G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

Director:

Stephen Sommers

Writers (WGA):

Stuart Beattie (screenplay) and
David Elliot (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

7 August 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

When All Else Fails, They Don't

Plot:

An elite military unit comprised of special operatives known as G.I. Joe, operating out of The Pit, takes on an evil organization led by a notorious arms dealer. |

Plot Keywords:

Military | Arms Dealer | Gi Joe | NATO | Impostor

Cast

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje	...	Heavy Duty
Christopher Eccleston	...	James McCullen / Destro
Grégory Fitoussi	...	Baron de Cobray
Joseph Gordon-Levitt	...	The Doctor / Rex Lewis
Leo Howard	...	Young Snake Eyes
Karolina Kurkova	...	Courtney A. Kreiger / Cover Girl
Byung-hun Lee	...	Storm Shadow
Sienna Miller	...	Anastasia 'Ana' DeCobray / Baroness
David Murray	...	James McCullen - 1641
Rachel Nichols	...	Shana 'Scarlett' O'Hara
Kevin J. O'Connor	...	Dr. Mindbender
Gerald Okamura	...	Hard Master
Ray Park	...	Snake Eyes
Jonathan Pryce	...	U.S. President
Dennis Quaid	...	General Hawk

Also Known As:

Dark Sky: First Strike (USA) (fake working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for strong sequences of action violence and mayhem throughout.

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA | Czech Republic

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Ireland:12A | South Korea:15 | Singapore:PG | USA:PG-13 (certificate #45055) | UK:12A | Finland:K-13 | Japan:G | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Norway:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/12 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Australia:M | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:12 | Taiwan:PG-12 | Mexico:B | Sweden:11 | Chile:14 | Turkey:13A

Filming Locations:

Arctic

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

According to Stephen Sommers, total invisibility is impossible, but the camouflage cameras in the film (they project the view from a soldier's back onto their front) can allow for virtual invisibility.

Goofs:

Continuity: The scar on Duke's cheek changes size throughout the film. This is particularly visible in the beginning where it is quite long and end where it is a lot smaller.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Bastille Prison Warden: James McCullen, you Scottish pig, you've been found guilty of treason for the sale of military arms to the enemies of our Lord, King Louis XIII, even whilst you sold arms to our Lord himself.
James McCullen - 1641: Your king is a vile bag of filth who murders his own allies. I should have charged him double.
Bastille Prison Warden: You tried to overthrow the Crown in conspiracy with its enemies.
James McCullen - 1641: Unlike your simpleton king, his enemies know that is the true McCullen destiny not simple to supply arms, but to run the wars!
Bastille Prison Warden: Do you anything else to say before the sentence is carried out?
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Gone with the Wind (1939)

Soundtrack:

Bang A Gong (Get It On)

$170 budget and not one writer

I came in with low expectations and got even less. I'm kind of offended that someone got paid to write this because its essentially a big-budget movie made with a fan-fiction caliber script. The plot riddled with holes, characters speak in clichés and the laws of physics are completely ignored. The female characters are treated with the action-movie standard sexism, and there are some subtle racist undertones as well. Seriously, 12-year-old boys write text messages that are more coherent than this script. The screen writers should use their payday to refund the tickets of everyone who went to see this movie.

I'm okay with going a movie just for the special effects, but even that is sub-par. The martial arts choreography is good, and stunning in one scene. The practical effects are believable, but the computer graphics are mostly cartoonish and detract from the visual impact of the film, so its hard to say go see it even if your standard for a good movie is if they blow stuff up in new and interesting ways.

I did enjoy the sheer audacity of its failure. Surely the filmmakers had watched even one movie before and knew they had a piece of Star Wars/James Bond ripoff fan fiction on their hands and just tried to be as bad as possible. This movie has a lot of laughs in it, although probably not where the filmmakers intended.