G.I. Joe: How would you have done it?

[protocida]

I've heard a lot of unsatisfied fans about G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra. Even tough I'm pumped for the movie, I'd like to ask to all the unhappy fans:

How would you have done an G.I. Joe movie instead? Which characters? Which actors? Which vehicles? Which weapons? Which story? Which scenes? Etc...

Discuss. t:

 

[terry78]

Most fanboys would say they wanted it done in a more military-thriller style more than likely. I'd probably say going about it in the Star Trek route would be the best recourse, but we didn't know how that was gonna fare until people started giving reviews.

 

[ChickenScratch]

I would have taken inspiration from Tom Clancy's books Rainbow 6, Teeth of The Tiger, Richard Maracinco's Rogue Warrior series, Robert Ludlum's Covert One series, Dale Brown's books, you know, real hardcore military stories. Keep it realistic, violent, make Cobra a real terrorist threat and less cartoony. I would also skip the putting together the team, just start it with everyone established, have one new Joe comming in as audience introduction into this crazy world the Joes operate in.

 

[mr. peasant]

I would have personally preferred a G.I. Joe origins movie with Cobra already established (whether as a known or new threat) over a Cobra origins one. The Joes would comprise of different military arms (whether all U.S. or international is irrelevant) who find themselves in the middle of Cobra's scheme and the team only coming together at the end. As for the plot, the classic Maguffin device followed by a bid at world domination would be the way to go.

And if it's going to be a little campy/cartoony, I would really want to see a reference to the Weather Dominator.

 

[Timstuff]

I'm looking forward to the movie so I'm not really going to think too hard about what I'd do differently until I've seen it. I would have picked a better actor than Channing Tatum for Duke, though.

 

[Iron_Stark]

Not hired Marlon Wayans.

 

[Kokoryu1]

Hama, Proyas, and Goyer writing and directing. An entirely new cast. And attention to and respect for the source material. Other than that I wouldn't change a thing.

 

[BlackLantern]

And attention to and respect for the source material.

I see this statement a lot and it makes me wonder "This is a toy line, that spawned some animated series and comic books, so how much "respect" is really due to it?"

 

[Timstuff]

I love GI Joe and all, but I kind of have to agree... When people whine about a toy line "selling out," I can never help buy roll my eyes.

 

[Raiden]

First of all, I would have the Cobra organization fully established, but they kept in the dark until they revealed themselves with several strategic attacks. CC will be either in blue hood or faceplate from the start, Destro will have his chrome mask, and Storm Shadow doesn't walk around without his identity hidden from anyone, including the Cobra. The setting will be present, but with some amazing experimental vehicles and weaponry, and none of that silly "acceleration suit". The Joes will have their trademark costumes, not uniformly black, and the story will be action-packed yet adult-oriented like in G.I. Joe: Resolute. Oh, none of that stupid brainwash storyline.

Lastly, no Marlon Wayne.

 

[BlackLantern]

I liked Dukes uniform in Resolute, seemed a little more practical than just the khaki shirt he used to rock in the 80's series

 

[M.E.H.Z.E.B]

I see this statement a lot and it makes me wonder "This is a toy line, that spawned some animated series and comic books, so how much "respect" is really due to it?"

I love GI Joe and all, but I kind of have to agree... When people whine about a toy line "selling out," I can never help buy roll my eyes.

I find it laughable that these sort of comments are still spawning here on the Hype. If that argument were to stick, then no movie would require any nod to its source materials or what had initially made it popular.

GI Joe was popular for a reason. There was something that fans related to, and enjoyed about the shows, the characters, the comics and the toyline. Messing with those fundamentals is what ruins the project for the fans.

And yes, we are all fans here - otherwise, we wouldn't bother posting on an internet messageboard about a franchise born out of a toyline.

Respect should be made to the existing myth of the franchise. I can't really get over the whole "rolling eyes" bits and the "what respect?" statements because frankly its a bit strange, considering, (a) just because the comics and the shows spawned from a toyline, and not the other way around, the existing setup or myth doesn't matter? (b) if existing myth does not matter, then why have so many loosely-based adaptations of franchises failed ever so often? (Dolph Lundgren's Punisher 89 springs to mind).

Let's face it, you can't mess with the basics of what the franchise floats on - like character dynamics. Superman Returns tried and miserably failed in 2006. Same formula, and Stephen Sommers is on the same route.

I hope to god that this movie succeeds as I'd be heartbroken to see my beloved Joes suffer the same fate as the Superman franchise - violated, lost, and with no hope whatsoever.

 

[BlackLantern]

I'm not saying the source material isn't to be respected, my question was how much do you weigh that with the reality of the situation...that these started out as toys....and the reason we all thought it was so great was because we were kids and didn't have anything else to compare it to, so of course we all thought it was super awesome....fond memories and nostalgia can skew our recollection of how good or bad something is...I recently watched the Iron Man animated series from the 90's...it has not aged well

Ive seen like half of the 1989 Punisher...and its not good

 

[M.E.H.Z.E.B]

I'm not saying the source material isn't to be respected, my question was how much do you weigh that with the reality of the situation...that these started out as toys....and the reason we all thought it was so great was because we were kids and didn't have anything else to compare it to, so of course we all thought it was super awesome....fond memories and nostalgia can skew our recollection of how good or bad something is...I recently watched the Iron Man animated series from the 90's...it has not aged well

Ive seen like half of the 1989 Punisher...and its not good

Imagine James Bond as a 20-year-old African American man out of the hood who is recruited by MI6 to work as a secret agent. Imagine Peter Parker as a filthy-rich spoiled brat who ends up as Spider-Man after being bitten by a radio-active spider in one his own laboratories.

Source material matters. The audience expect to see something that they saw when they were young, heard of, or caught a rerun of, translated on to the screen. No one expects or even hopes for a photostat of the comics or the show - its just that the basics have to be in play. Unfortunately, some of the core elements of the Joes have been changed by Sommers, and I don't know how it will bode with the fans, or even the general audience.

Remember one thing, its not always the fans who decide the fate of the franchise. Non-fans have equal rights to deem a movie a flop. It has happened. In a lot of cases because the characters could not be recognised by the audience, something which the new GI Joe movie sadly has the danger of succumbing to.

 

[BlackLantern]

Imagine James Bond as a 20-year-old African American man out of the hood who is recruited by MI6 to work as a secret agent. Imagine Peter Parker as a filthy-rich spoiled brat who ends up as Spider-Man after being bitten by a radio-active spider in one his own laboratories.

Source material matters. The audience expect to see something that they saw when they were young, heard of, or caught a rerun of, translated on to the screen. No one expects or even hopes for a photostat of the comics or the show - its just that the basics have to be in play. Unfortunately, some of the core elements of the Joes have been changed by Sommers, and I don't know how it will bode with the fans, or even the general audience.

Remember one thing, its not always the fans who decide the fate of the franchise. Non-fans have equal rights to deem a movie a flop. It has happened. In a lot of cases because the characters could not be recognised by the audience, something which the new GI Joe movie sadly has the danger of succumbing to.

I couldn't agree more...the problem is some fans think they should be catered to and damn what the GA has to say about it...If you let a hardest of the hardcore GI Joe fan direct a movie, you'd probably get a decent film, but something only 100 or so people might actually like

 

[Raiden]

Imagine James Bond as a 20-year-old African American man out of the hood who is recruited by MI6 to work as a secret agent. Imagine Peter Parker as a filthy-rich spoiled brat who ends up as Spider-Man after being bitten by a radio-active spider in one his own laboratories.

Source material matters. The audience expect to see something that they saw when they were young, heard of, or caught a rerun of, translated on to the screen. No one expects or even hopes for a photostat of the comics or the show - its just that the basics have to be in play. Unfortunately, some of the core elements of the Joes have been changed by Sommers, and I don't know how it will bode with the fans, or even the general audience.

Remember one thing, its not always the fans who decide the fate of the franchise. Non-fans have equal rights to deem a movie a flop. It has happened. In a lot of cases because the characters could not be recognised by the audience, something which the new GI Joe movie sadly has the danger of succumbing to.

Exactly. I was a GI Joes fan growing up in the 80's, and watched their cartoon like all those kids around my age. I didn't expect Sommer to get 100% right, but I think he had messed around with the mytho of GI Joes and Cobra WAY too much for this movie. Plus given Sommer's track record of rather subpar movies, I just don't have much faith in this movie. I'd love to have a great GI Joes movie, but I don't think this one is it.

 

[thorstone]

I would have done something borderline Rated R. Something that adults who used to play with the toys could enjoy-- because kids aren't playing with GI-Joe anymore; they're playing Xbox.

The people behind the film are trying to sell toys (as was the case of Crapformers 2) when they should be selling video games-- they should have been looking at Modern Warfare 2.

I wanted something realistic, something dealing with current technology, and dealing with real world scenarios like false flag terrorism and project blue beam.

The GI Joe unit would be special forces.
Snake Eyes' character design would be more quiet-- IE, he wouldn't look like a super hero.


I would put focus on the snake metaphor. COBRA would be a secret society (ala The Bohemian Grove) trying to establish a supranationalist government by creating mass casualty events.

COBRA Commander would have been someone who was supposed to be a good guy and he would have looked more like this:

 

[Jake Cassidy]

I'd change the lineup. For me it should be:

Hawk
Duke
Snake Eyes
Scarlett
Flint
Lady Jaye
Stalker
Roadblock

 

[Jake Cassidy]

Hama, Proyas, and Goyer writing and directing. An entirely new cast. And attention to and respect for the source material. Other than that I wouldn't change a thing.

Proyas would be fantastic.

You can change everyone but Ray Park, imo. He's perfect for Snake Eyes.

 

[Spider-Fan]

As a fan of the show, I would have done something more in the feel of the new Star Trek film. Have fun with it. The show was fun, and that is why I loved it. COBRA often had dumb plans, but that was the charm. My film would have been about a new recruit to the Joe's, whom has some specialization that pertians to COBRA's current plan. Both would be established factions. I wouldn't have made it overtly serious like a Tom Clancy novel. I think a good Joe movie can be done that way, but that isn't what I loved about the show personally. Light-hearted Joe vs COBRA would have been my route.

 

[AnorexicBatman]

thorstone has brought up a very good point which I can attest to. Kids these days hardly watch television, read comic books or play with toys. It's all about video games and those games (save stuff like Mario) are some of the most literally brutal pieces of entertatinment you will ever see.

In that respect. Film makers trying to appeal to kids should make the tone closer to what kids see in video games like Call Of Duty rather than a TV show which would look, 'lame' and 'gay' to them.

 

[BlackLantern]

I remember a DTV that Hasbro put out...Gi Joe: Valor vs. Venom...it was extremely goofy and Gi Joe ended up saving the day with paintball guns filled with some sort of compund to save General Hawk....all this stuff about realistic military drama just doesn't work for me, GI Joe was never about that...it was about the Weather Dominator and stuff like that

 

[Spider-Fan]

I remember a DTV that Hasbro put out...Gi Joe: Valor vs. Venom...it was extremely goofy and Gi Joe ended up saving the day with paintball guns filled with some sort of compund to save General Hawk....all this stuff about realistic military drama just doesn't work for me, GI Joe was never about that...it was about the Weather Dominator and stuff like that

Agreed

Cobra had some goofy plans in the show (what terrorist organization other than Cobra tries and starts a rock band that mind controls people? WHO THINKS OF THAT!!!), but that is why the show rocked. It was just fun to watch, and I feel the best GI Joe movie would reflect that feel. This is just my opinion, of course, but if I were to direct a GI Joe movie, that would be my ultimate goal.

 

[BlackLantern]

or COBRA using cute little pets that turn into viscous monsters to take over city by city...or using Red Rocket Restaurants as secret cruise missile bases

 

[Spider-Fan]

LOL, those were all classic too

Cobra was a fun villain group, and these kind of goofy plots are what I think of when I think of Cobra. I think making Cobra a by the numbers terrorist group and making it too serious doesn't seperate GI Joe enough from other typical action films. Nor is is true enough to the spirit of the show to me, and I know the comics and such have a more serious GI Joe going for them, but I prefer the fun version.