IMDb user comments for
Team America: World Police (2004)

Page 1 of 40:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

46 out of 57 people found the following comment useful :-
Wonderfully poignant satire at a much needed time, 10 October 2004

Author: shootfromthehip (hate_mayle@hotmail.com) from Calgary, Alberta

No Spoilers.

First off, I'd like to say that this film is everything a South Park/Trey Parker devotee could hope for. It's sly, it's vulgar, it's full of gore/profanity/violence/nudity, and it is made entirely with marionettes.

The sheer amount of wit and subversive humor packed into this film is mind boggling, but yet it doesn't bog you down with vague references and really confusing in-jokes. And goddamn, puppets swearing/having sex/killing people/dancing never gets old. NEVER.

The film is actually almost 2 hours long, but as expected, is one which time takes on less relevance. Of course, some people are going to see just how limited Trey Parkers voice talents are, but having 4 different minor character sound exactly the same is always a surefire treat. Take note that a grand total of zero big name actors lend their voice to this film, though Little B**ch(Dian Bachar) does give a little appearance here and there.

The whole film is real. You heard me. Absolutely nothing in this movie (with the exception of the title credits and I.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E.) was done with computers. While this may sound impressive on paper, on film it's actually a masterful achievement. While Parker sometimes plays into the film's self-conscious aura and indulges the audience a bit, most scenes are played out to their full puppet potential. I'm sure this film will be a benchmark in the world of puppeteering for years to come, despite it's content.

All in all, it was exactly what I expected (and I have high standards for Parker) and I could not have been happier with the result. A second viewing will be needed, just to take in all the detail of the film, as the sets are lush, elaborate and breathtaking scale models of cities all over the world.

For those who want to bother comparing it to Parkers earlier forays, yes, it is better than Cannibal! and Orgazmo, but does not quite stand up to SP:BLU, but only because BLU had the background and the familiarity factor. After a second viewing, this opinion could very likely change.

In other words, if you like this sort of stuff, you'll love it. If you are iffy on Parker/South Park/libertarian humor, then you will most likely hate it. But what else is new.

21 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
Puppet Politics, 16 October 2004

Author: dee.reid from United States

"Team America: World Police" is a great sendoff to one of the most turbulent times in American history, and "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, both equal opportunity offenders, pull no strings (no pun intended) with this hilarious and blazingly satiric model of the United States and its supposed role in world affairs.

But again, what better way is there to remember the tumultuous reign of the U.S. and its War on Terror than to make a movie that satirizes the living hell out of both? Like their previous effort "South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut," they take chances that no other filmmaker in America is ever willing to take, and that is to be as crude and vulgar as humanly possible for 90 minutes straight.

Anyone expecting an anti-Bush treatise like "Fahrenheit 9/11" or a pro-Kerry ad campaign will be sorely mistaken. It's really best that liberals and conservatives both stay as far away from this movie as possible, as they both get their fair share of bashing. Parker and Stone have even said that anyone who thinks it should be used to sway votes is a "f**king idiot." America itself seems to be at the top of their hit list, or at least American bravado is.

As a casual fan of "South Park," I understand that Trey Parker and Matt Stone go to the extreme in making fun of American culture and lampooning people they don't like. Already they've gotten "fan" mail from Sean Penn, who is understandably upset over his portrayal in the film, as well as several other liberal celebrities who are portrayed as being backstabbing morons.

But I'm not really here to argue political bias in this film (George W. Bush has got to go come November 2nd, in case anyone wants to know), and the perfect satire has come to fuel the fire of the most important election in United States history.

"Team America: World Police" is hugely inspired by the "Thunderbirds" marionette cartoons that aired during the 1960s, and it shows us a TEAM of Americans that POLICE the WORLD. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il has weapons of mass destruction and has implemented plans to use them. So Team America goes to work to foil his evil plans. In doing so, they lay waste to several world landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Sphinx, and the Egyptian pyramids.

"America" parades through virtually every action movie cliché imaginable, most notably from the films of producer Jerry Bruckheimer, whose "Pearl Harbor" (2001) gets lampooned the worst; they even hit "Top Gun" (1986).

There is no question that "Team America: World Police" is inspired and imaginative film-making, made by two creative geniuses who LOVE to push the envelope anywhere they can. Liberal Hollywood celebrities get some of the worst bashing here, with political gadfly Michael Moore playing the part of a hot dog-munching suicide bomber and Alec Baldwin as the leader of the Film Actors Guild (F.A.G., get it?). But conservatives aren't off the hook either, as their politics of U.S. intervention in every world affair is taken to ridiculous heights, hence the title "World Police."

"Team America: World Police" is a brilliant satire of our times, of course that doesn't make it safe from the detractors who claim that Parker and Stone are irresponsible morons. Indeed, there are smarter ways to approach such sensitive material, but Parker and Stone aren't intellectuals who are out to change the world, they're just two guys who like to fool around and make people laugh.

"Team America: World Police" - 10/10

23 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
The very funny highs make up for any of the lows..., 2 December 2004

Author: starbase_74 from Brisbane, Australia

I went into Team America expecting to see something along the lines of South Park humor, and I wasn't disappointed.

If you can't stand South Park's humor, you won't enjoy this at all. The use of marionettes was an unusual choice, but thanks to the great puppetry and designs, they work very well.

The story is just really there to serve the increasingly twisted humor of Trey and Matt's vision. And it works perfectly. There are at least three scenes which made the audience (and me) in the theater laugh out very loud - that is something that very few comedies in recent times have been able to accomplish.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed Team America; but then I really enjoy South Park. A very entertaining (adult) cinematic excursion for the South Park creators, and an impressive display of puppetry skills (for which the sex scenes will be remembered! :)

18 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
Brilliant puppet movie, 27 November 2004

Author: froboz from Uppsala, Sweden

I love South Park and the straight-faced satire of Matt Parker and Trey Stone. They always have a humanist and old-fashioned naturalist approach to show the weaknesses in the limited and fashionable ideas in modern USA. They do their satire not by exposure, but by explosion: the ideas blow up in your face. Like when Matt Stone himself, interviewed in "Making Of South Park", says: "you know, we expect a lot of our people, but when they show up at the office, we're already there, and when they leave, we're still there, you know what I mean, and they can see how hard we work, and that, I think that inspires them, to work all the harder, for us". He delivers this line with such a straight face that you are lured into a semiautomatic approval of Calvinist work ethics, even if you know he's just joking. You might at times even feel insecure about where the satire ends: is it a joke about a joke? What does Matt and Trey *actually* think? *Do* they come first to the office every morning? You can't even save yourself by rolling the eyes and saying "of course not, you fool".

"Team America: World Police" is a puppet animation which is almost self-evident by it's title. The world police is a small team of vigilante puppets that fight world terrorism. In the opening of the movie you soon see them cheerfully destroy the Eifell tower in a fight against semitic-looking terrorists in Paris... and you get the joke. But when they are critized by Hollywood actors for this act of destruction, the critics are exposed as hypocrites that actually work for the evil terrorism of the world. In fact, we will see the workings of a 'republican conspiracy theory' turn real. Typical Matt and Trey!

The movie is a lot of laughs, and makes fun of an endless row of Hollywood clichés and has tons of movie references. The satire is never done plumply. You will listen to patriotic country music almost thinking you hear the real thing.

7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Oh you guys are bad, 31 December 2004

Author: ablobofbrowngoo from United Kingdom

I'm sure plenty of parochial critics will berate this film for anti-American values during the current "war on terror"....BUT...the great thing about this film is that no one is spared being mocked. This bears the standard of a great film by expressing the ironies innate in every argument in this quasi-political tale; from socialist Michael Moore, fashionably charitable celebrities to the terrorists and the, ahem "world police." This couldn't be more accurately summed up than in one of the funniest ever analogies that is employed in this film; the "Dic*s, P*ssies, and a*s*holes, argument." This film also wonderfully parodies the standard conventions and cliché's of the action film genre to create an entertaining, and gleefully controversial film.

14 out of 21 people found the following comment useful :-
Funny!, 12 December 2004
Author: the_insainiak from Brisbane, Australia

As much as I hate to admit it, Trey Parker and Matt Stone are actually quite talented in a sick twisted, strange, little way. After laughing my butt off during South Park Bigger, Longer & Uncut, I couldn't wait to see this movie. I was not disappointed.

This could be by far the funniest film this year. The plot is easy to follow, as it borrows from most action flicks you see these days, but the way in which it is made is incredible. The fact that these are puppets is enough to make you laugh throughout the entire film. The jokes are funny and don't fall flat. As I was watching the opening, I thought it might run out of steam as it went on. My ticket said it went for almost 2 hours, and I wondered how it would sustain the entire time. It flew. The film is a guilty pleasure.

And parents, before you take your kids to see this, then complain it was disgusting, please read the R Rating! Sit back, relax and watch, but not with coke in your mouth. It will get spit everywhere.

16 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
Amusing political comment but far too broad and basic, 21 December 2004
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

In case you hadn't noticed, each and every one of us free-thinking, God fearing westerners are under daily risk of DEATH from terrorists who want nothing more than to bring down us and our free lives. Luckily for us, Team America are on the case – quick to take action wherever in the world terrorists would seek to cause harm. When Osama Bin Laden pops up in Paris it becomes clear that something big is happening. The Team lack the necessary skills to go undercover and so they turn to Broadway actor Gary Johnston for help. He accepts this mission and joins the team to fight a terrorist threat made all the more power by the meddling of liberal, know-it-all actors and the evil tyrant Kim Jong.

Being a relatively liberal person who is critical of America's action in the world it was only a matter of time before I got round to seeing this movie. I had high hopes for it and maybe my disappointment with it was due to these unrealistic expectations – see, I expected it to be very funny, but instead it was just amusing. The problem is that the central joke appeals to many of us; that being that America is a terrible World Police Force and isn't able to see anyone else's opinion and sees everything like an action movie. It is a good premise for a satire and the film starts with that well (Team America destroy bits of historic Paris while trying to stop terrorists) but then it continues to make the same joke over and over again in different ways. It is clever and quite amusing but it didn't have me laughing out loud that often. It doesn't help that the satire is never sharper than this and is consistently broad throughout – more of a scattergun approach to satire and not the sort of stuff that fans of Rory Bremnar et al will be satisfied with. In fact the whole film is very broad and doesn't always bring laughs with it either; constant homosexual gags, vomit and sight jokes about them being puppets are all well and good but none of them have much wit about them – hell, I love South Park so I know that these guys can be funnier and cleverer than this.

The film also plays with Hollywood movies really well and to me was funnier on that level. Sending up everything from slow-motion explosions to martial arts fights to training montages (my favourite joke) the film sets itself out as a clichéd action movie of sorts; the only problem being that it does it so well that at times (especially when you're not laughing) it feels like you're watching a clichéd action movie! That said, it does look very good and, although the puppets don't draw laughs after a few minutes of seeing them, they are very effective and very well moved – god knows why they chose to use puppets but it does work in a silly way. The sets are superb and all credit to those involved because it really does look good. The writing from Parker and Stone is OK despite lacking real consistent laughs – they take the p*ss out of everyone, the right, the left, the terrorists, everyone. It doesn't all work but I defy anyone to at least not be interested by the idea of the film and the portrayal as Kim Jong as a rather lonely Bond villain, feeding Hans Blix to the sharks! Overall it is not a great film but it is different and amusing enough to be worth seeing. As satire it is far too broad to be successful, pushing a general critical view of America in several clever ways but not really making it hilarious at the same time. The more general comedy is also like this and, although some of it was very funny, I did find too much of it to be juvenile and lacking wit (juvenile and witty is OK, but lazy vomit gags lack spark). So a nice idea then and one that is executed pretty well with a handful of laughs, a load of amusing ideas and great puppets & design – if only it could have been funnier, sharper and a bit less broad in the humour stakes then I would have liked it a whole lot more.

5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Irreverently Hysterical. 'No One' is safe!, 9 October 2004

Author: FilmFan777 from Hollywood, California

Just came back from a pre-screening and I 'Loved It' No, it's not for kids in the least, total adult humor. Helps a bit if your politically savvy and know a bit about the Hollywood political types, yet either way, if you like South Park type of humor, your in for a load full of laughs.

They creatively took most every corny film shot you could think of, plenty of down right nasty language, marionettes getting shot and blown up in some pretty disgusting ways, parody songs that would make anyone blush, pop shots at world leaders, actors (big time), and anyone else you could think of and hit a home run with this as far as I'm concerned.

I wont say anymore except that these guys did a great job with this idea and I think it's going to make a mint! If you take it all in humorous perspective and not personally, (have some fun with it), this movie can take the laugh breath right out of you. As it did the whole audience just within the first 15 minutes without even a chance for a second breath.

Crude, rude, shrewd, corny, sexual, homophobic, nasty and irreverent will only begin to describe..."Team America World Police" I hope you enjoy it.

4 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Well Worthwhile, But Not For The Squeamish, 2 January 2005

Author: CTS-1 from USA

Fans of Parker and Stone's prior efforts will both love this, and know what to expect from this. Politically, no group is left unsatirized: from the idiotic faux-country patriotic music, to know-it-all leftie actors being portrayed as goon puppets (members of the Tim Robbins and Sean Penn fan clubs may want to skip this), no group escapes without being ridiculed.

Of course, what one would expect besides savage social commentary is gross-out humor, and that is present in droves. This has the best puppet vomiting scene since "Meet The Feebles." In addition, there is: puppet "marital relations," puppets being blown up, puppets being fed to cats, puppets being fed to sharks... All the puppets are done in the style of "Thunderbirds" (the old TV show, not the dismal failure of a live-action movie). And the songs are hilarious too! "'Pearl Harbor' sucks and I miss you" is one of the funniest songs you will ever hear.

4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Kim Jong Il on a string, 21 October 2004
Author: (caspian1978@hotmail.com) from Attleboro, MA

It's not Gone With the Wind, but it is a great movie! Parker & Stone push the envelope again and again in this off the wall comedy that would make Jim Henson stand up and cheer. Any comedy that portrays Kim Jong Il as a lonely, confused and mad dictator deserves an audience. The creators of South Park pock fun at politics, celebrities, terrorism, James Bond, and puppets, while also creating a funny and well done musical soundtrack that is better than the South Park Musical / Comedy. Off the wall for most of the movie, the puppets having sex only is worth accepting this movie into the cinematic hall of fame. The vomit scene, the death of Kim Jong Il, the musical score, the montage parody and the production value are all worth it. A movie for all South Park fans, this blows (literally) Base-ket Ball out of the theater.

Page 1 of 40:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Add another comment