G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987 Video) User Reviews

Great movie

[SanderStrijbos · 7/10 · 30 May 2001]

I saw this film last night for the first time in ten years and I must say I still knew most of the dialogue! I saw it about a 1000 times when I was 10 years old. This film didn't loose the 'magic' when I reviewed it last night (other shows and films from my youth like Airwolf, A-Team and the Thunderbirds did loose their 'magic').

G.I. Joe The Movie is still a great, entertaining and fun cartoon. It's all about the origin of Cobra (G.I. Joe's nemisis). An ancient tribe of mutants (the ancestors of Cobra) want to take over the world and it's up the the Joe's to avoid this.

Despite its many flaws (some plotholes, continuity-goofs, etc.), it's still a great time watching it. This is certainly a film that defined my youth.

A 9 out of 10.

Flawed, but still entertaining...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 20 July 2021]

I must admit that I gobbled everything up in terms of cartoons back in the 1980s, especially things such as "G. I. Joe" and "Masters of the Universe". And I always enjoyed the "G. I. Joe" series, so when I had the chance to re-visit the 1987 movie here in 2021, of course I did that.

And while "G. I. Joe The Movie" definitely has the spirit of the series, this 1987 movie just isn't fully up to par with the series. It feels as if the creators were thinking they needed to exceed the series and go beyond. Which resulted in something that just simply went too far.

I just personally didn't grasp the idea of why Duke had to die, though they changed it to slipping into a coma later on. Nor why they had to change Cobra Commander into a full-blown snake. But anything for excitement, huh?

And then there was the thing about the mutant creatures, that just simply was beyond me. They just simply went too far with that concept and the movie sort of slipped away from the archetypical "G. I. Joe" formula that made the series.

Then when they started yelling "Cobralalalalalala", I was just good and ready to get up and turn off the movie. I didn't though, and I sat through the movie to the end. But that sound was just a bitter pill to swallow.

"G. I. Joe The Movie" does add some more flavor to some of the Cobra antagonists, such as Baroness, Cobra Commander and Destro. Just a shame that they didn't really were all that big a part of the plot.

This 1987 movie is essentially almost non-stop action from start to end, for better or worse. I did enjoy that, though, because the pacing of the story was kept moving constantly.

Sure, "G. I. Joe The Movie" is watchable, but it just went a bit too far and slipped over the edge.

My rating of "G. I. Joe The Movie" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Good, If Not Perfect, Animated FIlm

[jeremycrimsonfox · 7/10 · 22 January 2022]

G. I. Joe the movie is a film that is good, if not perfect, as it is severely underrated. The plot is after their latest failure, Cobra finds some new allies in the civilization of Cobra-La, led by Golobulus, who is revealed to be the one who gave Doctor Mindbender the idea to create Serpentor, Cobra's current leader. However, the Joes also receive new recruits, one of them being Lt. Falcon, Duke's half-brother, who is also reckless, as it proves as he leaves his post to flirt with Jinx, resulting in Cobra initiating a prison break. Now the race is on to stop Cobra's latest plot to spread spores that will turn humanity into snakes.

This movie went through a troubled history. Announced first, it had plans to kill off Duke (whose action figure was being discontinued at the time). However, this would inspire Transformers: The Movie to kill off Optimus Prime, a move that caused so much controversy and outrage from fans and parents of kids who were traumatized by that scene, that Hasbro reversed the decision, and Sunbow were forced to rewrite the scene so Duke fell into a coma. Also, the poor box office performances of Transformers: The Movie and My Little Pony: The Movie (the original, not the one with Twilight Sparkle) resulted in G. I. Joe: The Movie skipping theaters and heading directly to video. Despite the edits to keep Duke alive, it is still a good movie, as it has a good story, voice cast (especially with the likes of professional wrestler Sgt. Slaughter, alongside the cast of the cartoon), and the action is excellent. My only gripe is the movie focuses too much on Falcon (whose is basically Hot Rod, only worst), and some of the plot points sound a bit corny (especially the reveal that Cobra-La was the ones who gave Mindbender the idea to create Serpentor).

The death of G.I. Joe *MASSIVE SPOILERS*

[PhilWatts · 21 November 2002]

"Taps" softly plays in the background...

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are gathered here today to reflect on the brutal death of the valiant soldier(s) only referred to as G.I. Joe.

When this series started, it featured a battalion of valiant soldiers out to defend the world against the terrorist organization, COBRA. But if you really pay attention, this show was REALLY about a group of so-called terrorists back-biting each other in entertaining ways while trying to defend themselves against G.I. Joe! From Cobra Commander making laughable plots while Destro shakes his head in embarrassment, to Zartan trying to lead a group of knucklehead Bikers who screw up all the time, everyone was pretty much looking out for #1. This was what really made G.I. Joe entertaining. Besides, how cool would Snake Eyes be if he didn't have a Stormshadow to fight? How interesting would G.I. Joe be if they faced anyone but Cobra? Not very.

Around the third season, things went wrong. The abomination called Serpentor was shoved down our throats, and Cobra went from looking out for #1 to looking out for Serpentor! The entertainment factor that Cobra provided was killed, now that they're all reduced to being Serpentor's BOOT-LICKERS. Even worse, G.I. Joe becomes even less interesting, since they all had to take a back seat to SGT. Slaughter, a bloated, overrated pro-wrestler who was forced into the G.I Joe series.

As bad as things were getting, THIS 'MOVIE' WOULD MAKE THINGS FAR WORSE...

This movie introduced a new element to the Cobra ranks...a race of mutants known as COBRA-LA, lead by Golobulus (voiced by the late Burgess Meredith, AKA Rocky's trainer). This group of mutants would make Cobra even LESS entertaining. Wheras before, everyone would kiss up to Serpentor. Now everyone, including Serpentor, is kissing up to Cobra-LA. Then they would go on to pull off one of my least favorite writers tricks: RETRO-ACTIVE CONTINUITY! We were supposed to believe that Cobra Commander was always a blue-skinned freak who as once one of the citizens of Cobra-LA...even though he CLEARLY HAD CAUCASIAN SKIN WHENEVER HE WORE THE CLOTH MASK!!!! HOW STUPID DID THEY THINK WE WERE?! OH...remember those dreams that Dr. Mindbender got that coersed him into digging up corpses? They were brought to him by Golobulus. Then they would write off Cobra Commander by making him a snake! WONDERFUL!! Now that everyone in Cobra is now a BOOT LICKER, they had to get rid of the ONLY COBRA CHARACTER WITH A PERSONALITY!!!!

On the OTHER side of the fence, the writers tried to create some unrest in G.I. Joe's ranks by introducing Duke's brother, Lt. Falcon (voiced Don 'Sprocket' Jonson) to flirt with everybody and act up. At one point, Falcon was busy hittin' on Jinx (G.I. Joe's new female ninja) whileletting Cobra plow through the place. Thing is, his irresponsibilty would be short lived by the end of the movie. So much for that!

Then came Duke's 'final battle' with Serpentor, which ended with Duke getting impaled with Sepentor' snake. Thing is, they didn't went the same thing that happened after Optimus Prime's death to happen here too, so they rewrote it as a coma. Problem is, Flint could've replace Duke with no problem. The REAL injustice, the elimination of Cobra Commander, was left unchecked. Anyone could've replaced Duke...NO ONE COULD REPLACE COBRA COMMANDER.

This movie was briliantly animated, especially the opening sequence, which is the ONLY reason to check for this movie. But no ammount of brilliant animation could undo the damage that this movie left on the G.I. Joe franchise.

And now you know...and knowing is half the battle... ...even if it's several years after the fact.

This movie could of been so much better.

[jgusw · 6/10 · 16 December 2000]

G.I. Joe: The Movie is okay, but it's not as good as it should of been. There is an introduction to some new characters, which takes away from the other characters; leaving them just as undeveloped as usual. There barely showed the great Snake Eyes!! The best thing about G.I. Joe is the origin of Cobra Commander and why he's trying to take over the world. That is pretty cool, but not enough to make this movie great. If they would of took it easy on the new guys and focus more on the old, who we still don't know, this movie would of been better. But 'ol well, it's G.I. Joe, so it's a must see.

Story wise, this was not a fitting end to the antics, shenanigans and misadventures of GI Joe - animation wise, the Joes never looked better

[DarthBill · 7/10 · 6 July 2005]

After an exciting opening featuring a great, powerful rendition of the GI Joe theme and a fierce battle between the Joes and Cobra before the Statue of Liberty, we get treated to a ludicrous story about a city full of giant bugs called Cobra-La, which spawned Cobra Commander and had a hand in the creation of Serpentor, reaching out to Cobra to get them to capture the latest in sci-fi technology, the Broadcast Energy Transmitter or BET, so that they can use it to cook up some giant spores floating over the Earth to turn us humans into ugly monsters while the Cobra-La folk hang out safely in their ice dome. Only GI Joe, the real American Hero, stands in their way, and with many Joes incapacitated in some way or another, it's up to the Rawhides - including Duke's smart ass half brother Lt. Falcon, female Asian martial artist Jinx, silent Chuckles, cynical Tunnel Rat, good natured Law and his dog and the in movie only sports man Big Lob - along with Sgt. Slaughter's Renegades - Mercer, Red Dog and Taurus - to step in and lend a helping hand.

I use to watch this over and over as a kid because it was the easiest access I had to GI Joe when I couldn't catch the reruns, but even as a kid I thought it sucked, mostly because the Cobra-La thing just didn't gel in with the rest of what I knew about GI Joe. Apparently having Cobra Commander be a scion of Cobra-La stemmed from an idea one of the show's writers had that CC was really just a front man for a much larger, more sinister organization. Even by 1980s kid show standards this whole movie's plot was just a little too far fetched.

Still, I think this was a little bit better than the Transformers movie, but like Transformers the GI Joe movie suffers from trying to push out the characters we already loved in favor of new characters we never got to know very well (like the Transformers movie, this was supposed to bridge the gap to a 3rd season, but GI Joe's 3rd year never happened), which takes a lot of fun out of the movie.

There's also the thing about Duke - they say he went into a coma, but after taking a friggin snake javelin right in the heart, the man was clearly dead. Apparently they had to change the death, originally set because Duke was being phased out of the toy line and the writers were tired of fighting with the toy owner Hasbro to keep him in the show, because of the backlash to Optimus Prime's death in the Transformers flick. Personally I think GI Joe could have gotten away with killing Duke (not that I wanted him to die); Optimus Prime need not have died. Too bad, because the brush with death, right when Duke rasps "Yo... Joe..." for the last time (and let's face it, no one yelled "Yo Joe!" better than Michael Bell, with Duke easily being the best role of his voice over career) was actually proving to be very touching, but the coma line ruins it. The writers themselves admitted it sucked and have pointed out that if you watch it without sound and go just by the reactions of Scarlett, Falcon and General Hawk, and the way our favorite rugged blonde man's head rolls to the side and his grip loosens, then it's quite evident that Duke dies.

The thing about Falcon being Duke's half-brother was also a bit tacky, though Don "Miami Vice" Johnson read the part fairly well, especially since they really look nothing alike; Falcon was originally supposed to be General Hawk's son, and they really should have stuck to that. But with the beret he could have passed as a relative of Flint's.

Flint, so prominent in the cartoon, has very little to do here, sadly, as do many other beloved GI Joe characters.

On the plus side, the animation is great, the action sequences are above par and so is the music. The opening is probably the best thing about the movie (and probably would have made a better plot for the movie).

Like GI Joe?? Gotta see this movie!!!

[MI$ gUy · 9/10 · 19 June 1999]

If you loved the 1980s TV show you will love this movie. G.I. Joe the movie is not mearly as good as the TV show, but rather is much much better. This movie comprises of the same guys we love (or love to hate), such as Duke, Sgt. Slaughter, Cobra Commander, Serpentor etc etc. However, it is the new characters that really bring life and intrigue into this movie (ie. jinx, lt. falcon, nemesis enforcer, golobulus etc etc).

My favorite scene of this movie was the opening scene where pythona infiltrates the inpenetrable terradrome. I also loved the slaughterhouse training, and the many changes that occur within Cobra Commander. Then again, as a child I watched this movie all the time so I may be just a tad bit biased.

Cobra lalalalalalalala

[zackeryburgedd · 6/10 · 25 July 2011]

Like Transformers G1 I never grew up with the classic GI JOE series, luckily my uncle who grew up with the series introduced me to the classic GI JOE episodes. After watching all the GI JOE episodes online(season 1 was better) I decided to check out the movie they had. While not as great as the Transformers movie this was pretty good. I can't say much but this mainly could've been one of the five-pat mini series that the show would usually do. I mean other than the opening theme, they use music from the show and the animation is pretty much the same as the show. Nothing wrong with that, but look at the Transformers movie it had better animation, a great soundtrack and to be honest better characters.

I feel sorry for Cobra Commander in this film. I just do. He's been the great leader of COBRA, now reduced to a slithering snake. I really didn't like the idea of Cobra-La and Cobra Commander and Serpentor's origin. The leader of Cobra-La implanted the idea to Dr. Mindbender? In the show they made pretty clear that they wanted a new leader to lead COBRA all because Cobra Commander was doing a bad job. It just doesn't make any sense. While a lot of people may think that Lt. Falcon was like Hot Rod from the Transformers movie, but I see no resemblance other than the fact they're young. Hot Rod was young, but also kind, energetic, and grew into the role of leader.

Lt. Falcon was suppose to be like that after Duke, supposedly died, but the idea was scrapped because of the death of Optimus Prime in the Transformers movie. So instead have Falcon as a bit of a jerk. I just realized I have more complaints than positive things to say. I do like the action, but it's pretty much the same action we see in the show, It's good to see characters from the show, like Roadblock, Beachhead and Sgt. Slaughter. And I do love Serpentor's famous "COBRA LALALALALALALA"!! Overall this movie could've been a regular episode of GI JOE

It's good!

[ericstevenson · 8/10 · 1 November 2017]

You know, it's actually kind of sad when a cartoon based on a toy that I'm not a fan of ends up being better than the My Little Pony movie which I'm actually a fan of. The weird thing about G. I. Joe was that I don't think I could name a single good guy in this franchise. I could name nearly every bad guy though! Cobra Commander is especially what makes this franchise memorable. I love this guy's silly voice and hamminess. I admit to never having watched the cartoon at all. You don't have to in order to enjoy this movie.

The animation is very impressive. A lot of it is in fact just random fight scene after random fight scene. Still, that can be pretty entertaining. While the film looks nice, the characters are also quite fun. Again, it's mostly the villains but I managed to remember the names of some of the good guys this time around like Duke and Lt. Falcon. I will admit to being annoyed by how Snake Eyes was only in the movie for a few seconds. He's a pretty cool and recognizable character. This film has giant snakes, so it must be good. ***

Fighting For Freedom Wherever There's Trouble Over Land, Sea, And Air! GI JOE IS THERE!!!

[Terryfan · 7/10 · 6 December 2005]

First, G.I.Joe, I never really pay attention to the show, Because I'm a huge Transformers Fan.

However I figure I would give G.I. Joe The Movie a chance. To me, when it comes to movies and TV show, I always believe in the saying "Don't Judge People Until You Give Them A Chance" Well, I have some good and bad things to say about G.I.Joe: The Movie First, The Good: The Voice is awesome!, I'm Surprise that they got Actors like Don Johnson And WWF superstar,Hall Of Famer Sgt. Slaughter to star in this movie. The animation is Phenomenal, there's rarely a mistake in G.I.Joe The Movie. The Story is well-written, The writers wrote a very new story for G.I. Joe fans Now, for the bad: My main complain about the movie is that the music was just awful!, Only good song in G.I. Joe The Movie was the opening theme song, The Music came from The Transformers Series. I just love the music in Transformers The Movie, because it was new and all of the music in the movie match every scene.

Also, There were a few scenes that make no sense what so ever.

However, I didn't dislike G.I.Joe The Movie, But giving the chance between Transformers: The Movie and G.I.Joe: The Movie, I would watch Transformers: The Movie.

All in all, I thought that G.I. Joe: The Movie was a Okay movie, It's a movie for G.I.Joe fans.

I give G.I. Joe: The Movie 7 Out Of 10 YO JOE!!!!!

I can't believe this is rated so high.

[Aaron1375 · 2/10 · 5 March 2003]

For me, it just didn't seem like GI Joe at all. When I watched it as a kid, I just didn't care for it. In fact the part I liked best about this one was the opening credits. They change so many facts around and turn the story around as well. Cobra Commander is supposedly part of this stupid race of reptile people in Antarctica or somewhere that is frozen. Though I always thought he was a normal guy considering every time you saw his eyes in the series they were surrounded by normal colored flesh and not the blue his face was here. There is just too much crap in this one to try and make this a spectacular movie, but for me it just ruins what I watched the series for in the first place.

Would be very hard to top

[Skeletors_Hood · 8/10 · 17 October 2001]

Yo Joe!

I'm proud to say that I love this movie. I own it on DVD, and have watched it several times. It just keeps getting better.

What makes this one of the great cartoons from the 80's was it's realistic nature. The idea was obviously post- cold war type conflict put to paper, spawned a few characters, and was animated. And, unlike a lot of crap made today and back then, it worked out very well. And the reason was great writing. The writers of the show/movie had to juggle a story around several dozen characters, tie it all together, make it work, and not overwhelm the audience with it.

Success!

Other cartoons couldn't do that as well as GI Joe, or even transformers, without coming off as sugary or presented in a way that talked down to its viewers. And Gi Joe was always fresh with its story, and even kept elements of past episodes together in an ongoing story.

Now as far as this movie installment is concerned, watching it, you kind of get the idea that this was supposed to be a "next generation" type of story, especially dealing with new Joes on the force, and a new threat more powerful than Cobra. Doing away with Cobra Commander wasn't a plot point I liked, because he was always a great character, but it had a valid reasoning linked into the movie, so I let it go. I almost feel that the drama could have been heightened if Duke had died ( which was originally written into the script), but he is a great character, and we can't have a death on a kids' TV show like that.

The Cobra-La element is the one thing that I think was overplayed. I like the idea of a dormant society from thousands of years back trying to reclaim the Earth, and the characters were cool, but the organic creatures that made up the base were a little too much, like a giant cockroach for a bridge, a big....whatever for an air transport. These things stole some of the reality of the cartoon for me, but are still entertaining nonetheless.

If you're a fan, DEFINITELY watch this film!

Not As Bad As You Might Think

[Mr. Pulse · 7/10 · 11 March 2001]

Now I am a nostalgic fellow, and I enjoy looking back on the entertainments of my youth. I fondly recall delights like He-Man, and Transformers, and of course, GI Joe. But I am not above saying when things do not age well. Watching Transformers: The Movie on DVD, it does not age well. GI Joe: The Movie, though, does.

As a child, I used to rent this movie a lot, and for some reason I never got bored of watching it. Seeing the newly released DVD as a 20 year old "adult" (in quotes, ok?) I can still see why I liked it. It's not a masterpiece, but this is a fun cartoon. The animation and direction are really well done, and very exciting in the action scenes, and it's loads better than the dreary Transformers: The Movie (Which kills characters and is horribly animated, totally ruining the potential fun). Here the spirit of the original series is maintained, and instead of a couple of bad episodes back to back to back, it really feels like the biggest, best episode of GI Joe ever.

It's still not perfect of course. The voice acting is pretty bad except for the key roles (The guy who does Cobra Commander's voice is a genius though). There is very little weight to anything, and of course, the characters are thin to say the least. But I'm a firm believer of enjoying something based on its own merits and goals. This flick isn't trying to be a masterpiece, it's just trying to be an exciting hour and a half. And it really is.

It wasn't THAT great.

[blackarachnia2 · 4/10 · 8 May 2003]

I speak badly of G.I.J.:T.M. mostly because I think it lacked something that G.I. Joe had. Yes It had something that G.I. Joe didn't have like celebrity cameos by Don Johnson, and Burgess Meredith but I think G.I. Joe: The Movie lacked the passion for the characters that the G.I. Joe TV series had. Most of the voice over artists really sounded like they were dead pan and they were going to die at anytime now. It's a good movie but I wouldn't say that it was the greatest movie in the world I.M.H.O. :)

Although violence is what G.I. Joe was built on I'd say that Serpentor striking Duke in his chest wasn't the very best way for Charlie Adler's character to go out. Neither was seeing Golobulus remind Cobra Commander why he was chosen to lead the Cobra forces and then being horribly mutated after he failed to deliver what Cobra-La felt was rightfully theirs.

It wasn't the best way for the G.I. Joe series to go out but it's better than nothing. :)

I miss these kind of cartoons

[legend316 · 19 June 2001]

I can't say enough times that I love the eighties for their great cartoons and great movies. The creativity during that time was awesome. As far as I am concerned 2 cartoons really stuck out in the eighties, namely GI Joe and The Transformers with Transformers being my personal favorite. For years I have been waiting for a return of those 2 cartoons to television. Their return would bring some class to the crap that now exists on television, like X-Men, Spiderman, Power Rangers, VR Troopers... The list goes on and on. What makes GI Joe and Transformers so great is the great storylines along with the absence of a Disney mode. Anyway, I read that a dvd of GI Joe The Movie existed so I forked over my cash to buy it right away and boy was it great to relive some memories. It was pretty good, although I didn't like Globulus and his crew. GI Joe was always about the battle against Cobra, not some mutated freaks.The whole GI Joe cartoon series screams DVD release (as long as they aren't sold for rip-off prices, like for example happens with the Battle Of The Planets cartoon or animes). As far as I am concerned GI Joe and the Transformers are the standard for cartoons. If you have never heard of GI Joe The Movie then check it out, but if you are a fan "What are you waiting for ?". Go rent it or buy it and enjoy the antics of Duke, Flint, Hawk, Beach Head, Sgt Slaughter and the rest of the gang. Quote of the movie: 'We're all going home or nobody goes home"

Number 1 in my list of animated films

[DunnDeeDaGreat · 6/10 · 7 December 2001]

G.I. Joe the movie had it all when released in 1987. Action, humor and new characters. The plot which introduces new characters such as Falcon, Jinx, Tunnel Rat & Law is stil awe inspiring. While the villians such as Sepenator and Cobra Commandor play the villian roles perfectly. I love this movie and watching nowadays as a 20 year old man takes me back to my childhood of playing with toys. If you loved G.I. Joes as a chlid and haven't seen this movie you're in for a treat. I just wish that the live action movie would have come out.

Go buy some toys....

[cordaro9418 · 6/10 · 11 September 2008]

Like it's cousin 'The Transformers', America's fave' 3&3/4inch action hero got it's own film, full of animated violence, doom and a cool theme song.

Released in the wake of 'TF:TM', 'Joe' hit the storm of backlash from parents groups and was altered for it's release.

'Joe' was a straight to TV release, no motion picture box office to slow it down. 'Joe' didn't get a rock soundtrack, but various mixes from the show (aside from the opening credit's theme-song redeux).

And Duke, slated for an Optimus Prime send-off (though Prime was resurrected on TV by this point), was re-dubbed in studio and drifted off into a coma. (also see: Voltron Lion Force's Sven. Killed by episode six, Sven was re-dubbed to the 'hospital planet').

Now parent friendly except for the standard dosage of animated violence... only the story became a downfall. Moderately paced, the Cobra back-story just didn't hit on all cylinders, dragging the rest of the script down.

Cool cartoon appearances from some better than average actors of the time, add to the enjoyment overall.

Still a great retro 80's cartoon flick, it just misses epic, but bring popcorn anyway.

"Man, whoever heard of being shot down a by salad?"

[The-Last-Prydonian · 8/10 · 21 June 2017]

"Man, whoever heard of being shot down by a salad?" That line succinctly sums up the absurd nature of this movie, which went direct to video upon it's release back in 1987. A fun romp which although obviously aimed at kids, there's still enough there for grown-ups who remember the series for it to appeal to the child in them. The plot involves GI Joe, a highly trained military force who defend the world against the evil terrorist organisation of Cobra, who once led by the devious and villainous Cobra Commander, are now commanded by the genetically created Serpentor. Circumstances find them allying themselves with a race of Serpent like beings who were the initial predominant inhabitants of the world. This was before the Ice age destroyed most of their civilisation of Cobra-la and mankind took it's place. Their genocidal ruler Golobulous (voiced by the late Burgess Meredith) intends to launch a seemingly infinite number of mutative spore pods In to space, which when they ripen and burst outside the Earth's atmosphere, will reign down and transform every human being on the planet in to mindless mutant creatures. For them to hatch Golobulous needs the B.E.T. (Broadcast Energy Transmitter) so that the spores will hatch in space. It's left to GI Joe who are currently in possession of the B.E.T., and are in the midst of testing it to prevent Cobra and Cobra-la from stealing it and carrying out their heinous plan.

It's safe to say that GI Joe the Movie with it's silly, contrived plot doesn't deserve too much scrutiny when it comes to logic. No doubt likely due to the writers taking in to account what they would assume to be the undemanding nature of their target audience. Cobra-la's plan should instantly fall apart as surely the vegetative spores would burn up in the Earth's atmosphere let alone make it in to outer space. Also it's all rather convenient that GI Joe happens to be testing the B.E.T. in the Himilayas, not a million miles from where the remaining remnants of Cobra-la have been preserved. Despite this there's still much to be enjoyed with the amusing, infectious machismo (and believe me there's plenty of it) of the films heroic protagonists, vying against other 80's movies like Top Gun and Aliens for the most testosterone fulled characters imaginable. At it's heart though it's more good natured and humoured with colourful, likable heroes to cheer and villains to boo and hiss at. The animation by 1980's standards is actually fairly decent although it could never rival the sublime mastery of Japanese Anime, while the voice cast does a proficient job of bringing the wealth of characters to life. Plus the script is peppered with some one-liners which are fairly witty and is pretty self knowing for what is essentially an animated film for kids. If you find yourself looking after your or someone else's children then rather than find yourself forced to sit through something like Peppa Pig or Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom, then you might want to throw this on in their place. It's vastly more tolerable and something that little and bigger kids might appreciate.

Literally Non Stop Action

[josephbanksba · 7/10 · 22 April 2023]

First off this movie receives 4-5 stars for the intro song sing alone. I watched G. I. Joe: The Movie a couple of days ago and am able to provide my review in a retrospective reflection.

The movie has non stop action from beginning to end. When viewing this as a child, the action drew me in and kept my attention. I wanted to see what would happen next from Cobra Commander's fate to the breaking of Falcon. As an adult I'm drawn in but also able to realize the movie is violent! Like literally a violent take on the syndicated cartoon series with some heavy adult themes. The movie was even borderline sexual in nature.

Themes to the side, the plot was your basic G. I. formality albeit with new players and higher stakes. It really did make you feel like a war was going on with the various battles taking place. I honestly think WW2 is an inspiration for a lot of the 1980's action cartoons. One thing to note is that Cobra and Cobra-La are highly layered organizations and I guess they realized this and decided to go separate ways with Cobra Commander. His origin story could have been fleshed out better tho.

One thing to note is that the G. I. joe universe is very diverse. That's cool. The actual visuals are decent not great and I use 1980's Thundercats for any baseline comparison on animation.

Great animated feature film! Its awesome with the voices of Sgt Slaughter and Burgess Meredith!

[Movie Nuttball · 10/10 · 8 July 2005]

This is a great feature animated film! I thought that the characters were really neat and all had great personalities. The animation in My opinion was crisp, clean, and really clear. Not to mention beautiful! Most of the characters in this show all have great personalities. in My opinion these characters are some of the best ever seen. In fact, The things that goes on in this series' cartoons are in My opinion action packed which that is what makes the show good. There are so many characters to like If you like the other 1980s' animated classic cartoons like G.I Joe, M.A.S.K., Transformers, and others then I strongly recommend that you watch this great movie today!

Action Packed!

[Thanosied790870 · 7/10 · 16 September 2007]

I only heard about this movie last week, and watched it on youtube a few hours ago. I can only imagine how exciting it must have been for a kid from the 1980's to watch this. The plot is very Gi Joe-ish: Cobra plans to steal a device that can help them gain control of the world, Blah blah blah. Only this time, They're getting help from an ancient race of snake-people! Also, for the first time, Cobra Commander's origin is revealed! It's an awesome movie, But with a big problem (I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about) However, like I said before, There's always action in some form or another in almost every scene, so that more than makes up for you-know-what in my book. That, and one of the coolest movie openings ever. It even has some humor in it! The animation, although about 20 years old, is impressive. Go rent a copy today!

Yo Joe! Repeat 80 times.

[thesar-2 · 5/10 · 10 August 2009]

I strongly admire the ambition of 'G.I. Joe: The Movie' from 1987. As 2-D as it was, modeled after the same quality of the TV show, it absolutely yearned to be more than what it was. I grew up on three toys/cartoon series: Transformers, He-Man and G.I. Joe. So, it was a nice refresher to see this big-screen adaptation again. Unfortunately, watching as an adult for the first time (and I must've seen it 3 dozen times as a kid) I can see the truth in critics/parents calling this simply an "advertisement." Oh, it sure was. They prove that with 5 new Joes they let loose, not to mention a lot of new Cobra baddies, a lot of vehicles and sets to buy (NOW!) The main idea revolves around the break-down of Cobra under Cobra Commander's leadership and their new backing of an ancient evil of Cobra-La whose intention is, no doubt, world-domination and the equally dysfunctional Joe team to stop them. Will the Joes work together to defeat the organic enemies? Obviously. But, knowing is always half the battle. It's truly amazing both teams, good and bad, can actually work together to solve any problem, but that's the message about teamwork and individuality that saves the day. Unfortunately, the movie solely relies on sales and models from the year's before theatrical release of 'Transformers: The Movie' which, was so similarly based, they used some of the same music scores – cheap tatics. Still, it had one up on the cartoon feature length of 'Transformers': it didn't feel the need to kill off multiple characters (as 'Transformers' did) in order to introduce a new line of toys. Nevertheless, despite its extremely low production quality (even for 1987) it was enjoyable, especially for those who grew up on the TV series.

Great movie about the cartoon series !!!If you liked the series as a kid from the 1980's you will maybe like this video !!!!

[Doc_Who · 8/10 · 25 November 1999]

This movie is about a highly trained special mission force to defend the world from Corbra(a ruthless terrisist organization that wants to take over the world and human freedom). This time Corbra is invaded by a weird stranger. The stranger reveals herself to be a ally of Corbra. Meanwhile , the Joes are testing a new weapon to solve the world's engery crisis. Corbra attacks the Joes in a suprise attack. Seperator is taken captive by the Joes. The Joes chases Corbra into a mountain but are ambushed by the people who live there. They are then captured by the people who live. COrbra Commander tries to escape from his own people who live in this mountain,but is recaptured. Corbra and the people of Corbra-LA form a new alliance against the Joes. The Joes send Seperator to a cell in Joe HQ. But Corbra rescies him. Eventually Corbra gets the new weapon to take over the world.The Joes inavade the Corbra Terror Dome to find out where their missing comrades are located. The Joes and Corbra finally fight it out in Corbra-LA as if they do not stop the weapon and some special pods in space , Corbra will finally take over the world. But the Joes somehow defeat Corbra. If you watched the series as a kid in the 1980's , you will maybe like the video!!!

GI Joe Misses the Mark

[treasuretrove_vip · 5/10 · 30 July 2010]

I can't agree with those who called this a great movie. One wonders if they worked for the studio or for Hasbro. Some of the feedback was completely over the top – much like the GI Joe franchise itself. And that's the shame of it, because the GI Joe series had the potential to be really great. But unfortunately Ron Friedman and the studio never fully understood why the show worked, which was largely in spite of their handling of it.

We liked GI Joe because the characters were so interesting. Everyone eagerly looked for their favorites to appear in individual episodes, wanting to know more about them and wanting to see them succeed, even if they happened to be members of COBRA. Would it have been too much to ask for just ONE of Cobra Commander's plots to be successful? But unfortunately the writers and producers felt it necessary to dumb-down practically every aspect of the show, deeming the audience either too squeamish or too stupid to accept any form of realism.

Despite the fact that the show's basic premise was based on domestic warfare, GI Joe's creators felt it necessary to safeguard their viewing audience from any hint of reality. Cartoon violence that would have been necessary for the show to have any substance was replaced by outright buffoonery on both sides. Most fans kept watching in spite of the writing – willing to overlook the most ridiculous story lines and plot holes because we loved the characters. So naturally, the studio execs did what all executives do when they don't understand their fan base – they took away the show's best redeeming quality. Starting in season 2 they began robbing us of those original characters, replacing them abruptly with new ones that were predictable and uninteresting – all in the name of selling more toys.

GI Joe The Movie represents the sad pinnacle of this strategy, with a whole new group of GI Bozos created to take over the franchise, including the absolute worst two ever created – Big Lob and Chuckles, and the completely unnecessary Lt. Falcon. I suspect this new batch was brewed up just in case we had grown attached to any of the Season 2 characters, who no doubt would have been jettisoned in Season 3. We saw so little of some of the original Joes in the movie that I had to check the credits just to make sure they had made a cursory appearance. Needless to say, the franchise collapsed under the weight of such inept leadership and fan ignorance, and a third season was never produced.

The movie did have a few high points. Chris Latta gave his usual strong performance as Cobra Commander, Michael Bell had a chance to expand Duke's character, and Burgess Meredith with his gravelly voice brought a good menacing quality to Golobulus. One of the darkest (and best) lines of the entire series is when he said to Falcon "I will stain my hands with your blood." But memorable lines like that were few and far between in the series. Kudos to Friedman for (finally) trying to interject some realism with the death of Duke, but even that was thwarted in the end. We often make fun of his coma scene, comparing it to Futurama's lengthy list of coma patients in the embedded soap opera 'All My Circuits'.

Like every agent of COBRA, GI Joe The Movie misses the mark. It's sad because the series had tremendous potential. But the writers consistently went wrong in so many ways, turning action/adventure into unintentional comedy. In their insistence of trying to lower the collective IQ of their viewers, they guaranteed that certain things would always happen during any episode of GI Joe. For starters, COBRA can't shoot straight. You'd think at least one member would have been sent down to the firing range for some target practice. Second, GI Joe has the worst security on the planet. Zartan, Zarana, the Baroness and Firefly could come and go at will and should have just been issued EZ passes for the front gate. Third, the animals were smarter than their human counterparts and in the case of Polly, were more articulate (at least as far as Bazooka was concerned – don't they have IQ tests to get in to GI Joe?)

Fourth, there was more depth in the characters' 2-D drawings than there ever was in their development. Despite being the leader of the most lethal terrorist organization on the planet, Cobra Commander has the military prowess of Col. Klink from Hogan's Heroes. Duke on the other hand is one of those fortunate people who goes through life never having to second guess himself because he's so perfect. Other characters like Shipwreck, Bazooka and the Dreadnok's are forever doomed to play the fool for comic relief.

Fifth were all the things that make you go 'huh?' For example, why do COBRA soldiers never remove their helmets, even in the gym? (how do they shower?) Why does Quick-Kick wear no shirt or shoes in the snow, and Barbecue his suffocating fire-suit in the desert? How DOES Deep Six go to the bathroom in that get-up? And how many times has Lady Jaye gotten knocked unconscious – shouldn't she have been discharged by now for post-traumatic concussion syndrome? I guess since GI Joes never lose a fair fight, the only other option is to either dog-pile them with a dozen enemy soldiers, or bash them over the head with blunt-force trauma.

Sixth is that one GI Joe is all it takes to bring down an entire COBRA armada (we call them "One Shot Joe"). A single handgun, a magic javelin, or a piece of fruit was enough for any Joe to win the day. Which raises the final point: GI Joe can never lose – COBRA can never win. End of story, and the premature end of the franchise.