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06-18-2009, 02:31 PM | #1 |
Cobra Soldier
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: 11211
Posts: 8
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So I've been a fan of ARAH since it first launched, and over the course of my life I've come to identify very closely with the Hama/Marvel continuity, going so far as to pack my Serpentor figure on ice and put him in the family freezer when he was killed in my war games. And I watched with baited breath as the movie entered production, hoping for the fulfillment of a life long dream.
And now we all know (half the battle!) what to expect, more or less. And it has some exciting elements and neat overtures to the die-hards, but it looks like any other sci-fi/action flick to fart out of Hollywood in the last decade or so. I get it. You get it. We'll deal, we're fans, we love the stuff no matter how crappy it is. But I understand now why I'm so troubled. For example, the continuity of the film and of Resolute as well as some of the new comics (I believe, though I haven't verified this personally) makes Snake Eyes an orphan, raised by the Arashikage. And the movie, at least, makes Cobra Commander a demented soldier/scientist with sci-fi proclivities. Hama's story, which we would mostly agree is definitive, has the two characters intertwined so intricately that it fuels the entire saga. Their lives parallel each other in the paradigm of good and evil, and the intersections are numerous and deep. Like how when Snake Eyes was returning from his tour of 'Nam, Cobra Commander's brother kills SE's family in a car crash. This provides both men with the incentive to become what we have grown to love so much. Snake Eyes becomes the loner seeking justice against those who would hurt the innocent and Cobra Commander's resentment of government and control leads him in the opposite direction. The simple fact that two men, both forced to face the loss of family and life (ostensibly due to America's involvement in global conflict) can become two complete and complex extremes of character is, for me at least, the crux of G.I. Joe. The humanity of the story is what draws me, not the over-the-top action and costumes. It's that these characters were drawn out into thinking, feeling people. People that we recognize. Maybe I'm just nostalgic and romantic. Maybe I'm just bitter because I finished my Hama-continuity-based screenplay days before Beattie was hired to fix Bonaventura's bastard project. But either way, I hope the movie somehow vindicates itself, or I'll feel slighted by these characters that have informed my imagination for the last 25 years. Thanks for reading my post. Sorry if I put it in the wrong place, I just had to get it out... |
06-18-2009, 02:35 PM | #2 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Bedford, TX
Posts: 540
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Wow! Great analysis!
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06-18-2009, 02:38 PM | #3 |
#voteblackjack
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Northwood, NH
Posts: 35,747
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God I absolutely hated when they intertwined SE and CC so much. That just absolutely killed it for me. That just ruined so much of the story for me, it made it reach soap opera levels. It was wrong, so very wrong.
Having SE and SS connected was bad enough, but then connecting Firefly and Zartan and the Baroness and Destro and all them thru the past. UGH!! I wanted to read and enjoy a military story, about good guy soldiers versus bad guy terrorists, not another damn comic book soap opera. But how can new characters (for all intents and purposes, that's what RoC is, new characters that resemble older ones) really affect how you enjoyed/remember the ARAH era? Seriously, how can it? Am I the only one that can make the disconnect between the stuff I grew up with and the stuff coming out now? Am I the only one that can let each stand alone and not judge one by the other? I mean, even as a kid/teenager/adult I did that with the comic, the toys and the cartoon. Each was it's own seperate entity that didn't affect the others one way or the other unless I let it. Am I the only one that can view RoC as it's own entity and not look at it thru ARAH-tinted-glasses?
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06-18-2009, 02:42 PM | #4 |
Crimson Nerd
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Virginia
Posts: 12,578
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Not the only one.
But it's natural that any new iteration will be judged against its' past iterations. Appears to be human nature. I just find that the nostalgia-glasses really do seem to warp some aspects of the ARAH era far out of proportion to others. Apparently to the point where even where there are thematic similarities showing themselves in the new incarnation, people refuse to see them. |
06-18-2009, 02:50 PM | #5 |
#voteblackjack
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Northwood, NH
Posts: 35,747
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I suppose it is human nature, but I figured for a group of fans of a product that had 3 different versions at the same time (toys, cartoon and comic book), they'd be more accepting of other versions.
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06-18-2009, 02:52 PM | #6 |
ChaplainAsst
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Coastal Georgia
Posts: 4,910
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We talked about this somewhere else on the board, but think about this: Hasbro took Stalker and made him Rip-cord because of the name, and included a little bit of the character of Stalker on Marlon Wayan's character. But, Rip-cord is beloved not only because was an incredible action figure, but also had a compelling story over several Marvel issues as he tried to have a relationship without being able to reveal much about himself. Stalker, on the other hand, was not only a great 2nd in command on the field over the first 20 or so issues, but also was the only surviving member of the LRRP in Vietnam besides SS and SE. And now we lose all that because someone completely doesn't understand "story" and just said, "What a cool name! I think we will use it for Stalker!"
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06-18-2009, 02:57 PM | #7 |
#voteblackjack
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Northwood, NH
Posts: 35,747
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But what does the Stalker story and the Ripcord story have to do with the new story?
Shouldn't today's fans get their own versions of the characters? Shouldn't new fans be able to grasp onto new stories and develop the connection that we have with our stories? Why does Joe, 25 years later, have to follow the same tracks that we had as kids? Doesn't today's generation deserve, and shouldn't they be allowed, to have the chance to create their own stories?
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06-18-2009, 03:04 PM | #8 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: CA
Posts: 414
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Here's an idea . . . why not just use Stalker instead of Ripcord?
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06-18-2009, 03:19 PM | #9 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 2,157
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You would think. But what I've noticed with all of the recent movie talk is that alot of fans aren't necessarily upset that the movie betrays the cartoon, comics or toys, but rather their own personal continuity that's usually a combination of the three with their own stuff thrown in. Which sets an unfair and unattainable standard for Hasbro and Paramount to live up to.
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06-18-2009, 03:25 PM | #10 |
Cobra Soldier
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Utica, NY
Posts: 72
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The one thing I don't like about this new movie and maybe I am being an "old school fart" comic collector, is the bases of which "Cobra" came about. Cobra Commander was a used car salesman who's property was taken by the government for a mistake he was not aware of. When his brother was killed, that set him off his mental illness. He influenced the down trodden and desperate into giving them direction and a goal. He told lies from common truths to build direction toward what he wanted. It's how Hitler came to power after WWII. Hitler was in the military and had the discipline nd experience. Cobra Commander had none, but was a wild card and self motivated. His is a terrorist that came from the worst of America politics. Scarier that he wasn't military, but driven to extremes to become an absolute horror. It's the enemy that isn't thought to exist, seen, or known, which can be the most feared cause you never know where they will attack from and how.
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