Customer Reviews

Postal (Director's Cut)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Until I watched Postal, I thought the best thing Uwe Boll could do for the film world would involve the phrase "retire forever," or maybe "death by a thousand cuts," as its core concept.

This movie changed my mind. It made me forgive Boll for all the horrible things he's done to my favorite games. I borrowed this movie from a friend, ignoring his ranting about how great it is, and sat down grimly determined to see how badly Boll had mutilated another one of my favorite game franchises, but I was shocked:

Postal is astonishingly, disgustingly hilarious. It is brutally brilliant in its determination to offend virtually everyone in the world, and to defile every single sacred cow within Western civilization, between the opening and ending credits. It out-South Parks South Park. Even Boll's previous moronic style of action movies are satirized with ridiculous shootout sequences. Hell, Boll even satirizes himself in the film, playing a Nazi-gold-funded, vaguely pedophilic administrator of an Auschwitz theme park who also makes video games into movies. How can you not love it?

I haven't laughed so hard, and so consistently, in years. A fluke? Notable only for its offensiveness? Perhaps. But well, well worth the money. I hope he makes more.

OK, let's be honest. If you are a very politically correct person then you are not going to be watching Postal.

If you are easily offended or belong to any racial group or human demographic (because Ewe has something offensive for everyone!) then you can find some way to be outraged by Postal.

Ewe leaves nothing sacred in this movie from lampooning religion to positing a connection at the highest of levels between the US and Al Quaeda. Racial slurs and even abuse of the handicapped are found in this movie.

Some of the extras are the best parts. Watching Ewe literally box with critics and beat the stuffing out of them is good, clean fun. Watch the credits at the end to see that even Ewe took out some of his jokes.

This is not a movie for the kiddies, and I would be careful to watch this movie in a mixed crowd. Think that your date or your spouse has an unvarnished, great sense of humor -- better think twice before you show this one.

As a guilty pleasure, this movie is fantastic.

It has boldly gone where no movie has gone before or is likely (unfortunately) to go again.

"Worst director ever" article in the Sunday New York Times motivated me to see POSTAL. It opened in only ONE theater in all of New York City--and in the boondocks of Brooklyn no less! having just seen it one the big screen, I can only surmise that the politics it embraces (love and respect of all humanity while bashing both Bush and Bin Laden, and the "American way of Life") is the reason why Hollywood won't distribute it. It may be juvenile humor to some extent, while many scenes are screamingly hysterical! If the US can crank out unfunny crap like "American Pie", why isn't there room for POSTAL? Anyone who thinks the national media is not controlled by big money is very naive!

Boll let us an awesome movie, with great questions about our world. Sometimes really provocative, Postal is a really courageous comedy movie.

The Good Things
*The Blu-Ray has excellent video; it is one of the cleanest, clearest, and shrapest movies I've seen. Also has some great colors.
*Includes the "Raging Boll" feature (the notorious clip where director Uwe Boll boxes his critics), director's commentary, and some brief clip where Verne Troyer mocks Indiana Jones. The cover says "And much more!", but that's not true; this is all of the features you get (maybe it's a joke on the cover).
*Also includes the PC game "Postal 2" (woohoo!).
*The comedy is surprisingly great at times. There are some original jokes, and lots of great funny lines. Some of it is crazy slapstick, other parts have thought-provoking satire (all the terrorist stuff), other parts yet make good fun of real-life situations (like the job interview scene).
*Includes some self-parody.
*Pretty good story. It is well-paced and is hardly dull.
*Lots of action scenes throughout, especially at the end. A few excellent special effects.
*The cameramanship is splendid.
*Production design is great. Look out for all sorts of funny text on building signs, billboards, and props.
*The acting is great; the characters are quite zany and expressive. Writing is good, and there are some good funny (perhaps even memorable) lines. The cast is great; Zach Ward was always great with comedies, and even though everybody else are basically nobodies, they are distinctive and good. Plus, there are a bunch of hot chicks in it.
*Some good music.

The Bad Things
*The sound quality is generally not bad, but it has some parts that seem to be very loud and other parts that are very low (DTS HD 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0).
*Special features are in standard definition.
*Some parts do seem contrived and are there only for the sickness of it (like when the main character drinks spoiled milk, or the brief male nudity, etc...).

The Questionable Things
*There is quite a bit of perversity throughout (as promised by the package!). Expect some toilet humor, violence (including the deaths of many many innocent bystanders; men, women, and children), lots of swearing, gross comedy, etc... Its not too graphic (except for all of the bloody violence), and serves to accentuate the comedy in many areas (it shocks you before delivering a punchline). But if you're repulsed by such things, you should probably stay away.

I know what you're thinking: "Uwe Boll sucks and I'll never watch his movies again." But believe it or not, this one is not so bad, and can even be considered funny and well-made. This movie succeeds at being a perverse zany comedy. I'm even surprised as to how much satire and self-parody there is. Its not the crud I thought it would be; it is respectable and perhaps even a little thought-provoking. Above all, its pretty funny. If you have the tolerance for both the director and some sick comedy, you will find this to be great.

To the other reviewer on this who complains without actually saying anything about the movie, at least see the thing before you comment. I have seen it. I saw it premiere at a film festival I was a guest at last October. It played to a packed room and everyone loved it. It was a hilarious and seriously fun movie. I also met Uwe Boll who was in attendance for the premiere and he was a very nice guy who went out of his way to be friendly to everyone he met there. Regardless of what you think of his other films, this one is great and I can't wait for it to come out on DVD.

I have seen some of Uwe's other movies and hated them, thinking they sucked. To get the bad points out of the way, many people not familiar with the game may be a little thrown off with the pace, and style of the movie. Meaning, while there is a plot, things seem to kind of jump around like a slapstick movie while not being quite slapstick. It is also very "politically incorrect". The good points however, are, it is "politically incorrect" (for people who can actually laugh at bad things). The same plot/style that may be confusing for people who don't know the game, the movie follows the theme behind the game very much and reminds me a lot of the series. So even if you have hated boll's other movies this one is worth watching especially if you have played either of the games.

...that you will find yourself remembering scenes from at times and laughing out loud. The "Gluttco" job interview is my favorite: "...something wrong with - the chair...", "gotta put those heads on the wall!!!", etc. Also, Bin Laden at the motivational business seminar: "...turn your employees into a pack of little killer bees!" and the mushy speech by The Dude near the end "empty our hands of guns - and fill them with - HUGS!" (followed by much gunfire).

Also -- OUTSTANDING soundtrack; I read somewhere that the woman who scored this movie was receiving some well deserved recognition for it.

Blu-Ray rendering is crisp and the sound is superb. Extras are kind of lacking (who wants to see 30 minutes of Uwe Boll beating up his critics in a boxing ring?).

Loved the "Postal" game series from Running With Scissors and the movie does it justice (plenty of dark, violent humor). Not for those with fragile sensibilities or the easily offended.

It's great to see a film that's brave enough to not be Politically Correct. Quite a few 'sacred cows' get slammed in this and it's both funny and refreshing. It's maybe a little funnier if you've played the game but you can still easily understand the plot without it.

Think of all the movies you've seen where you wish that once, just once, someone would behave the way they'd like to when confronted by an outrageous situation. Well, here's your chance. Don't miss it. I wish more films like this were shown in Amerika.

Postal is based on the controversial video game by developers Running With Scissors.As a fan of the games, i was skeptical about this film, and having to sit through Boll's other terrible films based on video games, i was worried.

I saw a ten minute preview on Youtube.com and thought "ah why not!" and purchased it on Blu Ray disc. Well i have to say, although it has flaws, it's actually an alright film.

Don't get me wrong, most of the humor is childish and stupid, and the plot is pointless, but it does have some genuinely funny moments. Boll has finally made an intentional comedy, instead of his serious films which are a joke.

There are only small similarities between the film and the games, but the chaotic, funny, and disturbing aspects of Postal (Postal 2 in particular) are present.

Boll even makes fun of himself in the film, showing that he can take a joke at himself at times.

If you're easily offended, don't buy this or rent it, but if you want to relax, turn your brain off and watch a silly film for a few laughs, this movie is worth a shot.


Hopefully Boll makes more films like this, instead of trying too hard with the likes of Alone In The Dark.




Also, the Blu Ray edition comes with the PC game of Postal 2 (on a DVD disc)and the disc's casing has the game specs on the back.