Tag Archives: GI Joe

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Hacksaw Ridge – Review

Hacksaw Ridge has two things really going for it:

  1. It brings to light the true story of a World War II hero.
  2. It will make a pacifist out of you by really driving home the brutality of war.

I’m going to go into both in detail, so consider this your SPOILER WARNING.

hacksaw ridge

Hacksaw Ridge is the story of Desmond Doss, an American medic who served in the Pacific during World War II. Doss was ridiculed by his fellow soldiers and commanding officers for being a conscientious objector. Doss was a Seventh Day Adventist. Their faith believes that taking another human life is the worst sin a person can make. Following that tennet, Doss refused to pick up a gun, even during target practice.

hacksaw ridge rushing into danger

But wow, Doss definitely impresses in the end. After both sides on Hacksaw Ridge are being shelled by the US Navy, the US troops retreat, abandoning many injured men on top of the ridge. Doss stays behind and rescues his brothers in arms, carrying each to the edge of the ridge and lowering them down by rope one by one, all the while evading Japanese soldiers trying to kill him. How Doss lowered down more than two soldiers this way is beyond me. My forearms started aching just watching those scenes. Doss is a true hero. He’s a pacifist, but definitely not a coward. When everyone was running away, he was running into danger. Watching his story reminded me of the brave heroes who rushed towards the Boston Marathon bombing to save people as everyone else was scattering. It’s an inspiring story.

hacksaw ridge dragging body

Regarding my second point, I don’t see how anyone could watch this movie and walk away thinking war is a good idea. Hacksaw Ridge presents war in all its brutality and barbarism. I remember as a kid thinking that Blowtorch, the G.I. Joe with the flamethrower, was so cool. But good God, seeing a flamethrower in action in this movie really drives home what a disgusting weapon it is. I have a hard time thinking of more excruciating ways to die than being burnt alive after being sprayed with flaming gasoline. The flamethrower is brutal to the person using it as well. When the flamethrower soldier showed up on the battlefield in the movie with that gas tank strapped to his back, I knew it was only a matter of time before someone shot that backpack and he died in a flaming agony. Sure enough, his deaths is one of the hardest to watch in the film.

blowtorch

I don’t think that Hacksaw Ridge deserved a Best Picture Oscar nomination, but I do think it should be required viewing for all of our Congressmen and our President. Anyone who has the power to send the men and women serving in our country’s armed forces should be forced to sit through all the battle scenes in this movie, and without their Twitter devices in their hands to distract them.

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GI Joe: Retaliation – Review

5/5 – COBRAAAAAAAAAAAA!

When I first saw the trailer for GI Joe: Retaliation, with its ninjas swinging from mountaintops, I thought “Man, this looks awesome,” immediately followed by “Man, I bet this is going to suck.” It’s a lesson that has been beaten into me by the previous GI Joe movie, the Transformers franchise. There are enough cool looking action scenes to cobble together a trailer that makes me want to see what ends up being a tremendously awful movie.

Despite feeling that I really should know better, I still wanted to see GI Joe: Retaliation. I missed it in the theater, but I caught it on Blu-ray recently.

I wish I saw it in the theater. It’s awesome. If you were a fan of the GI Joe cartoon and comic from the 1980s, you will love this movie. It is so evocative of the cartoon that I half-expected to hear Cold Slither on the movie’s soundtrack.

Dear Michael Bay: GI Joe: Retaliation is how you make a movie based on a 1980s franchise and not be accused of ruining people’s childhoods.

The movie was awesome from the moment I popped the disc in. When it loads, you choose your side, GI Joe or Cobra. Depending on which side you choose, you’ll see different clips and graphics on the menu screens. I thought it was a cool touch. Also, Cobraaaaaaaaaa!

In the behind the scenes special features included on the Blu-ray, it’s made clear why this GI Joe movie is so much better than the previous one. The main reason is director Jon Chu. He’s such a fan of the 1980s franchise and it comes through in the film. He pays a lot of fan service, but it’s not hollow. He’s putting this stuff in there because he’s a fan himself. I’m really hoping Chu sticks around for the next movie. Also, the producers wanted to ground it more in reality. Gone are the crazy super soldier suits and sci-fi vehicles. There’s still some cool tech in this movie, like Roadblock’s click-in, click-out arsenal, but overall, the weapons and vehicles in this movie seem much more grounded in real world technology.

As a fan of the TV show Friday Night Lights, I was super-excited when I realized that Lady Jaye was played by Adrianne Palicki, aka Tyra Collette. Seeing her kick ass in GI Joe: Retaliation made me wish that her Wonder Woman pilot had been picked up.

Hey! Wasn’t Scarlet the red head?

After realizing that Tyra was Lady Jaye, it struck me that quite a few notable Dillon graduates have gone on to the military, as both Riggins and Landry were in Battleship.

If there’s any disappointment to be had with GI Joe: Retaliation, it’s the casting of Rza as The Blind Master. I haven’t seen acting this wooden since Hayden Christensen in Star Wars: Episode II. His line delivery was beyond comical. He sounds like a guy imitating a Kung Fu movie. On the one hand, in the behind the scenes special features, he clearly comes across as a true fan of the Joes, and must have been crazy excited to be part of this movie. He even notes that The Blind Master has only appeared in the comics, never on the cartoon, so he was the first to give voice to him. But that voice is terrible! It sounds like a 10-year old voicing Doctor Doom. I couldn’t help but laugh every time he was saying his lines. Seriously, it was ridiculous.

The coolest to come out of Rza’s casting as The Blind Master?
Rza action figure!

DO NOT PASS JINX IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS!

Remember the original Jinx action figure that had red nail polish so you knew she was a girl ninja?
 

When GI Joe: Retaliation was delayed, I heard it was because of Channing Tatum being a much bigger star now than he was when the first movie was released. The producers realized that Tatum was arguably now the biggest star in the movie, and was being killed off very early on. The delay, as I heard, came from them rewriting, shooting new scenes and editing the movie so that Tatum lived. But then when I watched the movie, fully expecting Tatum’s Duke to survive, he totally bit it. So what’s up? Anyone know the real reason the movie was delayed from the theater for so long?

Who ordered the stripping soldiers? Because here they are!

I was kind of bummed when Cobra Commander kicked Destro out of the band. Not cool CC.

When Roadblock and Firefly faced off against each other, I thought, “Wait, isn’t Roadblock supposed to be the one with the Cajun accent?” And then I thought, “Wait, what exactly is Firefly’s accent? Is that southern? Australian? South Australian?” I liked that in a special feature on the Blu-Ray, they addressed the mystery of Firefly’s odd accent.

If you were a fan of the GI Joe: A Real American Hero cartoon from the 1980s and like your action movies to be fun, I think you’ll enjoy GI Joe: Retaliation.

Yo Joe!
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SDCC 2013 – The Best Comic-Con Exclusives

When it comes to exclusive merch, Comic-Con in San Diego is second to none. Comic and toy companies go above and beyond at San Diego in ways they don’t for other shows. If you’re at Comic-Con right now, there’s a decent chance you’re reading this while standing on line for one of the items listed below.

G.I Joe Skystriker Vehicle with Jetfire Deco and V.A.M.P. with Autobot Hound Deco and 3.75 inch Snake Eyes, Baroness and Bludgeon Special Edition Pack – Hasbro – $99.99

This is the third G.I. Joe/Transformers mash-up that Hasbro has sold at San Diego, and man, they really went all out this year. Two vehicles. Three figures. One of which is Snake Eyes. And another that is Bludgeon! I applaud Hasbro for going super-hardcore and releasing a Bludgeon figure. Unless you were reading the tail end of the Transformers series put out by Marvel in the 1980s, he’s probably not someone you’d recognize. His figure is definitely not aimed at the casual fan. And who couldn’t use a Snake Eyes with Autobot deco on him? On top of all this, you also get a G.I.Joe scaled Blaster boombox for Snake Eyes to rock out to! If you’re not at Comic-Con, you’ll have a very tiny window to buy this and Hasbro’s other exclusives on Hasbro’s website after the show.

Star Wars The Black Series 6-Inch Boba Fett Action Figure with Han Solo in Carbonite Accessory – Hasbro – $44.99

This year, Hasbro is launching a new line of Star Wars action figures, The Black Series. These figures will measure 6 inches and be more detailed than the standard Star Wars action figure line. To kick the series off, they’re selling a Boba Fett and Han Solo in Carbonite two-pack at Comic-Con. I’m kind of obsessed with Han Solo frozen in Carbonite. I may need this.

Marvel Universe 3.75 inch Deadpool Corps Special Edition Figure Set – Hasbro – $49.99

Tuesday Night Movies has a certain affinity to merchandise dedicated to the Merc with a Mouth. This set includes Deadpool, Lady Deadpool, Champion dressed as Deadpool, Kidpool, Squirrelpool and Dogpool, all packaged in tacos shells in a food truck box. Hasbro, you win this year.

Marvel Minimates Deadpools Assemble Pack – Action Figure Express – $22.00

Cable-Pool! Captain Ameri-Pool! Thor-Pool! Iron Deadpool! Best Minimates set ever?

Game of Thrones: 7″ Stark Shield Wall Plaque – Dark Horse – $30.00

The Lanisters send their regards.

Hellboy Qee Comic-Con T-Shirt Vinyl Figure – Dark Horse – $20.00

This figure is super cute, and you can buy a matching t-shirt for yourself at the SDCC show store.

Aardman Superman Action Figure – DC – $24.95

You’ve been hitting that cookie box a little too much lately, Superman.

Batman ’66 #1 Variant Cover Comic – DC – $10.00

I wasn’t planning on featuring any variant covered comics here, mainly because they’re usually overpriced and lame, but this one was too cool not to show.

Batman Classic TV Series Batusi Batman – Mattel – $30.00

The 1960s Batman TV show is all over Comic-Con this year. Mattel wins the award for best tie-in with this toy that captures one of the most classic scenes from the series, Batman dancing.

The Big Bang Theory Sheldon with Vintage Batman T-Shirt 8-Inch Action Figure – Entertainment Earth – $25.00

Seriously, the ’60s Batman show is everywhere at Comic-Con 2013. Even Dr. Cooper is getting in on the act.

Masters of the Universe Classic Rokkon and Stonedar 2-Pack – Mattel – $60.00

I had the original Rokkon when I was a kid and he was one of my favorite action figures. They’re men who turn into meteors! How cool is that! I would snatch up this new set in a heartbeat!

Star Wars Wrath of the Rancor Christmas Ornament – Hallmark – $?


I’m very happy to report that Hallmark will be selling this ornament at NYCC this year too. I’m not sure on the price, but I’m guessing it’d be in the $30-$40 range.

Doctor Who River Song’s Deluxe Journal – Entertainment Earth – $60.00

Entertainment Earth has been selling a cardboard covered version of River Song’s journal for a while now. But this faux-leather, embossed version is where it’s at. I defy you to find a cooler looking diary.

Spider-Ham Mini-Bust – Gentle Giant – $45


Peter Porker finally gets his due. Limited to only 500. I expect these to sell out fast.

And now for some of the SDCC exclusives that have me scratching my head…

Man of Steel Variant Statue – DC – $129.95

I’m not really sure who this is aimed at. Goth Superman fans?

“Magnitude” Admiral Ackbar Mini-Bust – Gentle Giant – $175

Admiral Ackbar. With a mustache. WTF. But at the same time, I kind of love it.