G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Two-Disc Edition) [Blu-ray] by Stephen Sommers, starring Channing Tatum, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Byung Hun Lee: DVDNear.com

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Two-Disc Edition) [Blu-ray]

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Two-Disc Edition) [Blu-ray]
by Stephen Sommers

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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Byung Hun Lee, Channing Tatum, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Director: Stephen Sommers
Brand: Par
Blu-ray: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Running Time: 118 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: 2009-11-03
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Paramount

Movie Reviews of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Two-Disc Edition) [Blu-ray]

Movie Review: Put Me Down For An Accelerator Suit, Please!
Summary: 5 Stars

If you need a movie that doesn't try to be anything other than what it is, that's also a pure action movie, then you've just described G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra perfectly. Coming from Director Steven Sommers, who after 'Van Helsing' stopped taking himself seriously, doesn't really take anything seriously in this movie. There is a plot, that tries to take itself seriously, but towards the middle of the movie I think it just gives up and throws in Cobra's story every once and a while. And yes, if you try to give the bad guys motivation, 9 times out of 10 it fails, and watching this film it's a 4 out of 4.

Channing Tatum, that "cute" guy with the Army haircut takes on the burden of playing G.I. Joe, sure, it's technically an organization, but he's basically an action figure in this movie, and his acting attests to that. But even with all this, I did find his character somewhat interesting in that he's this super soldier, but no matter what he does he's a screw-up. He tries to help his friend, his face gets Vadarized. He tries to save the Eiffel Tower, it's partially intact when it topples over and kills a ton of people. If the filmmakers care about character development in the sequel, this feature to the character would be very interesting to expand on. The rest of the Joe team is pretty good, but a little unmemorable. Except in a bad way for Marlon Wayans, who stayed away from his brothers' crappy movies, but gets saddled with all these awful jokes. Also, even though Dennis Quaid is shown in all the trailers and is given high billing, he mails it in for all of the five minutes he's there.

But wait, then there's Snake Eyes. Channing Tatum is the "star" of this film, but Snake Eyes is the most bad-a** dude here. First, he doesn't talk because he's taking a lifelong vow of silence, and he's an awesome fighter. Really, some of his sword-fighting sequences are some of the best I've seen in years. Even the child version of him is kicks butt. Snake Eyes looks cool, gets the job done, and is the film's breakout character.

Action-wise, it's like a best-of summer action films. There's chases in vehicles, underwater, in the air, with swords, with guns, with fists & feet. Did I miss any? Basically if you ask what kind of action this film has, I say all the above. For the most part, all of it works, it's all pretty cool, and it never overstays its welcome. Also, at home Blu-Ray & an awesome home theater system will mean everything to this movie, and it increases the experience ten-fold. And yes, perhaps the film's best sequence, and one of the best action sequences I've seen in a while is the Paris chase with the accelerator suits. It's incredibly self-indulgent with slow motion, but I loved every minute of it.

There are also two great unique elements to the movie I found enjoyable.
1. The movies makes very heavy use of the flashback sequence to give the backstory for all the main characters, and while it does slow it down some because there's not really any action to them, I applaud the effort and I found them pretty engaging.
2. Having seen a lot of these future technology weapons on the History Channel, it's pretty cool seeing the movie making heavy use of this advanced technology working the way it would really work, and not a Hollywood version of it. Somers says all the tech will be in use in 20 years, and I highly doubt it, but it's cool to see these futuristic weapons grounded in reality for once.

Overall, I enjoyed the film quite a bit, the action-phile I am, and it's a great way to lose two hours. It never loses it's welcome, and it provides a lot of satisfactory bones thrown to the audience. It never takes itself seriously, as it shouldn't, and you shouldn't either, because you'll wind up disappointed. For the G.I. Joe fans, if you're a fans of 60s/70s Joe, it's in name only unless you count the scar on Channing Tatum. As for the 80s cartoon Joe fans, you'll most likely find yourself highly pleased since the movie takes most of its universe from the cartoon series.

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Summary of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Two-Disc Edition) [Blu-ray]

Based on Hasbro?s immensely popular action figures, G.I. Joe is the ultimate elite fighting force, engaged in an extraordinary action-adventure matchup of good versus evil! In G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the G.I. Joe team, armed with the coolest hi-tech gadgets and weapons, travels the world from the Egyptian desert to the polar ice caps in a high stakes pursuit of Cobra, an evil international organization threatening to use a technology that could bring the world to its knees.

The Rise of Cobra is not your grandfather's G.I. Joe. It's more like C.G.I. Joe with explosive special-effects action sequences that provide the film with a surplus of "Boom Boom Pow" (to quote the Black Eyed Peas song that drives the end credits). This blast from the summer past is very much like the metal-munching nano-mite missiles a (literally) mad Doctor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt cashing in some of his indie cred) and McCullen, a Scottish weapons dealer (Christopher Eccleston), threaten to unleash upon the world. It never stops. Ever. The original G.I. Joe action figure was an all-American hero. These Joes are--all together now--"the best of the best," an elite multi-national squad. Two soldiers, Duke (a buff Channing Tatum), an "on the ground, in the fight" kind of guy, and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans), his wisecracking best friend, are rescued by the Joes after they are ambushed while transporting the missiles. These are no ordinary Joes. Snake-Eyes (Ray Park) is a silent ninja, Stella (Rachel Nichols) a bodacious brainiac, Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) the imposing weapons specialist, and Breaker (Said Taghamaoui) the techie. They are led by gruff Gen. Hawk (Dennis Quaid), who barks out lines like, "When all else fails, we don't," with polish. Duke and Ripcord are recruited to join the classified unit after Duke discovers that Ana (Sienna Miller), his former fiancée, is in cahoots with McCullen and now sports the sinister moniker the Baroness, not to mention killer cleavage-enhancing latex outfits. This being the first in a budding franchise, there is much backstory to cover. Flashbacks date back to 1641! But the order of the day is underground military command centers, underwater evil lairs, gleaming high-tech weaponry, breakneck chases, and cool gadgets, such as a speed-accelerating hydraulic suit. It's enough to make you want to dust off your original Hasbro action figures or, the studio no doubt hopes, buy the new ones. --Donald Liebenson

Stills from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Click for larger image)

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G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Two-Disc Edition) [Blu-ray]