Live Action G.I. Joe Movie 2008 Toy Fair Expanded Preview

[Devil King]

Originally Posted by SnakeEyes

FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN...it's a natural (however unattractive) human response!! I feel it everyday my 7 & 12 yr. olds walk out the door! The fact is that some VERY respectable members here (not to mention LH himself) have seen and read things I haven't. And, much like I absent mindedly trust the teachers at my children's school, I trust them too! No, things aren't going to be the way they were in the mid 80's...and, quite frankly, I'm glad!!! Those were some CHEEEEESY times! I mean seriously, have you seen what you were WEARING back then!!! Every issue that has been argued here is simply a natural reaction...FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN! Obviously all of us here are emotionally connected to this, kinda like I am with my kids. And when you are that invested in something, you're afraid something might happen to it (or them). But, in the end, you just have to let it go and hope that you've invested enough time and effort to ensure that it will be OK. We, as fans, have invested 25 years of telling Hasbro what we think and how we feel. Now, we as fans need to have faith that our investment has paid off and that Hasbro has listened! And that's my Dr. Phil moment of the day!

It's dismissive to assume that everyone here is reacting out of a fear of the unknown, or change. In reality everyone here is reacting to a fear of the known. And who better to trust than the members of our own who have seen this information and conveyed a sense of trust in those who have actually been entrusted?

No one on these boards is reacting out of knee-jerk, they're reacting to what we've been told. (The difference between the 2 is up to the person interpreting the information)

Long story short, don't expect this to be any better handled than was the Transformers travesty. And that implication has very little to do with the departure from what we all expected, and everything to do with disavowing the established mythos in favor of ignoring the fanbase.

it has to be handleled intelligently, first and foremost.

Once you get right down to it, Snake Eyes is NOT the character most fans want to hear about, unless they subscribe to Joe in the same way X-Men fans are supposed to stand slack-jawed over Wolverine.

Unless I'm misinformed, there is no Code Name: "G.I Joe", any more than there is a G.I Joe based on Cobra Commander, Destro, Snake Eyes or Storm Shadow. I want a G.I Joe movie which doesn't involve assuming that every Joe fan is consumed by delusions of Snake Eyes or Wolverine or Storm Shadow or Destro. Pander to those fans with kick-ass scenes, but don't dismiss everyone else, fans and charcters alike, by only addressing those characters.

This is my only complaint about the first 2 X Movies, they focused way too much on Wolverine, which singer managed to hide by spending time on the "supporting" characters.

At this point, I'm just happy I'll get most of my favorite 25th Joes(and Cobras) BEFORE this selective-pandering movie is released, where everyone is wearing space-aged armour and catering to some ninja ideology of G.I Joe.

In and WHEN this movie lives up to my completely open-minded perceptions, I'll admit how wrong I was. But I don't hear that in the reporting, much less the facts. As I said, there are two sides to the divide in a movie like Joe: The fan base and the casual movie-goer. And I only see one side being placated.

[General Hawk]

Originally Posted by Devil King

Long story short, don't expect this to be any better handled than was the Transformers travesty.

We can only hope! 700 million dollars internationally would guarantee cool new Joe toys and films for years to come... ;)

I loved the Transformers film personally, and would be ecstatic if the Joe movie was 75% as entertaining as that one was.

Justin

[WildWeasel]

Originally Posted by General Hawk

We can only hope! 700 million dollars internationally would guarantee cool new Joe toys and films for years to come... ;)

I loved the Transformers film personally, and would be ecstatic if the Joe movie was 75% as entertaining as that one was.

Justin

Totally agree with you there Justin (and SnakeEyes). If they can make the Joe movie as entertaining and successful at the Transformers movie then we should all be happy. Means many more years of good things from Hasbro. I love all the "I'm not going to like it" when we haven't even seen a thing yet. Just read some leaked script info and gone off what a few others have said they've seen. Talk about jumping the gun.

As I'm sure that we would all love something like a G.I. Joe version of Black Hawk Down or Tears of the Sun, it just won't happen. It won't happen because this is a kids brand. Hasbro needs to keep it kid friendly.

[Crimson Rage]

I'm a big fan of the TRANSFORMERS movie too, fully aware that something designed to introduce the franchise to a public who isn't aware of the nuances of the property is never going to be the movie a "hard core" fan wants.

Truth be told, I place far more faith in Micheal Bay's skills as a director that Stephen Sommers. GI JOE will need set pieces that approach the resonance of the ones seen in TRANSFORMERS for it to outdo other action films.

[VIPER 48]

Originally Posted by WildWeasel

Totally agree with you there Justin (and SnakeEyes). If they can make the Joe movie as entertaining and successful at the Transformers movie then we should all be happy. Means many more years of good things from Hasbro. I love all the "I'm not going to like it" when we haven't even seen a thing yet. Just read some leaked script info and gone off what a few others have said they've seen. Talk about jumping the gun.

As I'm sure that we would all love something like a G.I. Joe version of Black Hawk Down or Tears of the Sun, it just won't happen. It won't happen because this is a kids brand. Hasbro needs to keep it kid friendly.

I absolutely agree...

[Gentleman]

I dunno folks.

I didn't like Transformers and it wasn't because they took a shit on the mythos. It was just mediocre as a _FILM_. I admit that I thought it was going to become a classic from the start till somewhere in the half... but then it looks as if Bay didn't know how to resolve or whatever, and the flick became a comedy. Joke after joke. And no sense of danger whatsoever.

SO... while I'd like them to be faithful to the mythos to a certain level, I'm much more concerned about Sommers' ability as a director. I trust the screenwriters for this more than the ones for Transformers, but I am very concerned about Sommers. I haven't liked any of his films. They are all too extreme, too cool, and trying too hard to be funny and failing miserably.

In essence... whether the G.I.Joe flick will be faithful to the mythos or not should be the least of our worries. First and foremost, I want the flick to be a good FILM. A good adaptation does not a good film make. And viceversa.

Two films come to mind: Kubrick's The Shining and Milius' Conan the Barbarian. Two great films that are far from being faithful to their sources.



Sommers... don't fakk this up with constant comic relief, or you'll meet the true Arashikage ninjas!!!

[Riggler]

Originally Posted by Crimson Rage

I'm a big fan of the TRANSFORMERS movie too, fully aware that something designed to introduce the franchise to a public who isn't aware of the nuances of the property is never going to be the movie a "hard core" fan wants.

Truth be told, I place far more faith in Micheal Bay's skills as a director that Stephen Sommers. GI JOE will need set pieces that approach the resonance of the ones seen in TRANSFORMERS for it to outdo other action films.

I was almost as big of Transformers in the mid 80s as I was G.I. Joe. I STILL haven't watched the Transformer movie.

This is not the golden age of cinema. In fact, I'd argue its more the golden age of television. That's where all the good writers seem to be working these days. Cinema has turned into the golden age of CGI.

The point I'm trying to make is I consider myself a modern casual Joe fan and am probably out of place amongst pretty much everyone else on this board. I'm the guy you've got to get into the theater on nostalgia. And it didn't work for me on Transformers. And based on the review description, this film may not hit me in the nostalgia gut hard enough to go see it either.

Fanboys are going to see G.I. Joe the Movie anyway. The reason Transformers may have differered was the special effects and that it was a concept that hadn't been done lately as a blockbuster film. (Alien robots invade and fight). The threat with "modernizing" G.I. Joe is you get just another military flick with a brand name on it. And there's been LOTS of military flicks in the last five years that have BOMBED big time.

[G.I.Eddie]

Originally Posted by Riggler

...Cinema has turned into the golden age of CGI...

i too worry that this movie will rely too heavily on CGI and action and have a lame story...don't get me wrong, i know CGI helps create some sweet things on screen that otherwise would be impossible to recreate, but all too often nowadays it seems films, especially sci-fi films, are more than 50% CGI...i think i read somewhere a few years ago that the last Star Wars film was 90% plus CGI!...robot mice roaming the halls, WTH...

guess time will tell...in the meantime, i will forever dream of a RAH live action movie and not the sweet hour to two hour long commercial for futuristic looking Joes and their corrosponding toys...

[gunslingercbr]

Originally Posted by General Hawk

We can only hope! 700 million dollars internationally would guarantee cool new Joe toys and films for years to come... ;)

I loved the Transformers film personally, and would be ecstatic if the Joe movie was 75% as entertaining as that one was.

Justin

I'm going to jump on this bandwagon and agree that TF's was great. it was simple, mindless fun about a toyline of giant Transforming robots -- what else was anyone expecting? I think that is what most people seem to forget, these are toys, first and foremost. this isn't high-intellect fare, so any attempt to make a movie about it that departs from what it actually is -- a toy property meant to stimulate children's imagination and play -- betrays G.I. Joe more than a silly, simple movie. that is what G.I. Joe is. just because more mature minds also enjoy it doesn't change the fact at what it is, and what a movie about it should be.

[OUTBACK]

Originally Posted by General Hawk

...and would be ecstatic if the Joe movie was 75% as entertaining as that one was.

if the JOE movie is 75% of that piece of trash, it might rank amongst the worst movies ever made.

Transformers sucked, period. i don't care what anyone says. That movie was a pathetic attempt to capture the TF universe or anything resembling it. It was one big car commercial, and something about a funny nerd and how he's trying to bag a hot chick.

all the visual effects and action cannot make up for that mess.

Originally Posted by Gentleman

In essence... whether the G.I.Joe flick will be faithful to the mythos or not should be the least of our worries. First and foremost, I want the flick to be a good FILM. A good adaptation does not a good film make. And viceversa.

Sommers... don't fakk this up with constant comic relief, or you'll meet the true Arashikage ninjas!!!

LOL...i hear that.