Action Man is a 2000 animated television series based on the toy line of the same name. The series aired on Fox Kids and YTV from August 5, 2000 to August 20, 2001. Though unrelated to the 1995 version, it was the first Action Man series to be made in CGI. In this series, Alexander "Alex" Mann is an extreme sports athlete known as "Action Man" and is a member of Team Xtreme.
Synopsis Alex Mann, Action Man's civilian identity, is an extreme sports athlete of Team Xtreme, taking part in the Mastervision Network's Acceleration Games, a series of unconventional televised sporting activities all over the world. Danger and adrenaline trigger hidden mental powers called the "AMP (Advanced Macro Probability) Factor", a result of secret experiments by his former high school coach Simon Grey. With it, Alex is able to calculate all future possibilities, choosing the best course of action. Alex "Action" Mann, Desmond "Grinder" Sinclair, Agnes "Fidget" Wilson, and Ricky Singh-Baines must stop arch-enemy Doctor X, a brilliant geneticist and bio-engineer, who will stop at nothing to duplicate Alex's AMP Factor to rebuild Earth with the genetically enhanced neo-humanity.
Cast Main Mark Hildreth as Action Man / Alex Mann Michael Dobson as Desmond "Grinder" Sinclair Tabitha St. Germain as Agnes "Fidget" Wilson Peter Kelamis as Ricky Singh-Baines Christopher Judge as Coach Simon Gray Tyler Labine as Brandon Caine Michael Kopsa as Doctor X (new body) Campbell Lane as Doctor X (original body) Andrew Francis as Tempest / Templeton Storm Janyse Jaud as Asazi Garry Chalk as Gangrene / Dr. Wolfgang Greenholtz Ian James Corlett as Quake / Sydney
Supporting Mackenzie Gray as Nick Masters Venus Terzo as Agent Diana Zurvis Michael Donovan Kirby Morrow as Jimmy Woo Ian James Corlett as Sydney Brian Drummond as Craig
Episodes Season 1 (2000) Dr. X captured and physically tested Alex Mann repeatedly, as well as his longtime rival and best friend Brandon Caine. Dr. X also added nanotech enhancements to Brandon, making him superior to Alex in athletics, only for them to have side effects. The culmination of the experiments was to mind transfer Dr. X into Brandon's body, becoming his younger self and nanotech cyborg, able to change his appearance and infect others. Following the ninth episode the series becomes more simplified. Dr. X founded the Council of Doom with his evil cohorts: assassin Asazi and weather manipulating scientist Tempest. Dr. X's nanotech trilobites appeared to gain collective intelligence and rebel against him, but this was actually Brandon Caine's uploaded mind punishing Dr. X.
Season 2 (2001) The Council of Doom continues to grow after Brandon was saved from Dr. X. The season features new villains: Gangrene & Quake.
Home media releases In the United Kingdom, four VHS were released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and later reissued by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, containing three episodes per tape. One VHS release was also released by Maximum Entertainment.
There have also been VHS releases in other territories such as France.
VHS releases Release nameEpisodesRelease dateRunning timeAdditional information Action Man Vol. 1: The Call to Action "The Call to Action" (feature-length)"Grey Areas" July 9, 2001April 29, 2002 (re-release) 64 minutes Action Man Vol. 2: Storm Front "Storm Front""Gremlin in the Gears""Double Vision" July 9, 2001April 29, 2002 (re-release) 64 minutes Action Man Vol. 3: Out of the Shadows "Into the Abyss""Out of the Shadows""Lost in the Funhouse" July 9, 2001April 29, 2002 (re-release) 64 minutes Action Man Vol. 4: The Swarm "The Hereafter Factor""Cold War""The Swarm" (Double-Length) July 9, 2001April 29, 2002 (re-release) 85 minutes Action Man Vol. 5: Green Thought "Green Thought""First""Storm Front" 14 April 2003 63 minutes Action Man: Volume 1 "The Call to Action - Part 1""The Call to Action - Part 2"Grey Areas" October 4, 2004 66 minutes
DVD releases In the United Kingdom, The series also saw a few DVD releases as well, released in the UK by Maximum Entertainment.
Release nameEpisodesRelease dateRunning timeAdditional information Action Man: Volume 1Action Man: Storm Front "The Call to Action - Part 1""The Call to Action - Part 2"Grey Areas""Storm Front""Gremlin in the Gears" August 30, 20042005 (re-release) 110 minutes Action Man: Volume 2Action Man: Team Xtreme "Double Vision"Into the Abyss""Out of the Shadows""Lost in the Funhouse""The Hereafter Factor" October 2004June 4, 2007 (re-release)110 minutes Action Man: Competitive Edge - 2 Disc Set (3 Episodes Short of Finishing Season 1) "The Call to Action - Part 1""The Call to Action - Part 2"Grey Areas""Storm Front""Gremlin in the Gears""Double Vision"Into the Abyss""Out of the Shadows""Lost in the Funhouse""The Hereafter Factor" 2005 3 Hours 40 minutes Action Man: Cold War (Last 3 Episodes of Season 1) "Cold War""Swarm - Part 1""Swarm - Part 2" March 21, 2005 65 minutes approx Action Man: Ground Zero - Series 2 (Entirety of Series 2 - 2 Disc Set) "Green Thoughts""Thirst""Ground Zero""Tower Of Power""Rumble - Part I""Rumble - Part II""Search And Destroy""The Triton Factor""Mann's Best Friend""Mann Hunt""Tangled Up In Green""The Ultimate Doom - Part I""The Ultimate Doom - Part II" 2008 4 hours 36 minutes
Video games A video game named Action Man: Search for Base X was released based on the 2000 series.
Hasbro Interactive published the Windows game Action Man: Raid on Island X in the United States as a tie-in to the TV series, despite having nothing to do with it.
Awards In 2001, the show won a Golden Camera Award at the U.S. and International Film and Video Festival for 'Best Animation' in the episode "The Swarm: Part 2".
References
External links
IMDB: Episode list for "Action Man" (2000) TV.com: Action Man (2000) Episode Guide