Just saw Team America (1 Viewer)

[Quentin]

quote:TA was their take on the big Bruckheimer blockbuster action films. Whatever 80's slant the viewer sees probably due to whatever baggage the viewer brings to the theater.

Bruckheimer blockbusters STARTED in the '80's. Haven't we mentioned "Top Gun" enough?



Besides, I'm sure Parker and Stone aren't going to say "Golan Globus films" or anything so remote that readers of 'Premiere' would be lost.

 

[Patrick Sun]

The bulk of Bruckheimer's big action films are from the 1990's and 2000's. What else besides Top Gun was a bombastic action blockbuster for Bruckheimer? I'd say that Bruckheimer hit his blockbuster action flick stride with "The Rock" and "Con/Air" and then Armageddon cemented Bruckheimer's penchant for bombastic action flicks.

Beside Top Gun, the films from the 1980s wouldn't be consider action blockbusters:

Defiance
Thief
Cat People
Young Doctors in Love
Flashdance
Beverly Hills Cop
Thief of Hearts
Top Gun
Beverly Hills Cop II

 

[Kevin M]

Matt Stone did an interview on NPR last week where he discusses Team America, South Park and other topics.


Here is the Link
And here is a link to a review that agrees with the Bruckheimer idea, as well as with Parker & Stone being liberal hating libertarians. YMMV.

 

[TheLongshot]

quote:Beverly Hills Cop

Disagree about this one. At the time, it was one of the top grossing movies of all time (I think it ended up at #8 at that time.), and was noted as being the only movie in the top 10 that wasn't a summer movie. (I think the next movie to crack that list was Home Alone.)



Jason

 

[Patrick Sun]

But BHC is more about being Eddie Murphy blockbuster than a mindless Bruckheimer action flick (Con/Air, Armageddon, etc). In fact, if I didn't look it up, I would not have recalled either BHC films being produced by Bruckheimer.

 

[Quentin]

Thanks for the IMDB breakdown...but, that's missing the point.



You said that 'Team America' satirizes Bruckheimer (or, at least that's the one influence they mention themselves), Ernest and I lump Bruckheimer together with '80's action films...why? Because that's when Bruckheimer started, and his films still look and feel the same - whether released in the 80's, 90's, directed by a Scott or a Bay.



That is exactly why 1) I'm not bringing any "baggage"...'Team America' DEFINITELY riffs 80's action flicks, and 2)The reason it is hard to satirize a Bruckheimer flick is that it's practically a joke in itself - still using the same goofy tricks, cliches, and formulas they used in the 80's.

 

[Greg_R]

quote:You guys are starting to make me think Team America is as inscrutable to read as "A.I."....

Well they both had aliens...







(joking!)

 

[Patrick Sun]

Whelp, that's y'all's opinion, I disagree (80's Bruckheimer).

I lean more towards TA channeling that 80's Rambo-esque aggresion and all-out mind-numbing action than the Bruckheimer output from the 80's.

 

[Ernest Rister]

I just read a Parker/Stone interview where they mentioned how angry they were over the editing of their appearance in Bowling For Colombine, and how their appearance was followed by an animated sequence that lead many viewers to think that Parker and Stone had created the sequence for that film.



I think Robert Anthony is right in that there is indeed a bit of a personal agenda against the Hollywood left in the film, and I think that Patrick is perhaps right when he says I'm bringing some of my own experience into the film. I say that because I've read many of the Tom Clancy novels, where thinly-veiled characters representing the Democrats are revealed to be unwitting agents of Evil, and many of the less-than-stellar Reagan-era action films I saw in the 80's were cut from the same cloth.



Team America is first and foremost a slap in the face to Top Gun, and a parody of other 80's films like Delta Force. But after reading the recent Parker/Stone interview, I will concede that there is also a bit of a personal agenda against vocal, leftist celebrities in the film, no more so than one Micahel Moore, a figure for whom Parker and Stone have no shortage of unkind words.



Speaking personally, I found the sequences with Moore to be the least effective moments of the films...the laughter in the entire theater seemed to stop dead in mid-air. Outrageous and shocking, yes. Effective satire on Moore? Not really. Stuffing a marionette with ham and exploding it isn't really "satire".

 

[Steve_AS]

Actually, isn't Team America is first and foremost a spoof of 'Thunderbirds'?

 

[Seth Paxton]

quote:Effective satire on Moore? Not really. Stuffing a marionette with ham and exploding it isn't really "satire".

Okay, now I can go back to fully agreeing with you. Tino called me up wondering what I thought was so funny. I had to at least admit that he was onto something when he said the send-ups of Hollywood stars wasn't very good comedy at all. We both don't mind the subjects, but I found the J-Lo/Ben episode to be a lot funnier, or countless other anti-celebrity gags on South Park.



Really I was hoping that they would do more with this, like pointing out the real issues. They went after Reiner and his anti-smoking thing beautifully on SP, so how could they have let Moore and some of his more infamous tatics off the hook, instead going for a quick, lame, "he's so anti-right he's just like a terrorist" gag. Sheesh, at least build to it. Moore was in what, 2 total scenes. Not a lot of satire on the left target asking for it more than all.



And couldn't they have had TA just blow up Penn as he acted like a human shield?



They didn't really address specific issues with any of these stars enough to point out the flaws that were drawing their attention. They left them too generically cartoonish.

 

[Tino]

quote:Tino called me up wondering what I thought was so funny.

I'm still wondering!

Aside from a few chuckles here and there, I pretty much think Team America sucked.



IMO, this film failed on pretty much every level. It was sloppy, dull, self derivative, unimaginitive, lazy and worst of all, unfunny!



The puppetry was horrible and amateurish. It never looked cool. Maybe better puppeteers would have helped. I also thought that the profanity was used simply to be profane and therefore unfunny.



As Seth mentioned, I thought the idea of making fun of celebrities is a great one, all I ask is that you make the lampooning funny. They didn't. I was literally falling asleep I was so bored.

I was really looking forward to this film too. I'm glad many of you enjoyed it. I wish I did.

 

[Quentin]

quote:IMO, this film failed on pretty much every level. It was sloppy, dull, self derivative, unimaginitive, lazy and worst of all, unfunny!

I agree with all of the above, except for "unfunny" and "dull". It is the same, stupid, and FUNNY stuff these guys do with South Park. I don't watch SP much...but I've seen enough to know EVERYTHING these guys do is sloppy, self derivative, unimaginative (sometimes), lazy, and don't forget stupid. But, it's also often damn funny. As was this movie.



I also agree with all Seth's criticisms...but, come on guys - this isn't Scorsese - it's the South Park guys! Accusing them of being generically cartoonish seems a waste of breath to me...

 

[TheLongshot]

quote:The puppetry was horrible and amateurish. It never looked cool.

It never was supposed to look "cool". That was the point, since it was kinda mocking Marionation films as well.



Jason

 

[TedT]

quote:I just read a Parker/Stone interview where they mentioned how angry they were over the editing of their appearance in Bowling For Colombine, and how their appearance was followed by an animated sequence that lead many viewers to think that Parker and Stone had created the sequence for that film.

They were on Jimmy Kimmel the other night saying the same thing. They said they were (like most the other people in Moore's movies) totally misrepresented, so they took their revenge.



"Giant, socialist, weasel!" ha ha! Funniest line in the movie!

 

[TedT]

 

[TedT]

quote:No, they are mocking how "liberals" were treated in 80's action films

No, they're mocking liberals. Period. Or I should say self-righteous liberals.



They do it all the time in South Park (a guest on their parody of Bill O'Reilly's show is called "Aging Liberal Hippie Douche"). Listen to the commentaries on the DVDs.

 

[Tino]

Cool or not, the puppetry still looked bad. And if it was deliberately bad, it was a bad decision. Everything about this film was sloppy. And if it was in the least bit funny, I may have forgiven it, but, unfortunately for me, no such luck.

 

[Keith Paynter]

quote:Actually, isn't Team America is first and foremost a spoof of 'Thunderbirds'?

No - it was inspired by Thunderbirds. I can't remember who, but in a joint interview it was mentioned that one of them had never heard of or seen a Thunderbirds episode until recently. Jokingly they said something about being able to make a movie without actors would be easier (hmm..."Lucas-in-training"...)...it wasn't!

 

[Jan H]

Spoofing 'Thunderbirds' would be like spoofing 'My Friend Flicka.' The reference would be equally lost to the vast majority of movie-goers, and this surely is not Parker and Stone's intent. I'm looking forward to seeing Team America this weekend...