G.I. JOE: RETALIATION-- now delayed until 2013!

[JEDIpartner]

http://investor.hasbro.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=676370

Not that I care about this film or anything, but I find it absolutely stunning that they pulled it so close to its release. I mean, the tie-in toy line is already starting to roll out and now there's nothing for it to be tied to! Really? 3-D? No one cares if it is in 3-D. That isn't going to make more people see it. The people who were going to see this are going to see it 3-D or otherwise.

Yep... Hollywood continues to be stupid due to greed.

[bigbarada]

I find it interesting that they've decided to delay the film after Battleship's pitiful opening weekend. I'm thinking the 3D thing is just an excuse to rework the movie to prevent it from being another big-budget flop.

In any case, I hated Rise of Cobra so much that I really just want to see this entire GI Joe movie franchise fail.

[JediTricks]

Battleship didn't flop in its opening, it was soft but it came in at $25 mil which raised its global take to $240 mil, which is $30 mil over its original budget. So Battleship made its money back in a month or so, that's decent considering what it was. I do agree that its weak opening here in the US is probably what made them think they needed to take it to 3D for a moneygrab and distance itself from a shaky start.

That said, Hasbro as a toymaker can afford to make this move right now, they have Battleship toys, Avengers toys, Amazing Spider-Man toys, Transformers Prime toys, those are all getting entertainment pushes during the summer, so if GI Joe has to roll out without a movie, it's not as bad a hit. I still think it's a monumental blunder to screw their retailers over like that though, and to waste all that money on toys for a movie coming out in 10 months instead of 1.

[El Chuxter]

Except the retailers will HATE Joe for this. The line's been struggling for a few years due to heavy pegwarming from less exciting figures (Renegades Cobra Commander and Arctic Destro of late, mostly). They just got a ton of figures to push a movie that, surprisingly, was getting mostly good buzz. This is on the heels of the phenomenal failure of the ROC line overall; Walmart actually gave up on Joe for a while and some stores still won't carry them.

Now, those figures are going to come out a full nine months before the movie with no media support (and there's that thing about retailers being taxed on items they have at the end of the year). They don't (for the most part) resemble any previous incarnation, so nostalgia won't be a factor. Plus, the MSRP has increased to $10, while the articulation has been cut out of an awful lot of figures and some are plagued with action features.

It's popular to complain about "death of the line!" whenever a manufacturer does what we don't want, but this really could be it for Joe. :(

To save it, they're going to have to do something drastic. I'm thinking let the Retaliation stuff roll, sell any that's left now to Ross, work on a better (and more movie-accurate) line for early next year with plenty of awesome new non-movie figures that collectors have been begging for (IDW Crystal Ball, anyone?), and haul @$$ to bust out a fill-in line of re-releases, repaints, and any canceled figures that made it to the production stage.

[JediTricks]

The stock tax thing isn't whatever they have at the end of the year, it's on any stock they've had for over a year, over 365 days.

Yeah, the retailers might be annoyed at stocking a line without support, but on the other hand, they have existing shelves for GI Joe, so they won't be too upset as it's not going to be taking up any more real estate nor pushing out another line. Now, if they front-loaded product in order to do displays or special deals during the movie's release, that's where they'll really get mad, and rightfully so.

Perhaps GI Joe needs a break if this is the way Hasbro is going to run it.

[Bel-Cam Jos]

Heading into theater #8 to see The Hunger Games today (love getting to see movies when they FIRST come out), there was a GIJ:R poster on display, with this year's release. Collector$' item? Should I a-stole'd it?

[El Chuxter]

Larry Hama apparently saw Retaliation today and had this to say on Facebook:

Saw RETALIATION today, and I loved it. Huge improvement over ROC.
Good enough for me to actually take this risk to see it in a theater.

[Bel-Cam Jos]

I don't know, ROC was a critically-acclaiming live TV show. Charles S. Dutton has always been a great actor.

I keep getting commercials for Olympus Has Fallen and GIJ mixed up, until the COBRA logo is seen on the banner.

[JediTricks]

Not just Charles S. Dutton, but Rocky Carroll as well, but it got too preachy halfway through its run.


Annnnnyway, Larry Hama isn't a benchmark with his recommendations (he's a bit generous at times), but I might go see this anyway if I can get somebody to risk suffering it with me. ;) The fact that it has real Joe vehicles and costumes is a step up from ROC already.

[Maradona]

Minor Spoilers (If you haven't seen the trailers, that is.)
Saw the film in laser projection 3D in Burbank, CA with JT (Go Team SSG!). I loved the aesthetic of the film in terms of its tech's fidelity to the ARAH show/toyline and the way Cobra worked. Saying it was better than ROC doesn't say much, but it was far superior and seemed less expensive. The Rock is charismatic in everything he is in (which seems like it's running at about a movie a month, along with being the WWF champion) and he was here again. It was difficult to watch much of the film without laughing or cringing at times, but I just kept reminding myself that the film was a cartoon made flesh. I agree with JT that the film was hindered by the previous film and trying to fit into its world, as opposed to starting fresh. I'd like the next one to be completely free of any story ties to the first and move forward from where this one left off. There is definitely a lot of fertile territory left to mine for story elements. Considering an important story point in the film takes place in London, could a future film connection to the Red Shadows and Action Force be possible?

Fanboy Gripes:
*Flint was a warrant officer, not a sergeant. If I recall the Joe chain of command from the cartoon, it went Hawk, Duke, Flint, Beachhead. The comic had a few other generals giving orders in the first part of the run. Roadblock was not number two.
*Firefly was always so concerned with anyone seeing his face and now seems to love removing his mask. The same can be said for Storm Shadow. FF and SS acted as though they were written by Sam Hamm (for those that get the reference).
*The Rock physically dwarfs everyone around him and, as such, him having difficulty in fighting Ray Stevenson was not very believable.
*The RZA as Blind Master could have been so awesome... in another dimension of space and time.

[El Chuxter]

Anything in it that would be too objectionable to a 6-year-old fangirl? (I'm cool with a moderate level of violence, so long as there's not an overabundance of gore. Otherwise, there'd be nothing to watch except Sesame Street.)

[Maradona]

Chux, there was killing in it and I'm not sure what her tolerance level to that is. There was no gore at all.

[El Chuxter]

Cool, that's sort of what I figured. She's seen Star Wars, Renegades, The Transformers: The Movie, and enough Disney cartoons to be okay with a moderate level of it. I understand it doesn't show Scarlett's corpse or anything, so she'll assume Scarlett's just somewhere else and be cool with Lady Jaye instead.

[JediTricks]

Correction, there was minor gore when a character was burned pretty badly, a few bullet wounds drew blood, and some charred bodies in the background of one scene, but pretty tame stuff otherwise. Unless she minds a major city being destroyed, but you don't see people, just buildings.

Anyway, great to bring team SSG to the theater, Maradona got a lot of attention for his fashion choices. ;) Thanks for the refreshments, next one's on me... offer only good to Maradona. :p

I have plenty to say but have just gotten a phone call, so I'll leave you with my list:

SPOILERS...

...

..

.

Things that were good:
- real HISS tanks!
- real Water Moccasins!
- real Cobra Commander outfit!
- a few other cool GI Joe-type vehicles, way better than ROC's garbage.
- no lips or rubber muscle suit on Snake Eyes.
- no stupid bouncing around the world in acceleration suits.
- The Rock is likeable on the screen, even if it's a little much.
- Storm Shadow is compelling and less silly in how they handle him without making him overly serious.
- uses its locations wisely, making honest set pieces rather than generic James Bond ripoff crap like ROC was.
- at least part of Cobra's big plan actually felt fresh and interesting, and even executed well.
- Zartan as the imitation President was done pretty well, got to chew scenery and be fun and over the top.

Things that could have been better:
- HISS tanks only raise their turrets and then get their asses kicked by a pair of tiny rockets.
- movie ends with a fistfight obviously because The Rock is the star, anticlimactic.
- Snake Eyes big ninja material.
- Firefly is here, not exactly in character and his gimmick is dumb with little exploding robot fireflies, but he's still somewhat kewl.
- still killing people left and right rather than red & blue lasers.
- Jinx gets an outfit based on her Sigma Six look, that's a weird callout.
- Snake's outfit is a bit bulky, his helmet is pretty big and his shoulder armor is a lot of bulk for a character that's supposed to be a martial artist.
- there are a lot of silly little plot gimmicks.
- Duke is actually likeable, but not in the movie much.
- Jon Chu got the most out of a clearly limited budget, but it's clear he could have done a lot more with a better budget and less studio and previous film bull****.
- acting in general could have been better.
- final solution to the film is a button press moment at the last second.
- kinda stupid fare.
- super prison warden played by Justified's Walter Goggins channeling his inner Sam Rockwell, but some bits were ok so mixed rather than bad.
- nameless characters played by recognizable actors getting too little to do.
- story aims to do more than a single film should really try to do.

Things that sucked:
- RZA as Blind Master. I know he had love for the material, but almost anybody would have done better.
- post-processed 3D suuuuuucked, even with laser projection.
- "hooah!" instead of "Yo Joe!", and nothing instead of "COOOOOOBRAAAAAA!"
- not enough Joes or Cobras.
- Bruce Willis seems unhappy to be here and gives a piddling performance, horribly miscast, and his character is a ridiculous Deus Ex Machina.
- The President's chief of staff wears Baroness' glasses (from the original, not ROC) thus reminding us of what we don't have.
- Cobra's plan seems to be to destroy the majority of the planet, first they kill 1 hostage city then they decide to just **** 'em all.
- Cobra Commander didn't do all that much.
- General Joe brings in a crowd of new guys that are geezers and have no names or personalities and fill the background without doing anything.
- the public seemingly knowing about GI Joe before Cobra's reveal.
- leaving out Baroness when she was such a major part of the first film was a mistake, should have been recast instead.

I gave the film a 6.5/10, it's the kind of movie to see with friends and then have fun bagging on while also enjoying the cartoony stuff what works.

[El Chuxter]

Okay, I must ask: What was Maradona's "fashion choices"? Not going to read the rest of your post, though, even though I have a feeling I've pieced together most of the movie already from clips and minor spoilers.

Edit: I take that partly back. They had to leave out Baroness. The way that first POS ended, there wasn't really much of a way to bring her back as a Cobra. Plus, it looks like they want to distance themselves from it as much as possible, leaving only the four "huge" guys (CC, SE, SS, and Duke) in it, as well as Zartan, because he's integral to what the plan obviously is (at least at first).

[Maradona]

I was dressed as Old Snake, from the Transformers episode "Only Human."








Actually, I wore an old black hooded sweatshirt with a red Cobra insignia. I was hoping to here it yelled, but alas it was not. When I got home, I felt compelled to watch the episode just for the ending scene where he says "They simply don't make terrorists like they used to..."

[El Chuxter]

When I got home, I felt compelled to watch the episode just for the ending scene where he says "They simply don't make terrorists like they used to..."
That may be the only Season 3 episode of Transformers that didn't suck, just because it was the only true crossover. (I'm not counting stuff like Marissa Fairborne and other things that imply a shared universe.)

[El Chuxter]

Okay, color me impressed that, after five absolutely wretched attempts, Hasbro finally has an action movie to their credit that doesn't suck. Heck, it's actually pretty good!

The ninja battle was, holy crap, I just need to sit down. Getting light-headed just thinking about how awesome it was.

A bit surprising, but I'm glad there were practically no Easter eggs. With this clearly being a house-cleaning to set up a third, proper Joe movie, anyone who was name-dropped early on would be toast. (I saw the names Grunt and Clutch in the credits, but didn't actually hear them spoken.) I was a bit surprised to see Zartan and Destro offed. Clearly, the house is being cleaned thoroughly.

Firefly, damn, when he first walked into the prison in his balaclava, I thought I was going to pee myself. That WAS Firefly. I don't care how they changed details about the character. That was the crazy mofo who might just be the single most dangerous Cobra operative.

In short, definitely worth seeing. I wouldn't mind seeing it again. Not perfect, but quite enjoyable.


*Flint was a warrant officer, not a sergeant. If I recall the Joe chain of command from the cartoon, it went Hawk, Duke, Flint, Beachhead. The comic had a few other generals giving orders in the first part of the run. Roadblock was not number two.
Given how they screwed over the characters from the first movie, fiddling with rank didn't bug me much. Also, Jaye's first name was Alison, not Jaye.

*Firefly was always so concerned with anyone seeing his face and now seems to love removing his mask. The same can be said for Storm Shadow. FF and SS acted as though they were written by Sam Hamm (for those that get the reference).
Storm Shadow, once his face was shown, was seen unmasked quite a bit in the comic. Firefly remained a mystery but was finally unmasked exactly once. For the sake of realism (movie realism, at least), I didn't mind him not wearing a mask when not in the field.

*The Rock physically dwarfs everyone around him and, as such, him having difficulty in fighting Ray Stevenson was not very believable.
Firefly's certifiably insane. It's the same reason the Joker, a guy who's 80 pounds when wet, is a credible physical threat to an Olympic-class athlete like Batman.

- real HISS tanks!
In. Deed. And you could spot the geeks in the audience at my theater--we were the ones who cheered or said "YES!" or something to that effect when the Cobra technician called them by the "High-Speed Sentry" designation.

- real Water Moccasins!
In. Deed. Again. Firefly also tried to escape on the old Night Landing (explaining why it's getting an update in the Retaliation toyline).

- real Cobra Commander outfit!
Yes, and an actual reason for the switch, rather than glossing over it. That was a nice, unexpected touch.

- Storm Shadow is compelling and less silly in how they handle him without making him overly serious.
He was much less just a ninja in a snow suit this time, huh?

- Zartan as the imitation President was done pretty well, got to chew scenery and be fun and over the top.
Agreed. The implication of him as the Hard Master's killer was a tad forced, but I appreciate the nod to the comic and Resolute.

- Firefly is here, not exactly in character and his gimmick is dumb with little exploding robot fireflies, but he's still somewhat kewl.
The gimmick didn't bother me much. It felt like something that could've been in the cartoon, and it explained why a Cobra operative would have a name like "Firefly" (since he's not an independent operative here).

- Jinx gets an outfit based on her Sigma Six look, that's a weird callout.
True, but Mouse is also a Sigma Six character. (Granted, using an S6 character was probably so they didn't waste an actual ARAH character as cannon fodder.) Also, they probably figured the solid red would be confused with the Red Ninjas, and the black (from the Devil's Due comic) would've been confused with Snake Eyes.

- Snake's outfit is a bit bulky, his helmet is pretty big and his shoulder armor is a lot of bulk for a character that's supposed to be a martial artist.
He looked more commando than ninja to me. I didn't mind it.

- Duke is actually likeable, but not in the movie much.
I'm quite surprised they left him dead, since he was likable. Kinda waiting for the inevitable YouTube mashup with that last scene of the Joes (minus Jaye and Colton) with Doc's voice over from the original movie. :D

- acting in general could have been better.
Compared to the first (aside from Zartan, Cobra Commander, and Destro), this was Academy Award caliber work here.

- final solution to the film is a button press moment at the last second.
I was sorta disappointed by that, but, then again, it's kind of the huge action movie cliche that Hollywood thinks we expect.

- story aims to do more than a single film should really try to do.
But if it bombs too badly, there'd be no finale.

- RZA as Blind Master. I know he had love for the material, but almost anybody would have done better.
I didn't think he was as bad as I'd heard people say, but, still, that was a weird choice, and he certainly wasn't good.

- Bruce Willis seems unhappy to be here and gives a piddling performance, horribly miscast, and his character is a ridiculous Deus Ex Machina.
He's Bruce Willis! How can you complain? Way better than Denis Quaid (who I was a bit miffed to not see addressed--shouldn't Roadblock go to him first, since I doubt he was serving in the field under Duke).

- The President's chief of staff wears Baroness' glasses (from the original, not ROC) thus reminding us of what we don't have.
Again, do you really want Baroness, if it means she's a blonde moron who's Duke's girlfriend?

- General Joe brings in a crowd of new guys that are geezers and have no names or personalities and fill the background without doing anything.
Kinda bugged me, too (and I REALLY wanted one of them to be Sergeant Slaughter; that would've been way too cool). I'm wondering now if two of them were Clutch and Grunt?

Also, did my eyes deceive me, or, during the "story thus far" bit at the beginning, did I catch a glimpse of an old-school Cobra Trooper?

[Maradona]

One word: Brenda!

[Tycho]

I supposed that Brenda was General Joe Colton's daughter. Was I correct? That made a compelling human story to this that I took in while I was watching the film

[El Chuxter]

#1 at the box office, and the biggest international opening of 2013. Granted, that won't stand for long, but it should be enough to get a sequel.

Yo Joe!

[Maradona]

#1 at the box office, and the biggest international opening of 2013. Granted, that won't stand for long, but it should be enough to get a sequel.

Yo Joe!

Way to go, Brenda!

[JediTricks]

Edit: I take that partly back. They had to leave out Baroness. The way that first POS ended, there wasn't really much of a way to bring her back as a Cobra. Plus, it looks like they want to distance themselves from it as much as possible, leaving only the four "huge" guys (CC, SE, SS, and Duke) in it, as well as Zartan, because he's integral to what the plan obviously is (at least at first).Could have retconned the ROC Baroness into being a brainwashed decoy for the real one. They miscast the ROC character horrendously and then also wrote her just as poorly, so why not use the cheap-out to evade failure? :p


I was dressed as Old Snake, from the Transformers episode "Only Human."


Actually, I wore an old black hooded sweatshirt with a red Cobra insignia. I was hoping to here it yelled, but alas it was not. When I got home, I felt compelled to watch the episode just for the ending scene where he says "They simply don't make terrorists like they used to..."Dang, now one of you guys has to dress as Old Snake for Halloween!

I also was hoping to HEAR it yelled (:D) and nearly yelled it when Firefly's motorcycle blasted into the prison entrance.



Okay, color me impressed that, after five absolutely wretched attempts, Hasbro finally has an action movie to their credit that doesn't suck. Heck, it's actually pretty good!

The ninja battle was, holy crap, I just need to sit down. Getting light-headed just thinking about how awesome it was.

A bit surprising, but I'm glad there were practically no Easter eggs. With this clearly being a house-cleaning to set up a third, proper Joe movie, anyone who was name-dropped early on would be toast. (I saw the names Grunt and Clutch in the credits, but didn't actually hear them spoken.) I was a bit surprised to see Zartan and Destro offed. Clearly, the house is being cleaned thoroughly.Glad to hear you liked it.

I don't think we can say for sure that Destro was offed, they were way underground and under water and he was in a life support pod far from the explosion. Another franchise, yeah he'd be dead, but here I think that's survivable.


Firefly, damn, when he first walked into the prison in his balaclava, I thought I was going to pee myself. That WAS Firefly. I don't care how they changed details about the character. That was the crazy mofo who might just be the single most dangerous Cobra operative.Yeah, Firefly's entrance was good. Then he got itchy scalp syndrome and couldn't help constantly unmasking. ;)


In short, definitely worth seeing. I wouldn't mind seeing it again. Not perfect, but quite enjoyable.Overselling it, or do you still feel that way?


Storm Shadow, once his face was shown, was seen unmasked quite a bit in the comic. Firefly remained a mystery but was finally unmasked exactly once. For the sake of realism (movie realism, at least), I didn't mind him not wearing a mask when not in the field.Too bad all his unmasked scenes were in the field and during action.


In. Deed. And you could spot the geeks in the audience at my theater--we were the ones who cheered or said "YES!" or something to that effect when the Cobra technician called them by the "High-Speed Sentry" designation.The only ones in our theater who did that were sitting to the left of Maradona and to my right. ;)


In. Deed. Again. Firefly also tried to escape on the old Night Landing (explaining why it's getting an update in the Retaliation toyline).Yeah, I noticed the night landing as well but it's not a specialized vehicle so I wasn't as excited by it, good inclusion but it's an off-the-shelf thing. AND THEN A WATER MOCCASIN DROVE THROUGH IT! :thumbsup:


Yes, and an actual reason for the switch, rather than glossing over it. That was a nice, unexpected touch.ROC was a real carbuncle on the franchise, there shouldn't be so much excitement over a fix like that but it definitely felt right.


He was much less just a ninja in a snow suit this time, huh?Yeah, everything about the way ROC handled SS was a disappointment and here it held up, he was more interesting and nuanced and goal-oriented like the original.


Agreed. The implication of him as the Hard Master's killer was a tad forced, but I appreciate the nod to the comic and Resolute.A tad forced? Oh, most definitely, but how much more time could we have spent with that storyline to fill it out in a 2-hour movie?


The gimmick didn't bother me much. It felt like something that could've been in the cartoon, and it explained why a Cobra operative would have a name like "Firefly" (since he's not an independent operative here).I don't get the "firefly" reference as an independent operator here, I thought he was firefly because he was stealthy and blew stuff up. The little fireflies weren't credible for me, they were too small to be effective bombs IMO, they didn't tie in well enough visually for my tastes.


True, but Mouse is also a Sigma Six character. (Granted, using an S6 character was probably so they didn't waste an actual ARAH character as cannon fodder.) Also, they probably figured the solid red would be confused with the Red Ninjas, and the black (from the Devil's Due comic) would've been confused with Snake Eyes.Yeah, but nobody liked Mouse in S6 either ;). You are probably right about the colors, just odd to have S6 in here, her red ninja outfit with a blindfold instead of a ninja mask also wouldn't have sold enough.


He looked more commando than ninja to me. I didn't mind it.Commandos are a little leaner in their armor, I think, because they work in tighter formation and move faster. Snake Eye's shoulderpads and helmet were a lot of bulk IMO.


I'm quite surprised they left him dead, since he was likable. Kinda waiting for the inevitable YouTube mashup with that last scene of the Joes (minus Jaye and Colton) with Doc's voice over from the original movie. :DI really expected him to pull a movie voiceover like that, if not a full recovery and show up at the end. Kinda glad they left him dead, he didn't work as the character.


Compared to the first (aside from Zartan, Cobra Commander, and Destro), this was Academy Award caliber work here.As much as I love Christopher Eccleston, his turn as Destro in ROC was badly directed, -written, and -acted. :(


But if it bombs too badly, there'd be no finale.I think they could have leaned out some stuff like the ninja material (not cut, just made it leaner) and the beginning and the 'hood stuff, trimmed the infiltration of the president's gala entirely, and still have a full enough movie. So what I mean is tell the same story, just show less of it rather than leave parts for another movie.


He's Bruce Willis! How can you complain? Way better than Denis Quaid (who I was a bit miffed to not see addressed--shouldn't Roadblock go to him first, since I doubt he was serving in the field under Duke).How can I complain? He absorbed a lot of the film's budget and needed to be a better character since he ties the whole thing together, instead he sucked life out of the screen. I would have been way happier with Dennis Quaid playing this character (his turn as Hawk was pretty bad in ROC but... ROC is ROC) or almost anybody else. The fact that only SE and Jinx answered the call bugged me too.


Again, do you really want Baroness, if it means she's a blonde moron who's Duke's girlfriend?That character was never The Baroness in my mind, she wasn't European, she wasn't black-haired, she wore fake boobs and had to wear sunglasses to hide the fact that she would flinch every time she fired a weapon. In short, she was never the Baroness to begin with, so not a problem. :D


Kinda bugged me, too (and I REALLY wanted one of them to be Sergeant Slaughter; that would've been way too cool). I'm wondering now if two of them were Clutch and Grunt?

Also, did my eyes deceive me, or, during the "story thus far" bit at the beginning, did I catch a glimpse of an old-school Cobra Trooper?I wanted Sgt Slaughter to show up in the ring at the rec center, would have been perfect. Rumor has it that he won't do these movies without a bigger part though. :(

I didn't remember seeing an old school cobra trooper there but could be.


I supposed that Brenda was General Joe Colton's daughter. Was I correct? That made a compelling human story to this that I took in while I was watching the filmNo mention of Colton having a daughter, much less one named "Brenda", that I can remember. And why would Colton call some other girl by his own daughter's name? That'd be weird. Lady Jaye was definitely not "Brenda".


#1 at the box office, and the biggest international opening of 2013. Granted, that won't stand for long, but it should be enough to get a sequel.

Yo Joe!YO JOE! Apparently Paramount has pulled the trigger on another sequel, mainly I think due to how much mojo this is having overseas. Hopefully they get Chu back and give him better producers and more help with writing the screenplay - either time or budget or direct Joe lineage writers.


Way to go, Brenda!Hey hey Brenda!!! That's a thing they say occasionally at the end of The Late Show with David Letterman, and Bruce Willis is a friend of the show I think, maybe he just thought it was funny to use that and ran with it.

[El Chuxter]

I don't get the "firefly" reference as an independent operator here, I thought he was firefly because he was stealthy and blew stuff up. The little fireflies weren't credible for me, they were too small to be effective bombs IMO, they didn't tie in well enough visually for my tastes.
In the original, he was never officially Cobra. (Well, the cartoon never explained any of the mercs.) It fit that his name was unrelated to snakes. If he's a full-fledged, high-ranking Cobra, it seems a bit odd that he doesn't have a snake name without some other explanation (like the explosive fireflies).

It just occurred to me that Bruce Willis is Joe Colton, and his ex-wife is Demi Moore... the title character in G.I.Jane. Which Disney had to buy the rights to or something to use as the title, since G.I.Jane is the nurse who eventually married Colton! Maybe that's why Jane didn't show up; she left him and moved in with Ashton Kutcher. :crazed:

[El Chuxter]

I just learned what I've seen Mouse in before. I guess it's forgivable that I didn't recognize him, given that he was a little kid in Jurassic Park.

[JediTricks]

In the original, he was never officially Cobra. (Well, the cartoon never explained any of the mercs.) It fit that his name was unrelated to snakes. If he's a full-fledged, high-ranking Cobra, it seems a bit odd that he doesn't have a snake name without some other explanation (like the explosive fireflies).What about Major Bludd, what snake-related name is that? Or Mindbender? Or Baroness? Crimson Guard? None of them are snake-named and rank highly.

I always took Cobra as basically like GI Joe in that they take guys wherever they can find them so the names come from diverse backgrounds.


It just occurred to me that Bruce Willis is Joe Colton, and his ex-wife is Demi Moore... the title character in G.I.Jane. Which Disney had to buy the rights to or something to use as the title, since G.I.Jane is the nurse who eventually married Colton! Maybe that's why Jane didn't show up; she left him and moved in with Ashton Kutcher. :crazed:Oh man, you are sick. :p


I just learned what I've seen Mouse in before. I guess it's forgivable that I didn't recognize him, given that he was a little kid in Jurassic Park.Really? He was on Justified at the beginning of the current season and didn't look that much like Mouse, I guess because the hair color changed.

[El Chuxter]

Major Bludd is even less an "official" Cobra than Firefly (and "Bludd" is his last name). The name "Baroness" is her actual title. Dr. Mindbender takes his name from a play on his specialty and real name (Dr. Brian Bender).

[Tycho]

I don't think Duke has to be dead. I think COBRA could have used Tarzan's Micro probes to decorate a body up like Duke.

Meanwhile they hold him prisoner and maybe offer a trade to get back Deborah.

[El Chuxter]

Tarzan's? Now that would be an awesome crossover.

[Tycho]

Ugggh. Voice to text typo. I meant Zartan...and Destro.

In movie 3 Baroness will be back and seem to have sympathy for Duke because he's being tortured by major blood.

COBRA faked his death. She suggests to her brother that they trade Duke for destro.

When they make the trade in the Arctic snow job discovers that they're up to something.

COBRA will have a new plan to take over the world. Duh.

[JediTricks]

Major Bludd is even less an "official" Cobra than Firefly (and "Bludd" is his last name). The name "Baroness" is her actual title. Dr. Mindbender takes his name from a play on his specialty and real name (Dr. Brian Bender).Then who is high up in the organization that has a snake name and not 'Cobra Commander'? Those are all the ones I know, and none of them fit. Nothing from Serpentor on though, that's crap and you know it. :p


I don't think Duke has to be dead. I think COBRA could have used Tarzan's Micro probes to decorate a body up like Duke. We see the nanites leave Zartan's body when he dies, they don't save him. Also, we see the Joes lamenting Duke's death after the desert, they walk around collecting all the dog tags of their fallen comrades off of the bodies, they would have noticed if Duke's body wasn't there and they wouldn't be lamenting him but looking for him.

[Maradona]

There is a lot of fertile territory to be mined for stories and characters. I think that the producers should not be afraid of using the concept of Cobra as the "ruthless terrorist organization" that it was designed as. The fear that can be generated by knowing that a US-based, homegrown terrorist organization for hire seems tailor made for this past decade of our country's history.

[Tycho]

So the nanno probes could use DNA to recreate Tim McVeigh?

JT, I was wondering if they could create a fake corpse of Duke.

[Maradona]

So the nanno probes could use DNA to recreate Tim McVeigh?


I was thinking more along the lines of how foreign based USA haters could hire Cobra, who is already established and entrenched in the US (Springfield), to destabilize the economy (Extensive Enterprises), sponsor random mayhem (Dreadnoks), poison the environment (Sludge/Toxo-Vipers), traffic drugs (Headman/DEF), provide mercenaries (Iron Grenadiers) and/or arms (MARS).

[El Chuxter]

I'm really hoping for Tomax and Xamot (Paoli--because, hey, only IDW ever bothered to give them a last name) in the next movie.

[Tycho]

How about seeing Spirit?

[JediTricks]

JT, I was wondering if they could create a fake corpse of Duke.That's dumb comic book stuff, nobody would reasonably go through that much trouble, especially when they already have a living president impersonator in the White House. It wouldn't pass muster in a movie.

[El Chuxter]

I don't think the Joe comic would've even attempted that.

[JediTricks]

2nd weekend has the film in the #2 slot at $21 mil, which is a 50% falloff but not terribly surprising.