What Does G.I. Joe Stand For?

IGN.com ^ | August 24, 2007 | Stax

[SouthJrzReaganite18]

Who needs A Real American Hero? Not Paramount or Hasbro it seems. The studio's live-action feature film version of G.I. Joe will no longer revolve around a top-secret U.S. special forces team but rather an international operation.

In a follow-up to their confirmation that Stephen Sommers will direct G.I. Joe, Variety offers this new description of the team: "G.I. Joe is now a Brussels-based outfit that stands for Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, an international co-ed force of operatives who use hi-tech equipment to battle Cobra, an evil organization headed by a double-crossing Scottish arms dealer. The property is closer in tone to X-Men and James Bond than a war film."

Wow. A Real Globally Integrated Hero! Can we assume that this "double-crossing Scottish arms dealer" is Destro since he was one in the comics? And does that mean there will be no Cobra Commander in it?

So why the changes? Hasbro and Paramount execs recently spoke about the challenges of marketing a film about the U.S. military at a time when the current U.S. administration and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are at a low-point in global polls. When a studio makes a film as expensive as G.I. Joe will likely be, they want to know that as many people as possible around the world will want to see it. In other words, G.I. Joe -- "A Real American Hero" -- is a tough sell.

Although the new G.I. Joe team will be international in scope, don't expect Joe's British counterpart Action Man to be included after all. IESB.net reports, "Looks like he will be gone, this new script is set to be 100% GI Joe, it will revolve around the characters we all grew up with fighting Cobra, Destro, the Baroness and Storm Shadow. When do they expect to have this new script ready? Six to eight weeks. Pre-production is expected to start by October-November and production to start early '08."

"Our vision (for The Mummy) was clear the time the first trailer played during the Super Bowl, and by the time this one plays a Super Bowl, you'll see the coolest characters and visuals you can imagine, and beyond-state-of-the-art equipment," Sommers informed Variety. "I wouldn't have jumped into this just because of the Hasbro-Transformers tie. Remember, Pirates of the Caribbean was a big hit, but Haunted Mansion not so much."

Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura added, "My experience with beloved properties is that characters, attitude and tone are even more important than plot. ... Paramount showed a great deal of confidence in Stephen's take, and our ability as producers to get this up and running for a February start. His passion for the characters and the world convinced the studio this was something they couldn't resist."

[ReignOfError]

Cobra and Destro are creatures of the 1980s cartoon series. The GI Joe brand existed years before and continues to exist long after. I bet the guy who wrote this article doesn’t realize that GI Joe was once more than 2” tall.

As far as the movie goes, I don’t care much in any direction, but if the “GI Joe” force is re-cast as an international anti-terrorist group, is that so different from Tom Clancy’s “Rainbow Six” series? Or, for that matter, the “Mission: Impossible” movies? Is it really so offensive to consider Americans as leaders of our allies rather than acting alone?

Does it really matter than much if one of the characters is a badass Belgian? Or a Pole, or a Ukranian? What message does it sent if we encourage these nations to join NATO, but insist on treating them like idiots? If this is how we treat our friends, how can we expect to attract more friends?

[MortMan]

well, in fairness to me, that response was made after two glasses of wine on an empty stomach.

Well, get off that guy's abs and open another bottle!