I just watched this for the first time.

Started out a little rough.

Killing Duke saved the movie only because Channing Tatum is so bad as an actor. So, so bad.

Not sure if two guys could lift two nuclear war heads with ease.

The Lady Jaye actress is extremely attractive.

Joe Colton doesn't do much cooking.

Firefly had a strange accent.....as near as I can tell he is either an Australian who lived most of his life in Alabama, or an Alabaman who spent most of his life in Australia. Or maybe an Australian Foghorn Leghorn. No offense to Alabama, I just picked a state that usually gets stereotyped with a heavy accent.

Overall it was much better than I expected. Pretty neat ideas with the nuclear warhead launch and then the tungsten gravity bomb from space thing. I don't think its the pile of crap I have heard some people call it, I think I will watch it quite a few times in the future.

Really want the third installment to have a lot of Destro. I'm assuming he survived.

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I assume they all survived. And they do not even bother telling you how. Must be nice. Storm Shadow appeared to die in ROC and was just there in Retaliation like nothing happened. No hey, how you doing no nothing, just there.

I picked up the Extended Action Cut last night and watched it. Tatum's acting was vastly improved over ROC. Because of that, I would have liked them to spare his character but what's done is done.

I would have preferred that they not kill off Firefly and Zartan. Especially, since Stevenson and Vosloo had strong charismatic performances. Vosloo's being in ROC. I think that Firefly's introduction in breaking out CC was well done.

The flip side to that is that it leaves room for other characters like Destro and the Baroness to return.

The additional scenes actually helped solve a minor puzzle I had. In the Retaliation movie card set, they had included a picture of Clutch. I could not remember seeing him in any of the early movie. The extended cut actually showed several scenes of him in the bar which was nice.

One of the best parts is the GI Joe Declassified features which show concept design art for the characters and vehicles. Definite customizing inspiration there. In it, Chu refers to the Cobra Chopper as "the Fang". The close-up photos show a really nice evolution to the original vehicle.

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Which cut did you watch, theatrical or extended?

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As a non-fan of Channing Tatum, I didn't mind either, but I'm a little bummed that Duke is dead. Then again, how easy to cast a new actor, with more scars and Cobra brainwashing, as "Dark" Duke in a future episode? Not wishful thinking, just an idea.

"Retaliation" has gotten a lot of panning, but it's really a much better movie than "Rise of Cobra". And not just to the Joe franchise, but it's a better movie (nice action, more believable CGI). The Extended Action cut helps pacing a little bit, but I still feel like the 2013 release was a hurriedly revised 2nd draft. Like the 1st screening was so bad, they remixed the whole thing. Which left some elements of v.1 frantically edited in, making for a "choppy" feel.

The extended cut helped to fill in a lot of gaps, but I still want to know how Roadblock, Lady Jaye, and Flint got from the middle of nowhere, Pakistan, to Washington DC.

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I guess its the theatrical, I got the target version with the dog tag offer, there is no mention of it being extended cut on the box.

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I thought it ok. But I'm also one that thinks roc was a better joe movie. Aside from duke that is. Didn't really care for casting here aside from Zartan. Flint was underutilized and not played correctly. He should be cocky and brash not timid like he was played. Lady jaye should be tomboy sexy and look like she could do what any man could. Sorry if that's insensitive but it needs to be said. She was just used as eye candy with no substance. She would have made a better Scarlett though.

As I look back at both, I know they each have their strengths and weaknesses. I do agree with you that ROC was a better Joe movie.

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I actually like him as an actor in ROC. I just came away with the impression that he was mailing his lines in that first film.

The idea of a resurrected Duke could definitely work. He doesn't need to be portrayed by the same actor either. Would be interested in seeing how they conjure the character back up.

I completely agree regarding that choppy feel to it.

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resurrected duke = serpentor

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I just figured when they saw that airstrip, they hitched a ride on some plane and eventually made their way back to the States.

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teleportation

see, that airport in the middle of that foreign desert had a MASS device. sometimes a plane ride is just too slow.

They stole a page out of Dr. Jones' travelogue. All you need is a red arrow moving on a map.

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I would have liked a little insight as to how they got back into the country, seeing as how they were just identified as traitors, had no documentation, and were armed with automatic weapons, y'know, a little more challenging than what the TSA normally encounters.

Plus, they had to have changed flights somewhere, unless they just happened upon a non stop flight from Pakistan to Washington, with frequent in-flight refueling.

I'm over analyzing it, I should just sit back and enjoy the Extended Cut Blu-Ray, now available at Best Buy.

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