The Sad History of GI Joe: The Movie

G.I. Joe: The Movie (also known as Action Force: The Movie in the UK) is a 1987 American direct-to-video animated military science fiction film based on the original Hasbro toyline.

Serpentor, the almost death of Duke, Cobra La, Cobra Commanders different origin, the next generation of GI Joe, all included, all intended to be seen on the big screen.

While GI Joe: The Movie was originally intended for a theatrical release the failure of the My Little Pony and Transformers movies changed that plan and what happened with the GI Joe franchise immediately after altered a lot of what the future held.

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[armaogeddon]

I’m 43 years old; that opening sequence and theme music STILL give me chills.

[nealnoir]

The slow body horror death of cobra Commander was way more disturbing to me as a kid then duke taking a snake to the heart

[tibedog]

I was suspended from elementary school for a week for bringing my VHS of GiJoe: The Movie to 'movie day' in my class when it was my turn. We made it up to where Duke got stabbed in the chest by the snake spear and my teacher finally threw an absolute fit and got the principal to suspend me for bringing violent materials to school. So for an entire week I just got to stay home and play with my GiJoe toys lol.

[Kujakuseki]

The saddest thing about the GI Joe movie is that the opening is INCREDIBLE and better than the entire rest of the movie. It never gets as good as the opening again.

[bigneon_glitter]

The Statue of Liberty intro sequence may be the greatest piece of toy-associated action animation made in the '80s. In 1986/1987 - for those who remember - the one-two punch of _Transformers: The Movie_ and _GI Joe: The Movie_ was almost as impactful as _Star Wars_ or _Raiders_ - simple, epic perfection. And everything a kid could have wanted from those properties.

[bfilms]

A few years ago, the Egyptian theater in Hollywood showed both Gi Joe and Transformers The Movie one night. It was amazing finally seeing it on the big screen with a crowd.

[PoodlePuncher]

Fun Fact: After the series was cancelled, Cobra changed their tactics away from warfare, and started offering health insurance.

[pawned]

GI Joe was never my thing, but there is one thing from the show that is burned into my memory forever: there was an episode in which Shipwreck wakes up and is being tricked by Cobra to think he was in a coma. The people around him are like robots or something, and at some point his loved ones fucking melt before his eyes in the most disturbing horrific fashion!

[jkhoover]

As a 43 year old, I was perfect age for this movie and I loved it. The Serpentor storyline as well as Cobra La.

[thesexybatman]

The history of the movie might be sad, but the intro sequence is an absolute banger and the most 'merican piece of animation ever.

[Storms]

No one ever talks about the post-movie mini-series where Baroness and Copperhead rounds up a small band of Cobra soldiers still loyal to Cobra Commander to form Python Patrol, take CC to an ancient temple to reconstitute him back into a man, and lure in Serpentor to do away with him once and for all.

[RockNerdRadio]

The opening of the movie is my favorite G.I.Joe thing ever. It still makes me smile to this day.
My other favorite memory of the movie is that I watched it with a group of friends after college. Me and one of my friends used to make fake Roadblock rhymes all the time after that. That friend sadly passed away, but I think of him every time I see the movie now.

[Shay_What]

I’ll never forget the moment I realized that the GI Joe figure that my neighbor had (Rock N’ Roll with his badass motorcycle) was sooo far superior to my coveted Star Wars figures. While I had the movies to back up my Star Wars fandom and imaginary adventures, I didn’t need a backstory for these highly articulated soldiers. The “playability” of the Joe’s was just so awesome and was the natural step up in “maturity” from Star Wars and its toys.

[canuck_gamer]

I was 11 years old when an unfortunate life long issue with my right leg put me in a hospital for the first time. I was alone and scared to death and on one of my mom and dad's daily visits to see me, they gave me a GI Joe comic book, which was my first ever comic book. I read it cover to cover by the time they came back the following day and I asked for another which they went and got right then. I can feel myself choking up as I tell this story now at age 50 (and over 20 surgeries later on that leg) and I know that those comic books got me through a terrible time in my life. I went on to be an avid collector of the toys and would have my star wars toys battle against my GI Joe toys on the floor in the basement of the home I grew up in. The show, the movies, the figures, the comics and the theme music will always hold a special place in my heart.

[wstine]

The opening sequence of Cobra taking the Statue of Liberty while the Joes stop them was epic. The song was great as well. The movie was great, although Duke going into a coma was a bit lame.

[wiseguy]

It always amazed me that in a show where the screen is filled with red and blue lasers, nobody ever got shot. Basically both sides were Stormtroopers.

[InventiveHarvest]

When I was an 80's teenager, I thought the secret society of Cobra-La lizard people was unrealistic. As an adult, I know the horrifying truth.

[timothycarter]

My favourite line was Golobulous reacting to Serpentor's idea to throw the stricken Cobra Commander in with the Joes: "A trifle melodramatic..."

[penpointred]

God I loved and still love the animated GI Joe movie. 500 times better than the live action Michael bay movies.

[jsc]

The animation of this and The Transformers movie is incredibly detailed because it pretty much was animated by some of the best Japanese animation teams of it's era. I just hope we we get a 4k transfer like we did with Transformers.