Line #5 WesternAnimation/GIJoeTheMovie


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/G_I__Joe_The_Movie_2314.jpg]]
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3	''G.I. Joe: The Movie'' (1987) was the first film to come out of the ''Franchise/GIJoe'' franchise. It is part of the continuity of the ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' cartoon, taking place after its second season. Originally planned as a theatrical release, but after ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie1986'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'' bombed at the box office, it was released DirectToVideo instead, and quickly added to the syndication package of the series (in both movie format and as a 5-part episode, the latter version featuring framing segments hosted by the live-action Sgt. Slaughter).
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5	The film, much like its ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' counterpart, expands on the story of the Joes-Cobra war, and the origin of Cobra is revealed to be tied in to a rather bizarre ancient civilization called "Cobra-La". Cobra-La's leader Golobulus has tired of Cobra Commander's constant failures and has decided to take matters into his own hands.
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7	It also '''''tried''''' to avert some of the tropes associated with the TV series such as NeverSayDie and NobodyCanDie. However, thanks to ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'' being released first and the negative backlash against Optimus Prime's death, the death of Duke had to be changed to a coma.
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9	For the first live-action film in the franchise, see ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra''.
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11	Now has character page, which is a W.I.P.
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13	----
14	!!Front and Center, Tropes:
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16	* AbusivePrecursors: The people of Cobra-La, who hate humanity for supplanting them.
17	* AdaptationSpeciesChange: After showing a clearly Caucasian skin tone every time Cobra Commander wore his hood, this movie retcons that the Commander was a snake person. [[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel The original comics]], as well as every other version since, has kept the Commander human.
18	* AlasPoorVillain: Cobra Commander when he gets his punishment.
19	* AllForNothing: Golobulus had spent over 4 thousand years to create the spores to turn humans on Earth into monsters. He escapes, thinking he's won and the spores will come to Earth; however, the Joes destroy the Spores and Cobra-La. Golobulus was killed in an avalanche. His plans failed and he did everything for nothing. His death in vain.
20	* AndThisIsFor: [[spoiler:Sergeant Slaughter, while fighting Nemesis Enforcer during the final battle, gives him blows on behalf of Gung-Ho, Alpine, Bazooka, Falcon, himself, Duke and the U.S.A. in general (all of which he had helped to critically endanger in some way).]]
21	* AnimationBump: The [[ActionHoggingOpening action-packed opening]], which apparently took up a good chunk of the budget. Also the "Barraks" during Serpentors rescue, and the Mauler only seen for a few seconds behind and to the left of Hawk's Snowcat when his strikeforce was in the tunnel entrance to Cobra-La.
22	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Most of the [[OrganicTechnology Organisms of Cobra-la]] violate the Square-cube law.
23	* AsHimself: [[DrillSergeantNasty Sergeant Slaughter]], played by WWE pro wrestling legend Wrestling/SgtSlaughter.
24	* BaitAndSwitchComment: The movie opens with Serpentor arguing with Cobra Commander over who is responsible for the endless string of failures. Cobra Commander, naturally, believes he has the support of all the Cobra leaders, and demands the others speak up for him.
25	-->'''Destro:''' Militarily speaking, it's only fair to say that Cobra Commander is a world-class... buffoon!\
26	'''Cobra Commander:''' [[BigWhat WHAT?]] Baroness! Dr. Mindbender! Brave Xamot and Tomax! You won't let Destro's treacherous assassination of my character go unchallenged, will you?!\
27	'''Dr. Mindbender:''' Certainly not! Destro forgot to mention your frequent displays... of cowardice.\
28	'''Cobra Commander:''' [[{{Angrish}} Uuugh!?!]]
29	* BadassInDistress: Most of the original Joes are this when [[PutOnABus captured by Cobra-La's "forest"]]. Those not on a rescue mission, or hospitalized, anyway.
30	* BigBad: Golobulus, revealed to be TheManBehindTheMan for Cobra Commander's biggest plan.
31	* BigDamnHeroes: Cobra attacks a celebration at the Art/StatueOfLiberty, only to then be confronted with almost every single Joe seen up to that point, with Duke taking Cobra Commander's bomb meant to destroy Lady Liberty along with the Joes and civilians and having it take out Cobra's command ship instead, ensuring Cobra's inevitable defeat.
32	-->'''Duke:''' [[PreAsskickingOneLiner Yo, Joe!]]\
33	'''Cobra Commander:''' [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere COBRA! RETREAT! RETREAT!!!!!]]
34	* BigNo: Duke yells this when [[spoiler:he stands up in front of Falcon and takes the spear meant for his half-brother]].
35	* BiotechIsBetter: The denizens of Cobra-La are the original dominant species of Earth and exclusively use biotech. Their technology and wildlife are constantly shown to overpower even the most advanced weaponry and vehicles the Joes have to fight back with. They even have a biotech equivalent of [=WMDs=] complete with rockets.
36	* BodyHorror:
37	** What was done to [[spoiler:Cobra Commander]], and it's just a demonstration of Cobra-La's intentions for the rest of the world.
38	** Golobulus as well, with his FleshGolem type body, [[spoiler:both halves]].
39	* BreakTheHaughty:
40	** Happens to Cobra Commander.
41	** Falcon's training with the Renegades.
42	** [[spoiler:And Duke's coma]].
43	* BridalCarry: Gone horribly, horribly wrong -- done with [[spoiler:a blinded Roadblock carrying a rapidly-mutating Cobra Commander.]]
44	* CameraAbuse: A Crimson Guardsmen smashes the lens of a news camera in the opening sequence.
45	* CharacterNarrator: When it was first rerun as a five-part mini-series during the afternoon slot, Sergeant Slaughter narrated the movie AsHimself.
46	* ChekhovsGun: Sgt. Slaughter's belt just after Falcon [[spoiler:overloads the B.E.T.]]
47	* ContinuitySnarl: During Serpentor's second raid, Hawk's jet squadron is attacked from behind, but because of behind the scenes technical difficulties, his line is "Bandits at 12 0'clock high, regroup!" instead.
48	* CoversAlwaysLie: Despite being one of the better-known characters in the G.I. Joe franchise, and one of the five characters on the poster seen above, placed left of new character Lt. Falcon, Lady Jaye gets few scenes, and only says three words throughout the whole film.
49	* CowardiceCallout: Dr. Mindbender casually calls Cobra Commander out on his "frequent displays of cowardice" among the many criticisms of his incompetent leadership.
50	* DemotedToExtra: Happens to most of the Season 1 and 2 Joes. Heck, even most of the Cobras.
51	* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:Pythona and Nemesis Enforcer both receive this when they fall into the Abyss of Oblivion, which just happens to be Golobulus's fault, inadvertently]].
52	* TheDragon: Nemesis Enforcer.
53	* DreamWeaver: In Season 2's "Arise, Serpentor, Arise", Mindbender had a dream that inspired him to create the Cobra Emperor. It turns out the dream was actually sent by Golobulus to further Cobra-La's agenda.
54	* DressHitsFloor: [[spoiler:Zarana]] does so with a disguise, but [[ExecutiveMeddling she had a swimsuit underneath]].
55	* DrillSergeantNasty: Two of them. First is Beachhead, for his obstacle course. Second is Sergeant Slaughter, even nastier than usual while training [[spoiler:Falcon]] with his Renegades.
56	* EnemyMine: Cobra Commander gets this with Roadblock after Golobulus punishes him.
57	* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Played with. Cover-Girl seemed to have grown her hair out again, which can be seen in the opening scene and the Cobra-La air raid.
58	* EyesDoNotBelongThere: Cobra Commander's true face is revealed... covered in about a dozen large, staring, inhuman eyes. It almost distracts from the fundamentally serpent-like look of his face, with scaly skin and lipless mouth. ''Almost''. The serpent-like look of his face was caused by his rapid mutation. His face was mostly human (other than the skin color) [[spoiler:in the flashback that shows him getting those extra eyes when a spore pod blew up in his face, said flashback also implying he may have even created them in the first place]].
59	* EyeScream:
60	** Roadblock is blinded during his escape from Cobra-La. Fortunately, with Cobra Commander's help, he later manages to find Flint's squad and they're able to treat him.
61	** In the climax, Falcon stabs [[spoiler:Golobulus]].
62	* FaceHugger: Pythona and Nemesis Enforcer use something like these. The former on a few Crimson Guards, and the latter on Sgt. Slaughter [[spoiler:when rescuing Falcon from Serpentor while infiltrating the Terror Drome during an "extra rough training exercise"]].
63	* FinaleMovie: Zigzagged. Due to being the last installment of ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' made before the Creator/DiCEntertainment continuation and consisting of the Joes having an epic battle with Cobra that results in Cobra Commander being put out of action for the time being, this movie can be considered the big finish to the Sunbow run of the series, even though it was made months before the second season would begin.
64	* FlirtatiousSmackOnTheAss: At one point, Lt. Falcon annoys Jinx by slapping her in the rear.
65	* ForcedTransformation: [[spoiler:Cobra Commander transforms gradually until he finally becomes a mindless snake and slithers away. (He gets restored in the subsequent cartoons.)]]
66	* FreezeFrameBonus: Three in the Terror Drome, first is Sgt. Slaughter's left eye in the air-vent, second is on a Tele-Viper's goggles, third is what looks like a S.N.A.K.E. robot seen just before Falcon is captured..
67	* HawaiianShirtedTourist: Chuckles, one of the new recruits, is usually wearing one (a shirt that is, not a tourist). He is also the Joe's best undercover operative. A frequently mentioned point is that most people would never imagine an undercover operative to stick out like a sore thumb as he does.
68	* HeelFaceTurn: Part of the backstory for Mercer, one of the Renegades. He was a Cobra Viper that -- as Slaughter said -- "seen the light." Whether he was ever in a past episode is never brought up, however.
69	* HellIsThatNoise: The Organisms of Cobra-La all made the sounds previously used for the giant tubeworms from the pilot mini-series of 1983, albeit modified with a lower pitch.
70	* {{Hypocrite}}: Cobra-La's hatred of humanity is due to their dependence on inorganic technology, which they see as anti-life and an abomination. Still, they have no problem stealing and using such a device, the B.E.T., to carry out their EvilPlan -- although Golobulus stated that he "must" have the machine, implying Cobra-La was unable, not unwilling, to make due without it.
71	* {{Irony}}: It can be debated who was the real hero of the movie, Lt. Falcon, or [[spoiler:Cobra Commander]].
72	* KangarooCourt: Cobra Commander's "trial" in Cobra-La for the "crime" of failure seems like little but an excuse for Golobulus to explain the reasons for the charge; after he's done being MrExposition he judges Commander guilty.
73	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Beachhead, when asking [[spoiler:the Rawhides where their sixth member, Falcon, is]], faces away from them.
74	* LimitedSoundEffects: Some of the screams and shouts in the movie were repeated.
75	* MadeOfIron: Roadblock [[spoiler:and Cobra Commander]] survive most of the movie walking in the Himalayas, with no sub-zero clothing. Particularly problematic for [[spoiler:Cobra Commander, as he's becoming a snake, and presumably cold-blooded]], although the latter was from a race with millennia of genetic knowledge, so he may have been warm-blooded.
76	* MacGuffin: The (B)roadcast (E)nergy (T)ransmitter, the human race can use it as a Tesla-esque mobile generator, [[spoiler:while Cobra-La wants it to incubate their orbiting spore pods]].
77	* MadnessMantra: Cobra Commander not only is the tropenamer for [[spoiler: WasOnceAMan]], but he repeats it incessantly.
78	* MerchandiseDriven: Much like ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'', this animated film introduces a bunch of new characters as a way of advertising new toys.
79	* MisplacedAccent: Almost. New character Law uses an Hispanic accent, and some words, despite having a French surname, but he is from Houston, Texas, which explains the confusion.
80	* MonumentalBattle: The opening sequence, of course. Originally meant to be used in the climax of a different plot, it was changed to the opener due to budget concerns.
81	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Nemesis Enforcer. The Slaughterhouse, Sgt. Slaughter's outpost.
82	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Falcon really does screw up - allowing a pretty civilian (later revealed to be Zarana) access to the detention area and later blowing off his guard duty to see Jinx. As a result, the Dreadnoks, Pythona, and Nemesis Enforcer are able to break Serpentor free, as well as injure Alpine, Bazooka and Gung-Ho. Also Roadblock and Quick-Kick for not waiting for rescue from H.Q., and for leading the other five into the "forest", respectively.
83	* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Invoked twice by Sgt. Slaughter, "Either we all go home, or ''nobody'' goes home!"
84	* OhCrap:
85	** Cross Country when "finding" Cobra at the test site.
86	** Serpentor just before "discovering" electricity.
87	** Gung-Ho, Bazooka, Alpine, [[spoiler:and Jinx later]] at Serpentor's cell block.
88	** [[spoiler:Roadblock's Joes when the second ambush starts.]]
89	** [[spoiler:Lady Jaye when the [[CombatTentacles vines]] come to life around the first five of her fellow escapee's, though she's only seen from behind, until she got caught as well.]]
90	** Roadblock [[SoleSurvivor when he can only watch.]]
91	** Serpentor when he goes from BigBad to [[DirtyCoward Cobra Commander level]], [[spoiler:shouting for Nemesis Enforcer when the Renegades start shooting at him]].
92	** Duke, Cover Girl, Crankcase, and Sci Fi [[spoiler:when Cobra La's airforce appears]].
93	** [[spoiler:Hawk and his strikeforce when they join [[CombatTentacles Roadblock's six]].]]
94	** [[spoiler:Serpentor a few times during the Joes raid in Cobra La.]]
95	** [[spoiler:Golobulus when Falcon shuts down the B.E.T.]]
96	** [[spoiler:Falcon, when Golobulus shows his near victory]].
97	* OneLiner: Not sure how many, but here's two. "At ease, disease!" from Sgt. Slaughter, and "I can see the whites of their beady little eyes!" from Hawk.
98	* OnlyAFleshWound: [[spoiler: Duke, as explained via a voiceover from Doc, despite getting the flesh wound ''directly through the center of his torso''. Duke ''was'' originally planned to die, but this was changed at the last minute after the highly negative response to [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie Optimus Prime's]] death.]]
99	* OrganicTechnology: Cobra-La's specialty, referred to as "Hypergenetic Manipulation" at one point. They view technology that doesn't incorporate living materials to be an outright abomination, and this is one of the primary reasons for their hatred of the outside world.
100	* PreMortemCatchphrase: When Duke is fatally stabbed by Serpentor, he says the G.I. Joe battle cry "Yo Joe" just before dying. However, before the film was released, the scene was re-edited to have Duke go into a coma and later pull out of it.
101	* PutOnABus: Basically done to everyone. First group is Roadblock, Quick Kick, Snake Eyes, Lady Jaye, Shipwreck, [[ThoseTwoGuys Dusty, and Snow Job]]. Second group is Flint, Lifeline, and Iceberg. Third is Bazooka, Gung-Ho, and Alpine. Fourth is Duke, and Doc. Fifth is every other original Joe and Slaughter's three recruits. For Cobra's side, Storm Shadow, Major Bludd, Firefly, Copperhead, and Scrap Iron.
102	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Cobra Commander gets this from his own group berating him for Cobra's numerous failures. [[VillainousBreakdown He does]] [[CantTakeCriticism not take]] [[NeverMyFault this well.]]
103	* RelatedInTheAdaptation: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]]: Lt. Falcon was originally conceived for the movie as a relative of an established Joe (he was originally supposed to be Hawk's son, but Hasbro suggested he be Duke's half-brother), but on his filecard and in the Marvel comics, Falcon had no familial connection to the other Joes.
104	* RentAZilla: Serpentor orders several snake/slug-like ones called Barabers during his second and more successful raid to steal the B.E.T. from G.I. Joe, later using a moth-like one to fly away after putting Duke in his "coma". Golobulus wakes a lot more up in defense of his palace during the climax.
105	* TheReveal: Duke announces to General Hawk and some others [[spoiler:during Falcon's preliminary hearing, to Falcon's chagrin, that the two are half-brothers, and later to the latter's fellow rawhides that they have the same mother]].
106	* ShoutOut: Buzz Dixon says that the fight scene between [[spoiler:Jinx and Pythona]] was based on one from a soap opera called ''Series/FalconCrest''.
107	* SmallStepsHero: Sergeant Slaughter (and many other Joes) will not hesitate to risk their own lives or the entire unit to save their comrades or an innocent.
108	* SnakePeople: Most residents of Cobra-La are greyish, scaly, snake-like beings, but mostly the somehow Caucasian Golobulus, though we don't see his lower half until Falcon confronts him.
109	* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler:Duke, though he takes the spear intended for his own half-brother.]]
110	* ToylessToylineCharacter: Big Lob and Pythona, though the former finally got a toy in 2010. [[note]] As of 2016, this has been averted with Pythona as well, as a figure of her was released via the GI Joe Collector's Club. [[/note]]
111	* UnanthropomorphicTransformation: Cobra Commander is revealed to be, not a human, but a snake person indigenous to Cobra-La. As punishment for his repeated failure to conquer the human world, he's forcibly exposed to a fungus that slowly transforms him from humanoid snake into a normal, albeit large, normal snake. He gets better during the DIC series, though.
112	* UnexplainedRecovery: Duke gets better from his "coma" at the end of the movie, through the amazing power of [[ExecutiveMeddling adding Doc's voice (coming from somewhere non-specific) saying as much over the final scene.]]
113	* VillainExitStageLeft: [[spoiler:When Falcon shuts down the B.E.T., Golobulus escapes after telling G.I. Joe that they have lost]].
114	* VillainousBreakdown: Long before his mutation, Cobra Commander goes through one of these when his lieutenants insult him and call him "Cobra's curse":
115	-->'''Cobra Commander:''' UNSUBSTANTIATED FANTASY! LIES! ''LIES''! '''''LIIIIIIIIIES!!!'''''
116	* TheVoiceless: Nemesis Enforcer doesn't speak, though he does grunt and yell.
117	* WasOnceAMan: This animated movie is the {{Trope Namer\|s}}, with Cobra Commander repeatedly hollering that he was once a man after he becomes a mutant snake monster, though [[spoiler:Cobra Commander's backstory]] from earlier in the film says otherwise, so it's more like "Was Once a Humanoid Being".
118	* WhamLine: Three.
119	** First is from Duke at Falcon's preliminary hearing, "[[spoiler:Falcon is my half-brother.]]"
120	** Second is from Roadblock to Hawk, "[[spoiler:Some kinda weird tree, man! Where those leaves grow, you can't survive, that giant plant eats Joes alive!]]"
121	** Third is from Flint to the [[spoiler:Rawhides, "Look at Cobra Commander. Those orbiting pods contain degenerative spores, and if the B.E.T. isn't shut down, the pods will open and release enough spores to mutate every man, woman, and child on earth!"]]
122	* YouHaveFailedMe: Golobulus has Nemesis Enforcer expose Cobra Commander to the mutagen he created after one too many failures.

Context WesternAnimation / GIJoeTheMovie