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07-07-2018, 09:01 AM | #21 |
endlesssummerofthedamned
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Midway, PA
Posts: 3,773
|
I’ve been trying to think of examples in film where fantasy or sci-fi elements have been used in a realistic and interesting way alongside the military. The movie Spectral (2016, on Netflix) was pretty decent. Same goes for The Objective (2009). I love Outpost (2008) - it was a fantastic movie, but both of the sequels were disappointing. Firebase (2017) from Neil Blomkamp’s Oats Studio is amazing, and I’m sad the crowdfunding came in too low to continue the trilogy intended to keep the story going. Though it seems like they’re trying to go forward through other avenues. You can find it on Youtube. The Hybrid (2014) is pretty neat, involving alien DNA experiments. Revolt (2017) is another interesting alien invasion type film. Tank 432 (2016) was weird and didn’t really let you in on what was actually going on, even at the end, but there seemed to be some type of experiment happening. And Battle Drone (2018) had some robots that seemed like more realistic BATs. Most of these are on Netflix.
Then there are the more obvious movies. Predator (1987) is a phenomenal classic. Universal Soldier (1992) and Stargate (1994) are two other good offerings from the 90s. And I have to mention The Men Who Stare At Goats (2009) because as hilarious and insane this story might be, it’s actually based on a true story. Anyone else have some suggestions for movies that use modern military forces in a believable fantasy/sci-fi setting?
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07-07-2018, 09:30 AM | #22 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Illinois
Posts: 4,177
|
When I was a kid, I don’t think I cared, although I thought Cobra-La was pretty dumb.
Anyone who has read my novels knows that my preference is very grounded military realism. I had a lot of fun with this approach trying to incorporate aspects of G.I. Joe like Flash’s weapons, Cobra Commander’s armor, and even how Serpentor gets associated with the mythos. This may be the type of thing you are looking for examples of, minstrelboy. |
07-07-2018, 01:13 PM | #23 |
Filecard Maker
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NJ
Posts: 7,300
|
Its hard to say.
I mean you kinda have to start somewhat on the side fantasy. The Joe team comic or TV in itself is more than slightly less than military professional. I mean come on between the lax dress code and pet policy alone were starting out not exactly realistic. Then there is Cobra itself...OK...our main villain hisses (depending on the medium) and wears a silver face plate. And their fashion sense is wayyyyyyy out there. Not to mention they seem to attract the the Alpha class in nut jobs for talent. So just there you kind of have to provide SOME wiggle room for weird stuff. I think for most of fandom the line was drawn in 5 places. Cobra-La 94-95 (Star Brigade, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Savage, Extreme) Rise of Cobra (Nanites, Accelerator Suits) Valor vs Venom cross breeds The Giant Eye Personally I'm OK with some of it. Creatures such as Cobra-La or the Manimals or the Lunartixx Empire or the Mega Monsters are all OK as occasional story lines. After all Cobra manipulating genetics and creating monsters pushing the lines of human decency and or aligning themselves things of nightmare isn't so far out of the realm of story telling for a fictional story or military and terrorists. And I actually liked the cross over of combat games like MK of SFII. And while Savage wasn't a success (and felt way too similar to Captain America) it wasn't terrible. It was probably better oriented as a two part episode instead of a full on toyline and property. Extreme was simply a victim of the time. Toys of that size were popular. And EVERYTHING was 'EXTREME'. Sports, food, toe nail clippings. And it kinda was awful. OK maybe its not going to be THE most popular story, but I don't mind that sorta thing. Occasionally. For me...the ROC Nanites and Accelerator Suits was kinda just lazy writing and forced action. Nanites was just the catch all for any plot development needed in the film. Need a major weapon? Nanites. Need a way to explain Zartan's disguise capabilities. Nanites. Need a way to explain why soldiers are obedient and willing to die for the cause. Nanites. Need an explanation for Destro's metal mask. Nanites. Need away to force a love plot. Nanites. Lazy. And the accelerator suits...just seemed silly. I mean if your gonna have a supersuit...even one...why not use it at every turn? I mean shouldn't someone be wearing that on every mission? And if it make Duke and Ripcord super fast and well armed why wouldn't you put that on Snake Eyes...doubling how awesome he is? And better yet...if the suits were so awesome how come Stormshadow spanked Ripcord like a $3 whore? It just reeked of we need an action scene here lets just do anything. As for the Giant Eye in ARAH.....I got nothing. I mean yeah Larry was trying something different...and it just didn't work. It happens not every idea is a home run. But I think in writing that my personal line is when Joe drifts into an area that isn't a natural (all be it fictional) extension of the basic idea of a fictional military organization battling its fictional enemy is where I draw the line. |
07-07-2018, 02:11 PM | #24 |
Cobra Soldier
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: USA
Posts: 14
|
Just want to say that I really appreciate the depth of mature and intelligent topics on here (and activity). Keep up the good work, Joes!
Been a fan since 1983. For me, Cobra La was too much. Then things starting to get into space. Some of my friends who were a few years older than I, thought Serpentor was too much. Heck, some even thought Sgt. Slaughter was too much. But they were kinda silent when it came to Cobra Commander's weird (unrealistic) schemes in the cartoon. But IMHO Serpentor was still in the realm of believably with cloning being a big topic. He was also humanized and I kinda felt bad for him at the end, much more than any feeling I had for the Cobra La characters. (Granted, I played with Nemesis Enforcer a lot but not for his personality.) Keep in mind Stalker is flying around in a jetpack in first few issues of the original comics. G.I. Joe has always been influenced by Marvel's advanced tech and wacky superhero stuff. The older guys in my family had the 1960s G.I. Joe figures and were into the little green army men as kids, so any Joe that was "out of uniform" was unrealistic to them. |
07-07-2018, 03:18 PM | #25 |
endlesssummerofthedamned
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Midway, PA
Posts: 3,773
|
I had an idea for two parallel stories revolving around the basic lore of ARAH primary characters where it starts out with the person that would become Cobra Commander, but his story would be tragic and kind of draws out sympathy for him and his cause. And the team that would be GI Joe would be more a tool for heavy-handed political aggression; though the individual soldiers on the team would mostly be unquestioningly following orders, their tactics would further give the reader more reason to sympathize with Cobra. I like the idea that with shifts in perspective the good guys could be bad and the bad guys could be good.
Obviously that kind of story wouldn't need anything extraneous like high-tech gimmicks or fantastic feats of heroism. I think Max Brooks’ “Hearts and Minds” mini-series planted the seed for this idea, and that was a story I loved. I love when you have tangible elements supporting your characters instead of black and white/good vs. evil story-telling. It’s incredibly lazy (like Owner Of A Lonely B.A.T. pointed out) to just have brainwashed fanatics (unless you can make that happen in an interesting way). But again, it takes REAL LIFE experiences to drive an individual to enlist in the military or join a terrorist organization. Every Cobra Trooper should have a backstory and a reason to be fighting for Cobra. Like the way George Miller developed a story for every character in the Mad Max universe. Even the individual vehicles have a history. That kind of world-building gets me pumped.
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Trade: http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...uff-trade.html Feedback: http://www.hisstank.com/forum/buy-se...nstrelboy.html Disclaimer: The aforementioned post is the express opinions and ideas of the poster, and do not imply that those who have taken the time to read these views on this open forum should share or agree with them. |
07-07-2018, 03:57 PM | #26 |
do not eat.
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Cedar Falls, IA
Posts: 478
|
I like Serpentor and Cobra-La, even a few Battleforce 2000 figures, but I just can't handle Ninja Force, Armor Tech Star Brigade, and the Mega Marines.
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07-07-2018, 09:54 PM | #27 |
Crimson Guard
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Houston
Posts: 2,449
|
I pretty much follow Larry Hama's comic as my Joe canon, and treat the filecards at absolute canon.
I still enjoy the cartoon as much as I did in 4th grade (especially Revenge of Cobra and Arise Serpentor!) but Cobra-La and things like Egyptian Gods and Destro's family monster don't have a place in my head-canon. |
07-08-2018, 02:28 AM | #28 |
Commando
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Britain
Posts: 3,827
|
Quote:
I’ve been trying to think of examples in film where fantasy or sci-fi elements have been used in a realistic and interesting way alongside the military. The movie Spectral (2016, on Netflix) was pretty decent. Same goes for The Objective (2009). I love Outpost (2008) - it was a fantastic movie, but both of the sequels were disappointing. Firebase (2017) from Neil Blomkamp’s Oats Studio is amazing, and I’m sad the crowdfunding came in too low to continue the trilogy intended to keep the story going. Though it seems like they’re trying to go forward through other avenues. You can find it on Youtube. The Hybrid (2014) is pretty neat, involving alien DNA experiments. Revolt (2017) is another interesting alien invasion type film. Tank 432 (2016) was weird and didn’t really let you in on what was actually going on, even at the end, but there seemed to be some type of experiment happening. And Battle Drone (2018) had some robots that seemed like more realistic BATs. Most of these are on Netflix.
Then there are the more obvious movies. Predator (1987) is a phenomenal classic. Universal Soldier (1992) and Stargate (1994) are two other good offerings from the 90s. And I have to mention The Men Who Stare At Goats (2009) because as hilarious and insane this story might be, it’s actually based on a true story. Anyone else have some suggestions for movies that use modern military forces in a believable fantasy/sci-fi setting? |
07-08-2018, 06:15 PM | #29 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: NW Saskatchewan, Canada
Posts: 880
|
I liked Serpentor when I was a kid, but the Cobra-La thing just went a little too far. Basically my line was when things started to be a little too outlandish, like the Sharc and trubble bubble, they were cool but even then I knew they were sci-fi.
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07-08-2018, 10:18 PM | #30 |
POWERED BY JIM BEAM
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Wright, Wyoming
Posts: 1,435
|
I like different things Ailen, Preadator, Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, Friday the 13th, Halloween. I can get those kind of stories elsewhere I don't need it in G.I. JOE. I'm not opposed to believable sci-fi elements like Bats or clones, because they're happening in the real world. I always found the brain wave scanner problematic to me it crossed the line.
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