A tragedy in Super Marionation
Moderator: Spectrum Strike Force
That seemed like an insult to me of Super Marionation and an indirect slap at Thunderbirds/Capt. Scarlet. I couldnt stand to even see it to the end, I think I watched maybe the first ten minutes, the whole time in shock with my mouth open trying to scream, but it was like a nightmare was happenning and as tragic as it was, I was too stunned to stop it. Finally I shut it off, dazed that something so wholesome and family friendly as Super marionation could be twisted into something so monsterous... I felt dirty after that.
Poetry Angel
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Poetry Angel
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Kinggodzillak
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tragic...
Poetry Angel
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Poetry Angel
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shaqui
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The film is more about lampooning typical blockbuster movies where things get destroyed and the US always wins (Independence Day, Armageddon) and does a very funny job of it.
If anyone hasn't seen it but is put off by Angel's comments, I'd say rent the DVD, look past the puppets (yes, even the sex scene...) and watch the film for itself. Shame there's no commentary track.
Personally, I thought Thunderbirds The Movie did more damage to the GA legacy than Team America ever could.
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steviep
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Chris C
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I have seen the TB Movie - and that WAS terrible. It certainly had me cringing - and still does, when my daughter watches the DVD. With the honourable exception of Lady P and Parker - the other characters were a travesty.
I'm not saying nuthin' about CS:CGI...
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Marion
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Im rather glad Mr. Frakes was good enough to entertain without trying to destroy the ideals that TB stood for.
Poetry Angel
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Poetry Angel
Poetry Angel wrote:I guess Im on the other side of the train tracks.. I sorta liked the TB movie. Sure it really had little to do with TB's but the story was kinda of clever, and it didnt have any gratuitous scenes in it or shock jock material, it was a story of one of the Tracys comming of age, and was rather charming to see that hollywood can still make a movie that doesnt have to have sex or drugs or some other shocking thing exploited in it to entertain.
Im rather glad Mr. Frakes was good enough to entertain without trying to destroy the ideals that TB stood for.
Poetry Angel
Except it had less to do with what International Rescue were all about (ie rescuing people) and more to do with pubescent kids foiling the machinations of stupid cartoon villains. The story was hackneyed. Home Alone did it better.
I think you're missing the point about Team America. Given the makers' past performances, Team America was always going to be about irreverancy and reading a review would have told you that. You can't compare TA with Thunderbirds The Movie, as they're patently geared towards different audiences. TA isn't a kid's film.
As I said, TA isn't really about puppets saving the world, it's about making a fool out of over-the-top all-American blockbusters.
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steviep
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As to the language, well, it very obviously offends a lot of sensibilities - as does South Park, and nobody who is familiar with South Park can surely have had any doubts as to what sort of language could be expected in "Team America". I personally find all gratuitous swearing offensive, let alone at the level that is endemic in this movie, and I found myself having to filter it out in my head before being able to laugh at the jokes - most of which I found both extremely funny and thoroughly embarrassing simultaneously. But I suspect that's largely because most people of my generation have never been able to laugh easily at this sort of subject matter. My teenage kids in contrast thought it was hilarious.
The problem here, I suspect, is that viewers of videos in the States and the UK have quite different perceptions of what constitutes grossly offensive material. Each of us produces material which would be regarded as utterly unacceptable on the other's television screens (at least before 9pm in the UK). Offhand, I get the impression that it's generally visual material that causes shockwaves in the States but which would barely raise an eyebrow in the UK (Janet Jackson's little publicity stunt at the Superbowl is a good example – the fuss made in the States over that was incomprehensible to me), and American verbal material that gets subjected to a health warning or simply removed from the soundtrack in the UK - for which reason somehow I don't think we'll be seeing "Team America" on UK terrestrial television for quite some time, if ever. Personally I feel that the production team made a mistake there: had they but moderated the language, they'd have captured a far wider audience in the UK than they actually reached.
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Clya Brown
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Doc Brown wrote:Personally I feel that the production team made a mistake there: had they but moderated the language, they'd have captured a far wider audience in the UK than they actually reached.
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I'm not sure I agree. I think that the gratuitous swearing heightens the ridiculousness of the characterisations. Right from the start of the film with its "America! - F*** Yeah!" theme, it expresses the gung-ho-don't f***-with-the-best attitude it seeks to take the mickey out of. It wouldn't work the same with "America! - Oh Yeah!", would it?
I can't think of any other way of reciting THAT speech at the end of the film without using the offensive language. It's to the point, damn funny and actually quite philosophical, when you think about it.
Having said all that, I wouldn't let the kids watch it!
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steviep
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As to "Thunderbirds the Movie", I thought it was quite simply dreadful - at least, when viewed as an interpretation of the original series. If the intention was to produce video wallpaper for small children, then fine: as an example of that, it was quite amusing. But as an attempt to reinterpret the original action/adventure series for the 21st century, I thought it was an unmitigated disaster - all the more so because I suspect that it's unlikely anybody now will seriously consider financing another remake in the foreseeable future, which I think is a shame.
It seems to me that - ironically - the best chance of a Thunderbirds remake would actually come from the Team America studio itself: they have the expertise to do it, the money to finance it, and at least one ardent fan in their midst. All they have to do is take a deep breath, drop the profanities and the sex, and do it almost straight. I say 'almost' because the best kids' series are those that slip in the occasional adult joke to make the parents smile while their children are sitting spellbound watching the action from behind the sofa. Who knows: with American terrestrial television as a potential market, we could see a complete new Thunderbirds generation springing up!
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Clya Brown
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Doc Brown wrote:Perhaps - though personally I reckon that there are far more people in the UK who do take exception to seriously bad language than you might think, and that can surely only have the effect of reducing the profitability of the movie over here. I feel the effect could have been retained with fewer expletives and sexual references, and that had it been done that way then the movie as a whole would have benefited. (I do actually take the point about the offensive language at the end of the film, but I suspect that point will have been lost on many of the kids who watch it only because it's "rude", and not watched at all by many others who, like Poetry Angel, simply found it completely unpalatable.)
I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. While I'm not a fan of foul language, I feel there is a time and a place for it; Tarantino films are one example and team America is another. As for kids watching it - well, it's a 15 in the UK, by which time those old enough to see it will have been subjected to the words used anyway, I suspect. I wouldn't let younger kids watch it.
Doc Brown wrote:As to "Thunderbirds the Movie", I thought it was quite simply dreadful - at least, when viewed as an interpretation of the original series. If the intention was to produce video wallpaper for small children, then fine: as an example of that, it was quite amusing. But as an attempt to reinterpret the original action/adventure series for the 21st century, I thought it was an unmitigated disaster - all the more so because I suspect that it's unlikely anybody now will seriously consider financing another remake in the foreseeable future, which I think is a shame.
No, it was pants, period.
Doc Brown wrote:It seems to me that - ironically - the best chance of a Thunderbirds remake would actually come from the Team America studio itself: they have the expertise to do it, the money to finance it, and at least one ardent fan in their midst. All they have to do is take a deep breath, drop the profanities and the sex, and do it almost straight. I say 'almost' because the best kids' series are those that slip in the occasional adult joke to make the parents smile while their children are sitting spellbound watching the action from behind the sofa. Who knows: with American terrestrial television as a potential market, we could see a complete new Thunderbirds generation springing up!
Two comments to make:
One: I don't think it's their bag, baby.
Two: Gerry Anderson only used puppets because it was the only medium available to him at the time. Now that CGI is here, it's the only way forward. Using puppets would be a Very bad Idea.
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steviep
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On the last point.... well, yeah, I guess you're right. I'm just having a bit of a nostalgia trip. Shame though! (Mind you, having said that, it's worth remembering the success of Wallace and Gromit - which surely works so well largely because of the novelty value of the medium used. In a world where everything like this will end up being CGI very shortly, might there not be a place for something just a little different?)
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Clya Brown
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What I don't like much is the thoughtless use of violence - and as that becomes more common - it has to be even more violent to make an impact.
I can never understand why seeing people get 'hurt and maimed' in the name of entertainment is acceptable - but a 'wardrobe malfunction' is considered beyond the pale...
I hope they don't do a CGI Thunderbirds - leave it alone - the movie was bad enough....
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Marion
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