-1980s and a craving for shows like "M.A.S.K." What I mainly enjoyed about the show was the fact that the storylines and plots were simple, but at the same time provided plenty of entertainment over the course of it's 30 minutes (probably around 22 after commercials). The characters were also well thought out and very fun to watch. But in reality, I don't know if I'd want them saving me! Nevertheless, "M.A.S.K." was a great show. Of the original 65 episodes, just over half made in onto VHS video cassette. These tapes are now collectors items, as well as the dozens of action figures that accompanied the show. Recently, there have been rumors circulation reguarding a "M.A.S.K. Movie", due out sometime within the next few years. At best, a long shot...better to dream about the T.V. show of the past. But maybe...just maybe...

You could probably make some kind of an argument about the sensibility of having vehicles that just transform into other, different vehicles, but I'm not going to make that argument because that'd be silly. Even I think the toys were kind of cool.

Instead, I'm going to argue from the perspective of an adult who didn't grow up with this cartoon as a child and therefore can see it for what it is, without rose-tinted glasses. No, it's not going to be complaining about being a weekly 30 minute toy commercial; on that regard, I can be incredibly forgiving. In fact, I tend to be quite forgiving towards most cartoons of the period. Out of all the ones that I have watched as an adult, regardless of whether I actually saw them as a child myself, there really only have been a select few that I can without a doubt say that I did not enjoy.

MASK is unfortunately one of them. The biggest issue with the series is not immediately obvious; if you were to watch maybe two or three random episodes then yes, it might be perfectly watchable. But having watched every single episode has made it painfully clear to me that this cartoon is without a doubt the most repetitive friggin' thing I have ever seen. Out of the 65 episodes of the first season, there are less than five that don't follow the exact same formula; VENOM is somewhere around the world on some kind of a treasure hunt, Matt Trakker just happens to be there at the same time (I think only in one episode they actually bother establishing why), he summons the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, they fight, good guys win, the end. And in the middle of it all, Scott and T-Bob get in trouble and make some puns.

You could argue that a lot of 80's cartoons are repetitive, but none of them have been quite as shamelessly plot-recycling as MASK. There is absolutely no backstory episode, no character-building, nothing. It's just the same exact story, repeated ad nauseum, just with a different location every time. And the lack of backstory is the worst part; if you know anything about these characters at all, I guarantee you that information did NOT come from the cartoon series. Even the whole aspect of VENOM being mercenaries barely, if ever, comes up. Hell, several times it seems the writers even forgot T-Bob's supposed to be a robot; in one episode he almost drowns (he doesn't breathe!) and in an end-of-episode PSA about not putting plastic bags on your head, HE is the one doing it (HE DOESN'T BREATHE!)

The worst part is that with the second season's racing-themed overhaul, you'd think the series would get some fresh ideas, but the treasure hunts don't even stop there - instead it just happens to be somewhere down the race track! The only thing that really struck out with the second season was that VENOM now got to do PSAs as well, which was absolutely hilarious because in the episodes they are constantly insulting each other and bickering, and suddenly they're demonstrating uncharacteristic concern for each others' wellbeing.

As I wrote this review, I found myself knocking more and more stars off my already low rating, but I don't think I can in good conscience take it all the way down to one; if there is one thing going on for this show that's actually good, it's the animation quality being pretty consistent. Unlike many other cartoons of the era which were animated by a large variety of animation studios, leading to significant differences in animation quality and even character models across episodes, MASK was produced by DiC who appears to have used only one so there isn't any of the usual off-model shenanigans you might find in something like Transformers.

All the characters in the M.A.S.K. show had big ol' helmets they'd put on before they went into battle. Their cars, trucks, motorcycles, even their headquarters (a gas station!) would all become these cool fighting machines. The toys were just like the characters from the show. The figures were small (half the size of GI JOE) and had little helmets that covered their heads. Each came with its respective vehicle from the show, which would transform when you hit a hidden button or panel. Guns popped out and everything, it was cool stuff.

This TV show has several issues that ruin the entire show. First off, It's repetitive. It has the same formula over and over again. You may argue that most shows back then were repetitive but not like M.A.S.K. 2nd off It's very lame and nerdy. I know I am over the target audience. But even If I was 10 I would dislike it. It's also cheesy and ridiculous but not in a good way. IF YOU WANT 80'S CARTOON GOODNESS. WATCH G.I JOE OR TRANSFORMERS INSTEAD! The animation was also bland, choppy and generic. Note: As I kept knocking stars off my already low rating. There's one thing decent about this show. That the toys were kinda cool.

I was about ten to twelve years when M.A.S.K. was aired on Sky Channel (yeah, they only had ONE channel those days!). Me and my brother still have many of the toys, some pretty worn down, some like they we're never used. I loved the show, although there were some questions about where the mask technology came from, how VENOM got their hands on them and why NOBODY was surprised to see a young boy's scooter turning into a small robot. Maybe because T-Bob was cool...

Later on there was a second series, in which the secret identity of Matt Tracker and the MASK-team was revealed to the public (and to VENOM), the Boulder Hill was abandoned for some reason, Miles Mayhem had a twin brother and everything was about racing... Pretty cool new vehicles were introduced, but the story wasn't what it used to be...

I remember liking this show when I was a kid, I even had some of the toys. But recently I found a few episodes on YouTube and was quite disappointed at the nonsensical nature of it. It was as if someone found G. I. Joe and the Transformers just a little too cerebral and decided to dumb it down.

First there's the premise of VENOM, who are not a terrorist organization (which gave Cobra their semi-reasonable motivation), but rather a criminal syndicate. They were always trying to steal something by utilizing technology and equipment that probably cost more than whatever it was they were trying to steal in the first place.

Seriously, Miles Mayhem flew around in a helicopter that could turn into a fighter plane. Why does this guy need to steal money?

Then there's the ridiculous way they always try to pull off their crimes, like turning a giant gold statue into liquid and then reconstituting it later. You'd think that if they could do that they could basically make as much money as they wanted with the technology alone, but nope. They have to have that particular statue so of course they get thwarted.

The bumbling henchmen, who seem to be so stupid it's a wonder they manage to put their masks on the right way around in three tries, were pretty standard for the era so I can overlook them to a point. But I can only imagine Mr. Mayhem must have put an ad out in Moron Magazine in order to find them.

And the less said about the (also standard) annoying robot sidekick the better.

Though I have good memories of this show in its time and place, and it's certainly not the worst twenty-minute toy commercial made by any means (I think that honor goes to InHumanoids ), It's still not very well made.

The toys were pretty good, though.

When I first saw this show when I was a kid, I didn't really care for it. But last year when Fox Kids in the UK started showing it again I've come to love it. Okay so it was obviously designed to sell toys, but it is great. The vehicles used by both teams were brilliantly designed and the episodes were always exciting and most of the time funny as well. I actually liked the bad guys better, especially Sly Rax, with that neat accent of his. This is an 80's classic.

I was probably 6 or 8 years old when I saw this show last. I remember waking up at 6 am to watch it, wishing I could drive the big-rig cab that turned into a missile command post. WOW!! I am not sure what much I can say about it, except, they don't make cartoons like they used to.

This was one cool cartoon show for anyone to remember, it had cool animation, and the theme song rocked! (though I didn't remember it that much, only when I downloaded it from a web site recently). They have to air the reruns on Cartoon network or any other tv network out there, they can't leave shows like these collecting dust!