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At Last... "Idiocracy" on DVD

post #1 of 30
Thread Starter 
Looking forward to checking this one out next Tuesday. Nothing like spending a birthday on a film purposely buried by it's studio.



From what I hear, the breaking point for the negative opinions is that, according to the Village Voice, Mike Judge makes the slide into mediocrity and stupidity as an "inexorable" rule of life. In other words, satire with an exit plan.

The only extras are deleted scenes- who else is picking this up?
post #2 of 30
I want to see it, but it will probably be a rental for me.
post #3 of 30
Quote:
Originally Posted by fabfunk
Mike Judge makes the slide into mediocrity and stupidity as an "inexorable" rule of life. In other words, satire with an exit plan.
What do you mean an exit plan?

I saw the movie in theaters and it was tolerable, just not something I would ever want to see again. Some of the things that develop in the stupid future are funny, but overall a lot of it is somewhat depressing 'cause it's not far off from the kind of shit we have now.
post #4 of 30
I'm renting it next week, and I'll buy it if it's good.
post #5 of 30
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smeagol
What do you mean an exit plan?
As in, as biting and satirical it can be towards people, it's not their fault- it's nature. Letting the target off the hook, that sort of thing.
post #6 of 30
I've seen this, and I'm baffled that it could be whiffed on by critics AND its studio. Idiocracy is hilarious, and a natural progression from Office Space in many ways. Office Space poked and prodded the stupidity in modern business, while Idiocracy wallows in a future where that stupidity has spread and grown to the point where it threatens mankind's very survival.

Quote:
according to the Village Voice, Mike Judge makes the slide into mediocrity and stupidity as an "inexorable" rule of life. In other words, satire with an exit plan.
It's presented in part as the inevitable result of natural selection being subverted - dumb people make more babies than smart people. This sequence is great, as we see a quick view of the lives of a trailer-trash fella whose family tree explodes, while a WASP-y couple debates having their first child their entire lives.

But I guess the reviewer missed the major theme that people's devaluing of intelligence and revelling in stupidity was at least as big a factor in their downfall. I can see how they could miss that - it's only mentioned a hundred or so times in the story and related jokes. A major example would be how everyone in the future hears Luke Wilson speak (in his normal voice) and think he sounds "faggy and high-falootin". Subtle humor like that can easily go over the head of the modern reviewer.

Quote:
Some of the things that develop in the stupid future are funny, but overall a lot of it is somewhat depressing 'cause it's not far off from the kind of shit we have now.
That's the point of the movie. If you couldn't connect the 'idiot-future' to our 'dumb-dumb-present', the movie would be a complete failure. Those connections are where the best jokes (and points) are made.

Anyway, I guess should just revel in the irony that the movie about rising stupidity in our world has been dumped on by critics and dumped by its studio, because they didn't "get it".

Idiocracy isn't perfect, but it's easily the 2nd-funniest movie of the year to me (ahead of Talladega Nights' similar examination of borderline retardation, and just behind Borat). I suspect Idiocracy will hold up much better than Borat to repeat viewings. At the very least it deserved a theatrical release over the cancer-inducing "Date Movie" or "You Me & Dipshit".

Personally, I'll be buying the DVD and showing it to everyone I know. Enjoy this movie, or GO FUCK YOURSELF!

(that's a reference - hopefully more people will get it in a week or so)...
post #7 of 30
It took fox a couple of years, but here's actual footage from the film:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...954816-8226449
post #8 of 30
SUCH a shitty movie. I'm sorry to say it, but it's true. It's not misunderstood, it's just shit. One of the worst comedies I've seen recently.
post #9 of 30
Quote:
Originally Posted by fabfunk
As in, as biting and satirical it can be towards people, it's not their fault- it's nature. Letting the target off the hook, that sort of thing.
Oh okay. Yeah, that's definitely true of the movie. I guess he felt the need to pull his punches considering these people are 99.99% of the movie-going public.

Also, he may very well feel that while it's a sad state of affairs, these people don't need to be mocked cruelly.

I don't see how that's even a cop-out. If the movie was seething with rage the whole time, no matter how rightful, it probably would be far to alienating to have any impact. Not that it did, anyway.
post #10 of 30
Quote:
Originally Posted by Farsight
That's the point of the movie. If you couldn't connect the 'idiot-future' to our 'dumb-dumb-present', the movie would be a complete failure. Those connections are where the best jokes (and points) are made.
I realize that's the point, unfortunately for me the reaction to such observations is not so much to laugh as weep for our future.

It also doesn't help that basically every observation the movie makes isn't inventive, clever, or made in a funny way. The movie would repeatedly make a point, than reiterate the same point multiple times all with basically the same joke.

I get that they...
1) are too stupid to understand the most basic progressions of logic even in the most simple of terms as Luke Wilson explains them
2) listen to corporations explicitly and even name their children after them
3) think the way Luke Wilson talks is faggy.

I got all of this the first time, repeating it 60 times during the running time doesn't make it any funnier. It just beats into your head how fucking sad it is people exist like that.

The movie did have some great jokes, but most of the movie was laugh-free for me and the people I went with (all staunch advocates of Office Space).
post #11 of 30
Finally watched this last night. While definitely not as consistently funny as Office Space, my wife and I at times laughed, and at times cringed at how you can see some of that stuff actually happening. That part was really sad. There were some funny jokes in the movie, though. But as already mentioned as well, I'll probably never watch it again until it's on television.
post #12 of 30
I can see why this film made the studio sweat. An expensive high concept comedy set in a grim, post-apocalyptic future with no superstars and few easy laughs. The marketing team must have cried themselves to sleep over that.

There's a couple neat ideas, but mostly the film's a bit of a bummer, which isn't what I generally look for in comedies.
post #13 of 30
Saw this last night as well. I liked the opening montage (intelligent couple vs. Clevon) and, for some reason, the whole Brawndo exhange cracked me up ("Cause Brawndo is what plants crave." "Why?" "Cause its got electrolytes.") but I found the rest of the film to be pretty bad. The overused narrator reeked of desperately trying to save this thing in post.
post #14 of 30
I didn't think it was that bad. Yes, the retarded society of the future was kind of depressing, but there were some funny parts. Camacho's teleprompter ("SHIT!"), the opening, the courtroom sketches, Stephen Root's haircut and southern judge accent, some of the 'COPS'-speak, Dr. Lexus, etc.

And I didn't really mind the voice over guy. He had some decent lines.
Plus I'm pretty sure he's the voice of NFL FILMS.
post #15 of 30
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martianman
Finally watched this last night. While definitely not as consistently funny as Office Space, my wife and I at times laughed, and at times cringed at how you can see some of that stuff actually happening. That part was really sad. There were some funny jokes in the movie, though. But as already mentioned as well, I'll probably never watch it again until it's on television.
That was going through my mind too that those things might actually happen but hopefully not. I thought that Terry Crews was funny as President Camacho. He brought some extra to the film.
post #16 of 30
Finally saw this last night. There were some funny parts...but mostly I was dissapointed. I kept waiting for Upgreydd to show up...it would have made some twisted sense.
post #17 of 30
Saw five minutes of it, found it ugly and boring. Went to watch first episode of Cracker (UK) and Homicide: Life on the Street eps instead.
post #18 of 30
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul755
Finally saw this last night. There were some funny parts...but mostly I was dissapointed. I kept waiting for Upgreydd to show up...it would have made some twisted sense.
He does.
post #19 of 30
Is it after the credits? I hate that shit.
post #20 of 30

reply

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Dellamorte
He does.
I thought Mike Judge has a good creative outlook.
post #21 of 30
I got it from Netflix last week. It had some funny moments (the opening natural selection sequence killed me), but overall wasn't spectacular.

Not a waste of time, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to my friends.
post #22 of 30
Yeah, when did he show up?
post #23 of 30
Comedy should have teeth. This didn't. I laughed at the prelude with the two couples, and I laughed at the President saying "Sit yo monkey ass down" (not sure why, just tickled me). The rest of the movie was only smirk-inducing.
post #24 of 30
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul755
Yeah, when did he show up?
After the credits, it shows him getting out of one of the pods. He says something along the lines of "ho better have my money" and brushes his hat off.

Saw it today and I thought it was all right. The opening credits are definitely the high lights, but there is enough funny through out to make it a decent rental. The problem with the movie is that it just seems to kind of speed through the story and it feels like you're getting the cliff's notes version rather than the actual story. I'd love to see Mike Judge's cut of the movie, but seeing as how that'll never happen, this'll have to do.
post #25 of 30
Quote:
Originally Posted by 70sCinema
the movie was only smirk-inducing.
Agreed.

Not awful, just not spectacular. A cut above most of the crap coming out these days, but that merely makes it a tall midget.

I did like Luke Wilson's speech near the end - "we had movies that explained whose ass it was, and why it was farting - we can bring those days back!"
post #26 of 30
I saw it yesterday for 7.95 as a used rental at the Mom and Pop video store that I sometimes frequent. I thought about picking it up, since I love Office Space, and I figure that's pretty much a steal, as it's still going for 19.99, and there is no way I'm going to spend that much on this movie. Maybe I'll pick it up next week when I go back.
post #27 of 30
I forgot about this movie after wanting to see it for a while. It's in blockbuster or hollywood video I assume?
post #28 of 30
I tracked this down after reading Devin's Review. It is definitely worth a rental. It's a shame that this film was never given a chance to be fully realized, having been abandoned by the studio, but there are some (frighteningly) funny moments.

"He gave up and told them he could talk to plants..."
post #29 of 30
I thought the movie was pretty hilarious.

I loved that Carl's Jr. tagline in the future was, "Carl's Jr... Fuck You, I'm Eating." and offers EXTRA BIG ASS FRIES.

I really dug the history lesson in the Time Machine, "But then an even greater force emerged, the U.N. and the U.N. un-nazied the world - forever."
post #30 of 30
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoahtheStud
I thought the movie was pretty hilarious.

I loved that Carl's Jr. tagline in the future was, "Carl's Jr... Fuck You, I'm Eating." and offers EXTRA BIG ASS FRIES.

I really dug the history lesson in the Time Machine, "But then an even greater force emerged, the U.N. and the U.N. un-nazied the world - forever."
Ditto. I couldn't stop laughing at the little anti-advertising in-jokes. The "Shit" teleprompter was fucking hysterical.

I can see how this wouldn't be for everyone tastes. The first two minutes are fairly subversive. I was tempted to applaud.
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