G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987)

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

I am a major fan of all parts of GI JOE from the 80's. The characters were all enjoyable. The villains were superb. The team I led to battle couldn't have been a more watchable mix. With weaknesses to both Joe's and Cobra's it was all about the teamwork to overcome the other side. While some people say this show was nothing more than propaganda to rid the world of "evil" powers.. I think the show somewhat brought a pride to the American Army and gave kids like me something to satisfy the urge to have guns, tanks, explosions, animal sidekicks, crazy super weapons, ridiculous vehicles with way to many missiles and lasers.. Yes this show, the figures, the movie.. everything about it rocked.. How many times did you and your friends pool all your Joe's and vehicles together for a major super war.. The only thing is..Just once they should make Cobra win one time in something!! I have feelings too. PS Serpentor is a Loser! Yeah!

After an exciting opening featuring a great, powerful rendition of the GI Joe theme and a fierce battle between the Joes and Cobra before the Statue of Liberty, we get treated to a ludicrous story about a city full of giant bugs called Cobra-La, which spawned Cobra Commander and had a hand in the creation of Serpentor, reaching out to Cobra to get them to capture the latest in sci-fi technology, the Broadcast Energy Transmitter or BET, so that they can use it to cook up some giant spores floating over the Earth to turn us humans into ugly monsters while the Cobra-La folk hang out safely in their ice dome. Only GI Joe, the real American Hero, stands in their way, and with many Joes incapacitated in some way or another, it's up to the Rawhides - including Duke's smart ass half brother Lt. Falcon, female Asian martial artist Jinx, silent Chuckles, cynical Tunnel Rat, good natured Law and his dog and the in movie only sports man Big Lob - along with Sgt. Slaughter's Renegades - Mercer, Red Dog and Taurus - to step in and lend a helping hand.I use to watch this over and over as a kid because it was the easiest access I had to GI Joe when I couldn't catch the reruns, but even as a kid I thought it sucked, mostly because the Cobra-La thing just didn't gel in with the rest of what I knew about GI Joe. Apparently having Cobra Commander be a scion of Cobra-La stemmed from an idea one of the show's writers had that CC was really just a front man for a much larger, more sinister organization. Even by 1980s kid show standards this whole movie's plot was just a little too far fetched.Still, I think this was a little bit better than the Transformers movie, but like Transformers the GI Joe movie suffers from trying to push out the characters we already loved in favor of new characters we never got to know very well (like the Transformers movie, this was supposed to bridge the gap to a 3rd season, but GI Joe's 3rd year never happened), which takes a lot of fun out of the movie. There's also the thing about Duke - they say he went into a coma, but after taking a friggin snake javelin right in the heart, the man was clearly dead. Apparently they had to change the death, originally set because Duke was being phased out of the toy line and the writers were tired of fighting with the toy owner Hasbro to keep him in the show, because of the backlash to Optimus Prime's death in the Transformers flick. Personally I think GI Joe could have gotten away with killing Duke (not that I wanted him to die); Optimus Prime need not have died. Too bad, because the brush with death, right when Duke rasps "Yo... Joe..." for the last time (and let's face it, no one yelled "Yo Joe!" better than Michael Bell, with Duke easily being the best role of his voice over career) was actually proving to be very touching, but the coma line ruins it. The writers themselves admitted it sucked and have pointed out that if you watch it without sound and go just by the reactions of Scarlett, Falcon and General Hawk, and the way our favorite rugged blonde man's head rolls to the side and his grip loosens, then it's quite evident that Duke dies.The thing about Falcon being Duke's half-brother was also a bit tacky, though Don "Miami Vice" Johnson read the part fairly well, especially since they really look nothing alike; Falcon was originally supposed to be General Hawk's son, and they really should have stuck to that. But with the beret he could have passed as a relative of Flint's.Flint, so prominent in the cartoon, has very little to do here, sadly, as do many other beloved GI Joe characters.On the plus side, the animation is great, the action sequences are above par and so is the music. The opening is probably the best thing about the movie (and probably would have made a better plot for the movie).

I'm glad to see so many fans of the series chimed in on this. I, too was a shameless addict for G.I. Joe and Transformers. The shows basically followed each other on the after school t.v. program. I remember some of the shows were quite serious. Buzz Dixon was a pretty good writer on the show. There was one about a take over of the G.I. Joes "traitor" within. then another had someone joining a street gang. another episode had commentary - where Cobra wanted the cartoon for everyone to look alike and think alike - then we can achieve world peace! - another Cobra commander episode was when he changed the ending of a program - "you just cant win if the opponent is bigger and stronger than you are" - some of the story lines were pretty good. Others were pretty goofy. I just loved that opening song - "Fighting for freedom wherever there is trouble over land and sea and air.....G.I. Joe is there. When they fly to the top of the statue of liberty and those fireworks are going off...I m sorry, but I was just psyched after seeing that - it was such a rush. - It would be considered fascist in some circles these days, but then again, its just a cartoon. no, a phenomenon! - there must be a movie in the works!!!!

SPOILERS!! Where else are you gonna find Burgess Merideth, Don Johnson and Sgt. Slaughter all together? Mix them in with our GI Joe team and you got one big production on your hands.Much to Dr. Mindbenders surprise, there is more to Serpentors past than we were all told in "Arise, Serpentor, Arise!". When Cobra is infiltrated by a strange mutant woman, a story unfolds like something from the Twilight Zone.GI Joe is testing the Broadcast Energy Transmitter (BET), a device that sends power through the air like radio waves, when Cobra attacks. The Joes drive Cobra into retreat with major damage to their side. Serpentor is knocked out and taken prisoner. Duke takes a snake arrow in the chest that was meant for Lt. Falcon, his younger half brother, and goes into a coma. Cobra Commander leads them into a haven which turns out to be where he grew up...Cobra La. Many Joes followed and were captured or worse. Led by Golobulus (part man, part snake, part crustacian), Nemesis Enforcer (large manbat) and Pythona (sexy & venomous) take in their weary troops and make plans to free Serpentor and steal the BET.Lt. Falcon abandoned his post, guarding Serpentor. Cobra and Cobra La made their way in, taking out troops and equipment as they go. Lt. Falcon is court martialed and sentenced to major retraining at the SlaughterHouse, a rigorous training camp ran by Sgt. Slaughter. Once Serpentor is Freed and taken to Cobra La, his past is revealed, as is the history of Cobra Commander and his banishment. Then Golobulus explains his plans to launch mutation spores into orbit and ripen them with the energy from the BET. Then as they fall to Earth, they will mutate everyone on the planet except those in the Ice Dome of Cobra La. When Cobra Commander is used as a demonstration, he is mutated into a snakeman. When the captured Joes attempt their escape, Roadblock is the only one who makes it out but is blinded by another spore pod. He finds the mutated Cobra Commander and together work their way back to the original battlefield where they find the other Joes.Cobra La mops the floor with the joes at "THE PITT" (GI JOES command center) and steal the BET out from under them. Joe, in turn sends the full force to COBRA LA to knock out Cobra, Cobra La, free the Joes, get back the BET, and stop the Mutation spores.....a task nearly impossible for a full on attack force of GI JOE......except one....Enter Sgt. Slaughter. He and his band of marauders join up and help take back the battle, the war and the planet.Great animation and acting. Very good movie.