Based on Hasbro’s popular toy line and adapted from the G.I. Joe comics from Marvel, the G.I. Joe franchise has been an American icon for over sixty years. The movies have a star-studded cast with big names like Dwayne ‘The Rock Johnson, Bruce Willis, and even Channing Tatum.
In the movie, we follow Duke, a regular American soldier who joins a squad of super soldiers, the G.I. Joe, as they take down a huge evil trying to throw the world into chaos. As the Joes defeat one evil, another takes root in the US government’s highest position. Will the Joes realize that the orders they are following are coming from a corrupted source?
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With the producers confirming another G.I. Joe movie, there couldn’t be a better time to get into the G.I. Joe franchise. This article will provide all the information you could require before getting into this action-packed franchise.
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All G.I. Joe Movies in Release Order
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G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Streaming On: Disney+
Director: Stephen Sommer
Writers: Stuart Beattie, David Elliot, Paul Lovett
Stars: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christopher Eccleston, Jonathan Pryce, Lee Byung-hun, Sienna Miller, Saïd Taghmaoui, Marlon Wayans, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rachel Nichols, Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid
Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Starting the franchise with a bang, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra establishes the action-packed world of these movies. In the movie, we follow Duke, an American soldier who is ambushed during the escort of 4 warheads that can cause massive destruction. When on the back foot, Duek is saved by four super soldiers named the G.I. Joes.
Escorting 4 warheads containing metal-eating termites to NATO, Duke, and Ripcord are ambushed by the Baroness, Duke’s ex-fiancee. Scarlett, Snake Eyes, Breaker, and Heavy Duty save Duke and Ripcord. The four take Duke and Ripcord to G.I. Joe’s headquarters, where their leader General Hawk, locks the Warheads away.
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The creator of the termites, McCullen, is revealed to be using the same technology to build an army and cause chaos. He sends Storm Shadow and the Baroness to retrieve the Warheads.
The duo successfully steals the warheads and heads to Paris with the Joes in pursuit. The duo launches a missile that crumbles the Eiffel Tower before Duke retrieves the Killswitch. The duo captures Duke and goes back to McCullen.
After a tough fight, Joe finds Duke’s location and destroys the warheads before they are launched. Snake Eye defeats Storm Shadow in a duel, while Duke realizes the mastermind is Dr. Mindbender, who controls the Baroness.
The Baroness, brother Rex and McCullen initiate a self-destruct sequence and successfully escape but are later captured. Rex becomes the commander, while McCullen is named Destro. McCullen’s assistant, Zartan, uses the Termite-Nanobots to invade the White House as the U.S. president.
The over-the-top action, the cast chemistry, and the gripping story all combined result in a fun-to-watch action flick. The movie is set as a grand plot and flows perfectly into the next entry in the franchise.
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G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Streaming On: Disney+
Director: Jon M. Chu
Writers: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Arnold Vosloo, Leo Howard, Jonathan Pryce, Lee Byung-hun, D. J. Cotrona, Channing Tatum, Ray Park, Walton Goggins, Elodie Yung, Ray Stevenson, Adrianne Palicki, Joseph Mazzello
Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Continuing the story from the previous movie, G.I. Joe: Retaliation takes the stakes to the next level. When Zartan successfully assassinated a major chunk of the G.I. Joes, he decided to cause chaos in the world. The three surviving Joes, helped by General Colton, reveal the President’s true intentions.
Leading the Joe’s, Duke and his team are tasked to retrieve a warhead from Pakistan after their President dies. Still impersonating the U.S. president, Zartan calls an airstrike that kills the Joes. Roadblock, Lady Jaye and Flint survive and contact General Colton, who provides them with guns.
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After Strom Shadow rescues Cobra Commander from a secret facility, he gets heavily injured and retreats to the Himalayas. Snake Eyes with his apprentice Jinx are sent to capture Storm Shadow.
When the President replaces the Joes with the Cobras, Jaye deduces that someone is impersonating the President. At a presidential conference, Jaye acquires the President’s DNA and confirms that he is Zartan.
Snake Eyes successfully captures Storm Shadow, who reveals that it wasn’t him who killed his master. He proves this by showing that his sword replicates their master after telling that Zartan killed their master, the Jinx and Snake Eye team up with Storm Shadow to defeat Zartan.
At a Leaders meet, Zartan blackmails everyone into disabling their Neuclaer arsenal and then reveals a weapon to destroy the earth. Storm Shadow betrays and kills Zartan’s guards, while General Colton kills Zartan. Roadblock stops Zartan’s men from launching the weapon and destroys it.
The movie ends with the Joe’s being addressed and commemorated while they mourn the fallen.
Wrapping up the plot point set up by the previous movie, G.I. Joe: Retaliation successfully pays off on the first movie’s success. The action feels fast-paced, and the attention-grabbing story compliments it very well.
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Snake Eyes
Streaming On: Netflix
Director: Robert Schwentke
Writers: Joe Shrapnel, Anna Waterhouse, Evan Spiliotopoulos
Stars: Henry Golding, Andrew Koji, Úrsula Corberó, Haruka Abe, James Hiroyuki Liao, Steven Allerick, Samara Weaving, Iko Uwais, Peter Mensah, Eri Ishida, Samuel Finzi, Takehiro Hira, Mojo Rawley
Genres: Action, Adventure, Crime, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Releasing over 7 years after the last movie, Snake Eyes provides the viewers with the backstory of the most popular G.I. Joe member. In it, we follow a young boy whose father sacrifices himself to let him live. How far will the boy go when the Yakuza offers the boy a chance for revenge?
A boy on the run is discovered and taken in by the Yakuza Boss Kenta named Snake Eyes. Kenta tasks Snake Eyes with killing his cousin Tommy, who is in the line of succession, but Snake Eyes lets him escape.
Kenta is banished, and Tommy thanks Snake Eyes and introduces him to their family Dojo. Snake Eyes will have to pass through three tests to prove his worth. First, Snake Eyes take with retrieving a bowl of water from the Hard Master. Realizing they are testing humility, he asks for the bowl and passes.
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Unbeknownst to the clan, Kenta tasked Snak Eyes with winning the trust of Tommy and retrieving the “Jewel of the Sun.” During a raid of Kenta’s gang, Snake Eyes discovers that Kenta has joined the Cobras and allied with the Baroness.
Snake Eyes confronts Kenta about this, but the Baroness says that stealing the Jewel is the only way to avenge his father. For his second test, Snake Eyes bonds with the Blind Master over a vision of the father.
Snake Eyes fails the last test as he is distrusted by the clan’s ancient anacondas, who can sense ulterior motives. Snake Eyes is banished but returns at night and steals the Jewels.
After delivering the Jewel to Kenta, Snake Eyes has a change of heart and return to warn Tommy that Kenta is about to attack using the stone.
After attacking, Kenta successfully captures Sen, the clan leader. When Kenta refuses to hand the Jewel over, the Baroness betrays him. Tommy acquires the Jewel and tries to kill Kenta, but he escapes. Snake Eyes captures Kenta in the anaconda pit, where he is devoured.
Sen banishes Tommy for using the stone, and Tommy swears vengeance on Snake Eyes. Snake Eyes is informed that his father was part of the G.I. Joes and received an invitation. Tommy allies with the Baroness, taking up the name ‘Storm Shadow.’
Providing its users with the serene back story of their most popular character Snake Eyes, the movie delivers perfectly on the premise and hype behind the film. The story helps its viewers understand Snake Eyes’ intentions and motivations throughout the franchise.
G.I. Joe Movies in Chronological Order
In release order, the events of the first two movies take place before the event of last which might cause some confusion among first-time watchers, so here are all the G.I. Joe movies in their Chronological order:
- Snake Eyes
- G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
- G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Conclusion
Now you are ready to jump right into this over-the-top jampacked action franchise. The movies and brimming with talent and well-choreographed action sequences. While some of the characters maintain a sense of reality, the superpowers help raise the stakes.
With a sequel on the horizon, the G.I. Joe franchise might be the right pick if you are looking for a movie franchise overflowing with adrenaline and action sequences.
G.I. Joe Movies According To IMDb Ratings
- G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra – 5.7 By 212K Votes
- G.I. Joe: Retaliation – 5.7 By 184K Votes
- Snake Eyes – 5.4 By 42K Votes
G.I. Movies According To Box Office Collection
- G.I. Joe: Retaliation – $375.7 Million
- G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra – $302.5 Million
- Snake Eyes – $40 Million
FAQs
Yes. There are a total of 3 G.I. Joe movies: G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and Snake Eyes. One more G.I. Joe has been confirmed and named G.I. Joe: Ever Vigilant.
Yes. The title for the next G.I. Movie was confirmed to be ‘G.I. Joe: Ever Vigilant’ in 2018. Due to the pandemic, the original release date has been delayed, and no confirmation for a new release date has been provided.
Marvel. The G.I. Joe movies are loosely based on Joe: A Real American Hero and G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, which ran from 1982 to 1994 in Marvel comics.
The G.I. in G.I. Joe stands for Galvanised Iron, the raw material used to make military weapons. Since the release of the comics, many revisions have been made to the name, like ‘Government Issue’ and ‘Ground Infantry.’
