G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

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.

Director:

Stephen Sommers

Writers:

Stuart Beattie (screenplay), David Elliot (screenplay)

Stars:

Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans

3 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

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

Storyline

Two soldiers stationed in Kazahkstan (Captain Duke Hauser and his partner "Ripcord") are ordered to transport special warheads created by MARS, an arms' manufacturer controlled by James McCullen. When they are attacked by thieves (led by Anastasia DeCobray, with whom Duke has history), they are saved by a top secret, international special forces unit known as "G.I. Joe". The leader of G.I. Joe, General Abernathy (or Hawk) is on the trail of the thieves: an evil organization called "Cobra". While Duke and Ripcord train to join the Joes, McCullen ("Destro") is secretly working for Cobra and plotting to recapture his metal-eating "Nanomite" warheads. Duke and Ripcord (with help from Heavy Duty, Snake Eyes, and the rest of the Joes) must prove that they are Real American Heroes -- by stopping the launch of these warheads before Cobra uses them to take over the world.

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Plot Keywords:

gi joe | swat team | 2000s | destruction | iceberg | 

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Taglines:

When all else fails, they don't

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The filmmakers enjoyed working with Dennis Quaid so much that screenwriter Stuart Beattie created 10-15 more scenes for him.

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Goofs

The Joes are 2 km from the Eiffel Tower when they report the area is being evacuated. When they finally arrive at the tower, the area beneath the tower is crowded.

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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 ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Part of the closing credits appear on a giant metal G.I. Joe logo. Visible on this logo are other military logos, including old G.I. Joe stickers, the US flying stars, and the G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 (2005) Sigma 6 designation.

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Connections

Referenced in Mr. Plinkett's Star Trek 2009 Review (2010)

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Soundtracks

Bang A Gong (Get It On)
Written by Marc Bolan
Performed by Bus Stop (as London Bus Stop)
Courtesy of Foreman Bros. Music
By arrangement with The Orchard

User Reviews

$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.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Czech Republic

Language:

English French Scottish Gaelic

Release Date:

7 August 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dark Sky: First Strike

Filming Locations:

Arctic

Box Office

Budget:

$175,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$54,713,046, 9 August 2009

Gross USA:

$150,201,498

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$302,469,017

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, Hasbro

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1