I'll betcha I watched this film 25 times when I was 11 or 12. I actually didn't get into G. I. Joe at a very young age like many people from my generation. I was always more a Star Wars and Ninja Turtles kinda guy (kid). Somewhere along the line, I was introduced to the Marvel Comics G.I. Joe saga and realized just how genius and complex the storyline was. Larry Hama (whom can be found on this site for the three or four things he's acted in) is an excellent writer and I wish he'd work on more. However, the cartoon was always far less superior to the comic, and even this, which is one of the better stories for the cartoon, is not even close to the comic. Still, I believe any person who was a fan of G.I. Joe growing up might get a kick out of watching this. It is available on DVD now, though I have to wonder how easy it is to find. A little known fact about this film is that Duke originally died from Serpentor's snake. Larry Hama never liked the Duke character and Hasbro gave the cartoonists permission to kill off the character. However, the public outcry from Optimus Primes death in the Transformers film forced the filmmakers to alter the dialog so that it would say he went into a coma.
G.I. Joe: Arise, Serpentor, Arise!
(1986 TV Movie)
Not the comic book, but a decent effort
4 December 2002