Tuesday, October 28, 2008

GIJoe Movie ( 1987)

GIJoe Movie (1987)
Of course, how can you start without mentioning the awesome new main title of Cobra attacking the Statue of Liberty, with all the Joes defending? The best GI Joe cartoon animation ever, complete with a new version of the theme song.The movie begins with a strange eye emerges from the water, watching Cobra. Inside the Cobra base, Serpentor starts a rant about Cobra Commander's incompetence, only to be interrupted when a strange figure appears out of the water and attacks the base. Trapping Serpentor alone, the intruder, Pythona, instructs Serpentor about the Broadcast Energy Transmitter.The GI Joes are guarding the BET, a device that will supply the planet's energy needs, in the Alps when Cobra attacks. Duke manages to reach the BET, turning on all of the Joes weapons against Cobra. CC calls retreat, even though Duke has captured Serpentor, and Cobra fleas into the mountains, with Roadblock's unit following right behind. Cobra Commander leads them further into the snowy mountain, until they find a bizarre looking cavern, Cobra La. The Joes follow, and are attacked by Cobra LA Guards, Nemesis Enforcer, & Pythona. They quickly defeat the Joes, and take over command of the Cobra forces, instructing them to steal the BET and free Serpentor.The Joes are now undermanned, missing Roadblock's unit, and having to guard both the BET & Serpentor. Still, Hawk sends Flint, Lifeline, & Iceberg to find Roadblock, and orders Beachhead to speed up the training of the Joes' new recruits, the Rawhides. The five recruits, save the "Gold Plated Goof-off," Lt. Falcon, are put to the test by Beachhead. Despite their quarks, they all pass, frustrating Beachhead. Meanwhile, Falcon is showing off the base to a young lady. He's confronted by Duke, who sends the girl away, confiscating her camera. Unfortunately, Duke puts Falcon on guard duty. Falcon's girlfriend, Heather, turns out to be Zarana, who has recorded enough information from her 'tour' for Cobra to attack the Joe base and try to free Serpentor. Alpine, Gung-Ho, and Bazooka are guarding Serpentor, trusting Falcon to watch the outer perimeter. Only, Falcon deserts his post, to flirt with Jinx, allowing Pythona, Nemesis Enforcer, and the Dreadnoks to make quick work of the Joes and their defenses, detailed by Falcon's commentary to Jinx about how impossible Cobra's attack would be. The alarm sounds when Gung-Ho is able to splice the cable, and the Joes frantically jump out second story windows to stop Cobra. Falcon returns to find the stockade demolished, Serpentor freed, Joes hurt, and one very angry General ready to court martial him. Serpentor is carried to Cobra La by a wacky flying pod, and is welcomed to Cobra La in a huge ceremony showcasing more of Cobra La. Golobulus reveals that he is responsible for creating Serpentor, implanting the information to create him in Mindbender's mind.While Golobulus attends to the trial of CC, the Joes are busy with the preliminary court martial hearing of Lt. Falcone. General Hawk, Wild Bill, Adm. Ledger, & General Flagg, go over Falcon's military records. Before throwing the book at Falcon, Duke offers the fact that he is Falcon's half brother as reason to keep him in GI Joe. Falcon and Duke step outside the court, and Falcon is not thrilled with Duke's help. Instead of being court-martialed, Falcon is sent to the Slaughter House, Sgt. Slaughter's training camp. Meanwhile, in Cobra La, Golobulus explains the history of Cobra La, an ancient civilization driven underground by modern man. CC was a scientist sent by Cobra La to destroy the human's civilization. Golobulus now has a new plan; to launch spores into the atmosphere. The spores would be activated by the BET and rain down on the human population, turning them into mindless snakes. The spores are then demonstrated on CC. Falcon is dropped off over the Slaughter House, where he gets a not so warm welcome from the Renegades, Sarge's Perfect Soldiers, who aren't quite perfect yet. Falcon gets put in his place, and his training begins. Back at Cobra La, CC is taken to the prison where Roadblock's unit is being held. The Joes rush the door, and Roadblock, though blinded, escapes with the help of CC, as the strange creatures of Cobra La re-capture the rest of the Joes. Duke sends Sarge, Falcon, & the Renegades to Cobra's Terror Drome to find more information about Roadblock's unit. Though they blow up the Terror Drome, they are not able to warn the Joes about Cobra La or stop the Cobra attack the BET. Cobra launches a massive attack for the BET, and the Joes are overwhelmed by Cobra La's strange weapons. Huge snake like monsters appear, crushing the Joes vehicles, and allowing Cobra to steal the BET. Sarge, Falcon, & the Renegades arrive, in a last ditch counter strike, nearly stopping Serpentor, who goes after Falcon. Duke runs to save his brother, only to be struck through the heart by one of Serpentor's snake javelins.Serpentor escapes with the BET, and the Joes gather around Duke, who appears to be dying. Scarlett's line "He's gone into a coma" is ADRed (aka Looped, aka recorded to picture after the orginal Dialogue record session) For more details about the writters orginal thoughts and ideas about GI Joe the Movie, see the interview page. When Golobulus activates the BET and thus the spores, Dial Tone picks up the energy transmission from the Himalayans. Even though Falcon wants revenge on Cobra for injuring Duke, Beachhead advises Hawk it would be best to leave the Rawhides at the base to try to contact Flint. Meanwhile, Roadblock wanders across the frozen terrain with CC, now almost completely mutated into a snake, mumbling "I was once a man", until they run smack into Flint's unit. Before Roadblock can warn Hawk, the Joes have already begun their attack, and are captured by the strange trees of Cobra La. The Rawhides fly to the Himalayans, joining Flint's unit for an attack on Cobra La. Tunnel Rat finds an underwater river, and they pull a sneak attack and free the rest of the Joes. The new recruits prove useful in stopping Cobra. Falcon goes one on one with Serpentor, and is nearly killed if not for the intervention of the completely mutated Cobra Commander. Falcon get a ride on Serpentor's flying chariot to the BET, being guarded by Golobulus himself. Even though Falcon turns the BET off, the spores have already matured, and Golobulus leaves triumphantly. Falcon tries one last thing to save the world, put the BET on over load destroying the spores, and sacrificing himself. Slaughter and Jinx insist they won't leave without him, and rescue him. All of the Joes make it out of Cobra La before the BET explodes, but LJ is nearly trampled. Doc radios Hawk that Duke was okay. (Note: this involves no lip-sync, so Doc and Hawk's lines were ADRed about Duke being alive. My only question is what were they cheering about in the original version when Duke was still gone.) The movie ends with Falcon and Jinx looking over the smoking remains of Cobra La, watching the spores fall harmlessly down to ear, and Falcon thanks his big brother.

1 comment:

Cecigi said...

Duke's death was also meant to be the final catalyst that sparked Falcon to finally grow up.

Since Duke doesn't die, the catalyst isn't there. Sure, Duke being wounded DOES help push Falcon along, but it isn't as dramatically satisfying as it would've been if Duke had actually died.