HTF BLU- RAY REVIEW: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

G.I. JOE:  THE RISE OF COBRA

G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA 2-Disc Digital Copy Blu-Ray Edition
 

Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment

Year: 2009

Rated: PG-13

Film Length: 1 hour, 57 minutes

Aspect Ratio: 1080p High Definition Widescreen (2.35:1)

Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
 

Release Date: November 3, 2009
 

The Movie
 

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is the live action update of the Marvel Comics and animated series of the 1980s, which in turn were based on the toys made by Hasbro. Duke (Channing Tatum) is a soldier recruited by General Hawk (Dennis Quaid) to join G.I. Joe, the secret anti-terrorist squad.

Many of the colorful characters from the original comics and cartoon series are brought to life here including Scarlet (Rachel Nichols), the Baroness (Sienna Miller), Snake Eyes (Ray Park), Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee), Destro (Christopher Eggleston), Ripcord (Marlon Wayans), and Zartan (Arnold Vosloo).

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is full of stunning visuals, and credit is due the director. Stephen Sommers (The Mummy) is the perfect choice to direct this film. His Mummy films were fast-moving, kinetic action spectacles, and Sommers delivers this same level of energy to G.I. Joe. Other than Michael Bay, who has been busy producing film adaptations with Paramount of Hasbro’s other toy line, there is probably not another director better suited to this film than Sommers.

There are certain liberties taken with the characters and their relationships that has probably infuriated the purists, however, this film was intended for a broader audience. This film has been vilified unfairly, in this reviewer’s humble opinion. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra does have a story, and a fairly entertaining one at that. This film was obviously designed to follow the formula of the Transformers films, and it succeeds in that mission, providing a fast-moving vehicle filled with action and amazing CGI special effects, with enough story to motivate the characters in their respective roles.

Prospective viewers probably know ahead of time if they will embrace or reject this film. If you enjoyed both Transformers films, this may be right up your alley. If you ordinarily do not like this type of high concept action film, or if you liked the first Transformers film but hate the most recent one, then you are unlikely to be converted by this film. If you go into G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra with an open mind, you may be pleasantly surprised. As someone who was a fan of the comic book and cartoon series of the 1980s, I believe the film-makers did an exceptional job in bringing that world to life.
 

Video

The movie is in 1080p high definition in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. There is probably as much CGI in this film as in the last few Star Wars films, and film grain is minimal to non-existent in these types of films that rely so much on CGI to tell their story. A good portion of the film takes place in dark areas, and blacks are solid with excellent detail on shadows and fine objects. The daylight portions are equally fine with great dynamic range and no compression artifacts. Any edge enhancement is minimal or non-existent on this transfer.
 

Audio

The English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio make extensive use of all speakers for all of the gunfire, explosions, music, and dialogue in this film. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra may not receive many Academy Award nominations, however, a nomination in this category will be well deserved. The English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio definitely do this film justice. Do not be astonished if you see this film on display by stores selling high end video and audio equipment.
 

Special Features

Other than the director’s commentary on disc 1, the special features are located exclusively on disc 2. Disc 2 consists of nearly 1 hour of special feature bundled with a digital copy for transfer to portable media device.

The special features on the Blu-ray discs are all in 1080p and include all of the following:

Commentary by director Stephen Sommers and producer Bob Ducsay.

The Big Bang Theory: The Making of G.I. JOE (29:32): The cast members, director Sommers, and producer Bob Ducsay, are interviewed regarding the making of the film. Comic book writer Larry Hama also appears in this program.

Next-Gen Action: The Amazing Visual FX and Design of G.I. JOE (21:07): This interesting behind the scenes documentary shows how some of the stunning visuals were produced with CGI assistance.

Conclusion
 

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra succeeds in bringing the comic book and cartoon series to life. The special features are fine but could have been so much more: the G.I. Joe toy line has a fascinating history, from the 12 inch dolls of the 1960s to the 4 inch figures of the 1980s, and an interesting documentary of this history would not have been out of place on this edition.

The video and audio on this BD undeniably surpass the quality of the film itself, which is not to say this is a bad film. I found this film entertaining in the same way I enjoy the Mummy and Transformers films, and if you enjoy those films, you might find much enjoyment in losing yourself in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra on Blu-Ray.

Watched this last night, fun, enjoyable popcorn film with non-stop action. Most of which is good but there are several scenes throughout that suffer from poor CGI. Other then that, I really enjoyed it.

There's a part of me that thinks there will be a double dip on this one at some point.  For a summer popcorn movie which did respectable business around the world, I can't believe there's under an hour of non-commentary special features here. 

I'll buy the Blu when it hits the stores here. I saw it at the cinema, it's no classic but I enjoyed it.

Still on the fence about this. I never did get to see it in theaters and the purist in me kind of rails about the changes I hear have been made. On the other hand, getting to see Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow duking it out on the big screen, and the Baroness in black leather....that's a powerful incentive. :) 

Mayhap I'll rent it first and see what I think.

I'm thinking rental too!  Thanks for the review, not sure I'd have even rented it but now it sounds like I should.

I remember posting in this film's thread before it was released how I had zero hope for it being any good, but I still went to see it and was pleasantly surprised by a fun film.  I agree with the review about the quality of this disc, looks great, and the soundtrack is very active and loud.  It's also nice seeing more and more blu's selling for $20 at release which made buying this a whole lot easier to take. 

I fully expected this movie to suck, but I quite enjoyed it.  It's silly, but it's fun.  IMO it more resembles the big, splashy Bond films of the '70s and early '80s than it does Transformers.

Did anyone else catch the Star Wars references during the final action sequences?

One thing that should be mentioned is that this film is way more violent than The Mummy or Transformers.  There's a fair amount of blood and dozens of on-screen deaths.  Absolutely not for young children!

Agreed. But then, I think the prologue served as fair warning on that... *shudders*

There was blood in this? I never noticed any when I saw it. I wouldn't consider this film any more or less violent than Transformers:ROTF. They both contained loads of frenetic violence.

Quote:
No blood?  You're kidding, right?   I mean, Saw 12 it wasn't, but for a movie based on toys. . .

I only saw the first 15 minutes or so of Transformers: ROTF, but what I saw was clearly more violent than the first one, so you may very well be right about that comparison.

The first Transformers had plenty of "frenetic violence" but it was very light on blood or death visible on the screen.  G.I. Joe was an entirely different story.  (Transformers showed a bus explode -- G.I. Joe showed people's heads exploding.)

I must not have been paying close enough attention to the movie and missed this. I may have to rent this thing again.

I was disappointed in the audio mix for this one. I watched it after watching the 15th anniversary edition of Stargate and that 15 year old movie blew the doors off of this 2009 flick.
It should have been so much better.

I'm only familiar with the G.I. Joe of the 60's, the 12" action figure since that was my childhood era, so I have no idea what the cartoon series was like.  I found the movie to be a pleasant surprise, just a popcorn action movie, nothing more, nothing less.  The Blu-ray disc was under $20 and gave a fine presentation, audio and video-wise. The small amount of extras doesn't bother me, as I usually don't bother with them.
Edited by Terry Hickey - 11/14/09 at 9:59pm