Product Details

• Actors: N!xau, Marius Weyers, Sandra Prinsloo, Louw Verwey, Michael Thys
• Directors: Jamie Uys
• Writers: Jamie Uys
• Producers: Jamie Uys, Boet Troskie, Gerda Vanden Broeck
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: Afrikaans, English
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: December 7, 1992
• Run Time: 109 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (153 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301777476
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,758 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Three separate story lines set in Africa eventually come together in this 1980 film by Jamie Uys. (The film wasn't released in the U.S., where it became a huge hit, until 1984.) Story one involves a bushman whose discovery of a Coke bottle causes consternation among his tribe, story two concerns an awkward romance between a clumsy scientist and a sweet schoolteacher, and the third plot involves a group of terrorists on the run. Slapstick, satire, romance, violence--it's all here in a somewhat bumpy but entertaining movie. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Man must be crazy not to see this, August 23, 2003

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gods Must Be Crazy [VHS] (VHS Tape)

While the Kalahari Desert looks like a paradise, it's the most treacherous desert in the world, where there is no water for nine of the twelve months of the year. Much of the first twenty or so minutes is spent documentary-style, contrasting the lifestyles between the "pretty, dainty, small, and graceful" Bushmen and "civilized" man. They've adapted to their environment. There's no sense of ownership--what's there to own?--and wood is the hardest thing there. There's also no crime, punishment, violence, laws, police, judges, rules, or bosses. It sounds like a utopia. Compare that with "civilized man", who adapts his environment to suit him, builds power lines to run his labour-saving devices and didn't know where to stop. More improvements mean more complications, which is why all of us are sentenced to twelve years at school to survive in this complex habitat.

So when a Coke bottle tossed from an airplane is found by Xi, a Bushmen, it disrupts their concept of the gods giving them good and useful things, as clearly, there wasn't enough of those given them. Xi, played by real Bushmen (N!xau) sets out to get rid of the bottle.

In Botswana, there's biologist Andrew Steyn who's assigned to pick up Kate Thompson, a reporter who's tired of the rat race in Pretoria and decides to become a teacher in Botswana. Comedic disaster results in two forms. One is Steyn's becoming a complete bumbler around beautiful women, and the blonde Kate is quite a looker. The other involves his driving a land rover, dubbed by his African friend Mpudi as the anti-christ, as there's nothing but trouble with this vehicle. Mpudi's cursing at the rover is funny. Needless to say, calamity results on her first day with him.

And a band of armed terrorists led by the bearded Sam Boja make their way from the republic of Burani (fictional, of course) down to Botswana. The seriousness is lightened by two of his members, who when they aren't shooting their automatics, are busy playing cards.

Some comedic moments involve repeated lines. Steyn's chosen one is "Ai yai yai!" at some predicament. However, a lot of comedy involves people out of their element, i.e. Steyn with women, Kate in the wild, and of course Xi far away from the Kalahari and his simple ways--or a real laugh, see him trying to drive the anti-christ.

I would say this is a one-of-a-kind film, but there was a sequel that followed four years later. Jamie Uys, who produced and directed the film, has a small cameo in the beginning as the reverend who asks Steyn to go pick up Ms. Thompson. The fastly-run film harkens to the old silent slapstick comedies.

So remember, Monday morning at 8:00 AM, when everyone has to look busy, think of the pit we dug ourselves in, and think how simple those bushmen have it, take a page from Steyn and say "Ai yai yai!" because the gods, i.e. us people, must be crazy.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Evil Thing, March 29, 2008

By 

Gunner (Smyrna, Georgia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Gods Must Be Crazy (DVD)

The Gods Must Be Crazy DVD

The Gods Must Be Crazy is a delightfully funny movie. It is about an African bushman who discovers an empty Coca Cola bottle that has been thrown from an airplane and the Bushman believes that anything that comes from the sky must be from the Gods. He has no idea what it is or what its purpose is. He eventually starts calling it "the evil thing" when his family wants to use it for themselves and squabbles develop. There are several side stories, as well. This makes you wonder how much "civilization "has improved our lives.

All in all a funny movie. Recommended for the entire Family.

Gunner March, 2008


P.S. Must have been sponsored by Pepsi

47 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the BEST movies I have EVER seen!, May 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Gods Must Be Crazy [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Not only is this movie hilarious, it is an excellent illustration of why it is SO IMPORTANT to always be ready and willing to delay, or even suspend judgement, especially when viewing something that seems strange or unusual. That it is so easy to misinterpret what we see, and act from our assessments in ways that stifle, injure, even crush, what is (or might be) beautiful, innocent, joyful. The story centers on a Kalahari bushman who is on a journey to the edge of the earth where he hopes to return an item that he believes belongs to the Gods. The sweetness, gentleness, and innocence of this bushman acts as a litmus test of the current state of 'civilized' humankind -- a test that is failed by all but those who possess the kind of heart and spirit that tends to not fit well into society.

We see in this simple man the simple pleasure that we all seek. A reminder of what we were taught to forget. A reminder of how little real life exists in modern life, and how much is missing from the structres that exist in that life.

For those willing to look, the reward surpasses all the fame and riches of the world.

I was crushed when I saw that this movie is out of print -- BRING IT BACK, the world needs it!!!