听 South Park co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are the brains behind "madcap marionette show" Team America: World Police. With a cast of doddering puppets they made a silly song and dance out of President Bush's War On Terror and even took potshots at Hollywood liberals from Meryl Streep to Matt Damon. The formula hit big with critics and moviegoers, although it didn't play quite as well in Washington DC...
No Strings Attached
In their introduction, Parker and Stone reveal that, "We're having problems trying to have sex with these puppets." Apparently the guys never had that birds-and-bees talk, but the logistics of getting puppets to perform in unusual ways is just one of many challenges dealt with in a generous selection of behind-the-scenes featurettes. In Building The World, production designer Jim Dultz guides you through a huge array of sets based on exotic locations as seen through the eyes of the average Joe. Or as Dultz puts it, "This isn't really Cairo, but a dumbed-down version of what Americans might think Cairo is." Charming.
Forget Seed Of Chucky; Crafting The Puppets will freak you out! It's all heads on sticks and remotely controlled lips as the puppeteers take you step-by-step through the process of building a marionette. Pulling The Strings is a self-explanatory but surprising look at how the puppeteers managed to stage complex action sequences while retaining that drunken moonwalk feeling.
It was down to cinematographer Bill Pope to shoot the stunts and his boyish enthusiasm comes through in Capturing The Action. After years working on the CG-heavy Matrix trilogy he was glad to get away from green screen and explains with a broad grin, "This is like shooting a regular movie, except I'm 18ft tall."
Does My Bomb Look Big In This?
After all the care and attention that went into crafting 100 sets and an entire cast of marionettes, the production team get to blow it all up in Miniature Pyrotechnics. Special Effects supervisor Joseph Viskocil explains how he recreated a famous sequence from Independence Day and laughs it up like an evil genius as the set goes up in flames. Talking of evil, Up Close With Kim Jong-Il is a bizarre but revealing look at the villain of the piece. Did you know that the real-life Korean dictator is an avid Elvis impersonator? Thankfully we don't get to hear Are You Ronery Tonight? But Stone reckons that he'll probably cry on seeing the puppet rendition of I'm So Ronery.
Deleted scenes, extended scenes and outtakes are lumped together in a single menu. Among them is a brilliantly sharp reaction by the Gary Johnston puppet as Spottswoode (Daran Norris) fluffs his line - in fact it's probably the best bit of acting on this disc! Meanwhile a cameo by 'Ben Affleck's hand' warns us to "take actors more seriouslyer." Completing the trimmings are six animated storyboards and more classic Spottswoode moments in early test footage.
As well as packing in the laughs, this collection of extras boasts reams of behind-the-scenes footage and loads of input from Stone and Parker. If you loved the movie, you'll definitely appreciate this DVD. Everyone else, be warned: if you're not with us, you're against us.
EXTRA FEATURES
