From Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the long-running TV series South Park (328 episodes between 1997 – present), comes Team America: World Police, an adult comedy utilizing puppetry and miniature special effects much like those used in the TV series Thunderbirds (32 episodes between 1965-1966). Team America: World Police is directed by Trey Parker, co-written by Parker, Matt Stone, and longtime collaborator, Pam Brady, with most main character voices provided by Parker and Stone.
Buy Team America: World Police 4K UHDThe movie opens in Paris with Team America, an international organization created to stop terrorism in its many forms across the globe, defeating a group of Islamic terrorists. Team America does not have a soft touch. They are all about taking out the bad guy no matter what the cost. While “saving” Paris, Team America destroys the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre among other important landmarks.
Team America is made up of leader Spottswoode (Daran Norris) who recruits Broadway actor Gary Johnson (Trey Parker) to use his acting skills to infiltrate a terrorist cell. Lisa Jones (Kristen Miller), is the team’s resident psychologist. Her first love interest is Carson (Trey Parker), and the fact that’s all the description you will get should give a hint as to how long he lasts as part of the team. Sarah Wong (Masasa Moyo) is “psychic.” Joe Smith (Trey Parker) is the jock of the group and madly in love with Sarah. Chris Roth (Matt Stone) is the expert in martial arts, and, to help the plot along, he happens to hate actors because of an unfortunate incident that occurred back when he was 19.
What is the terrorism all about? Kim Jong-Il (Trey Parker, and, yes, the movie is 20 years old), the previous North Korean dictator, has a plan to supply terrorists all over the world with their own WMDs. Gary acts his way into a terrorist cell in Cairo, and Team America shows up to put an end to the shenanigans. This, of course, completely levels Cairo. This devastation draws the ire of the Film Actors Guild (FAG), a group of liberal Hollywood actors led by Alec Baldwin.
Bonus Features:
Blu-ray Disc:
- Uncut Version of the Feature Film
A series of 10-15 minute mini-documentaries including the following:
- Team America: An Introduction
- Building the World
- Crafting the Puppets
- Pulling the Strings
- Capturing the Action
- Miniature Pyrotechnics
- Up Close with Kim Jong-Il
- Dressing Room Test
- Puppet Test
Also included are:
- Deleted/Extended Scenes and Outtakes
- Animated Storyboards
- Theatrical Trailers
4K UHD Disc:
- Theatrical Cut of the Feature Film
- Also includes a digital code
The puppetry, scene design, and special effects are the real draw here. Let it just be said that puppets bring a lot of humor to overtly sexual scenes. The use of Mount Rushmore as Team America’s base also brings lots of laughs. There is something special in seeing George Washington’s mouth become a massive maw to accommodate the egress of fighter planes. There are also ridiculous amounts of tiny explosions peppered throughout. An aspect of the film that gets good coverage in the bonus features.
