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Should the G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra Movie be Shut Down?
Sunday, June 14, 2009 at 1:31PM 
Slashfilm recently mentioned the upcoming G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra movie and rumored turmoil between director Stephen Sommers and producers. Sommers was allegedly kicked out of the editing room because of his disastrous results with G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra. Speculation includes a mention that G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra is not a watchable movie and the studio has gone into extra post-production work to fix what the director ruined.
One Slashfilm commenter pleaded for the studio to shut G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra down and start over. Does he (or she) have the right solution? This is not the first movie or TV production that has encountered problems before its release (Place and example here). Is it better to start over on a movie than trying to fix it?
I can recall the rules listed in many filmmaking books and articles, warning us to get everything right the first time and "don't fix it in post" which seems to be what the studio is doing with this G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra movie by enhancing the special effects. Slashfilm makes a good point that mass movie audiences will not care if G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra is a bad movie "as long as things are blowing up and Sienna Miller is wearing leather." as mentioned by Russ Fischer. That factor says a lot about our consumerist society and makes it even more difficult for good movies, especially independent films to get the same level of support. Then again, we're not talking about independent movies here when it comes to G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra. The matter is about a large studio-backed movie that has allegedly gone sideways in terms of quality and now the muscle behind this blockbuster machine is trying to make sure that G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra will still sell tickets at the box office.
Since Hollywood is about money, I can understand and even agree with Paramaount studios pulling out all the stops in post-production to improve the rumored "disaster" that occurred during production. If it works for them, then G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra should be released once everything is right. There is another side to possible solutions for any movie that is made, whether it be a studio or independent film which is going back to square one and starting again. It gives producers a way to fix any and all problems or disasters that occurred the first time around, which is something that I considered doing for one of my short movies. Granted, my earlier short cost much less than 'Rise of Cobra's $150+ budget but I would welcome a new and improved version that far surpasses the results of my first efforts.
Should G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra go back to the chalk board or should the studio continue to lock this movie down and get it ready for its August 2009 release?
Leave your comments on this alleged G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra situation below!
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Reader Comments (7)
I saw the preview to G.I. Joe was came away very unimpressed. The CGI was horrible, and I'm not too hip about the casting. This picture desperately needs an injection of Bryan Singer
Hermman,
I haven't checked out the preview yet but posted some of the behind the scenes photos here back in August '08 and the costumes and whole "G.I. Joe" thing seemed interesting but if the CGI is as bad as you say, then Paramount should do whatever they can to ensure a huge box office when G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra is released because the DVD sales may be slow.
There are a lot of DVD fans and collectors who would not be happy with crappy CGI so the studio would have to bank on a theatrical profit and not expect to get much in the home video market. The again, what do I know? Some die hard fan may just pay $30 for a special edition DVD with commentaries and other stuff that they can put into the special features to compensate for the CGI problems.
Bryan Singer does make some good stuff. Where was he when they were in development on this G.I. Joe movie?
Hey Herman, thanks for commenting, by the way!
THe attitude of "No one is going to care if it's good as long as stuff is blowing up" is the core of the problem surrounding this movie and Hollywood in general. I have been waiting YEARS, hell, DECADES for a GI Joe movie. I have known, however, that Hollywood would never be able to make a GI Joe movie that works. Why? Because they are too concerned with appealing to the lowest common denominator. Because they have the attitude that as long as sh!t is blowing up and everything is in your face, no one will care whether there is a good story, good plot, good character development, etc. I am sick and tired of being insulted by Hollywood. Here's another suggestion, don't make your target audience children. GI Joe's marketing was most successful during it's launch in 1982 and for a few years following, until powers at be at Hasbro changed directions (due to a passing of the torch because of the death of the CEO or some other executive. I am sorry I can't be more specific at the moment. I am recalling something I read a few years ago). Anyway, my point is gear this movie mainly towards the 30-40 year old males of today. These are the people who grew up with this incarnation of GI Joe. Don't make it a friggin' explosion fest, don't make it a stereotypical "summer blockbuster". Make it a war movie, make it a drama. Focus on a GOOD story and character development-action and explosions (and CGI) secondary. Something that really burns my @ss about this film is that it's all "updated". For this movie to be a GI Joe movie with these characters, it HAS to follow the comic book. The relationships have to be based on those in the comic book. From what I have read, so many liberties have been taken, that it's just ridiculous. And that damn accelerator suit-WTF? Instant BOMB. This film just becomes a nameless, generic "superhero" flick. How about following the timeline of the comic. Make it a period piece. Have it take place in 1982. Flash back to 'Nam. God forbid you do something like that! That might take research and extra effort to really put something together instead of using some generic formula for some amped up sh!theap that all the Hollywood movie execs seem to think this is what we want-what we need. Hey Hollywood -GO F YOURSELF! If you have any pride, any respect for this franchise and the fans, you will scrap this movie, you will not try to salvage it in post production. You will let someone who has true vision, true talent and a love and understanding of this mythos and you will give the fans a movie worthy of the name "GI Joe". Until this happens, I WILL NOT SEE THIS MOVIE. YOU WILL NOT GET MY MONEY.
Eric,
Thanks for commenting. I agree with your point that the studio responsible for this should make G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra in a manner that appeals to the 30-40 male demographic that grew up on on the comics and maybe even the TV shows too. Unfortunately, movies these days seem to be more about obtaining a big box office draw to attract the younger teen and young adult audience and these audiences do not care about anything of substance which is very sad.
I would rather the studio not sacrifice the reputation of a longstanding comic like G.I. Joe and make it as good as it can be but for now, it seems as if they would rather focus on releasing anything that they can so long as it has a following. It's a real shame.
It's the studio releasing sub-par stuff and it's also mass movie audiences accepting any ol' thing that is shown at theaters. I'm a big fan of Hollywood movies and Independent films but when it comes to trying to recreate something such as G.I. Joe, I would rather check out a movie that is based on authentic storylines and characters than something souped-up to meet modern standards of what's going on today.
Ah well.
Maybe someone will make their own G.I. Joe movie that beats out the Hollywood version. That would be interesting to witness.
Thank you!
The question now is... would they make a sequel? And the bigger question would be... are people gonna be interested.http://officialmovietrailers.blogspot.com/2009/09/gi-joe-rise-of-cobra-movie-trailer.html" rel="nofollow">..? :)