1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This movie just cracks me up, December 22, 2007
This review is from: Team America - World Police [UMD for PSP] (UMD for PSP)
"He's getting away with the WMDs!"
Oh this movie is far from politically correct (as with just about all of the Parker and Stone creations) but it is outrageously funny and entertaining.
While I had been avoiding buying things in the UMD format initially, the release of the Slimline PSP with it's ability to output to TV via the add-on cable had me going back and buying some favorites for viewing on the PSP with the thought being that I could at least watch the same movies on the bigger screen if I desired.
This is one of those movies that I'll get in just about every available format as I can't help but watch it when I catch it on the TV and then get irritated by how censored the movie is and how badly it's chopped up for insertion of commercials and such. At that point I pull out the appropriate format disc and watch my own uncensored copy.
This one is for you Kim Jong... ;-)
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning satire, June 10, 2006
This review is from: Team America - World Police [UMD for PSP] (UMD for PSP)
This brilliant movie starts out on an inspiring note, with the destruction of the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. And then it just gets funnier and better. The puppets appear quite human so that there's no problem with the "suspension of disbelief." The heroes are quite fallible but very likable.
There's some spectacular cinematography in the Panama Canal scenes and in Egypt, where the Great Pyramid and the venerable Sphinx suffer the same fate as the Eiffel and the Louvre. The Mount Rushmore scenes, (HQ of Team America) are also impressive.
Gary is an actor appearing in a Broadway musical when the Team approaches him for help. One of the most gripping scenes is Gary singing lead in a rendition of the hit song Everyone Has AIDS. The camera catches the emotional audience as some individuals shed an elegant, politically appropriate tear or two. Priceless!
Things turn even more hilarious with the appearance of the Film Actors Guild (FAG), led by the silver-tongued Alec Baldwin. His speech, interrupted by rapturous desk-thumping by the assembled FAG-ers that include Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Jeanine Garofalo and a particularly DUH Matt Damon, is something to cherish. The media comments by some of these esteemed celebrities are equally hilarious.
Then there is of course the intercourse, a passionate scene between two attractive teamsters, giving new meaning to Leonard Cohen's album title Various Positions. This is just a short interlude; I didn't find it particularly shock- or noteworthy. People do get up to these types of trick in the grip of passion.
Kim Jong Il is definitely a star of the movie with his cute accent and his banally evil personality. I caught myself entertaining thoughts of sympathy for Kim as he fed Hans Blix to his pet sharks. And the feeding itself reminded one again of the awesome savage power of nature. "Brix" (as Kim called him) learnt a lesson for trying to impose his silly western cultural norms on the beloved leader of North Korea. What arrogance to attempt such a thing!
In the meantime, the porcine propagandist, also known as Michael Moore, has caused great damage at the Mount Rushmore HQ by blowing himself up with a suicide jacket. But when things look bleak, Gary returns as the hero. Kim is entertaining the FAG celebrities plus delegations of dignitaries from around the world. This is to distract them while his minions are preparing to set off 230 major bombs around the world.
Just in time Gary frees the team, then he uses all his skills as an actor and orator to deliver an eloquent speech that completely upstages Alec Baldwin, the master of ceremonies. The detonation of the bombs is averted and a fight to the death ensues between the Team and the Hollywood actors. A particularly sleazy looking Sean Penn meets his end at the fangs of a big black kitty cat, Sarandon is sliced in two and the others are shot in riveting gun battles.
My only complaint is that I sorely missed Parker and Stone's most lovable characters, the Canadian master comedians Terrance and Phillip, whose movie Asses Of Fire contributed so much to making the South Park Movie so unforgettable. A bit of Terrance and Phillip's flatulence and coprofilia would have made this little gem even funnier.
Easily bored, I don't like long movies. I am pleased to report that Team America: World Police is just the right length. No scenes are superfluous or too lengthy, and the action sequences are all in the right places. I think it is going to become a cult movie like The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The best songs are the aforementioned Broadway number and Kim's I'm So Ronery ...
Team America: World Police has a progressive and subversive message that ought to please everybody across the political spectrum, from the leftist moonbat to the conservative fruitcake and all people with a sense of humour inbetween. The Gnostic nature of Gary's speech with which he wins over the audience of worldwide dignitaries, is particularly striking. Underneath all the vulgar references to reproductive and other organs, there is a profound message to people who like to ponder these things.
I also strongly recommend Stone and Parker's South Park TV series, the movie South Park: Bigger, Better, Uncut and the CD Chef Aid. This talented duo's talents and wicked sense of humour are quite unmatched in popular culture today.
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