Skysurfer Strike Force

The show is a mess, not knowing what it wants to do. The characters are painful to watch and hear. The second season opening title is horrible.

In the 80's and 90's I enjoyed most if not all Saturday morning cartoons, kids today are missing out, and the toys. Toys only Man-Children can afford. This was gladly missed when cartoons were on.

Now, if you enjoyed it, great. My experience is to quickly forget it.

This is another under the radar gem, it's another of your animated shows from the 90's, it didn't exactly make waves of should I say catch a lot of sky but for some that caught it was a fun ride.

The premise is good, it's the typical one in these super team shows whom have a gimmick or two to make them unique and give them an edge. But with this show it was hoverboards much like the ones from "Back to the Future part 2" which I think is cool and not something brought up much.

There is even a plotline which is decent and one that's played out in the suspense thriller genre so many times around, as it's about the protagonist or people related or connected with the protagonist framed for a crime they didn't commit. We see it's up to Jack and his team to both clear his father's name but also protect the world from evil.

The theme song is decent has a sort of a futuristic fast action tone to it; though didn't care for the second theme song they had which didn't really sound right to me nor go with the show as it sounds more like some forgettable stock rock music track, they just spliced onto this show.

I really like the animation in this show, which is crisp top notch and the character models, all not just pertaining to the times of the 80's and 90's with their super team animated shows but also slightly inspired by anime. The costumes the characters have are interesting, all unique and stylish despite providing no protection from danger yet can still distinguish who's who.

The rogue gallery uninspiringly called Borg is colorful and decent they also serve their functions. I like that their all unique which was common in this super team shows. One guy looks like a Robot Master from "Mega Man" as he's literally a walking grenade that blows up but then puts himself back together. Nice trick only problem it's his only trick making the bad guy a one trick pony.

The main villain Cybron not much to say is arca type as he's the typical A. I. character gone rogue, though strangely believe or not he's the weak link in the rogue gallery as all he does is just stand around, walk from point A to B, and just announce his next plan. He's one of those villains that talk the talk but don't walk the walk.

But my favorite in the faction is Cerena who is sort of like the femme fatale from the noir though kind of like Princess Aura from "Flash Gordon" as she has that sexy princess garb and is the daughter of the wrong father. Like the voice as she's played by Janyse Jaud which is a raspy sultry tone. Her character like with Aura is slightly internally conflicted with her loyalty to her father but her feelings for Jack.

Heroes are also good though not much to say as they serve their functions from the main hero Jack Hollister /Sky surfer One the strong leader arca type. Along with his second in command Kim/Skysurfer Two (also voiced by Janyse Jaud) who is the strong female arca type, she also has a sexy outfit and she also has some feelings for Jack though never really got much into on the show.

Of course, we all in this show for the action and the show has plenty of it. It's well choregraphed and coordinated. Despite the usual inconsistencies you would have like how the heck the sky surfers keep on the boards, what protects them from the flying laser bolts and bullets coming their way, and how is it the bad guys are such horrible shots as they could not just hit the people but the boards themselves.

But like in most of those shows we don't care as we're so focused on the spectacle. Really like how it's a combination of both aerodynamic and boarding action as we see the character pull some moves with the boards. Like the fact that their cars turn into boards which makes sense as they want to conceal the hover boards and take them wherever they go.

Even like the weapons which are all unique, I mainly like the weapons of both Jack and Kim where Jack welds a sword of fire and Kim it's a sword of ice (fire and ice get it). There cool because with those weapons they can discharge as much of that element as they want and even control it to a degree. Though how both can do manage that is anyone's guess, may 'be those swords are attuned to their mind, I'm not sure.

The show though does hit a bit of turbulence. Would have also liked more focus and development in the plotline. It's not a bad plotline but I felt there needed to be a little more weight to it, like finding out what Jack's father is framed for and what really happened; let alone character, how it affects them, and how they even became a team. But this goes touched upon sometimes which is always a fundamental problem with shows that are episodic.

The other problem was there wasn't a second season, not exactly news as most animated shows then and even now don't always get that second shot mainly if they didn't make a big splash. Which is too bad because I felt the show could have had the change to touch upon those things I mentioned and could of gained some altitude.

It's not hard to see why this surfed under the radar as I said there were a lot of super team animated shows and this show was against a truck load of competition, which is why it was easy to miss this show. However, I felt with a season it would have given the show a chance to gain some altitude.

Though, I think the real reason this show didn't make waves, or should I saw gain altitude is that it was simply a late entry as part of the mid to the late 90's was a time when the animation market was beginning to change and the super team genre in animation was fading.

It would be cool if there was some sort of revival of this show, put a little more depth into the case of Jack's father being framed as well as his character and family and how it correlates with the ongoing plotline. Have some depth into the characters, separate episodes with them as the main character of an episode, how they came to be and even how the tech even works.

Make this more into a serialized format so that the show is more focused and develops more. There could be some sort of Love Triangle/V with Jack, Kim, and Cerena as Cerena's feelings are well known and was hinted some feeling for him.

Or just simply having a relationship with one of the characters as I'm personally sick of love triangles/Vs as they've been done to death. Have some psychological inner conflict from Jack dealing with the loss of family and the frame up but also Cerena questions if her desires for power are really or her father's as well as how she developed feelings for Jack.

Would like the future world explored more and can push some ideas. Though this will probably never happen as the fanbase for this show isn't very big but still it's a nice thought.

If you still seek out under the radar 90's animated shows then this show, like any good wave it's worth a ride.

Rating: 3 stars.

My grandfather brought me from Florida the DVD Skysurfer Strike Force with 4 of its episodes: City of Terror, Death Paint, Voodoo Master and Alien Attack. At first, I didn't pay much attention to it, but since I watched City of Terror yesterday night, I wanted to watch the 3 others and not go to sleep that night. That Sci-Fiction TV show is really worth it, and probably your young kids (perticularly boys) will want to watch it. Skysurfer Strike Force is a great show to watch, on TV channel BKN or on DVD, Skysurfer Strike Force is worth watching because of its great animation, super action scenes and sometimes amusing dialogs.

This animated television series and "Mega Man" (1994) were voiced in Vancouver, since Ruby-Spears who produced them was probably not the same Ruby-Spears animation studio who produced many memorable cartoons voiced in Los Angeles. I believe that this animated television series was never aired anywhere except in Serbia, which has a couple of different dubs. To me, both are inferior. Even the voice of Chronozoid in one of them was voiced by a young actor. Was this a request from Ruby-Spears? Also, this animated series is probably an adaptation of a Japanese comic or the English-language dub of an Japanese anime television series. Cybron and all of the villains in the show are similar to the Dark Masters from "Digimon Adventure" (1999). The Dark Masters are very obsessed with the slaughter of other Digimons. I believe that the ultimate evil like Apocalymon was planned for the show. On the bright side, I believe that the voice cast of the show has a lot of voice actors. However, some of the characters' voices sound exactly like Wood Man from the Ruby-Spears' Mega Man cartoon. So my wish for Warner Bros. Animation is to make the reboot starring Skysurfer One, with Collette Sunderman as the voice director and Los Angeles as the voice recording place.

There are a few cartoons that no one knew because of bad schedules or because they appeared on tv once and then disappeared. This is one of those shows. It is rare and hard to find but a beauty in animation and a fun show to watch. The villains are fun and memorable. The heroes are fun and memorable. The plots are a fun mix and do not feel old and rehashed. The story could use some work but no cartoons from the 90s got endings so we have to work with what we got. And what we got was a beautifully crafted show that had animation comparable to Thundercats, great voice acting and show that kids would have loved. If they were up at 5:00 am to watch it on BKN of course.