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Stephen Sommers Says G.I. Joe Movie Inspired by Classic James Bond

by Alex Billington
January 23, 2009

Anyone who followed our James Bond Week last November knows that I am a huge James Bond fan. So when I came across this quote, I just had to run it, even though at first I wasn't interested. For whatever reason (maybe because we haven't seen a trailer yet?), the upcoming G.I. Joe movie has no buzz at all. That will probably change the moment we see a trailer, but until then, we've got to rely on quotes like this. Director Stephen Sommers chimed in with Entertainment Weekly to primarily address a stupid gossip rumor, but also talked briefly about his inspirations which, as you guessed, involve James Bond.

"I always loved the old Bonds," Sommers tells EW. "It's funny now how Bond wants to be Bourne. I loved Quantum of Solace, but it was like, man, this is a completely different movie to the Bonds I grew up with. In a very contemporary way, G.I. Joe is inspired by the memory of the kind of movies I saw when I was younger. I remember being in the theater for Thunderball and the big underwater battle at the end of that movie just blew my socks off. In G.I. Joe, there's an underwater battle under the polar icecap that's Thunderball times 10!"

On one hand, I could take this and say that Sommers just likes shooting useless big budget action scenes. But on the other, I could say that I've actually gained a bit of respect (or maybe just some appreciation) for Sommers because of it. Whenever I hear someone talk about the classic James Bond movies like this, it gets me excited and I gain just a little bit of respect for them. We have yet to see whether Sommers can actually pull off a good G.I. Joe movie, but if it is anything at all like the classic James Bonds, then I can't wait. Hopefully we'll see some actual footage from this in the next month, because I'm getting impatient!

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Related categories: Hype, James Bond, Movie News

http://evilnik.blog.com evilnik

its stephen sommers... what can you expect? a miracle? nah....
CK

I grew up with G.I. Joe so I think I will be really harsh on this movie, but I love the old style Bonds as well. If Stephen Sommers can somehow pull off a good G.I. Joe movie being like an old time Bond movie I think it can be pretty good.
George

Well in his defense, G.I. Joe IS about extravagant overblown action sequences like the underwater one in Thunderball. Anyone expecting this to be some understated high concept rubbish and not wanting to see a lavish supernatural underwater battle beneath the polar icecap is totally not a true G.I. Joe fan. That is SO G.I. Joe.
Darunia

"It's funny now how Bond wants to be Bourne. " So true.
Bryanmakeup

As much as I love vintage Bond, I am thrilled with the level of ass kicking we've seen in the last two. It's what the series has needed for years. They just needed someone with the physicality Craig offered. I myself was a bit tired of the endless amount of action scenes that defied all the laws of physics and believability. Cant wait for the next one!
ERivas

I like that Bond wants to be Like Bourne...Today's audience are most sophisticated and need the sense of danger and intrigue that is perceived as more real in these times..The old Jame's bond, while cool as shit, is a parady of a by gone time...Let it go mates. This new bond is cool...Go with it!!
Tomi

I think this movie will do pretty much what Michael Bays Transformers did. It will take a classic toy/action cartoon and just update it with too much polish/effects/cheese... What sucked was when the Transformers movie took the bots and turned them into this insane super crazy robots on stereoids x100, the same will be happening to the GI Joe movie, the only thing that will stay is the names of people and a slight hint to the original story, otherwise I guess it will be a load of cheesy crap!!!!!
angry

The soldiers in Transformers looked more like G.I. Joe than the crappy X-Men wannabes who all make serious acting look like an 8th grade drama class.
Tingala

Stephen Sommer???? is this the guy from The Mummy an Van Helsing???? I think this movie is going to suck big time. I prefer no to be exited about this. Why don't they get actually talented people to write and direct this movies? we all know what happens when you give this kind of movies to people who does't know what theyr'e doing.
http://www.movieguys.org Jon

Yeah, I grew up on G.I. Joe too, so I'll be pretty harsh on it. It does sound cool though; to consider a Joe movie like a bond film... And I love the promo picks so far. The only thing that has me concerned about this film is the news about the trailer that was screened for test audiences. Apparently it was bad. Anyone else hear about that?