thedrifter
08-08-09, 07:18 AM
Real G.I.s catch and review "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra"
BY Ethan Sacks
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Saturday, August 8th 2009, 4:00 AM
The Daily News enlisted a rag tag unit of real G.I. Joes to parachute into a midnight screening of “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra,” and review it when it opened on Friday.
Armed with only sarcasm and a love for the ’80s toys the movie — starring Dennis Quaid and Sienna Miller — is based on, three veteran grunts and two former Marines sounded off:
Don Gomez, 27, former infantryman who served two tours in Iraq, current student at City College
“I thought the movie was fun, and it would have been more fun if I was 13. I enjoyed it for the action. I came into it not expecting a deep, moving experience, and I got that. It was a two-hour cartoon.”
Ben Feibleman, 25, a Marine from 2001-2006, now a student at Columbia University
“In ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ they said some of the WWII vets had serious problems because they were crying in the theater. It was kind of like that for me, because every time I saw somebody going through submarine pilot training, it brought me back to my submarine pilot and space ship fighting training. And every time I saw a ninja throwing star, it really took me back to Iraq and everything we had to deal with there.”
Brian Laguardia, 35, native New Yorker who served in Army Infantry from 1998-2006, now a graduate student at NYU
“It was more ‘Teenage Ninja Turtles’ than it was ‘Hurt Locker.’ But we enjoyed it. For a movie that I think was so poorly acted, so unrealistic, so little character development, it was also a lot of explosions, a lot of fight scenes, a lot of things that couldn’t happen — and that was fun.”
Bryan Adams, 26, former Army sniper and Purple Heart veteran who served in Iraq, now a student at Rutgers University
“The action kind of matched up with the cartoon from what I remember. Obviously it was very unrealistic as a veteran. I’m a G.I. Joe fan, so I liked it. I definitely wished that kind of technology existed when we were in Iraq — it definitely would’ve made our jobs easier.”
Jason Lemieux, 26, former Marine who served three tours of duty in Iraq, now a student at Columbia University
“I was underwhelmed. I thought they were really lazy, they didn’t try to get the little things right. And they didn’t have the G.I. theme song, and they turned the G.I. Joes into some international unit, so they’re not the ‘Real American Heroes’ anymore. I will say that the camouflage suits [that turned G.I. Joe soldiers invisible] would have been cool to have in Iraq.”
There was one thing our entire popcorn panel could agree on.
“I think the Daily News should send vets to see ‘Julie & Julia’ next,” Gomez said.
esacks@nydailynews.com
Ellie
BY Ethan Sacks
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Saturday, August 8th 2009, 4:00 AM
The Daily News enlisted a rag tag unit of real G.I. Joes to parachute into a midnight screening of “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra,” and review it when it opened on Friday.
Armed with only sarcasm and a love for the ’80s toys the movie — starring Dennis Quaid and Sienna Miller — is based on, three veteran grunts and two former Marines sounded off:
Don Gomez, 27, former infantryman who served two tours in Iraq, current student at City College
“I thought the movie was fun, and it would have been more fun if I was 13. I enjoyed it for the action. I came into it not expecting a deep, moving experience, and I got that. It was a two-hour cartoon.”
Ben Feibleman, 25, a Marine from 2001-2006, now a student at Columbia University
“In ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ they said some of the WWII vets had serious problems because they were crying in the theater. It was kind of like that for me, because every time I saw somebody going through submarine pilot training, it brought me back to my submarine pilot and space ship fighting training. And every time I saw a ninja throwing star, it really took me back to Iraq and everything we had to deal with there.”
Brian Laguardia, 35, native New Yorker who served in Army Infantry from 1998-2006, now a graduate student at NYU
“It was more ‘Teenage Ninja Turtles’ than it was ‘Hurt Locker.’ But we enjoyed it. For a movie that I think was so poorly acted, so unrealistic, so little character development, it was also a lot of explosions, a lot of fight scenes, a lot of things that couldn’t happen — and that was fun.”
Bryan Adams, 26, former Army sniper and Purple Heart veteran who served in Iraq, now a student at Rutgers University
“The action kind of matched up with the cartoon from what I remember. Obviously it was very unrealistic as a veteran. I’m a G.I. Joe fan, so I liked it. I definitely wished that kind of technology existed when we were in Iraq — it definitely would’ve made our jobs easier.”
Jason Lemieux, 26, former Marine who served three tours of duty in Iraq, now a student at Columbia University
“I was underwhelmed. I thought they were really lazy, they didn’t try to get the little things right. And they didn’t have the G.I. theme song, and they turned the G.I. Joes into some international unit, so they’re not the ‘Real American Heroes’ anymore. I will say that the camouflage suits [that turned G.I. Joe soldiers invisible] would have been cool to have in Iraq.”
There was one thing our entire popcorn panel could agree on.
“I think the Daily News should send vets to see ‘Julie & Julia’ next,” Gomez said.
esacks@nydailynews.com
Ellie