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

User Rating:

5.9/10   

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 Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | 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 | Turkey:13A

Filming Locations:

Arctic

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Heavy Duty was originally named Lamont Morris, but the name was changed to Hershel Dalton. However, his code number ("807-46-LM65") contains Morris' initials to honour him.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Baroness took warheads and was being chased by Duke in the wooded area, the case switches between her left and right hand during the scene.

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:

Boogie Bumper

Delivers exactly what it promises and that's the point.

Please, take note that I rated this film 8 only because of it's value as an action film, but that's exactly the point I came here to get across. Everybody seems to have the same argument when they trash this film.. "it's all effects and no brains or dramatic undertones". OK, that is true, I've got to admit, but then again what kind of movie were these people actually expecting to see? Huh?!

G.I. Joe is as pure as an action film can possibly be and most importantly, it doesn't pretend to be anything else. Look at the poster. Check out the trailer. After those, were you perhaps waiting to see an Ingmar Bergman film? IT'S G.I. JOE, for Christ's sake! And I must say that in it's category, it isn't that bad. Sommers can direct good action sequences (the pursuit on the streets of Paris is stunning!) and although the film is obviously overblown with ridiculous gadgets and over the top plot lines, it doesn't matter because Joe succeeds in it's ONLY primary mission: to be entertaining. It's never boring and it's the silly fun it was always going to be.

So in a nutshell.. if you want a serious film to watch, check out There Will Be Blood or Doubt, but if you just want to forget for two hours the mess your leaders have left your nation and just have fun, check out this action film. Thank you.