According to director Stephen Sommers, G.I Joe takes place around 10 - 15 years in the future, offering audiences some insight into the evolving military technologies that Hollywood tends to love.
Of course, GI Joe is a long way from the tech-world that Sommers has created on screen. Known as the 'original action figure', the characters were first envisioned in 1963, when the original 12" G.I Joe action figures hit the world, adapted from real world armed services. Then in the 1980s, G.I Joe went on to represent America's elite fighting unit - in an age of Arnie and Stallone, dazzled teenage boys with their ripped biceps and chisled forearms; a product of their era.
 |
| Things have changed a little since the 80s for military themed action cartoons |
Now, with a 21st century template of big gadgets and special effects to work with, Sommers, who has the special effect heavy Mummy films and Van Helsing under his belt, has looked to technology to push his actors. He hopes to take the audience into areas we've not necessarily seen on screen before.
Here's some of the more interesting quotes from the Sydney Press conference:
On special effects and green screens:
Director Stephen Sommers: (There were) 1000s of hours of CGI (rendering)
Sienna Miller: And we blew up more cars than any other film ever (119).
Stephen Summers: Yeah, take that Blue Brothers!
On working in front of the green screen:
Stephen Sommers: CGI is expensive, it's better to film the actors in front of it for real. I want it to feel as real as possible. You can put actors in places that could never be normally be and still keep them alive. The Paris sequence is pretty amazing.
Channing Tatum: Stephen kept saying, "Trust me, trust me". You feel like four years old, playing in a cardboard box.
Marlon Wayons: It's ultimate acting. There's an explosion happening, but there's nothing but a green screen.
On internet rumours and angry forum talkbackers:
It was reported on movie website Ain't It Cool News, that Sommers was kicked off the film during editing. Does he still have final cut? Does he believe the internet rumours? Stephen answered his online critics directly.
Stephen Sommers: Yes I have final cut. I was kind of surprised, I was in the editing room and a phone call came in that I was fired and I was rather shocked, so I just continued editing. That's what's crazy about the internet now.... They said it's the worst testing movie in paramount's history - oh that's crap. I have final cut and they couldn't throw me off the movie if that wanted to. It's discouraging.
It's complete lies and these things spread and I have my nine year old asking me 'Daddy, did they fire you? She was looking me up on IMDB (laughs)... You'd have to really screw up a film to get fired. Once they fire a director, the stigma attached to that movie - it's dead.
Sienna Miller: (sarcastically) Very reliable source, the internet....was the it the Aint it cool news thing?
Stephen Sommers: They (talkbackers) love to hate. I never go on the internet ever. I never read the critics. I never go on the internet. I never go on - ever. But my friends told me the internet guy's online (talkbackers) are so bummed. "Yeah, yeah, it's entertaining" (laughs).
Marlon Wayans: ...This could be Stephen's best movie.
Stephen Sommers: If the internet guys would hear that, they would say that's not much of a compliment (laughs).
On movie gadgets and technology:
Between Sienna Millers pulse pistols and Channing Tatum's automatic shotgun, the cast had a great time playing army for grown-ups with some futuristic weapons straight out of a first person shooter (FPS) game. And Stephen Sommers is very proud of the film's military gadgets on display.
Stephen Sommers: It's set 10 - 15 years in the future. All of the gadgets and weapons in this are things that one country or another are developing. All the camouflage suits. If you're a fan of technology, you're going to love this movie. Nanotechnology is gonna revolutionise everything.
I don't wanna bore you, but at the moment they can flood you with chemo and they can kill everything. But (soon) they can send micro nano robots - and they can just kill the cancer cells only. There's realism to it, even though it's kind of fantastical. Like he Hologram stuff, the technology of this movie is really fun.
And those gadgets?
Sienna Miller: Gadget envy or Genvy, as we like to call it. Rachel and I couldn't movie in our suits. Everything was so tight, we couldn't sit.
Rachel Nichols: I had a great crossbow. Two wings came out of the side and lasers.
Channing Tatum: I got to shoot an automatic shotgun. You just pull the trigger and (makes shotgun sounds). It's a shotgun - who needs an automatic shotgun?
Stephen Sommers: American audiences would be like wow, a shotgun! But these are Aussies, they don't care about guns. (laughs)
On Twitter:
The cast are divided over whether Twitter is really worth using.
Sienna Miller: I don't like Twitter. Do you really care if I bought a bagel?
Marlon Wayans: I forgot to Tweet this morning. I Tweet all the time. You know who's a monster? Puffy. (does Puffy voice) "Eating gumbo right now, drinking water".
Sienna Miller: Do you ever get moments of peace though?
Marlon Wayans: I like to be there for my fans. I like talking to my people.
Marlon Wayans gives out his number to the press. The cast seem incredibly shocked, including Sienna Miller, who can't believe that he just did that.
Marlon: I Tweet, I Facebook, I do it all. I think when you grow up in a household of 10 kids, you wanna know the world, you wanna know everybody.
GI Joe opens in Australia on August 6th.