My thoughts on how GI Joe should have been

My thoughts on how GI Joe should have been

Basically, I saw "Rise of Cobra" and was disappointed...here's a taste of what I would liked to have seen instead.

By contrast - Aug 10, 2009 01:08 AM EST
Filed Under: G.I. Joe

I guess I should start off by saying that I write scripts as sort of a hobby... I've decided that I will attempt to write a version of GI Joe that is at least vaguely respectable, so here goes.

THE CAST

Is divided into two sections in order to be a bit easier to read through (for my benefit, not necesarilyl yours) My cast list is incomplete as of now, and you may notice that some of the Joes have a (*) beside their name--this indicates which characters were "original" Joes in this film's continuity (again, for my benefit...)

GI JOE
---------------------------------------
*Gung Ho--Jamie McBride
*Snake Eyes--Ray Park
*Stalker--Samuel L. Jackson
Duke--Chris Hemsworth
*Doc--
*Rock'N'Roll--Eric Stoltz
*Hawk--
*Roadblock--Michael Clarke Duncan
Scarlett--Katharine Isabelle
Lady Jaye--
Snow Job--(maybe) Kanin Howell (I'm undecided on this one)
Shipwreck--
*Wild Bill--
Beach Head--Michael Madsen


COBRA
------------------------------------
Destro--Liam Neeson
Cobra Commander--Josh Brolin
Baroness--
Storm Shadow--Jet Li
Firefly--Jason Statham
Doctor Mindbender--Stanley Tucci
Zartan--Christopher Allen Nelson

THE PLOT

This version of GI Joe draws partially from the original comics, partially from the RELOADED series (minus the whole "traitor" aspect, those who have read it will understand what I mean, those who haven't, well, you can't say I spoiled the ending.), and partially from my own filter of opinions regarding how the characters and stories should be treated in order to transition well onto the big screen.

THE PLOT (NO, FOR REAL THIS TIME)

We begin with the "original" team of GI Joes sitting around a table in a military tent during the Gulf War, the team consists of all of the above-listed characters with a * next to their name. We learn that the team is a "nonexistant" team quickly thrown together to deal with a high-risk, covert rescue operation. The team leaves off for this mission, they enter the compound where the "target" is being held and a firefight insues. Snake eyes gets shot in the throat and Doc turns to tend to him. Doc is amazed that nothing pierced Snake eyes' jugular vein, but tells him that the bullet seriously damaged his vocal cords--there's a chance they can be repaired, but he needs to remain still. Snake eyes convinces Doc to patch him up and he stands weakly. The Joes have already extracted the target and accidentally activated a bomb in the process. All Joes except Snake Eyes escape the blast--obviously he isn't killed, just scarred.

flash forward to present day, a group of "regular joes" are on what appears to be a large-scale nature hike. The group discussed how each person came to be a member of the militia (not in detail, just small talk), then they arive at an armory--they break in and begin to stock up on weapons.

cut to a military meeting room, higher-ups from the armed forces are watching a newscast featuring a masked man wearing a uniform noticably similar to that of the militia members. He calls himself Cobra Commander, tells the world that he has taken over an American city, then says he plans to continue attacking other cities unless his demands are met. the Higher-ups (including a slightly older Hawk) agree that a small, covert-ops team is needed to take down this militia before they do any more damage. Hawk is assigned to locate all original GI Joe members and report back to base.

I haven't fleshed out the plot much more than that as of now, but I do know how I want the Snake Eyes re-reveal scene to go. Hawk tracks Snake Eyes to a roadside bar, Hawk examines the outside of said bar. cut to--inside the bar, a blonde man in a black leather jacket walks away from a pool table, money in hand. He takes a seat at the bar. An angry man walks up behind the blonde man and puts his hand on the blonde man's shoulder. He begins yelling about "knowing" that the blonde man hustled him in a game of pool. The blonde man ignores him, the angry man reaches for a weapon of some sort.
cut to--outside of the bar. Hawk is just about to enter as the angry man is sent flying through the door. seconds later, the blonde man steps out of the bar through the hole he made using the angry man. the angry man pulls a gun, the blonde man disarms him and sweeps his leg out from under him. Hawk looks at the blonde man and says "I see you picked up a few new tricks."

other than that, I just have a basic idea of what I want to do, mainly that most of the "original" Joes are reluctant to come back because once they joined during the Gulf War, their identities were erased to protect the government from any legal and ethical problems. Also, afther the original Joes get back together, a group of younger recruits are added to the list (these are the non* names on the cast list), and at some point before the middle of the film, (or at least before their final mission) Hawk is killed and Duke, being the highest ranking person on the team(Gung Ho, Stalker, Snake Eyes and pretty much all of the other original Joes do, in fact, outrank him, but due to their lack of records, they have no real proof of this) has to step up and lead the team, the more experienced members have to deal with being led by someone who has never really seen a field combat situation, much less ingaged in guerilla warfare...

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prototype87
prototype87 - 8/10/2009, 3:29 AM
first!

nice G.I.Joe cast picks! :) hold up. brb heh heh


ok just finished reading ur article. and wow! super interesting plot! i like it. and the snake eyes origin...nice.
hey how about Michael Clarke Duncan as Destro? i could so picture that.

btw i was wondering...when did you get started on this?
Spilox
Spilox - 8/10/2009, 5:16 AM
Sounds good man! Top notch!
contrast
contrast - 8/10/2009, 11:30 AM
@Prototype I started tossing around ideas for a GI Joe movie a few weeks before the movie came out, right after I read a plot synopsis...back then all I knew was I wanted it to be about a team of old soldiers being lead by an unexperienced younger soldier, and that the original Joes would have been formed in the Gulf War. I didn't put much more thought into it until I SAW the GI Joe trainwreck, then I started to formulate more of the plot.

in addition to the above plot, I'm now mulling over the introduction scene for Gung Ho, involving him on a shrimp boat...when Hawk comes to get him, he refuses, but his first mate "Shipwreck", a Marine on active leave, starts trying to convince him to go, stating that it's a soldier's patriotic duty to "do the unthinkable, then be forgotten" (In homage to the original version of Hawk's speech in issue 1 of the marvel series) Gung Ho changes his mind, and Shipwreck impresses Hawk, so they look into his service record. Shipwreck is then contacted and inducted into the team.
AshleyWilliams
AshleyWilliams - 8/10/2009, 2:33 PM
nice story
superdog
superdog - 8/10/2009, 7:22 PM
I like that Gung ho shipwreck intro. I thinknthats good. Did they ever show snake eyes for real in the comics? Did he have blonde hair?
contrast
contrast - 8/10/2009, 11:36 PM
*Superdog yup...he was only majorly "visible" in his origin story, but even then, you couldn't see his eyes. Later on, he got reconstructive surgery, and walks around maskless semi-frequently now...he basically looks like a slightly older Duke, with a scar running across his face, and his hair (which is blonde) isn't crew-cut, it's just very short.
prototype87
prototype87 - 8/11/2009, 3:17 AM
contrast@ thanks for more info. keep it up man. good stuff.
superdog
superdog - 8/11/2009, 12:56 PM
huh. interesting. although i dont know if id like seeing him outside of his costume. but it could work
contrast
contrast - 8/11/2009, 1:54 PM
@Superdog I only planned on him being maskless in the first scene (before they actually head out on the mission, then later, after he gets shot in the throat, Doc would remove his mask again) and costumeless in the bar scene. Mainly because it would be out of place for there to be a commando-ninja walking around ANYWHERE (although that would be funny) and partially because they (at least now) don't seem to have a problem with Snake Eyes occasionally showing a little face.

oh, and as a side note, the way I invision the Snake Eyes costume is pretty much like a black SWAT uniform (minus the white lettering and possibly the elbow pads) and a mask similar to the V1 goggled Snake Eyes...I think it makes more sense for a live action movie than the visor.
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