ROTTEN TOMATOES: Someone REALLY Hates the New "G.I. Joe" Screenplay Comments

Someone REALLY Hates the New "G.I. Joe" Screenplay

by Scott Weinberg | May 23, 2007

Summary

Apparently Paramount and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura commissioned a "G.I. Joe" script from "Swordfish" screenwriter Skip Woods -- and someone out there is really furious about it. Back to Article

(1-51 of 51 posts) | Reply

Illusionator writes:
on May 23 2007 01:03 AM

f*ck that.

(Reply to this)

DirectorG13 writes:
on May 23 2007 01:08 AM

No way... I swear to god they gave this an A... Something is mixed up here unless they are grading a new draft of the screenplay. AWE see....

They gave an earlier draft an A- (Almost Perfect)... WOW it must've undergone drastic changes for them to just do a 180 like that.

(Reply to this)

Matanuki writes:
on May 23 2007 05:05 AM

And here I thought the focus was a Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow origin story. I guess they're keeping with the tradition of throwing out good ideas for crappy ones.

(Reply to this)

frogleg writes:
on May 23 2007 05:42 AM

In reply to this comment (#866492)
You mean 180?

(Reply to this)

PrecentorEpsilonXVI writes:
on May 23 2007 06:13 AM

In reply to this comment (#866494)
Apparently the script was so bad, they traversed the 4th dimension in turning their review around.

(Reply to this)

lpbreeze writes:
on May 23 2007 06:28 AM

wait why am I commenting. I'm not going to see this movie. Then again I did watch Snakes on a Plane. But I didnt rent it

(Reply to this)

StupidSmurf writes:
on May 23 2007 08:06 AM

If any character in the cast yells out "Porkchop sandwiches!" I am SOOOO there!

(Reply to this)

zgberg writes:
on May 23 2007 08:12 AM

Swordfish...wasn't that on the worst movies list? It was one of the worst movies I've ever seen imho.

(Reply to this)

Prosper761 writes:
on May 23 2007 09:24 AM

[b]What?[/b]
Someone is actually making a GI Joe movie? Shouldn't this be like one of those direct-to-DVD, CGI Barbie movies? Hollywood execs never stop reminding me how much I hate them...

(Reply to this)

ManofStee1 writes:
on May 23 2007 10:32 AM

Why is it that a website called "Latino Review" can get access to scripts and things of that sort that no one else can? Sounds like bs to me.

And on a slightly unrelated note, that site gave 28 Weeks a C- and Kickin' It Old School a B? The hell?

(Reply to this)

kenporules writes:
on May 23 2007 11:33 AM

http://www.fenslerfilm.com/PSAS.htm

That is the only GI-Joe that matters.

(Reply to this)

wilkiedriver writes:
on May 23 2007 11:58 AM

In reply to this comment (#866500)
I don't know, they've been doing it for years. Maybe some hard-core LR fan can tell us why?

(Reply to this)

Merlin235 writes:
on May 23 2007 12:41 PM

Are there really enough hardcore G.I. Joe fans out there that if the movie didn't follow the storyline of the cartoon, there'd be a big deal? I mean, there are a lot of Batman/Superman/Spiderman/X-Men fans out there that are passionate, but G.I. Joe fans? I'm just curious.....

(Reply to this)

Mr. Kong writes:
on May 23 2007 12:49 PM

In reply to this comment (#866500)
That's just wrong.

(Reply to this)

7pointedstar writes:
on May 23 2007 01:19 PM

In reply to this comment (#866503)
Yeah, there are. I'm not really one of them, but I know a LOT of people who are. And something like this would make them homicidal. I don't follow anything G.I. Joe, but I know enough about the story and the characters to know that this script is complete and utter sh*t.

(Reply to this)

LEGENDc writes:
on May 23 2007 01:37 PM

GI JOE could be awesome if done right. I have been hoping they would do one for years now only cause I want to see live action characters of them all.

(Reply to this)

carrierj1 writes:
on May 23 2007 02:07 PM

In reply to this comment (#866500)
[b]Why Not?[/b]
It does seem a little strange until you think about the racist attitude you're taking. You're asking yourself how can latinos get good scoops. This isn't the first time it's happened. Latino Review does it quite regularly.

(Reply to this)

Paul_Is_Drunk writes:
on May 23 2007 02:37 PM

It's not racist, it's a legitimate question. Just because race is involved doesn't necessarily make all criticizms directed towards them automatically racist. In fact, I'd say being that reactionary on race probably makes you a racist, because the first thing you think about is race.

(Reply to this)

wazzat writes:
on May 23 2007 02:43 PM

I stopped reading at "Swordfish".

(Reply to this)

Bear45 writes:
on May 23 2007 02:55 PM

In reply to this comment (#866508)
Yeah, yeah... whatever. You're a drunk, Paul...

(Reply to this)

FILMCZY writes:
on May 23 2007 03:32 PM

In reply to this comment (#866498)
"Swordfish...wasn't that on the worst movies list? It was one of the worst movies I've ever seen imho."

Except for Halle's hooters...and what's not to like there?

(Reply to this)

carrierj1 writes:
on May 23 2007 03:41 PM

In reply to this comment (#866508)
[b]Dumb Reaction[/b]
I love how whenever someone says something about racism the first reaction is that they're a racist. That's just dumb. It's just an easy way to avoid a question. So let me see, Martin Luther King Jr. was a racist because his fight was against racism. Same thing for nelson mandella. Shut that dumb bullshit up. So tell me, if race is not the issue, then why do you think that the Latino Review website would not be able to get the scoop on the GI Joe script, especially when they've already reviewed one script for it?

(Reply to this)

BillyPhantom writes:
on May 23 2007 05:01 PM

In reply to this comment (#866513)
because it's a silly name that doesn't generate credibility at face value. If the website in reference was called "Caucasian Gazette" it would get the same response. Remember, you were the first person to play the race card as a reaction to his statement. He never claimed race as a reason for his statement, so it's pretty touchy and reactionary to put words into his mouth(I understand he never really spoke a word).

I thought the same thing when I saw the name of the quoted source. Simply cause i've never heard of the site, and at face value it doesn't have the name of a credible movie source. Race has nothing to do with it.

(Reply to this)

carrierj1 writes:
on May 23 2007 06:50 PM

In reply to this comment (#866514)
[b]Oh God. . .[/b]
So I guess "Rotten Tomatoes" just screams credibility just like "CHUD" or "Ain't it Cool News". The reason why I believe race is a factor in his judgment over the credibility of the website is because "Latino Review" consists of two words. I don't think that the word "review" sparked his judgement. I don't think that if the website was called Omega.com or Akuputu.com or any other random name I can come up with that he would automatically assume that the website was bullshit.

(Reply to this)

BillyPhantom writes:
on May 23 2007 07:42 PM

In reply to this comment (#866515)
So your making an assumption of his assumption, that's a great way to build an argument. Any way you shake it, you put words in his mouth that he did not say. You really don't know anything for sure at all, so why scream racism at the drop of a hat. Far too much of that goes on.

(Reply to this)

carrierj1 writes:
on May 23 2007 08:41 PM

In reply to this comment (#866516)
[b]No, no, no. . .[/b]
This is his quote, "Why is it that a website called "Latino Review" can get access to scripts and things of that sort that no one else can? Sounds like bs to me."

That quote implies that a website called "Latino Review" isn't credible based on the website's name. Since "Review" is a pretty generic word I believe his problem was with the "Latino" part. What he is saying is that it's safe to say that a movie website that advertises that it is ran by Latinos in it's website name can't have the power to have its own scoops. If it went by a name like "guark.com" I don't believe he would have been so quick to judge the website's scoop power. A quick visit to LatinoReview.com would show that it is a very reliable source of movie information.

Insensitivity is a much bigger problem than starting discussions on possible racism. America pretends that it is not a racist country. It only appears that way if you aren't a minority. That's why minorities' views on racism in America are much different than the majorities' views. However, whenever a discussion does arise, oftentimes the minorities complaints are just brushed off as pulling the race card or screaming racism.

Have you ever thought that there are so many complaints about racism for a reason or are the complainers just delusional?

(Reply to this)

Sputnik99 writes:
on May 23 2007 09:01 PM

[b]Back to G.I. Joe...[/b]
If they want a good script, I've written a few fanfics of G.I. Joe. They can call me anytime if they want to make scripts out of them.

G.I. Joe is a lot more than a toy. Don't underestimate how powerful a Joe story can become. Larry Hama taught me that. Indirectly.

Yes, I love G.I. Joe. Too much.

(Reply to this)

Hans Gruber writes:
on May 23 2007 09:48 PM

In reply to this comment (#866518)
I agree, it's definitely more than a toy to a lot of people. Some of that also has to do with the fact that every G.I. Joe toy that was released back in the day came with his/her own file card, which were often times surprisingly detailed in their descriptions of the characters personality and history. It wasn't exactly high-brow reading, but they did seem to be geared towards kids with seventh-grade reading comprehension skills, rather than the children that the toys were meant for. You couple that with a child's overactive imagination and ability to fill in the blanks, and you ended up with characters that felt much more fleshed out and real than any other toy-line or cartoon based toys.
I'm in my late twenties, and when I was younger I didn't know of any boys my age that didn't have huge collections of these toys. I'm gonna guess that there is a significant demand out there for a G.I. Joe movie done the right way. Nobody under 50 cares about the original barbie-doll sized Joes as far as story is concerned, so they better stick to the 80's interpretation.

(Reply to this)

Erroneous! writes:
on May 23 2007 10:25 PM

carrierj1...implied racism? Stop being a sensitive Sally. Latino Review is something none of us have heard of. It was a legit question and I'd suggest you learn to deal with these little perceived offenses better, because you can't fall on every word and take offense to every little thing someone says or does. Now I think we all can agree a GI Joe movie's just about as good an idea as the new He-Man movie, and that aint so good.

(Reply to this)

BillyPhantom writes:
on May 23 2007 10:45 PM

In reply to this comment (#866517)
What's happening, is you're taking a generic statement and turning it into something it may not have been. I say may not because I don't know what his true intentions were with saying that, and neither do you--but you took it upon yourself to make the statement mean what you wanted it to mean. I have no idea if the dude is racist or not, I don't really care, so I interpret what he said in a generic way as there is no way to tell. For all you know he's never heard of the site before and thinks it's bogus because he hasn't. Hell, to use one of your own examples, I would never think of Rotten Tomatoes as being a credible movie site before actually visiting it. So basically his only fault at the moment is not checking up on a source before calling it bogus; a far cry from racism. I understand racism is a problem in this country, most definitetly, but being overly sensitive about the subject can perpetuate it as well.

If he would have said, "Why is it that some spic website can get access to scripts and things of that sort that no one else can? Sounds like bs to me." THAT would be a racist statement as he is deliberatly bringing up a hurtful racial slur, and i'd be the first to call him a douche bag for it. But as it is, you don't know his intentions so in my eyes it's pretty weak sauce to vilify the dude before you even know why he said what he said. You are the one implying racism, simply quoting the name of the source is not racist at all in and of itself. If this were IRL where we could see facial emotion and gestures we very well could have a better idea of the statements intent, but as it is... it's a comment board, so intent is made up in the mind of the reader.

Anywho, this is WAY off subject and I don't want to derail this commentary too much, so this is the last I'm gonna say on it.

(Reply to this)

Bear45 writes:
on May 24 2007 08:14 AM

In reply to this comment (#866521)
All your respnoses have an ignorant vibe. I've gotta agree with carrierj on this one.
Face it, the dude that made the comment in the first place WAS calling the news bs simply because it came from LATINOreview. And you know you KNOW it.

(Reply to this)

taran72 writes:
on May 24 2007 09:34 AM

[b]Wait wait wait...[/b]
I agree with Billy Phantom, and YES I'm putting in my two cents. LatinoReview sounds like a cheesy site - sorry, it does. If it was "MexicanMovieGuy", "FrenchFlickFan", or "OneArmedCinemaFreak" we'd feel the same way. It has nothing to do with the LATINO. How can you not understand this? How can text have an "ignorant vibe"?

Yes, we can all agree that a G.I. Joe live-action movie, no matter WHO does the script, is going to suck. If it gets turned into some pro-American, patriotic statement, it will be a laughingstock.

(Reply to this)

EmmG389 writes:
on May 24 2007 11:50 AM

CarrieJ belongs in the KKK. She is a huge racist and was under suspicion lynching people of the opposite race.

(Reply to this)

PrecentorEpsilonXVI writes:
on May 24 2007 11:53 AM

There was a pretty nifty "what are the Joes doing now?" comic that came out a while back, where the series was a bit darker, the Cobras were still the same, but more "realistic" (basically, the writers made it so that these people could actually function in the real world!). I think a little more realism, but the same cool toys, the same characters with the same backgrounds and personalities (timelined or tweaked up to fit present day cultural preferences, of course), and the same general character conflicts would be pretty entertaining.

(Reply to this)

jaqu7 writes:
on May 24 2007 11:58 AM

In reply to this comment (#866517)
[b]I complete agree[/b]
People in the US have this idea that racism is a thing of the past, which is nonsense. It is not at all unreasonable to call someone out for saying something that could easily be understood as racist. If they meant something else by their comment, then let them say so. But if someone says something like, "Guys in the NBA are all thugs," and doesn't clarify why they said that or what they meant by it, it is completely reasonable that someone else calls them out on their statement, because odds are, it was a racist comment.

(Reply to this)

jaqu7 writes:
on May 24 2007 12:03 PM

In reply to this comment (#866523)
[b]Disagree[/b]
If someone said, "Why should we trust a name that has "Mexican" in the title?" that would be racist as well. Pretending that racism isn't a real issue doesn't help. Being honest and admitting that our culture still has a lot of ugly racism in it is the right approach. And calling people out for racists statements is a good start.

(Reply to this)

jaqu7 writes:
on May 24 2007 12:41 PM

In reply to this comment (#866524)
I get that you were trying to be witty or whatever, but that was a really dumb and childish thing to say. But I'm assuming you're about 14, so hopefully there is still time for you.

(Reply to this)

jaqu7 writes:
on May 24 2007 12:45 PM

In reply to this comment (#866520)
[b]Implied racism[/b]
Yes, implied racism, like when Don Imus called the Rutger's womens team 'nappy headed hoes,' his racism was IMPLIED because human communication allows us to understand when someone is disrespecting someone else without them explicitly saying something like, "black people aren't very smart," for example.

(Reply to this)

Mr. Kong writes:
on May 24 2007 01:08 PM

I never really thought a G.I. Joe script could be good, but I never thought somebody would hate it THIS much.

(Reply to this)

Paul_Is_Drunk writes:
on May 24 2007 05:00 PM

Let me guess Jaqu7,

...you're the type of guy that brags he isn't a racist because you can name all the minorities you are friends with or have slept with. Latino Review is a tiny, relatively unknown organization. Them getting the scoop is unusual, in the same way that say the Green Peace Times were to get the scoop. If we were amazed they got the scoop, I'd guess we'd all be anti-environment too, huh?

Oh, and good job on trying to claim someone else is underage. Usually the first vestige of someone who has legitamitely run out of ways to defend their point.

(Reply to this)

jaqu7 writes:
on May 25 2007 09:31 AM

In reply to this comment (#866531)
I think all people are racist to a degree Paul, myself definitely included. But it is really strange that you would infer from my comments that I go around bragging about "minorities that I have slept with"? What's that about? You're also assuming I'm white, I take it?

People should strive against racism both internal racism and external, not pretend that they are above it. It's not always wrong to assume things if people give you a reason to do so. It makes sense to assume that a comment that sounds racists IS racist, just like it makes sense to assume that if someone is saying something childish they might actually be a child.

(Reply to this)

Trogdor7899 writes:
on May 25 2007 11:17 AM

[b]So...[/b]
If there was an actual live-action G.I. Joe movie...which would you prefer to have as the main antagonist:

Cobra Commander

Or

Serpentor?

(Reply to this)

nonPC writes:
on May 25 2007 11:56 AM

It's impossible to be racist against LATINOS due to the fact that "latinos" aren't a race.There are white latinos,black latinos,mixed latinos,asian latinos,etc.
You also can't be racist towards Mexicans cause Mexicans are just citizens of Mexico.There are white Mexicans,black mexicans,indian Mexicans,etc.
Oh, by the way, the French are also Latinos.
So you LIBS go back to your PC classes and tell your professor he's wrong!!!!

(Reply to this)

Sputnik99 writes:
on May 25 2007 12:19 PM

In reply to this comment (#866533)
Cobra Commander. 100%.
I never had much of a liking towards Serpentor. Too far-fetched of a concept. He'd be great against, say, the Thundercats, but not G.I. Joe. The Joes need a level of realism, and I don't judge by the cartoon show. The movie should follow the world of the comic books. Much better format and more realistic.
But whoever they fight, Destro has to be there. He is way too awesome to just ignore. Zartan would be fun to see on screen, too.

Racism debaters, start another thread. Get off this G.I. Joe one.

(Reply to this)

michaeljbyrd writes:
on May 26 2007 05:36 AM

In reply to this comment (#866507)
I don't think he brought race into it. They called their site Latino Review. Does that mean it is off limits to question because they put a racial classification in the name of the website?
But, they have been accurate on there script reviews before. Not every time, but I venture to say about 60% of the time.

(Reply to this)

RandomVirus writes:
on May 29 2007 06:37 AM

How did we go from talking about Hollywood raping another franchise to a racial discussion?

(Reply to this)

Paul_Is_Drunk writes:
on May 30 2007 03:48 PM

For the record I'm a liberal, and I'm one of the people saying the original comment was not racist. Way to see the world in Black and White there nonPC. Also, in case it has to be spelled out (which I'm guessing it is), I mean Black and White as a mutually exclusive dichotomy, not in racist terms.

I am simply trying to say that people who see someone who is latino and think "oh no, a latino!" are just as racist as people who think "a latino, be extra nice and sensitive!" People who are less racist, and we all are to a degree because of the evolutionary adaptive trait of prototyping, would simply see a latino and think "hey, some dude."

I had the very same thought when I saw that Latino Review got the exclusive, and it had nothing to do with the ethnological descriptor in the title but rather the fact that it was a relatively unkown organization.

Also, boobies.

(Reply to this)

jaqu7 writes:
on May 30 2007 05:05 PM

Interesting point Paul. Well, your main point anyway. Less so about the boobies.

(Reply to this)

nonPC writes:
on May 30 2007 06:44 PM

In reply to this comment (#866538)
Again,you can't be racist against latinos because they aren't a race...do I have to spell that out to you!!!

(Reply to this)

nonPC writes:
on May 30 2007 06:49 PM

In reply to this comment (#866538)
oh yeah and how do you in your words "see a latino" ? I'd like to know since I'm a Latino.

(Reply to this)

Related Links

Lorenzo Di Bonaventura

Related Articles

Most Discussed

Latest News

Latest Interviews

Latest Features

Sponsored Links