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

Title: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Tagline: When all else fails, they don't.

Genre: Adventure, Action, Thriller, Science Fiction

Director: Stephen Sommers

Cast: Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Sienna Miller, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Saïd Taghmaoui, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Lee Byung-hun, Rachel Nichols, Ray Park, Arnold Vosloo, Kevin J. O'Connor, Grégory Fitoussi, Jonathan Pryce, Leo Howard, Brandon Soo Hoo, Gerald Okamura, Karolína Kurková, David Murray, Brendan Fraser, Frederic Doss, Peter Breitmayer, Daniel Joseph, Matt McColm

Release: 2009-08-03

Runtime: 118

Plot: From the Egyptian desert to deep below the polar ice caps, the elite G.I. JOE team uses the latest in next-generation spy and military equipment to fight the corrupt arms dealer Destro and the growing threat of the mysterious Cobra organization to prevent them from plunging the world into chaos.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

 
G.I. Joe made $56.2 million in US/Canadian ticket sales its opening weekend for First Place. World ticket sales is estimated at at an additional $44.1 million.

1. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Paramount/Spyglass)$56.2 million
2. Julie & Julia (Sony) $20.1 million

http://www.reuters.c...942108820090809
UPDATE 1-'G.I. Joe' movie leads worldwide invasion
Sun Aug 9, 2009 2:03pm EDT

LOS ANGELES, Aug 9 (Reuters) - A new action movie based on the "G.I. Joe" line of toy soldiers crushed enemy forces at the worldwide box office during the weekend, ending the three-week reign of the sixth "Harry Potter" fantasy.

"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" sold about $100.3 million worth of tickets, distributor Paramount Pictures said on Sunday.

The three-day take of $56.2 million from the United States and Canada ranks as the fourth-highest August opening ever, and comes after the $175 million effects extravaganza had been besieged by bad buzz for months.

The foreign component of $44.1 million -- from 35 markets comprising 75 percent of international sales -- was led by South Korea ($5.6 million). The film opened at No. 1 in two countries not exactly favorable to American militarism, China ($4.8 million) and Russia ($4.6 million).

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" earned $31 million worldwide, taking its total to $816 million. The North American total of $274 million was bolstered by a fourth-place $8.9 million weekend. The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a unit of Time Warner Inc (TWX.N).

Besides "G.I. Joe," other new entries in North America included Columbia Pictures' Meryl Streep culinary offering "Julie & Julia" at No. 2 with a tasty $20.1 million, and indie producer Relativity Media's horror-thriller "A Perfect Getaway" at No. 7 with just $5.8 million.

Last weekend's North American champion, the Adam Sandler comedy "Funny People," slid to No. 5 with $7.9 million, taking the 10-day total for the $75 million comedy to a disappointing $40.4 million. The film was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric Co.

"G.I. Joe" stars Channing Tatum and Marlon Wayans as two young soldiers recruited by the international G.I. Joe military force to help save the world. It was directed by Stephen Sommers of "The Mummy" fame.

BAD BUZZ

While based on the venerable Hasbro Inc. action figures, the film tips its hat to the multilateral series of dolls relaunched in the 1980s rather than the American-oriented military heroes coveted by boys in the 1960s and 1970s. (G.I. is a generic term for U.S. soldiers.)

Given the wide awareness of the brand, fans were underwhelmed by a trailer that premiered in February during the Super Bowl football championship, the most-watched television event of the year in the United States.

Paramount opted not to screen the movie in advance for critics, a gambit often reserved for box office clunkers. In the end, reviews were predictably bad but not as bad as those for such recent releases as "G-Force" and "The Ugly Truth."
 
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

This was an unexpectely good summer action movie that was mildly based on the 1980's action cartoon series. It's true inspiration was pre-Daniel Craig "James Bond" action movies and Marvel Comic's "Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." comics!

Imagine MI6 versus S.P.E.C.T.R.E. or S.H.I.E.L.D. versus H.Y.D.R.A. to understand how the secret organisation G.I.J.O.E. is engaged to stop the M.A.R.S. corporation. The movie doesn't specifically say that M.A.R.S. is the precursor to C.O.B.R.A. but fans realise they have the same characters.

We even had tribute to action movie revivals "The Mummy" (1999) and "The Mummy Returns" (2001) through actors Arnold Vosloo and Brendan Fraser, and the secret G.I. Joe base under the sands of Egypt.

Fans of the TV series "Alias" will be happy to know that Rachel Nichols was very good in this movie. She was one of the main characters and got good onscreen time.

She played G.I. Joe Operative "Scarlett" O'Hara, a seriously fit & able fighter, and a genius as well.
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Her weapon of choice was a Hi-Tec crossbow pistol.
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In the movie, Scarlett was the hard-to-get love interest of operative "Ripcord" played by Marlon Wayans.

Rachel's fight scenes as "Scarlett" against "The Baroness" was very well done - it was reminiscent of Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow. Once I saw Shauna Duggin's name in the end credits, I figured out that she must have been Rachel's stunt double.

I can imagine that Shauna worked with and trained Rachel in fight scenes during Season 5 of Alias. Then when Rachel needed to have a stunt double for G.I. Joe, she'd naturally want to recommend Shauna for the job. Can anyone confirm that?

The movie's climax is a blend of the undersea battle of "Thunderball", the mission to destroy "The Guns of Navarone" and the attack of the Trade Federation fleet in "The Phantom Menace". I liked it.
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I thought the first one, Rise of Cobra, wasn't bad. The exoskeleton suits were a bit much but overall it wasn't a bad 'popcorn' movie.

Unfortunately I was totally put off by the second movie, Retaliation, where they wiped out all of the major characters except for a Roadblock, Flint, and Lady Jaye! :eek: COBRA wasn't spared either with Zartan and Firefly both getting killed off as well. To kill off characters like Duke and Scarlett may have been a way of doing a reboot from the first movie but it made no sense to kill off all of the major GI Joe characters like Duke and Scarlett that were such major parts of the original animated series.
 

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