Paramount Pictures (October 15 2004), Paramount Home Entertainment (May 17 2005), single disc, 98 mins plus supplements, 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Not Rated (original theatrically rated R), Retail: $14.98
Korean dictator Kim Jong Il (re-imagined here as a twisted Bond-esque villain) is planning a mega-attack on the entire world, and the World Police’s only hope of stopping him is to sign up an actor, Gary Johnston, and send him undercover (after all, that’s what spying is…“acting”). When things go wrong and Gary jeopardises the mission, the TA:WP headquarters is infiltrated (by a detonating Michael Moore) and blown to bits. Gary returns and must “pass through the eye of the needle” with TA:WP head honcho Spottswoode in order to prove his trust and go after his team mates, now captured by Kim Jong Il. Meanwhile, the terrorists have recruited Alec Baldwin (who, as usual, is on the receiving end of much of the barbed wit, including a special end credit-only song worth sticking around for) and the members of the Film Actors Guild (the joke is in that acronym’s initials), who provide an unwitting diversion while they carry out the mother of all atrocities. Will Gary make it on time? Will he be able to act his way out of this one? We’re gonna need a montage…
I’m sure glad we don’t have strict genre labels on this site, or else I’d have to go ahead and call Team America: World Police an “action comedy adventure special effects drama musical extravaganza social issue piece animated with puppets”. It’s Thunderbirds-meets-Armageddon, by way of blending Jerry Bruckheimer explosion-fests with Broadway showtunes. If you take yourself too seriously, you probably won’t – or can’t, or won’t want to – “get” Team America. Luckily, I don’t take myself seriously at all. And I loved it.
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Let me re-phrase that: I adored it, and for a while Team America was an obsession for me: working to an insanely tight deadline on one of my own film projects, the lines from the movie kept creeping out of my mouth. On speaking to others involved on my show, and asking for sound effects to be moved slightly in sync, it would be “a little more”, or “f*** yeah!” – nothing remained untouched by the Team America mentality, and it certainly helped break the mood when things got sticky!
Team America: World Police is, quite simply, Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s new masterpiece. In a way, the boys of South Park have “grown up” and delivered a bold piece of filmmaking that certainly will provoke conversations as well as tears of laughter. The project came about when Parker and Stone wanted to spoof Roland Emmerich’s The Day After Tomorrow, whose script had fallen into their hands. They thought it was ludicrous and hysterical, and wanted to create a shot-for-shot replica that would show (as if it needed to be) how silly the film really was. Their weapon of choice? Puppets – the same “Supermarionation” kind that graced Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds – and that would present The Day After Tomorrow in this different light.
But they hit a snag: South Park Studios is tied to a deal with Paramount, while The Day After Tomorrow script was signed to 20th Century Fox, who said it was “no deal” when they found out what Matt and Trey wanted to do with it. With a puppet extravaganza in their minds (the two hate working with “real actors”) Parker and Stone were also denied their own chance to resurrect Thunderbirds itself when Universal made the equally-as-bad-as The Day After Tomorrow live-action movie of last year. And so a new challenge was set: hit the topics of the day head on, in puppet form, with an explosive take on the war on terror. The film is even more remarkable when one considers it was announced in March of 2004 and released just over six months later, made during the pair’s break between South Park seasons.
Everything Is Alright Signal Gif
Attacking just about everyone and everything, it’s not just the terrorists that get the predictable jab in the arm from Matt and Trey, co-writing again here with secret weapon Pam Brady. Seemingly aware that the US is as derided in some circles as those who finish their lives to take others, the two put as much of the blame for current situations on their own country as well, with the Team of the title being a rambunctious lot who end up causing more mayhem and destruction as those deliberately planning it!
Though it came out last fall in the States, we had to wait until earlier this year to catch Team America in the UK. I saw it twice in one week, cracking up at the smallest of details and picking out the tiniest of references. It’s not just the visual and comically written script of the film that had me in hysterics, but the way that some shots literally look as if they have been “stolen” on the sly – there are several takes where one can just imagine the puppet being lined up, the handler moving away and the camera whipped out, set up and shooting before any authorities knew the guys were even in the vicinity! It’s this type of thing that had me laughing in tears, and the intentional humor (Kim Jong Il’s “panthers” being possibly the most genius aspect in an otherwise genius film) was just icing on the cake.
True, Team America is certainly not for everyone – some of the group I saw it with felt the second half was much slower, and I have to agree, not that it makes it any less funnier. A weak point is the Michael Bay/Bruckheimer/Pearl Harbor-bashing song, which, though its sentiments are in the right place, isn’t the cleverest of targets (the rest of the film does that so much better). On my visit to New York in February, we caught it two and a half times on the hotel’s pay-per-view channel (don’t ask about the “half” time, that was more down to copious amounts of alcohol and my colleague accidentally turning the thing off!) as well as several screenings of the Academy screener sent out for the film’s consideration for the Oscars. But I have to say that I just find the film inexcusably funny, and it cracks me every time, from the obnoxious nature of the characters, to their line readings, which often strike the funny bone in their own right.
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Those who don’t like the scatter-shot humor of Parker and Stone’s previous work (South Park, of course being their signature) won’t get much out of this film, though those who couldn’t compare it to the South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut feature in terms of quality may change their mind when they catch it again on disc. True, the songs aren’t quite “up there” with BLU’s hysterically spot-on parodies, and the script isn’t as tight, but the sheer puppetry nature of the visuals is enough to get me going every time. And just check out those visuals (tagged “supercrappymation” by the boys)! Most remarkable of all is director of photography Bill Pope’s attachment. As the cinematographer of the Matrix and Spider-Man sequels, he was itching to get away from the special effects blue-screens of those films and go for something a little more “real”. I’m not sure he got his wish as regards to the script, but there’s no denying the awesome set ups and attention to detail (puppets using puppets, the astonishing replication of Times Square, Lisa’s Indiana Jones-styled dress, the Star Wars cantina, the incredible depiction – and destruction – of Paris, Spottswoode and his glass of whisky, always intact even when the base is blown to bits).
The film is being offered in two flavors: original theatrical (pass) and this Uncensored And Unrated edition. That’s a bit of marketing speak actually, since this version is the original cut that Matt and Trey handed in to the MPAA for certification – only to have an NC-17 slapped on the film for its graphic sex scene. Team America: World Police was withdrawn and re-cut a number of times before an R rating could be secured, with the promise that the missing shots would be reinstated for DVD. And reinstated they have been – an extra minute of hysterically graphic puppetry in which the words “shower” and “golden”, and “steamer” and “Cleveland” come to mind! It’s not as if the shots have been added in – they were always intended to be there, and as such, I recommend this (original) cut of the film, and not the R-rated theatrical version.
Team America: World Police is going to be a massive hit on DVD, and is destined to become a big cult favorite over time, if not already by those who have seen it. The jokes come thick and fast and the film deserves multiple viewings to pick everything up, as well as the nuances and clever subtleties (yes, they are there!) in the dialogue and scenes. That Matt and Trey don’t
Team America World Police Gifs
Those who don’t like the scatter-shot humor of Parker and Stone’s previous work (South Park, of course being their signature) won’t get much out of this film, though those who couldn’t compare it to the South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut feature in terms of quality may change their mind when they catch it again on disc. True, the songs aren’t quite “up there” with BLU’s hysterically spot-on parodies, and the script isn’t as tight, but the sheer puppetry nature of the visuals is enough to get me going every time. And just check out those visuals (tagged “supercrappymation” by the boys)! Most remarkable of all is director of photography Bill Pope’s attachment. As the cinematographer of the Matrix and Spider-Man sequels, he was itching to get away from the special effects blue-screens of those films and go for something a little more “real”. I’m not sure he got his wish as regards to the script, but there’s no denying the awesome set ups and attention to detail (puppets using puppets, the astonishing replication of Times Square, Lisa’s Indiana Jones-styled dress, the Star Wars cantina, the incredible depiction – and destruction – of Paris, Spottswoode and his glass of whisky, always intact even when the base is blown to bits).
The film is being offered in two flavors: original theatrical (pass) and this Uncensored And Unrated edition. That’s a bit of marketing speak actually, since this version is the original cut that Matt and Trey handed in to the MPAA for certification – only to have an NC-17 slapped on the film for its graphic sex scene. Team America: World Police was withdrawn and re-cut a number of times before an R rating could be secured, with the promise that the missing shots would be reinstated for DVD. And reinstated they have been – an extra minute of hysterically graphic puppetry in which the words “shower” and “golden”, and “steamer” and “Cleveland” come to mind! It’s not as if the shots have been added in – they were always intended to be there, and as such, I recommend this (original) cut of the film, and not the R-rated theatrical version.
Team America: World Police is going to be a massive hit on DVD, and is destined to become a big cult favorite over time, if not already by those who have seen it. The jokes come thick and fast and the film deserves multiple viewings to pick everything up, as well as the nuances and clever subtleties (yes, they are there!) in the dialogue and scenes. That Matt and Trey don’t
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