"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.
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.