Idiocracy

[Inyarear]

I've never heard of this film having an official trailer, but its first few minutes are arguably as good a trailer for it as any:

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFWk0FW0EQk

It definitely earns that "R" rating for being very vulgar, but it's also very funny. The future's a dystopia, but rather than being some post-apocalyptic wasteland or police state, it's just really moronic and kind of sucky. Also, while almost every reviewer is eager to make this movie a vehicle for a rant about some favorite political cause or whipping boy of his, there isn't really any specific political point made here; it's just a really funny story about of how the future might plausibly be populated entirely by idiots, and how this may or may not be a bad thing for any reasonably intelligent person who finds himself in it.

[AnubisVonMojo]

I did a review for this a few months ago and I didn't think it was very funny to be honest. The opening segment was great, and I may have laughed a few times after that in the first 20 minutes or so following, but beyond that it just seemed to degenerate into the same tired "humanity's full of mongoloid morons" joke over and over add nauseum. It's like having somebody tell you a joke, then they repeat the punchline over and over again, assuming you didn't get the gag the first time and that maybe you'll understand it once it's been hammered over your skull a few more times, in which case it will then become the funniest damn thing in the world. The future is a depressing place full of sh!theads, I get it! I think I gave 2 1/2 out of 5.

[CheezeFlixz]

It's got electrolyte ....

I watched it, I thought VERY small parts of it was funny, but over all it was just idiotic and if that was the point, it was achieved.

Nothing I'll be adding to the collection or likely viewing again.

[Raffine]

I thought the film had the potential to be hilarious but it was very obvious to me there had been some major studio tampering with the film. I agree there were bits that were extremely funny but mostly it left me scratching my head.

I recall reading Mike Judge's final cut made the studio extremely nervous because of roasting the film gave several name-brand corporations, and large corporations in general. They did some major recutting, recording some new narration, and dumped the thing on the market.

[CheezeFlixz]

I thought the film had the potential to be hilarious but it was very obvious to me there had been some major studio tampering with the film. I agree there were bits that were extremely funny but mostly it left me scratching my head.

I recall reading Mike Judge's final cut made the studio extremely nervous because of roasting the film gave several name-brand corporations, and large corporations in general. They did some major recutting, recording some new narration, and dumped the thing on the market.

No we can not upset corporate America or they might not sink million into a film for product placement. I wish they'd stop it, I don't really want to spend $7-$10 to go watch a commercial.

[lester1/2jr]

I liked the concept though and enjoyed the movie in general.


the whole element with prostitute missed the mark though. the girl wasn't funny at all.   It made no sense for a non comic character to be there

[Amontillado]

I really thought it was hysterical. I often get into debates with people who liked that pile of pig semen Anchorman. President Camacho made my stomach hurt. Maybe it's just because Terry Crews for some reason makes me laugh (he made White Chicks barable). Definitely Dax Shepard's best role primarily because he was funny. I just like the way Mike Judge makes movies. There's nothing that really stands out about Idiocracy per se, but it was just funny. In the same way that Beavis and Butthead and Office Space weren't the funniest movies ever, but had awesome moments. C'mon, the electrolytes scene was classic. What about that general getting involved in the pimp game. That whole scene when he's going through the slides is great. I don't know, I just really liked the movie. I liked it so much after I rented it, I went out and bought it. Great flik.

[Inyarear]

I also liked the sly hint that the "smart" people weren't really that smart either, as they were shown wasting all their talents on developing the very things that would help distract uneducated people all the more from getting any education and give stupid people the edge over them reproductively.

The reason nothing really stands out, even though it's a hilarious flick, is that most of the humor is humor by repetition, especially that scene with the Brawndo-endorsing cabinet and its circular reasoning:

"It's got electrolytes."

"It's what plants crave."

"Look, do you guys even know what these electrolyte thingies are?"

"Sure, they're what's in Brawndo."

"It's got electrolytes."

"It's what plants crave."

[AnubisVonMojo]

I also liked the sly hint that the "smart" people weren't really that smart either, as they were shown wasting all their talents on developing the very things that would help distract uneducated people all the more from getting any education and give stupid people the edge over them reproductively.

It's not that they weren't smart, they were just more concerned with lining their pockets with science that they could sell, future generations be damned. In a kinda-sorta way it's like that Drew Carrey bit where he's intentionally spraying aerosols into the air to wear down the ozone layer. "Screw the grandkids, I'm cold now!"

[Inyarear]

I also liked the sly hint that the "smart" people weren't really that smart either, as they were shown wasting all their talents on developing the very things that would help distract uneducated people all the more from getting any education and give stupid people the edge over them reproductively.

It's not that they weren't smart, they were just more concerned with lining their pockets with science that they could sell, future generations be damned. In a kinda-sorta way it's like that Drew Carrey bit where he's intentionally spraying aerosols into the air to wear down the ozone layer. "Screw the grandkids, I'm cold now!"

Yeah, I guess "smart" is not quite the word for it. Maybe what I should say is that the smart people weren't so wise. From a certain point of view, making everybody else a ninny might even be the smart thing to do, since it makes them all that much easier to exploit. Still, there are several hints in the film that the stupidity of the future isn't entirely genetic, and that some of it simply comes from all the pandering everyone has been doing to everyone else. Again, this film isn't really pushing any particular ism, but a lot of the humor comes from how frighteningly plausible and familiar the future looks to us. As a lot of people have said when I tried to tell them about this film, "How is all of that any different from the way things are now?" Mostly, all I can say in response is "Well, there's a lot more of it than there is now."

[HarlotBug3]

It was not as funny or scathing as it should have been, obviously, but anything that gets people thinking about this issue is good.

Which, obviously, makes my position on the issue obvious.

[D-Man]

I wasn't a big fan of this film, but it did have one good point that I've been noticing for years.  "Smart" people hesitate too much when it comes to procreation, and the "dumb" people are the ones having all the kids.  The lesson...the eggheads need to stop worrying, and start getting busy, PRONTO! 

In all seriousness, though, I felt this film overall could have been a lot better.  There could have been so much biting satire in a movie like this, and not necessarily to just a single political bent.  Mr. Judge is a master at poking fun at both the left and the right, in my opinion.  But I felt like in the case of Idiocracy that he just dropped the ball.   

[Bill C.]

I actually saw this in a theater shortly after it came out, and even though it is a massively one-joke film (with some satirical undertones, but that's Judge for you) I rather liked it.  Or at least parts of it.  Yeah, that means "It's got electrolytes." :)

I pretty much had to pick up the DVD just to remind myself that, yes, Fox really did make this movie--even if they had no idea what they were getting into.