G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra
Encyclopedia
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is a 2009 science fiction-action film based on the G.I. Joe
toy franchise, with particular inspiration from the comic book and cartoon series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
. The film is directed by Stephen Sommers
, produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura
and co-written by Stuart Beattie
, based on a 1998 screenplay by John Paul Kay. G.I. Joe features an ensemble cast
based on the various characters of the franchise. The story follows two American soldiers, Duke
and Ripcord
, who join the G.I. Joe Team
after being attacked by MARS troops.
After leaked drafts of the script were criticized by fans, Larry Hama
, writer of the comic, was hired as creative consultant
and rewrites were made. Filming took place in Downey, California
, and Prague
's Barrandov Studios
, and six companies handled the visual effects. The film was released on August 7, 2009, worldwide, following an extensive marketing campaign focused on the Mid-American public. Rise of Cobra opened at the top of the box office
and grossed over $302 million worldwide by the end of its run. Critical reception was mostly negative, with criticism of the writing and acting. A sequel
is set to be released in 2012 with Jon Chu
directing.
(Christopher Eccleston
) has created a nanotech-based weapon capable of destroying a city. His company M.A.R.S. sells four warheads to NATO, and NATO troops are tasked with delivering the warheads. Duke
(Channing Tatum
) and Ripcord
(Marlon Wayans
) are delivering the warheads, when they're ambushed by the Baroness
(Sienna Miller
), whom Duke recognizes to be his ex-fiancee Ana Lewis. Duke and Ripcord are rescued by Scarlett
(Rachel Nichols
), Snake Eyes (Ray Park
), Breaker
(Saïd Taghmaoui
) and Heavy Duty
(Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
). They take the warheads to The Pit
, G.I. Joe's command center in Egypt, and upon arriving rendezvous with the head of the G.I. Joe Team
, General Hawk
(Dennis Quaid
). Hawk takes command of the warheads and excuses Duke and Ripcord, only to be convinced to let them join his group, after Duke reveals that he knows the Baroness.
McCullen is revealed to be using the same nanotechnology to build an army of soldiers with the aid of the Doctor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt
), planning on using the warheads to cause panic and bring about a new world order. Using a tracking device, McCullen locates the G.I. Joe base and sends Storm Shadow
(Byung-Hun Lee
) and the Baroness to retrieve the warheads, with assistance from Zartan
(Arnold Vosloo
). After a fight, Storm Shadow and the Baroness retrieve the warheads and take them to Baron DeCobray, the Baroness's husband, for him to weaponize. Making their way to Paris, the Joes pursue the Baroness and Storm Shadow, but are unsuccessful in stopping them from launching the missile. The nanomites destroy the Eiffel Tower
and some of the surrounding area before Duke manages to hit the kill switch, but in doing so he is captured and taken to McCullen's base under the Arctic
.
The Joes locate the secret base and fly there, as McCullen loads three missiles with nano-warheads. After Snake Eyes takes out one, Ripcord pursues the remaining missiles in a stolen M.A.R.S. prototype Night Raven jet, while Scarlett, Breaker, and Snake Eyes infiltrate the base. Snake Eyes duels and prevails over Storm Shadow. Duke learns that the Doctor is Rex Lewis, Ana's brother believed to have been killed by a mistimed airstrike during a mission led by Duke (also the origin of the alienation between Duke & Ana). Rex had encountered Doctor Mindbender
(Kevin O'Connor) in the bunker and was seduced by the nanomite technology, taking too long to retrieve the data and getting caught in the bombing, which disfigured him. After freeing Duke, the Baroness is subdued, as the Doctor reveals he has implanted her with nanomites, which has put her under his control for the past four years. Attempting to kill Duke, McCullen ends up being burned, so he and the Doctor flee to an escape vessel. Duke and the Baroness pursue him while the Joes fall back, when the Doctor activates the base's self destruct sequence.
The Doctor assumes the identity of the Commander
, having healed McCullen's burned face with nanomites, encasing it in silver and naming him "Destro", which places McCullen under the Commander's control. They are captured by G.I. Joe soon after. On the supercarrier
USS Flagg
, the Baroness is placed in protective custody until they can remove the nanomites from her body. Meanwhile, Zartan, having had his physical appearance altered by nanomites, infiltrates the White House during the missile crisis and assumes the identity of the President of the United States of America (Jonathan Pryce
).
and his production company, Threshold Entertainment
, held the rights to do a live-action G.I. Joe film with Warner Bros.
as the distributor, but instead chose to concentrate their efforts on their Mortal Kombat
films. As late as 1999, there had been rumors that a the film from Threshold Entertainment was still a possibility, but that project never panned out. In 2003, Lorenzo di Bonaventura
was interested in making a film about advanced military technology; Hasbro
's Brian Goldner
called him and suggested to base the film on the G.I. Joe
toy line. Goldner and Bonaventura worked together before, creating toy lines for films Bonaventura produced as CEO of Warner Bros.
Goldner and Bonaventura spent three months working out a story, and chose Michael B. Gordon as screenwriter, because they liked his script for 300
. Bonaventura wanted to depict the origin story
of certain characters, and introduced the new character of Rex, to allow an exploration of Duke. Rex's name came from Hasbro. Beforehand, Don Murphy
was interested in filming the property, but when the Iraq War broke out, he considered the subject matter inappropriate, and chose to develop Transformers (another Hasbro toy line
) instead. Bonaventura felt, "What [the Joes] stand for, and what Duke stands for specifically in the movie, is something that I'd like to think a worldwide audience might connect with."
By February 2005, Paul Lovett and David Elliot, who wrote Bonaventura's Four Brothers
, were rewriting Gordon's draft. In their script, the Rex character is corrupted and mutated into the Cobra Commander
, whom Destro needs to lead an army of supersoldiers. Skip Woods
was rewriting the script by March 2007, and he added the Alex Mann character from the British Action Man
toy line. Bonaventura explained, "Unfortunately, our president
has put us in a position internationally where it would be very difficult to release a movie called G.I. Joe. To add one character to the mix is sort of a fun thing to do." The script was leaked online by El Mayimbe of Latino Review, who revealed Woods had dropped the Cobra Organization
in favor of the Naja / Ryan, a crooked CIA agent. In this draft, Scarlett is married to Action Man but still has feelings for Duke, and is killed by the Baroness. Snake-Eyes speaks, but his vocal cords are slashed during the story, rendering him mute. Mayimbe suggested Stuart Beattie
rewrite the script. Fan response to the film following the script review was negative. Bonaventura promised with subsequent rewrites, "I'm hoping we're going to get it right this time." He admitted he had problems with Cobra, concurring with an interviewer "they were probably the stupidest evil organization out there [as depicted in the cartoon]". Hasbro promised they would write Cobra back into the script.
In August 2007, Paramount Pictures
hired Stephen Sommers
to direct the film after his presentation to CEO Brad Grey
and production prexy Brad Weston was well-received. Sommers had been inspired to explore the G.I. Joe universe after visiting Hasbro's headquarters in Rhode Island
. The project had found the momentum based on the success of Transformers, which Bonaventura produced with Murphy. Sommers partly signed on to direct because the concept reminded him of James Bond
, and he described an underwater battle in the story as a tribute to Thunderball
. Stuart Beattie was hired to write a new script for Sommers's film, and G.I. Joe comic and filecard writer Larry Hama
was hired as creative consultant
. Hama helped them change story elements that fans would have disliked and made it closer to the comics, ultimately deciding fans would enjoy the script. He persuaded them to drop a comic scene at the film's end, where Snake-Eyes speaks. To speed up production before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
, John Lee Hancock, Brian Koppelman
and David Levien
also assisted in writing various scenes. Goldner said their inspiration was generally Hama's comics and not the cartoon. Sommers said had it not been for the rich backstory in the franchise, the film would have fallen behind schedule because of the strike.
After Variety
had reported that G.I. Joe became a Brussels-based outfit that stands for Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, there were reports of outrages over Paramount's alleged attempt to change the origin of G.I. Joe Team. Hasbro responded in its G.I. Joe site claiming it was not changing what the G.I. Joe brand is about, and the name "G.I. Joe" will always be synonymous with bravery and heroism. Instead, it would be a modern telling of the "G.I. Joe vs. Cobra" storyline, based out of the "Pit" as they were throughout the 1980s comic book series.
. The Downey
soundstage was chosen as Paramount needed a large stage to get production underway as soon as possible. The first two levels of the Pit
were built there, to complement the rest of the building which would be done with special effects. Downey also housed Destro's MARS base in the Arctic
, his legitimate weapons factory in an ex-Soviet state, as well as various submarines interiors, including a SHARC (Submersible High-speed Attack and Reconnaissance Craft) manned by two G.I. Joes.
Filming in the Czech Republic
's Barrandov Studios
began in May. The crew took over sections of the Old Town in Prague
. While filming in the city on April 26, people were injured when a bus and several cars collided with a four-wheel-drive vehicle that appeared to have braking problems. The emergency services confirmed those taken to hospital had minor injuries. Filming wrapped after a month in Prague. Additional second unit
filming took place in Paris itself, Egypt
, Tokyo
, the Arctic
and underwater.
Sommers felt "almost 100 percent" of the technology in the film would be available within 10 to 20 years, citing the various books and magazines about developing weapons that he loved reading. For example, Sommers said he believed invisibility
was impossible, but the virtual invisibility provided by camouflage camera that projects what is behind a soldier on their front allowed him to include it. The production designers modelled the interior of Destro's private submarine on a Handley Page Jetstream. Sommers said the bulky immobile "accelerator suits" (which Beattie said had enabled them to write "a car chase where one guy's not even in a car") had been tough on the actors and were likely to have their roles reduced in potential sequels. Critics have compared the suits to that of NFL Superpro
, a comic book character jointly licensed by the NFL and Marvel Comics
, and resembling an armored football player.
Bonaventura predicted the United States armed forces
' aid of the film would be limited since much of the hardware is fictional. The filmmakers were denied use of MRAP
vehicles at the start of filming because it was ordered many MRAPs had to be sent to the Middle East as soon as possible, though later they permitted filming at Fort Irwin Military Reservation
. Some commentators reviewing previews and promotional art from the film have noted superficial resemblances between it and the action film parody Team America: World Police
.
companies worked in The Rise of Cobra, the most prominent being Digital Domain
, which handled the Paris action sequences and the opening convoy sequence. For the Eiffel Tower destruction, a special code for depicting how the crumbling metal works was written. To create the digital Eiffel Tower, the technicians had access to the original building plans, and built a digital model so complex that it could not fit in a single file. The nanomites used two proprietary software for their depiction, one by Digital Domain, and another by Prime Focus
VFX
, which also created tools to generate 3D cloud and sky environments for the aerial scenes. Many scenarios were almost fully developed by computer-generated imagery
, such as the landing platform of the Pit, the Cobra ice caverns, and the final underwater battle. As for the sound effects themselves, only one is considered popular and isn't instantly recognisable. When the pulse cannon fires upon the main submarine during the polar assault, the sound of a program de-resolution from the 1982 cult movie classic TRON can be heard.
, who reunited with director Stephen Sommers to record his score with a 90-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony
at the scoring stages at Sony and Fox. A soundtrack album of the score was released by Varèse Sarabande Records on August 4, 2009.
The score came under scrutiny from various soundtrack forums soon after being released. Spectral analysis of the content of the CD revealed certain frequency cutoff patterns around 16 kHz, which are typical for lossy codecs. By analyzing the block size of these cutoffs, individuals at Hydrogenaudio were able to identify the lossy codec that was used before mastering the CD as MP3
with a sample rate of 48 kHz. According to the aforementioned forums, Varèse's German subsidiary Colosseum Schallplatten acknowledged this as a mastering error, while Varèse Sarabande itself denied this. It is so far unclear if a remastered version with full frequency content will be released.
Total Duration: 01:11:41
in Maryland
. The premiere was at Hollywood's Grauman's Chinese Theater on August 6, 2009, and in the following day, G.I. Joe started playing at 4,007 theaters in the US, along with 35 overseas markets.
's toy line, which began in July 2009 with the release of 3 3/4-inch tall action figures. The Rise of Cobra toy line also includes 12-inch figures, and vehicles, including the first play set based on the Pit
in the franchise's history. Electronic Arts
developed a video game sequel to the film, also titled G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
.
IDW Publishing
released a four-issue prequel written by Chuck Dixon
. Each issue focuses on Duke, Destro, the Baroness and Snake-Eyes respectively. It began publication in March 2009. The weekly film adaptation is written by Denton J. Tipton and drawn by Casey Maloney. The film's universe will be continued by a limited series about Snake-Eyes later in 2009; Ray Park
enjoyed playing the character and approached writer Kevin VanHook
and artist S. L. Gallant with the idea of a comic further exploring his incarnation of the character.
As part of the movie launch campaign, over 300 12-inch, parachute-equipped, G.I. Joe action figures were dropped from a 42-story Kansas City hotel roof and soar over 500 feet to the ground at 16th Annual International G.I. Joe Convention. For viral marketing
, black helicopter
s with "G.I. Joe" written on them flew on American beaches. Tie-ins were made with Symantec
, 7-Eleven
, and Burger King
.
Paramount's vice chairman Rob Moore claimed the movie was prioritized for mid-Americans, and thus marketing was more focused on cities such as Kansas City
and Columbus
. In Europe, the marketing was focused on action sequences set in Paris, Egypt and Tokyo, and emphasizes that G.I. Joe is an international team of crack operatives and not some Yankee soldier. Right from the writing stage we said to ourselves, this can't be about beefy guys on steroids who all met each other in the Vietnam War, but an elite organization that's made up of the best of the best from around the world."
To promote the film, G.I. Joe: The Invasion of Cobra Island
was produced as a viral campaign. The short animated two-parter used stop motion and puppet animation utilizing Hasbro's toy line, and was produced by R.M. Productions Ltd.
by Stephen Sommers and Bob Ducsay, and two making-of featurettes, with the second disk of the special edition holding a digital copy
of the film. The film opened at #1 at the DVD sales chart, making $40.9m off 2,538,000 DVD units in the first week of release. The film sold over 3.8 million discs, 500,000 of them on Blu-ray, during its first week.
, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra has a 'rotten' 34% approval rating from critics, with an average
score of 4.6/10. By comparison, Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 32 out of 100, based on 25 reviews.
One of the many complaints made by fans was that the film failed to relate to the G.I. Joe franchise. G4tv.com stated that, "[the studio] actually went out of their way to butcher the G.I. Joe mythos in favor of derivative storyline devices." They cited the Baroness, who was changed from an East European noble in the comics to Duke's brainwashed ex-girlfriend in the film.
Dan Jolin of Empire
magazine commented that it was "Bond
without the style and Team America
without the bellylaughs". The Daily Telegraph
reviewer said, "The taint of cruddiness extends everywhere in this joyless stinker." James Berardinelli
said the characters were "as plastic as the toys that inspired them" and considered Tatum "wooden" and that his character was "more animated in sequences when he is rendered by special effects than when being portrayed by Tatum". Roger Ebert
described that "there is never any clear sense in the action of where anything is in relation to anything else". Chuck Wilson of The Village Voice
criticized the dialogue and described the underwater battle as "absurdly overproduced, momentarily diverting, and then instantly forgettable". Manohla Dargis of The New York Times
considered the plot "at once elemental and incomprehensible", and Peter Travers
of Rolling Stone
thought that, despite the high budget, the special effects "look shockingly crappy; the Eiffel Tower appears to be destroyed by some green slime left over from the Ghostbusters
films". Reviewers also criticized the film for the scientific impossibility of sinking ocean ice.
Matthew Leyland from Total Film
called it "a throwaway blast of solid, stupid fun" and gave it three out of five stars, particularly praising Joseph Gordon-Levitt's performance as the treacherous Cobra Commander. Sister publication SFX called the film "dumb and dopey, with plenty of bumpy bits" and that "GI Joe has a genuine cliffhanger charm, especially when the last act becomes a whole string of pulp plot twists. The ending screams "To Be Continued"; we could do worse.", finally awarding the score of three stars out of five.
Christopher Monfette of IGN
also gave the film a positive review, saying "This is an adult's interpretation of a childhood phenomenon, and if you're willing to give it a shot, one suspects that you'll find yourself entertained enough to give your best, "Yo, Joe!" He gave the film three and a half out of five stars. Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times
criticized the excessive flashbacks, but praised the action scenes and design, and considered that Marlon Wayans "steals the show". Dan Kois of The Washington Post
thought it was "as polished and entertaining as war-mongering toy commercials get". Tatum won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Action Adventure for his performance as Duke and the film also received three other Teen Choice Award nominations: Choice Movie: Action Adventure, Choice Movie Actress: Action Adventure for Sienna Miller, and Choice Movie: Villain for Joseph Gordon-Levitt. However, the film was nominated for six Razzie Awards including Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor for Marlon Wayans and Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel, with Sienna Miller "winning" the Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress at the 30th Golden Raspberry Awards
.
G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe is a line of action figures produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier , Action Sailor , Action Pilot , Action Marine and later on, the Action Nurse...
toy franchise, with particular inspiration from the comic book and cartoon series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a military-themed line of action figures and toys in Hasbro's G.I. Joe franchise. The toyline lasted from 1982 to 1994, producing well over 500 figures and 250 vehicles and playsets. The line reappeared in 1997 and has continued in one form or another to the...
. The film is directed by Stephen Sommers
Stephen Sommers
Stephen Sommers is an American screenwriter and film director, best known for The Mummy and its sequel, The Mummy Returns. He also directed Disney's live action version of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, the action/horror film Van Helsing, and the 2009 film G.I...
, produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Lorenzo di Bonaventura
-Life and career:He spent the 1990s as an executive at Warner Bros. Pictures, eventually rising to President of Worldwide Production. His production company di Bonaventura Pictures is based at Paramount Pictures. His tenure at Warner Bros. included discovering and shepherding The Matrix into...
and co-written by Stuart Beattie
Stuart Beattie
Stuart Beattie is an Australian screenwriter and film director. He attended Knox Grammar School, in Sydney, Australia, where his mother, Sandra, was a languages teacher, and later Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.-Filmography:...
, based on a 1998 screenplay by John Paul Kay. G.I. Joe features an ensemble cast
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
based on the various characters of the franchise. The story follows two American soldiers, Duke
Duke (G.I. Joe)
Duke is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 lines of military-themed toys. The character is featured in both the animated series and comic books. Duke is portrayed by actor Channing Tatum in the 2009 live-action film, G.I. Joe: The Rise of...
and Ripcord
Rip Cord (G.I. Joe)
Rip Cord, also called Ripcord, is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series of the 1980s. The character is first featured in the series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6. He is the G.I...
, who join the G.I. Joe Team
G.I. Joe Team
G.I. Joe is the code name of an elite covert special forces unit operating under the control of the United States Military in the fictional G.I. Joe universe....
after being attacked by MARS troops.
After leaked drafts of the script were criticized by fans, Larry Hama
Larry Hama
Larry Hama is an American comic book writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s....
, writer of the comic, was hired as creative consultant
Creative consultant
Creative consultant is a credit that has - particularly in the past - been given to screenwriters who have “doctored” a movie screenplay. It is often given by producers in lieu of official credit. Those given this credit in the television field work closely with an Executive Producer, Head...
and rewrites were made. Filming took place in Downey, California
Downey, California
Downey is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city is best known as the birthplace of the Apollo space program, and is the city where folk singer Karen Carpenter lived and died...
, and Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
's Barrandov Studios
Barrandov Studios
Barrandov Studios is a famous set of film studios in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the largest film studio in the country and one of the largest in Europe.Several of the movies filmed there won Academy Awards...
, and six companies handled the visual effects. The film was released on August 7, 2009, worldwide, following an extensive marketing campaign focused on the Mid-American public. Rise of Cobra opened at the top of the box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
and grossed over $302 million worldwide by the end of its run. Critical reception was mostly negative, with criticism of the writing and acting. A sequel
G.I. Joe: Retaliation
G.I. Joe: Retaliation is an upcoming science fiction action film directed by Jon Chu. It is a sequel to 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.-Plot:...
is set to be released in 2012 with Jon Chu
Jon Chu
Jonathan Murray "Jon" Chu is an American film director and screenwriter best known for directing the movies Step Up 2: The Streets, Step Up 3D and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. Chu is an alumnus of the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television...
directing.
Plot
In the future, weapons master James McCullenDestro
Laird James McCullen Destro XXIV, usually referred to simply as Destro, is a fictional villain from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line of military-themed toys from Hasbro. He is portrayed by Christopher Eccleston in the 2009 live-action film, G.I...
(Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
) has created a nanotech-based weapon capable of destroying a city. His company M.A.R.S. sells four warheads to NATO, and NATO troops are tasked with delivering the warheads. Duke
Duke (G.I. Joe)
Duke is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 lines of military-themed toys. The character is featured in both the animated series and comic books. Duke is portrayed by actor Channing Tatum in the 2009 live-action film, G.I. Joe: The Rise of...
(Channing Tatum
Channing Tatum
Channing Matthew Tatum is an American actor and film producer. He began his career as a fashion model and appearing in television commercials for Pepsi and Mountain Dew before turning to film roles...
) and Ripcord
Rip Cord (G.I. Joe)
Rip Cord, also called Ripcord, is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series of the 1980s. The character is first featured in the series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6. He is the G.I...
(Marlon Wayans
Marlon Wayans
Marlon L. Wayans is an American actor, model producer, comedian, writer, and director of movies, beginning with his role as a pedestrian in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka in 1988...
) are delivering the warheads, when they're ambushed by the Baroness
Baroness (G.I. Joe)
The Baroness is a character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline by Hasbro, originally appearing in the first issue of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic series by Marvel Comics in June, 1982. The Baroness is a villain, usually associated with G.I. Joe's enemy, Cobra.Baroness...
(Sienna Miller
Sienna Miller
Sienna Rose Diana Miller is a British-American actress, model, and fashion designer, best known for her roles in Layer Cake, Alfie, Factory Girl, The Edge of Love and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In 2007, the London Film Criticsnamed her British Actress of the Year for Interview...
), whom Duke recognizes to be his ex-fiancee Ana Lewis. Duke and Ripcord are rescued by Scarlett
Scarlett (G.I. Joe)
Scarlett is a fictional character from G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, a line of military-themed toys created by Hasbro. The character is one of the original members of the fictional team and toy line. She is a major character of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic book series and the...
(Rachel Nichols
Rachel Nichols (actress)
Rachel Emily Nichols is an American actress and model. Nichols began modeling while attending Columbia University in New York City in the late 1990s...
), Snake Eyes (Ray Park
Ray Park
Raymond Park is a Scottish actor, stuntman and martial artist, best known for his playing the physical part of Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Toad in X-Men, Snake-Eyes in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and Edgar on Heroes.-Early life:Park was born in Glasgow, Scotland...
), Breaker
Breaker (G.I. Joe)
Breaker is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's original communications officer and debuted in 1982.-Profile:...
(Saïd Taghmaoui
Saïd Taghmaoui
Saïd Taghmaoui is a French actor and screenwriter. One of his defining screen roles was that of Saïd in the award winning 1995 French film La Haine directed by Mathieu Kassovitz...
) and Heavy Duty
Heavy Duty (G.I. Joe)
Heavy Duty is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series of toy lines, comics and cartoons. Heavy Duty is the G.I. Joe Team's heavy ordnance specialist. He is described as being unafraid of any situation despite heavy enemy fire...
(Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is a British actor, and former fashion model best known for his roles as Mr. Eko on Lost, Simon Adebisi on Oz and Nykwana Wombosi in The Bourne Identity.-Early life and career:...
). They take the warheads to The Pit
The Pit (G.I. Joe)
The Pit is the fictional headquarters of the specialist G.I. Joe team from the 1980s Marvel comic book created by Larry Hama. It is a multi-level underground base complete with training facilities, living quarters, a briefing room, and heavy equipment storage....
, G.I. Joe's command center in Egypt, and upon arriving rendezvous with the head of the G.I. Joe Team
G.I. Joe Team
G.I. Joe is the code name of an elite covert special forces unit operating under the control of the United States Military in the fictional G.I. Joe universe....
, General Hawk
Hawk (G.I. Joe)
Hawk is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line of military-themed toys. He appears in the animated series, comic books, toyline, and movie.-Profile:...
(Dennis Quaid
Dennis Quaid
Dennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
). Hawk takes command of the warheads and excuses Duke and Ripcord, only to be convinced to let them join his group, after Duke reveals that he knows the Baroness.
McCullen is revealed to be using the same nanotechnology to build an army of soldiers with the aid of the Doctor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series and theatrical films....
), planning on using the warheads to cause panic and bring about a new world order. Using a tracking device, McCullen locates the G.I. Joe base and sends Storm Shadow
Storm Shadow (G.I. Joe)
Storm Shadow is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic book series and television shows. The character is best known for his history with fellow ninja Snake Eyes...
(Byung-Hun Lee
Lee Byung-Hun
Lee Byung-hun is a South Korean actor, singer and model. He has starred in popular television dramas such as Iris , All In and Beautiful Days...
) and the Baroness to retrieve the warheads, with assistance from Zartan
Zartan
Zartan is a character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, by Hasbro. He is a mercenary who often worked directly for Cobra Commander, and is one of the main villains in the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic and animated series. His character was voiced by Zack Hoffman in the 1985 TV...
(Arnold Vosloo
Arnold Vosloo
Arnold Vosloo is a South African American actor, best-known for playing Imhotep in The Mummy and its 2001 sequel The Mummy Returns, as well as the role of the superhero Darkman in the sequel Darkman II: The Return of Durant and its 1996 sequel, Darkman III: Die Darkman Die...
). After a fight, Storm Shadow and the Baroness retrieve the warheads and take them to Baron DeCobray, the Baroness's husband, for him to weaponize. Making their way to Paris, the Joes pursue the Baroness and Storm Shadow, but are unsuccessful in stopping them from launching the missile. The nanomites destroy the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
and some of the surrounding area before Duke manages to hit the kill switch, but in doing so he is captured and taken to McCullen's base under the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
.
The Joes locate the secret base and fly there, as McCullen loads three missiles with nano-warheads. After Snake Eyes takes out one, Ripcord pursues the remaining missiles in a stolen M.A.R.S. prototype Night Raven jet, while Scarlett, Breaker, and Snake Eyes infiltrate the base. Snake Eyes duels and prevails over Storm Shadow. Duke learns that the Doctor is Rex Lewis, Ana's brother believed to have been killed by a mistimed airstrike during a mission led by Duke (also the origin of the alienation between Duke & Ana). Rex had encountered Doctor Mindbender
Doctor Mindbender
Dr. Mindbender is a fictional character from the 1980s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comics, and animated series. He is a scientist who works for the fictional terrorist organization Cobra.-Profile:...
(Kevin O'Connor) in the bunker and was seduced by the nanomite technology, taking too long to retrieve the data and getting caught in the bombing, which disfigured him. After freeing Duke, the Baroness is subdued, as the Doctor reveals he has implanted her with nanomites, which has put her under his control for the past four years. Attempting to kill Duke, McCullen ends up being burned, so he and the Doctor flee to an escape vessel. Duke and the Baroness pursue him while the Joes fall back, when the Doctor activates the base's self destruct sequence.
The Doctor assumes the identity of the Commander
Cobra Commander
Cobra Commander is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe franchise. He appears in the toyline, animated series , comic books, video games, and movie as the usual principal antagonist. He is the supreme leader of the terrorist organization Cobra, and archnemesis of the Joes...
, having healed McCullen's burned face with nanomites, encasing it in silver and naming him "Destro", which places McCullen under the Commander's control. They are captured by G.I. Joe soon after. On the supercarrier
Supercarrier
Supercarrier is an unofficial descriptive term for the largest type of aircraft carrier, usually displacing over 70,000 long tons.Supercarrier is an unofficial descriptive term for the largest type of aircraft carrier, usually displacing over 70,000 long tons.Supercarrier is an unofficial...
USS Flagg
USS Flagg
The USS Flagg is a fictional U.S. Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier from the toy line, comic and cartoon series, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. It is the G.I. Joe Team's primary sea going vessel...
, the Baroness is placed in protective custody until they can remove the nanomites from her body. Meanwhile, Zartan, having had his physical appearance altered by nanomites, infiltrates the White House during the missile crisis and assumes the identity of the President of the United States of America (Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce
Jonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
).
G.I. Joe
- Channing TatumChanning TatumChanning Matthew Tatum is an American actor and film producer. He began his career as a fashion model and appearing in television commercials for Pepsi and Mountain Dew before turning to film roles...
as "DukeDuke (G.I. Joe)Duke is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 lines of military-themed toys. The character is featured in both the animated series and comic books. Duke is portrayed by actor Channing Tatum in the 2009 live-action film, G.I. Joe: The Rise of...
" (Conrad Hauser): The lead soldier. Lorenzo di Bonaventura was originally interested in casting Mark WahlbergMark WahlbergMark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
, and when the script was rewritten into a G.I. Joe origin story, the studio offered the role to Channing TatumChanning TatumChanning Matthew Tatum is an American actor and film producer. He began his career as a fashion model and appearing in television commercials for Pepsi and Mountain Dew before turning to film roles...
. Tatum had played a soldier in Stop-LossStop-Loss (film)Stop-Loss is a 2008 American drama film directed by Kimberly Peirce and starring Ryan Phillippe, Channing Tatum, Abbie Cornish and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was distributed by Paramount Pictures and produced by MTV Films.-Plot:...
, an anti-war film, and originally wanted no part in G.I. Joe, which he felt glorified war. Once he read the script though, he realized the franchise was a fantasy akin to X-MenX-MenThe X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
, Mission: ImpossibleMission: ImpossibleMission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
and Star WarsStar WarsStar Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
rather than a war film. - Dennis QuaidDennis QuaidDennis William Quaid is an American actor known for his comedic and dramatic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder...
as "General HawkHawk (G.I. Joe)Hawk is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line of military-themed toys. He appears in the animated series, comic books, toyline, and movie.-Profile:...
" (General Clayton Abernathy): The team leader. Quaid described Hawk as "a cross between Chuck YeagerChuck YeagerCharles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He was the first pilot to travel faster than sound...
and Sgt. RockSgt. Rock (comics)Sgt. Frank Rock is a fictional infantry non-commissioned officer during World War II in the . He first appeared in Our Army at War #83 , and was created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert.-Publication history:...
and maybe a naïve Hugh HefnerHugh HefnerHugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...
". Quaid's son convinced him to take on the part, and the filmmakers enjoyed working with him so much that Stuart Beattie wrote "ten to fifteen more scenes" for the character. He filmed all his scenes within the first two months of production. Quaid is signed on for two sequels. - Marlon WayansMarlon WayansMarlon L. Wayans is an American actor, model producer, comedian, writer, and director of movies, beginning with his role as a pedestrian in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka in 1988...
as "RipcordRip Cord (G.I. Joe)Rip Cord, also called Ripcord, is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series of the 1980s. The character is first featured in the series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6. He is the G.I...
" (Wallace Weems): A pilot with a romantic interest in 'Scarlett'. A fan of the franchise, Wayans was cast on the strength of his performance in Requiem for a Dream. Bonaventura said that the film showed Wayans could be serious as well as funny. - Rachel NicholsRachel Nichols (actress)Rachel Emily Nichols is an American actress and model. Nichols began modeling while attending Columbia University in New York City in the late 1990s...
as "ScarlettScarlett (G.I. Joe)Scarlett is a fictional character from G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, a line of military-themed toys created by Hasbro. The character is one of the original members of the fictional team and toy line. She is a major character of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic book series and the...
" (Shana M. O'Hara): She graduated college at age twelve and became the team's intelligence expert. Having left school so early, she does not understand men's attraction to her. Nichols was the first choice for the role. Nichols had dyed her blonde hair red – Scarlett's hair color – for her role in Star Trek, which she filmed before G.I. Joe. She burned herself filming an action sequence with Sienna Miller. - Adewale Akinnuoye-AgbajeAdewale Akinnuoye-AgbajeAdewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is a British actor, and former fashion model best known for his roles as Mr. Eko on Lost, Simon Adebisi on Oz and Nykwana Wombosi in The Bourne Identity.-Early life and career:...
as "Heavy DutyHeavy Duty (G.I. Joe)Heavy Duty is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series of toy lines, comics and cartoons. Heavy Duty is the G.I. Joe Team's heavy ordnance specialist. He is described as being unafraid of any situation despite heavy enemy fire...
" (Hershel Dalton): An ordnance expert and field commander of the team. CommonCommon (rapper)Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. , better known by his stage name Common , is an American hip-hop artist and actor....
was offered the role of Heavy Duty's cousin RoadblockRoadblock (G.I. Joe)Roadblock is a character from Hasbro's G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series of toys, comics and cartoons. He is one of the most prominent African-Americans in the series. His primary function in G.I. Joe is as a heavy machine gunner and a secondary function as a cook.-Fictional character...
, although Bonaventura previously indicated Heavy Duty was being used in that character's stead. Stuart Beattie ultimately chose to have Heavy Duty instead of Roadblock. - Ray ParkRay ParkRaymond Park is a Scottish actor, stuntman and martial artist, best known for his playing the physical part of Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Toad in X-Men, Snake-Eyes in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and Edgar on Heroes.-Early life:Park was born in Glasgow, Scotland...
as "Snake-Eyes": A mysterious ninja commando who took a vow of silence, a departure from the character's traditional difficulty in speaking due to grievous vocal wounds, a close member of The ArashikageArashikageArashikage is a fictional ninja clan from the military-themed G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series of comics, television shows, and action figures. The name is derived from the Japanese words for storm and shadow...
Ninja Clan, and Storm Shadow's rival. Like his character, Park is a martial arts expert and specifically practiced wushuWushu (sport)The sport of wushu is both an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts. It was created in the People's Republic of China after 1949, in an attempt to nationalize the practice of traditional Chinese martial arts...
for the role, as well as studying the character's comic book poses. Park had known of Snake-Eyes because he played with the toys as a child, but he knew very little of the surrounding saga of G.I. Joe versus Cobra, so he read the comics to further understand the character. He was nervous about wearing the mask, which covered his entire head quite tightly, so he requested to practice wearing it at home. He found the full costume, including the visor, very heavy to wear and akin to a rubber band; he had to put effort into moving in it. Leo HowardLeo HowardLeo Howard is an American actor, model and martial artist. Beginning his martial arts training at the age of four and an acting career at the age of seven, Howard is known for incorporating his karate and wushu skills into his feature film and television roles; as "Young Snake Eyes" in the 2009...
plays the 10-year-old Snake Eyes. - Saïd TaghmaouiSaïd TaghmaouiSaïd Taghmaoui is a French actor and screenwriter. One of his defining screen roles was that of Saïd in the award winning 1995 French film La Haine directed by Mathieu Kassovitz...
as "BreakerBreaker (G.I. Joe)Breaker is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and cartoon series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's original communications officer and debuted in 1982.-Profile:...
" (Abel Shaz): He is the team's communications specialist and hacker. He is seen chewing gum during the Battle of Paris in homage to the original character's habit of chewing gum. - Karolína KurkováKarolína KurkováKarolína Isela Kurková is a Czech model, best known as a former Victoria's Secret Angel, and an aspiring actress. Mario Testino said of Kurková, "The proportions of her body and her face, as well as her energy level, make her a model who could fit almost into any moment." Vogue editor Anna...
as "Cover GirlCover Girl (G.I. Joe)Cover Girl is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline comic books and cartoon series. She is a tank jockey, specializing in the Wolverine missile tank, and debuted in 1983.-Profile:...
" (Courtney Kreiger): Hawk's aide-de-campAide-de-campAn aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
. Kurková described going from her modeling career to making such a film as "an amazing experience", but said she was upset on not taking part in any action sequences. - Brendan FraserBrendan FraserBrendan James Fraser is a Canadian-American film and stage actor. Fraser portrayed Rick O'Connell in the three-part Mummy film series , and is known for his comedic and fantasy film leading roles in major Hollywood films, including Encino Man , George of the Jungle , Dudley Do-Right , Monkeybone ,...
as "Sgt. StoneStone (G.I. Joe)Stone is the name of three different fictional characters from G.I. Joe, the line of military-themed toys by Hasbro. Two Lieutenants and a Sargeant, each one is featured in a different continuity, G.I. Joe Extreme, G.I. Joe: Sigma 6, and the live-action movie.- Cartoon :A Marine field commander,...
" (Geoffrey Stone IV): At first, it was reported he was going to play Gung-HoGung-Ho (G.I. Joe)Gung-Ho is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books, and cartoon series. He is the G.I. Joe Team's original Marine and debuted in 1983.-Profile:...
, but it was later revealed he plays Sergeant Stone. Fraser was apparently ecstatic upon learning the movie was in production and begged director Stephen Sommers to be in it.
Cobra
- Joseph Gordon-LevittJoseph Gordon-LevittJoseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt is an American actor whose career as both a child and adult has included television series and theatrical films....
as Cobra CommanderCobra CommanderCobra Commander is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe franchise. He appears in the toyline, animated series , comic books, video games, and movie as the usual principal antagonist. He is the supreme leader of the terrorist organization Cobra, and archnemesis of the Joes...
(Rex Lewis/The Doctor): The Baroness's brother, a former mild-mannered U.S. Soldier who was thought to be killed during a mission – instead, he became the insane disfigured MARS head scientist. USA TodayUSA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
reported that Gordon-Levitt will play multiple roles. Gordon-Levitt wore a mask – which was redesigned from the comics because the crew found it too reminiscent of The Ku Klux KlanKu Klux KlanKu Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
– and prosthetic makeup underneath it. Upon seeing concept art of the role he was being offered, Levitt signed on because; "I was like, 'I get to be that? You're going to make that [makeup] in real life and stick it on me? Cool. Let me do it.' That's a once-in-lifetime opportunity." Levitt is a friend of Tatum and they co-starred in Stop-Loss and HavocHavoc (film)Havoc is a 2005 American film about the lives of wealthy Los Angeles, California teenagers whose exposure to hip hop culture inspires them to imitate the gangster lifestyle...
. His casting provided extra incentive for Tatum to join the film. Levitt described his vocal performance as being half reminiscent of Chris LattaChristopher CollinsChristopher Charles Collins , also known as Chris Latta, was an American actor, voice artist and comedian, perhaps best known as the voice of Cobra Commander on the G.I. Joe animated series and as the voice of Starscream in the first Transformers animated series...
's voice for the 1980s cartoon, but also half his own ideas, because he felt rendering it fully would sound ridiculous. - Christopher EcclestonChristopher EcclestonChristopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
as DestroDestroLaird James McCullen Destro XXIV, usually referred to simply as Destro, is a fictional villain from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero line of military-themed toys from Hasbro. He is portrayed by Christopher Eccleston in the 2009 live-action film, G.I...
(James McCullen XXIV): A weapons designer and founder of the Military Armament Research Syndicate (MARS) and the main villain in the early part of the film. Irish actor David Murray was cast as Destro, but was forced to drop out when he had problems with his visaVisa (document)A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
. Murray was later cast as an ancestor of James McCullen in a flashback scene. - Sienna MillerSienna MillerSienna Rose Diana Miller is a British-American actress, model, and fashion designer, best known for her roles in Layer Cake, Alfie, Factory Girl, The Edge of Love and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In 2007, the London Film Criticsnamed her British Actress of the Year for Interview...
as The BaronessBaroness (G.I. Joe)The Baroness is a character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline by Hasbro, originally appearing in the first issue of the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic series by Marvel Comics in June, 1982. The Baroness is a villain, usually associated with G.I. Joe's enemy, Cobra.Baroness...
(Ana Lewis/Anastascia DeCobray): A spy and sister of Cobra Commander. Years before the film, The Baroness was going to marry Duke, but he left her at the altar, due to his guilt over the apparent death of her brother Rex Lewis. Miller auditioned for the part because it did not involve "having a breakdown or addicted to heroin or dying at the end, something that was just maybe really great fun and that people went to see and actually just had a great time seeing". Miller prepared with four months of weight training, boxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
sessions and learned to fire live ammunition, gaining five pounds of muscle. She sprained her wrist after slipping on a rubber bulletRubber bulletRubber bullets are rubber or rubber-coated projectiles that can be fired from either standard firearms or dedicated riot guns. They are intended to be a non-lethal alternative to metal projectiles...
while filming a fight scene with Rachel Nichols. - Lee Byung-hunLee Byung-HunLee Byung-hun is a South Korean actor, singer and model. He has starred in popular television dramas such as Iris , All In and Beautiful Days...
as Storm ShadowStorm Shadow (G.I. Joe)Storm Shadow is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic book series and television shows. The character is best known for his history with fellow ninja Snake Eyes...
(Thomas Arashikage): Snake-Eyes' rival, both were close members of The ArashikageArashikageArashikage is a fictional ninja clan from the military-themed G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series of comics, television shows, and action figures. The name is derived from the Japanese words for storm and shadow...
Ninja Clan. Lee said he did not know G.I. Joe because it is an unknown series in South Korea. Sommers and Bonaventura told him that it was not necessary to watch the cartoons to prepare for the role. Lee was attracted to Storm Shadow's "dual personality", which he stated has "huge pride and honor". Brandon Soo HooBrandon Soo HooBrandon Soo Hoo is an American teen actor who had a role in the 2008 Ben Stiller film Tropic Thunder.-Life and career:...
plays 10-year-old Thomas Arashikage. - Arnold VoslooArnold VoslooArnold Vosloo is a South African American actor, best-known for playing Imhotep in The Mummy and its 2001 sequel The Mummy Returns, as well as the role of the superhero Darkman in the sequel Darkman II: The Return of Durant and its 1996 sequel, Darkman III: Die Darkman Die...
as ZartanZartanZartan is a character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, by Hasbro. He is a mercenary who often worked directly for Cobra Commander, and is one of the main villains in the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero comic and animated series. His character was voiced by Zack Hoffman in the 1985 TV...
: An expert in make-up and disguises serving Destro. He is also Destro's aide-de-camp. - Kevin J. O'Connor as Doctor MindbenderDoctor MindbenderDr. Mindbender is a fictional character from the 1980s G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comics, and animated series. He is a scientist who works for the fictional terrorist organization Cobra.-Profile:...
: A scientist in McCullen's employ who developed the nanomite technology.
Other characters
- Jonathan PryceJonathan PryceJonathan Pryce, CBE is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s...
as The President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
of America. - Gerald OkamuraGerald OkamuraGerald Okamura is an American theatrical martial artist.Gerald started martial arts with judo in 1953. He has practiced kendo, aikido, taekwondo, and he is currently a 5th degree black belt in Kung Fu San Soo...
as The Hard Master: Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow's ninja master. - Larry HamaLarry HamaLarry Hama is an American comic book writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s....
as NATO Secretary General: His scenes were ultimately cut from the final film.
Development
In 1994, Larry KasanoffLarry Kasanoff
Lawrence Kasanoff is chairman and CEO of USA-based Threshold Entertainment, Threshold Digital Research Labs and Threshold TV.-Biography:Kasanoff founded Threshold Entertainment in 1994, TDRL in 1997 and Threshold TV in 1999...
and his production company, Threshold Entertainment
Threshold Entertainment
Threshold Entertainment is a Hollywood intellectual property management and production company.The company develops, manages, produces, and publishes intellectual properties in all media including feature films, television shows, live stage tours, animation, video games and websites...
, held the rights to do a live-action G.I. Joe film with Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
as the distributor, but instead chose to concentrate their efforts on their Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat (film)
Mortal Kombat is a 1995 American action and adventure film directed by Paul Anderson. Based on the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games, the film was the first part of the Mortal Kombat film series...
films. As late as 1999, there had been rumors that a the film from Threshold Entertainment was still a possibility, but that project never panned out. In 2003, Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Lorenzo di Bonaventura
-Life and career:He spent the 1990s as an executive at Warner Bros. Pictures, eventually rising to President of Worldwide Production. His production company di Bonaventura Pictures is based at Paramount Pictures. His tenure at Warner Bros. included discovering and shepherding The Matrix into...
was interested in making a film about advanced military technology; Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
's Brian Goldner
Brian Goldner
Brian Goldner is the chief executive officer of the American toy company Hasbro.-Early life:Goldner's father Norman came from Utica, New York, while his mother Marjorie grew up in Mississippi. They married in 1961 after she came north to work for UNICEF, and settled in Huntington...
called him and suggested to base the film on the G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe is a line of action figures produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier , Action Sailor , Action Pilot , Action Marine and later on, the Action Nurse...
toy line. Goldner and Bonaventura worked together before, creating toy lines for films Bonaventura produced as CEO of Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Goldner and Bonaventura spent three months working out a story, and chose Michael B. Gordon as screenwriter, because they liked his script for 300
300 (film)
300 is a 2007 American fantasy action film based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller. It is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant...
. Bonaventura wanted to depict the origin story
Origin story
In comic book terminology, an origin story is an account or back-story revealing how a character or team gained their superpowers and/or the circumstances under which they became superheroes or supervillains....
of certain characters, and introduced the new character of Rex, to allow an exploration of Duke. Rex's name came from Hasbro. Beforehand, Don Murphy
Don Murphy
Don Murphy is an American film producer who produced Natural Born Killers and many other films, including Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.-Personal background:...
was interested in filming the property, but when the Iraq War broke out, he considered the subject matter inappropriate, and chose to develop Transformers (another Hasbro toy line
Transformers (toy line)
The is a line of toys produced by the American toy company Hasbro. The Transformers toyline was created from toy molds mostly produced by Japanese company Takara in the toylines Diaclone and Microman. Other toy molds from other companies such as Bandai were used as well...
) instead. Bonaventura felt, "What [the Joes] stand for, and what Duke stands for specifically in the movie, is something that I'd like to think a worldwide audience might connect with."
By February 2005, Paul Lovett and David Elliot, who wrote Bonaventura's Four Brothers
Four Brothers (film)
Four Brothers is a 2005 action crime film directed by John Singleton. The movie stars Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin and Garrett Hedlund. The film was shot in Detroit, Michigan and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada...
, were rewriting Gordon's draft. In their script, the Rex character is corrupted and mutated into the Cobra Commander
Cobra Commander
Cobra Commander is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe franchise. He appears in the toyline, animated series , comic books, video games, and movie as the usual principal antagonist. He is the supreme leader of the terrorist organization Cobra, and archnemesis of the Joes...
, whom Destro needs to lead an army of supersoldiers. Skip Woods
Skip Woods
Skip Woods, is an American screenwriter, producer and film director. He is best known for writing the screenplay for Swordfish and the film adaptation of the Hitman video game series...
was rewriting the script by March 2007, and he added the Alex Mann character from the British Action Man
Action Man
Action Man is an action figure boys' toy launched in Britain in 1966 by Palitoy as a licensed copy of Hasbro's American "moveable fighting man": G.I...
toy line. Bonaventura explained, "Unfortunately, our president
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
has put us in a position internationally where it would be very difficult to release a movie called G.I. Joe. To add one character to the mix is sort of a fun thing to do." The script was leaked online by El Mayimbe of Latino Review, who revealed Woods had dropped the Cobra Organization
Cobra Organization
Cobra Command, commonly referred to as Cobra, is the fictional nemesis of the G.I. Joe team in the Hasbro action figure toylines G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6, as well as their related media....
in favor of the Naja / Ryan, a crooked CIA agent. In this draft, Scarlett is married to Action Man but still has feelings for Duke, and is killed by the Baroness. Snake-Eyes speaks, but his vocal cords are slashed during the story, rendering him mute. Mayimbe suggested Stuart Beattie
Stuart Beattie
Stuart Beattie is an Australian screenwriter and film director. He attended Knox Grammar School, in Sydney, Australia, where his mother, Sandra, was a languages teacher, and later Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.-Filmography:...
rewrite the script. Fan response to the film following the script review was negative. Bonaventura promised with subsequent rewrites, "I'm hoping we're going to get it right this time." He admitted he had problems with Cobra, concurring with an interviewer "they were probably the stupidest evil organization out there [as depicted in the cartoon]". Hasbro promised they would write Cobra back into the script.
In August 2007, Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
hired Stephen Sommers
Stephen Sommers
Stephen Sommers is an American screenwriter and film director, best known for The Mummy and its sequel, The Mummy Returns. He also directed Disney's live action version of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, the action/horror film Van Helsing, and the 2009 film G.I...
to direct the film after his presentation to CEO Brad Grey
Brad Grey
Brad Alan Grey is the Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, a position he has held since 2005. Under Grey’s leadership, Paramount has finished No.2 in market share in 2008, 2009 and 2010 despite releasing significantly fewer films than its competitors.Since arriving at Paramount in 2005,...
and production prexy Brad Weston was well-received. Sommers had been inspired to explore the G.I. Joe universe after visiting Hasbro's headquarters in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
. The project had found the momentum based on the success of Transformers, which Bonaventura produced with Murphy. Sommers partly signed on to direct because the concept reminded him of James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
, and he described an underwater battle in the story as a tribute to Thunderball
Thunderball (film)
Thunderball is the fourth spy film in the James Bond series starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham...
. Stuart Beattie was hired to write a new script for Sommers's film, and G.I. Joe comic and filecard writer Larry Hama
Larry Hama
Larry Hama is an American comic book writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s....
was hired as creative consultant
Creative consultant
Creative consultant is a credit that has - particularly in the past - been given to screenwriters who have “doctored” a movie screenplay. It is often given by producers in lieu of official credit. Those given this credit in the television field work closely with an Executive Producer, Head...
. Hama helped them change story elements that fans would have disliked and made it closer to the comics, ultimately deciding fans would enjoy the script. He persuaded them to drop a comic scene at the film's end, where Snake-Eyes speaks. To speed up production before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, more commonly referred to as simply the Writers' Strike, was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West ....
, John Lee Hancock, Brian Koppelman
Brian Koppelman
Brian Koppelman is an American screenwriter, novelist, director, and producer. Best known as the co-writer of Ocean's Thirteen, and Rounders, Koppelman has also produced films such as The Illusionist and The Lucky Ones as well as directed films such as Solitary Man.His writing partner is David Levien...
and David Levien
David Levien
David Levien is an American screenwriter, novelist, director, and producer. Best known as the co-writer of Ocean's Thirteen, and Rounders Levien has also produced films such as The Illusionist and The Lucky Ones....
also assisted in writing various scenes. Goldner said their inspiration was generally Hama's comics and not the cartoon. Sommers said had it not been for the rich backstory in the franchise, the film would have fallen behind schedule because of the strike.
After Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
had reported that G.I. Joe became a Brussels-based outfit that stands for Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, there were reports of outrages over Paramount's alleged attempt to change the origin of G.I. Joe Team. Hasbro responded in its G.I. Joe site claiming it was not changing what the G.I. Joe brand is about, and the name "G.I. Joe" will always be synonymous with bravery and heroism. Instead, it would be a modern telling of the "G.I. Joe vs. Cobra" storyline, based out of the "Pit" as they were throughout the 1980s comic book series.
Filming and design
Filming began on February 11, 2008, in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. The Downey
Downey, California
Downey is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city is best known as the birthplace of the Apollo space program, and is the city where folk singer Karen Carpenter lived and died...
soundstage was chosen as Paramount needed a large stage to get production underway as soon as possible. The first two levels of the Pit
The Pit (G.I. Joe)
The Pit is the fictional headquarters of the specialist G.I. Joe team from the 1980s Marvel comic book created by Larry Hama. It is a multi-level underground base complete with training facilities, living quarters, a briefing room, and heavy equipment storage....
were built there, to complement the rest of the building which would be done with special effects. Downey also housed Destro's MARS base in the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
, his legitimate weapons factory in an ex-Soviet state, as well as various submarines interiors, including a SHARC (Submersible High-speed Attack and Reconnaissance Craft) manned by two G.I. Joes.
Filming in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
's Barrandov Studios
Barrandov Studios
Barrandov Studios is a famous set of film studios in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the largest film studio in the country and one of the largest in Europe.Several of the movies filmed there won Academy Awards...
began in May. The crew took over sections of the Old Town in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. While filming in the city on April 26, people were injured when a bus and several cars collided with a four-wheel-drive vehicle that appeared to have braking problems. The emergency services confirmed those taken to hospital had minor injuries. Filming wrapped after a month in Prague. Additional second unit
Second unit
In film, the second unit is a team that shoots subsidiary footage for a motion picture. Its work is distinct from that of the first unit, which shoots all scenes involving principal actors...
filming took place in Paris itself, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
and underwater.
Sommers felt "almost 100 percent" of the technology in the film would be available within 10 to 20 years, citing the various books and magazines about developing weapons that he loved reading. For example, Sommers said he believed invisibility
Invisibility
Invisibility is the state of an object that cannot be seen. An object in this state is said to be invisible . The term is usually used as a fantasy/science fiction term, where objects are literally made unseeable by magical or technological means; however, its effects can also be seen in the real...
was impossible, but the virtual invisibility provided by camouflage camera that projects what is behind a soldier on their front allowed him to include it. The production designers modelled the interior of Destro's private submarine on a Handley Page Jetstream. Sommers said the bulky immobile "accelerator suits" (which Beattie said had enabled them to write "a car chase where one guy's not even in a car") had been tough on the actors and were likely to have their roles reduced in potential sequels. Critics have compared the suits to that of NFL Superpro
NFL Superpro
NFL Superpro was a short-lived comic book series published by Marvel Comics. Produced in collaboration with the NFL and written by Fabian Nicieza, the series started publication in 1991 and ended after 12 issues...
, a comic book character jointly licensed by the NFL and Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, and resembling an armored football player.
Bonaventura predicted the United States armed forces
Military of the United States
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
' aid of the film would be limited since much of the hardware is fictional. The filmmakers were denied use of MRAP
MRAP (armored vehicle)
A Mine Resistant Ambush Protected is a family of armored fighting vehicles design led by the United States Marine Corps in use by the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, and Special Operations Forces with the goal of surviving IED attacks and ambushes - prompted by US deaths in Iraq...
vehicles at the start of filming because it was ordered many MRAPs had to be sent to the Middle East as soon as possible, though later they permitted filming at Fort Irwin Military Reservation
Fort Irwin Military Reservation
Fort Irwin & the National Training Center is a major training area for the United States Military and is a census-designated place located in the Mojave Desert in northern San Bernardino County, California. Fort Irwin sits at an elevation of . The 2010 United States census reported Fort Irwin's...
. Some commentators reviewing previews and promotional art from the film have noted superficial resemblances between it and the action film parody Team America: World Police
Team America: World Police
Team America: World Police, often referred to as simply Team America, is a 2004 action comedy film written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Pam Brady and directed by Parker, all of whom are also known for the popular animated television series South Park...
.
Effects
Six visual effectsVisual effects
Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...
companies worked in The Rise of Cobra, the most prominent being Digital Domain
Digital Domain
Digital Domain is a visual effects and animation company founded by film director James Cameron, Stan Winston and Scott Ross. It is based in Venice, Los Angeles, California...
, which handled the Paris action sequences and the opening convoy sequence. For the Eiffel Tower destruction, a special code for depicting how the crumbling metal works was written. To create the digital Eiffel Tower, the technicians had access to the original building plans, and built a digital model so complex that it could not fit in a single file. The nanomites used two proprietary software for their depiction, one by Digital Domain, and another by Prime Focus
Prime Focus Group
Prime Focus Group is one of the largest film, advertising and television post-production and visual effects companies in the world. It is the result of a number of acquisitions and mergers by Prime Focus Ltd.-Prime Focus Group:...
VFX
Frantic Films
Frantic Films Corporation is a Canadian branded content and live action production company based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Frantic Films is known for producing live action reality shows, documentaries and for its past work in feature film visual effects....
, which also created tools to generate 3D cloud and sky environments for the aerial scenes. Many scenarios were almost fully developed by computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
, such as the landing platform of the Pit, the Cobra ice caverns, and the final underwater battle. As for the sound effects themselves, only one is considered popular and isn't instantly recognisable. When the pulse cannon fires upon the main submarine during the polar assault, the sound of a program de-resolution from the 1982 cult movie classic TRON can be heard.
Soundtrack
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra – Score from the Motion Picture was composed by Alan SilvestriAlan Silvestri
Alan Anthony Silvestri is an American film composer and conductor.-Career:Silvestri is best known for his collaborations with director Robert Zemeckis, having scored Romancing the Stone , the Back to the Future trilogy , Who Framed Roger Rabbit , Death Becomes Her , Forrest Gump , Contact ,...
, who reunited with director Stephen Sommers to record his score with a 90-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony
Hollywood Studio Symphony
The Hollywood Studio Symphony is the credited name of the symphony orchestra behind many major soundtracks, including The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Sucker Punch, Jurassic Park 3, Last Samurai, Pirates of the Caribbean, We Are Marshall, Spider-Man 2, Lost and The...
at the scoring stages at Sony and Fox. A soundtrack album of the score was released by Varèse Sarabande Records on August 4, 2009.
The score came under scrutiny from various soundtrack forums soon after being released. Spectral analysis of the content of the CD revealed certain frequency cutoff patterns around 16 kHz, which are typical for lossy codecs. By analyzing the block size of these cutoffs, individuals at Hydrogenaudio were able to identify the lossy codec that was used before mastering the CD as MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
with a sample rate of 48 kHz. According to the aforementioned forums, Varèse's German subsidiary Colosseum Schallplatten acknowledged this as a mastering error, while Varèse Sarabande itself denied this. It is so far unclear if a remastered version with full frequency content will be released.
Track listing
| # | Title | Length | Key Scenes/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Clan McCullen" | 3:07 | Played during the first scene about Destro's ancestry. |
| 2 | "MARS Industries" | 1:42 | James McCullen XXIV (Destro), Demonstrates the nanomoites to NATO. |
| 3 | "Delivering The Warheads" | 7:24 | Duke and Ripcord lead a convoy, while they Deliver the Warheads to NATO and get ambushed by the Baroness and the Neo Vipers. |
| 4 | "General Hawk" | 1:36 | Duke and Ripcord talk to General Hawk's holographic display and their arrival to the Pit. The second part is also played in the end when they leave the Pit. |
| 5 | "It Had To Be NATO’s Fault!" | 1:40 | James argues with The Baroness in his submarine. Storm Shadow and Zartan first appear. |
| 6 | "King Cobra" | 2:58 | The Doctor's first appearance. He shows James what nanomites can do to the Neo Vipers. |
| 7 | "What Happened To Her?" | 1:16 | Duke reveals to General Hawk about his past relationship with the Baroness, and her real name is Ana. |
| 8 | "I Promise" | 2:07 | Duke and Ana's flashback about their past relationship and Duke's engagement. Duke promises Ana that he will watch over her brother, Rex in which he fails on doing so. |
| 9 | "The Pit Battle" | 7:24 | Baroness, Storm Shadow, Zartan, and the Neo Vipers attack the Pit in order to retrieve the Warheads. |
| 10 | "They Intend To Use Them" | 1:06 | They find out why Destro wanted the Warheads back. |
| 11 | "Snake Eyes" | 2:23 | Snake-Eyes remembers his past with Storm Shadow and how entered the Arashikage Clan. |
| 12 | "I Have A Target In Mind" | 2:23 | James tells The Baroness and Storm shadow about his ancestry and his hate for the French. He orders the two to bring the Warheads to Paris and "test" its abilities. The Doctor morphs Zartan into his disguise using Nanomites. |
| 13 | "The JOEs Mobilize" | 8:24 | The Joes chase The Baroness and Storm Shadow across Paris. Duke and Ripscord use the Accelerator suits, while Snake-Eyes jumps around cars and Scarlett uses a motorcycle. |
| 14 | "Northern Route" | 6:10 | The G.I. Joe team discovers James' underwater MARS base and goes to it. |
| 15 | "Who Are You?" | 3:36 | The Doctor attempts to inject the nanomites on Duke. The Doctor reveals to Duke that he is actually Rex. |
| 16 | "Deploy The Sharcs" | 7:32 | The G.I. Joe team arrives in MARS' arctic base in order to rescue Duke, stop the Warheads, and encounter an Underwater Battle. Snake-Eyes and Storm shadow engage in a fight. Duke rescues The Baroness and escapes from the Underwater base. James McCullen gets disfigured. |
| 17 | "Final Battle" | 0:54 | Storm Shadow loses to Snake-Eyes and falls into the ice-caps. |
| 18 | "Just About Close Enough" | 3:57 | Ripcord chases the Warheads from reaching their destinations. |
| 19 | "The Rise Of Cobra" | 1:52 | The Doctor 'heals' James giving him the nanomite treatment. It turns out, he gave him a steel mask and calls him Destro. The Doctor then turns himself into Cobra commander. |
| 20 | "I'm Not Giving Up On You" | 1:49 | The Baroness being treated while in prison. Duke tells the Baroness he'll never give up on her. The USS Flagg is shown. The Joes move to their new base, The USS Flagg. |
| 21 | "End Credits" | 2:21 | Originally composed for the end titles (pre-rolling end credits), but replaced by the "Boom Boom Pow" remix. |
Total Duration: 01:11:41
Songs featured in the movie but not on the soundtrack
| Title | Artist | Length | Key Scenes/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Portis Portis -Systems:* PORTIS/SPORTIS , a ticketing system introduced by British Rail... (Featuring Jax Diamond)" |
Henrik Jakobsson | 2:06 | Soaring over the Pyramids |
| "Boom Boom Pow Boom Boom Pow "Boom Boom Pow" is a song by The Black Eyed Peas released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, The E.N.D. The song uses the auto-tune vocal effect, and blends the genres of Electro-rap, dance-pop, electro hop and hip hop.... (DJ Ammo Poet Named Life Remix)" |
The Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide... |
5:47 | Pre-rolling credits |
| "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" | London Bus Stop Bus Stop (band) Bus Stop were a British dance act best known for their single "Kung Fu Fighting", which reached #8 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1998. The song sampled the original vocals by Carl Douglas, the original being a UK #1 hit in 1974, with added rap verses. The group then released three further... |
3:36 | The training montage of Duke and Ripcord. |
| "Whisker Frisking" | Randy Jones | Plays on Hawk's office. | |
| "Boom, Boom, Boom (Shake Your Reggaeton)" | Zombie Bank | Duke, Ripcord and Scarlett working out. | |
| "Boogie Bumper" | The Charlotte Swing Band | Flashback scene of Duke dancing. |
Release
The film was first screened in the US on July 31, 2009 at Andrews Air Force BaseAndrews Air Force Base
Joint Base Andrews is a United States military facility located in Prince George's County, Maryland. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force 11th Wing, Air Force District of Washington ....
in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. The premiere was at Hollywood's Grauman's Chinese Theater on August 6, 2009, and in the following day, G.I. Joe started playing at 4,007 theaters in the US, along with 35 overseas markets.
Marketing
The film's actors were scanned for HasbroHasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
's toy line, which began in July 2009 with the release of 3 3/4-inch tall action figures. The Rise of Cobra toy line also includes 12-inch figures, and vehicles, including the first play set based on the Pit
The Pit (G.I. Joe)
The Pit is the fictional headquarters of the specialist G.I. Joe team from the 1980s Marvel comic book created by Larry Hama. It is a multi-level underground base complete with training facilities, living quarters, a briefing room, and heavy equipment storage....
in the franchise's history. Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
developed a video game sequel to the film, also titled G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (video game)
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is the title of a video game adaption of the film of the same name. The game takes place after the film. The 360 and PS3 versions are based on the same code, while the DS is an entirely different game unto itself, and the Wii, PS2, and PSP version are also based on...
.
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing
IDW Publishing, also known as Idea + Design Works, LLC and IDW, is an American publisher of comic books and comic strip collections. The company was founded in 1999 and has been awarded the title "Publisher of the Year Under 5% Market Share" for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 by Diamond Comic...
released a four-issue prequel written by Chuck Dixon
Chuck Dixon
Charles "Chuck" Dixon is an American comic book writer, best known for long runs on Batman titles in the 1990s.-Biography:Dixon grew up in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area, reading comics of all genres...
. Each issue focuses on Duke, Destro, the Baroness and Snake-Eyes respectively. It began publication in March 2009. The weekly film adaptation is written by Denton J. Tipton and drawn by Casey Maloney. The film's universe will be continued by a limited series about Snake-Eyes later in 2009; Ray Park
Ray Park
Raymond Park is a Scottish actor, stuntman and martial artist, best known for his playing the physical part of Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Toad in X-Men, Snake-Eyes in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and Edgar on Heroes.-Early life:Park was born in Glasgow, Scotland...
enjoyed playing the character and approached writer Kevin VanHook
Kevin VanHook
Kevin VanHook is an American filmmaker who began his career in storytelling as a comic book artist and writer. He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.-Biography:...
and artist S. L. Gallant with the idea of a comic further exploring his incarnation of the character.
As part of the movie launch campaign, over 300 12-inch, parachute-equipped, G.I. Joe action figures were dropped from a 42-story Kansas City hotel roof and soar over 500 feet to the ground at 16th Annual International G.I. Joe Convention. For viral marketing
Viral marketing
Viral marketing, viral advertising, or marketing buzz are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses...
, black helicopter
Black Helicopter
Black Helicopter is a United States Boston, Massachusetts based hard rock band on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace! independent record label. The band performed at North East Sticks Together in 2005 and 2006....
s with "G.I. Joe" written on them flew on American beaches. Tie-ins were made with Symantec
Symantec
Symantec Corporation is the largest maker of security software for computers. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and is a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500 stock market index.-History:...
, 7-Eleven
7-Eleven
7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co...
, and Burger King
Burger King
Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
.
Paramount's vice chairman Rob Moore claimed the movie was prioritized for mid-Americans, and thus marketing was more focused on cities such as Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
and Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
. In Europe, the marketing was focused on action sequences set in Paris, Egypt and Tokyo, and emphasizes that G.I. Joe is an international team of crack operatives and not some Yankee soldier. Right from the writing stage we said to ourselves, this can't be about beefy guys on steroids who all met each other in the Vietnam War, but an elite organization that's made up of the best of the best from around the world."
To promote the film, G.I. Joe: The Invasion of Cobra Island
G.I. Joe: The Invasion of Cobra Island
In 2009, R.M. Productions Ltd. was contracted by Paramount Pictures Corp. to produce a viral marketing campaign for the G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra theatrical movie based on Hasbro's G.I. Joe brand. This resulted in the creation of G.I. Joe: The Invasion of Cobra Island, a 2 part animated web...
was produced as a viral campaign. The short animated two-parter used stop motion and puppet animation utilizing Hasbro's toy line, and was produced by R.M. Productions Ltd.
Home media
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was released on November 3, 2009 on Blu-ray Disc and DVD, in regular and two-disc editions. Both editions include an audio commentaryAudio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
by Stephen Sommers and Bob Ducsay, and two making-of featurettes, with the second disk of the special edition holding a digital copy
Digital copy
Digital Copy provides consumers who purchase a film on DVD or Blu-ray Disc with an additional, digital copy of the movie for devices capable of operating with a file in contrast to a DVD.-Features:...
of the film. The film opened at #1 at the DVD sales chart, making $40.9m off 2,538,000 DVD units in the first week of release. The film sold over 3.8 million discs, 500,000 of them on Blu-ray, during its first week.
Box office
During the opening weekend (August 7–9), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra opened at the top of the North American box office with an estimated $54.7 million. It earned an additional $44 million internationally during the same weekend. In the following week, the film opened in 14 more territories and continued atop the international box office with $26 million. The film grossed US$302,543,074 worldwide, of which US$150,201,498 was from the United States.Critical reception
Paramount decided to not screen the film for print critics before its release and wanted to focus on internet critics. The film had received mixed to negative reviews. Based on 155 reviews collected by Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra has a 'rotten' 34% approval rating from critics, with an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 4.6/10. By comparison, Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Normalization (statistics)
In one usage in statistics, normalization is the process of isolating statistical error in repeated measured data. A normalization is sometimes based on a property...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received an average score of 32 out of 100, based on 25 reviews.
One of the many complaints made by fans was that the film failed to relate to the G.I. Joe franchise. G4tv.com stated that, "[the studio] actually went out of their way to butcher the G.I. Joe mythos in favor of derivative storyline devices." They cited the Baroness, who was changed from an East European noble in the comics to Duke's brainwashed ex-girlfriend in the film.
Dan Jolin of Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazine commented that it was "Bond
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
without the style and Team America
Team America: World Police
Team America: World Police, often referred to as simply Team America, is a 2004 action comedy film written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Pam Brady and directed by Parker, all of whom are also known for the popular animated television series South Park...
without the bellylaughs". The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
reviewer said, "The taint of cruddiness extends everywhere in this joyless stinker." James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
said the characters were "as plastic as the toys that inspired them" and considered Tatum "wooden" and that his character was "more animated in sequences when he is rendered by special effects than when being portrayed by Tatum". Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
described that "there is never any clear sense in the action of where anything is in relation to anything else". Chuck Wilson of The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
criticized the dialogue and described the underwater battle as "absurdly overproduced, momentarily diverting, and then instantly forgettable". Manohla Dargis of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
considered the plot "at once elemental and incomprehensible", and Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
thought that, despite the high budget, the special effects "look shockingly crappy; the Eiffel Tower appears to be destroyed by some green slime left over from the Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
films". Reviewers also criticized the film for the scientific impossibility of sinking ocean ice.
Matthew Leyland from Total Film
Total Film
Total Film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and offers film, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews and features...
called it "a throwaway blast of solid, stupid fun" and gave it three out of five stars, particularly praising Joseph Gordon-Levitt's performance as the treacherous Cobra Commander. Sister publication SFX called the film "dumb and dopey, with plenty of bumpy bits" and that "GI Joe has a genuine cliffhanger charm, especially when the last act becomes a whole string of pulp plot twists. The ending screams "To Be Continued"; we could do worse.", finally awarding the score of three stars out of five.
Christopher Monfette of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
also gave the film a positive review, saying "This is an adult's interpretation of a childhood phenomenon, and if you're willing to give it a shot, one suspects that you'll find yourself entertained enough to give your best, "Yo, Joe!" He gave the film three and a half out of five stars. Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
criticized the excessive flashbacks, but praised the action scenes and design, and considered that Marlon Wayans "steals the show". Dan Kois of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
thought it was "as polished and entertaining as war-mongering toy commercials get". Tatum won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Action Adventure for his performance as Duke and the film also received three other Teen Choice Award nominations: Choice Movie: Action Adventure, Choice Movie Actress: Action Adventure for Sienna Miller, and Choice Movie: Villain for Joseph Gordon-Levitt. However, the film was nominated for six Razzie Awards including Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor for Marlon Wayans and Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel, with Sienna Miller "winning" the Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress at the 30th Golden Raspberry Awards
30th Golden Raspberry Awards
The 30th Golden Raspberry Awards or Razzies were held on March 6, 2010 in Hollywood to honor the worst films of 2009. The nominations were announced on February 1...
.