Genres

Visitors Review

girlychemist-7-67226 2012-05-24 12:39:56

Divides opinion!

Maybe it's because I grew up on Supermarionation but I loved this! Thereferences to war films - and their clichés, they come thick and fast.Trying to guess who voiced which character. It also for me referencedBritish children's comics from the 70s, for e.g. Commando for the boysand Bunty for the girls. The animation was bad enough to be inspired.The individual characterisations made me think of the old MargaretRutherford films. The young are all beautifully bland and everyone over40 is a grotesque. If you want a film that evokes wet Saturdayafternoons sat on the hearth rug in front of a black and white TVclutching your comic, this is it. It could have only been improved ifAl Murray had been the village pub landlord!

russellalb 2012-05-18 02:19:06

Backs to the wall, but freedom will prevail

The credits at the end said 'Many puppets were harmed during the makingof this film' which is certainly true. It's hard to describe this film,a bit like a mix of Team America (but these aren't marionettes), and awhole bunch of war films, I loved spotting the references fromeverything from Zulu to Apocalypse Now. There's a love story, theHollywood style inclusion of an American, Billy Fiske, taking a mainpart (Tom Cruise wanted to do this in a proposed film 'The Few' aboutthe real Billy Fiske). I loved it and gave it 8 stars, but will it beyou're cup of tea? I don't know but hopefully there'll be plenty morereviews to guide you and explain this film better than me before it'sreleased.

Yamz Randolf 2012-05-17 13:18:03

British, epic, puppets.

Stan Steel, i have no clue what film YOU were watching, but i for onethoroughly enjoyed this flick... Winston Churchill? As a puppet? Oh my,genius! This film can't get a 10/10 from me personally, i mean, it's noSchindler's list, or Titanic, it's not about to become an instantclassic -- take it with a pinch of salt, what you get for your time isa hilarious take on WWII Britain, with a great cast of voice actors.I'm so glad this wasn't another hack at American humour. The film waswell executed, admittedly the effects weren't Transformers style, butit just added to the humour of the film. Conclusion: an extremelycutesy British comedy... with puppets (:

thistleplant 2012-05-15 17:12:06

Awful really awful

This movie was truly awful. in fact it was the fist time i have everwalked out of a cinema due the quality of a film.First of all i didn't laugh once and in a comedy this is a reallycrucial element. i found the characters and dialogue borderlineoffencive and I thought the cast were really letting them selves downby taking part in this venture. The only positive i have towards the film was the animation that was atbest passable. All in all i felt that this film had no right showing onany cinema screen and could possible be the worst film i have everseen. My advise would be to any person who thought this lookedinteresting or different from the trailer like i did, run , run faraway and don't look back this truly is one of the worst things ever puton screen

2012-05-15 00:11:51

Dolls On Parade--An Inspired New Version Of World War Two Aiming For Cult Film Status

Who wouldn't want to see a World War Two epic enacted by dolls? That's simply good entertainment, right? "Jackboots on Whitehall" presents an alternate version of the Great War in which Churchill, a band of farmers, a mysterious Frenchman, a one man Air Force, and the Scottish must liberate London (and indeed, all of England) from the Nazi menace. A ludicrous and inspired premise is enlivened with the whole thing being dramatized by rather expressionless dolls. This spoof boasts some stellar vocal talent including Ewan McGregor (as the big hearted and big handed hero), Alan Cumming (doing double duty as Hitler and essentially Mel Gibson), Timothy Spall (a great Churchill), Richard E. Grant (a lunatic town vicar) as well as solid accompaniment by Rosamund Pike, Dominic West, Tom Wilkinson and Stephen Merchant among others. Striving for cult status, the film hits all the right notes to set it apart as an offbeat curiosity--but sometimes fails to deliver the big laughs one might hope for. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who favors this type of entertainment, but it falls a bit short of the hysterically inappropriate comparison point "Team America" by the South Park crew. The film's strength definitely comes from its set-up and its finale. Introducing the rural community of Kent, the film gets a big beginning as the Hindenberg attacks a small celebration. Targeting a baby perambulator for bombing, the famed Generals in the blimp don't know that they've messed with the wrong farmers! This sets a course in which Churchill must be liberated from 10 Downing Street even as the neighborhood is being overtaken by those that wish to cage the great leader. Churchill and his band of misfits must regroup in the country, but with their numbers severely diminished--they may have to seek out the savages to the North (you know, Scotland). Every moment of the film in which the Scottish participate is comedy gold (and a delightful satire of a well known movie), so the film ends on a hilarious high note. But I so enjoyed the finale, it made me feel as if the middle section of the narrative was a bit flat. On premise alone, this is a must-see for anyone who delights in strange and unconventional fare. It is fun, no doubt. However, as I said, it is not always as laugh out loud funny as you might expect. A solid entertainment, I had hoped this would be a new classic. Check it out if puppet theater is a selling point for you! Some of the visual gags are quite memorable (love Churchill's cat), and the film has some incredibly strong individual components. I wanted to love everything, but ended up merely liking it. KGHarris, 7/11.

Gordon-11 2012-05-13 09:46:40

It;s funny but might not be for everyone

This film is a stop motion animation about a farmer's crucial role inhelping Britain to defeat the Nazi Germans in the Second World War."Jackboots on Whitehall" is a comical rewrite of the British history.It has many R rated stuff, such as gory scenes and politicallyincorrect jokes. The jokes are at times offensive, but they are sofunny that will make you laugh. Notice the map of Britain in the film,it is quite funny! The character designs are good, you can clearly seethe difference between the British and the Germans. And the femalecharacters are all so attractive! "Jackboots on Whitehall" is not foreveryone. If you are in the mood for something different, you mightwant to watch this one.

spasmspasm 2012-05-12 19:51:58

Who could this drivel possibly appeal to?

The guidelines for IMDb state that a minimum of 10 lines of text mustbe used for each review and thats thats a real task in this case,considering there is nothing at all redeeming in this travesty ofpuppetry. I've seen a lot of movies in my time but this has got to bein my top 5 worst ever films, whatever you do don't ever under anycircumstances pay money to see this. Don't even buy it for your motherin-law out of spite, as the creators don't deserve another chance torob the people of this planet of their time and money. So lets get down to why it was so bad. The puppets are action figuresand Barbie dolls which can be great ala "Robot Chicken" style stopmotion animation but not when you just move them around and film themfrom the waist up. The script was so bad that even big name actorscouldn't make it work, it was simply unfunny, uninteresting and overalla complete waste of life. This title has been compared to the film "Team America" which sitsproudly on my shelf at home, but the only thing they have in common isthat they both have puppets. Im actually ashamed that I watched thisfilm and I will struggle to erase it from my mind.

Simonster 2012-05-10 23:10:09

How did they get away with this?

I would love to know how writer-directors Edward and Rory McHenrypulled this off. That they were probably drunk as skunks or sniffingadhesives when they thought this up is understandable. You need somekind of off-the-wall craziness at times. And the idea, making a puppetfilm about the Nazis invading England is also Class A. Even satirizingwar films and any other target within reach ticks the right boxes.But...Jackboots on Whitehall is one of the worst films I watched at lastyear's Cannes film festival. As in it's rare I can think of no reasonto watch it again, ever! Even for fans of bad films, and bad films canbe hypnotically fun in a special way, there is nothing here worthslowing down for and looking at.Despite the incredible voice cast assembled, the script is dire. Thejokes, verbal and visual, and are non-existent. The puppets are cheapand cheerless. Unlike Team America: World Police, there is nothing ofany depth going on here whatsoever. Jackboots is the cinematicequivalent of a group of seven year old boys playing and gettingrowdier and rowdier at each turn. Sure, they're having fun but it's notfun to watch or listen to.Viewed at the Festival Cannes 2010 but I wish I hadn't.

Eric Butler 2012-05-10 18:09:22

Brilliant!

My friends and I waited over an hour in line for tickets to this movieat the Edinburgh Film Festival as it was touted as one of the top 10 tosee. The trouble was finding tickets as both screenings were sold out!The organisers added it to best of show on the last day of the festival- luckily. I absolutely loved it! Brilliant! Stan Steel how did you seethe movie again in July??? EIFF ended June 26th and I was at the lastscreening. I know it definitely hasn't been released because I've beentracking its status online. The art direction and animation weremind-blowing! At points I even had to remind myself that these were infact puppets! I definitely recommend seeing this whenever it's out intheatres. Tally ho!

Stan steel 2012-05-05 19:26:51

a puppet film with no strings, no plot and no interest

My god this film is bad, saw it last weekend.. The production value andquality of the film seems to be of questionable standards, this couldbe due to the low budget or just bad direction, the visual effectstechniques that was used are in fact just action men on sticks and hasabout the same ground breaking impact on visual effects techniques asas a rather small wooden trowel has on a plant pot, the action menadverts back in the 1970s had better effects and better directed thanthis poor production, id rather spend an hour trying to poke my eyesout with a rusty spoon than expose them to this drivel again enoughsaid .. see it at your own boredom.

TerryDaniel 2012-05-05 00:21:07

Inglorious Thunderbird Basterds

The invasion of England has happened the Nazi swine have invaded.Thewhole of the British Army is stuck in Dunkirk.A Sleepy country townmust save England and seek help from SCOT-LAND only to find the Scotsare still a bunch of savages.Will the threat of the Nazis be wiped outwill they be sent packing down the hole they made.Funnily enough I have been waiting for a film like this for years nowand finally here it is. Jackboots on Whitehall is a great piece ofwork.It was a labour of love for the creators.I saw it at the Odeon in Panton Street which it seemed was the onlycinema to be showing this.Jackboots on Whitehall will be forgotten quick and I doubt it willreach the box office top ten.What a thoroughly enjoying rump and did Imention its a puppet film but a bit more.Of course some of the jokesare obvious and you can see them coming before they happen.Lots oflaugh out loud moments such as the protection of F.A.N.Y,The polishbuilder who just wont stop working,and the Raj army sitting on top ofthe roof of the bus they travel on.The Braveheart jokes were a grownfest. My only problem with this I would of cut maybe 10 minutes out butnot sure where from. Jackboots on Whitehall had quite a goodsoundtrack.This for me did a little more than Team America but therereally cant be a comparison because there not even made by the samecreators but these are the two racy puppet films. The film is filledwith Allo,Allo moments as well as spoofs Where Eagles Dare and Battleof Britain. This is easily in my Top Ten films of the year.

swalbj86 2012-04-27 16:09:13

what was I watching?

I've no idea. Was it supposed to be a British attempt at Team America?If it was it was truly abysmal, 30 mins in and I realised I hadn'tlaughed or even chuckled once. At least Team America was brave in thatit set out to ridicule everyone involved. For example Team America useda modern day scenario, and took the rise out of the liberal Hollywoodelite - or what would be our 'luvvies' The problem is this lame attemptwas voiced over by these very same luvvies, so that was out of thequestion. So what did they do, played safe and set it WW2 and had theNazis,Hitler & Himmler as the fall guys AGAIN. I wouldn't mind but itwasn't even clever or witty let alone groundbreaking. I ended up fastforwarding it after 40 mins, it was that bad. If you chuckled at TeamAmerica then avoid this guff like the plague.

2012-04-27 11:56:42

Ultra-peculiar marionette war fantasy

Judge Clark Douglas, DVD Verdict-- The basic joke of Jackboots on Whitehall is that it takes a lot of familiar war movie scenes, emphasizes the conventional elements of those scenes, and cranks them up to full volume. It's amusing on occasion, but without much wit in the screenplay the format becomes tiresome. The revisionism is certainly strange (aside from the fact that Churchill and some Scottish farmers didn't win the war all by themselves, the film turns Hitler into a cross-dresser and transforms the Hindenburg into a Nazi warship), but it's rarely quite nutty enough to transcend the feeling that this whole thing is an overlong, ill-considered Robot Chicken sketch (a feeling particularly amplified when Braveheart turns up to make a bunch of Mel Gibson jokes).The vocal work is...intriguing. The film boasts an all-star cast, but you'll recognize very few of the voices. Tom Wilkinson does a very strange German accent, Timothy Spall reprises his hilariously odd Winston Churchill impression from The King's Speech, Stephen Merchant plays a gruff old man, Dominic West talks like Bender from Futurama, and Alan Cumming's campy Hitler is...well, a campy Hitler. The effect is hit-and-miss, as many lines of dialogue are lost in the midst of the loopy accents and shrieking line deliveries.The DVD transfer is rather impressive, offering excellent detail (though it's rather apparent that the models being used are about as detailed and flexible as Barbie dolls) and deep, inky blacks. Audio is also quite strong, with the booming score (which not only riffs on Goodwin but also on Hans Zimmer and James Horner) frequently serving as the funniest, most involving element. Extras include some behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with creators Edward and Rory McHenry and a handful of very brief featurettes: "The Swastikas," "Bad Day to Be a Nazi," "Hitler's Rat Pack," "The Nazi Hotties," "Explosions," and "Voiceovers." All of the features are presented in rather awful video quality.Jackboots on Whitehall is a unique experience, but that's about the only thing it has going for it. It pays loving homage to and mockingly parodies a lot of '60s war flicks in a manner that is impressive on paper but a little tiresome to actually sit through. Then again, if you're the sort of person who finds The Battle of Britain riveting viewing, you may find this a comic delight. For this reviewer, it ranks right next to Valiant as a peculiar, unsuccessful piece of WWII-themed animation.-Full review at dvdverdict.com

Aidan21 2012-04-27 02:22:29

Funny and well-written but more please...

After seeing the tag line on the trailer "Team America meetsInglourious Basterds", I was eager to see this. And it didn'tdisappoint. Well not too much.Some may bemoan the puppetry, you can see the rivets a mile away on thejoints (imagine the elbow of an Action Man figure), but the non-stopaction distracts you from this. It's funny too, delivering excellentcaricatures of historical characters, as well as a huge amount ofcomical references to other films. However, the nature of a puppetry film is that a lot of hard work goesinto it, and as a consequence, the length of the film cannot be toolong. This film was so good, that I almost forgot at some parts that itwasn't a live action film. So when it ended, I was left wanting more. Ifelt as if not enough had happened, and was slightly disappointed.But not to worry, it's still worth a watch.

LCShackley 2012-04-26 16:46:50

Audacious, wickedly funny puppet show

This movie is NOT for people whose idea of humor is "South Park." It'smore for people who enjoy "Little Britain" or "League of Gentlemen." Ilaughed all the way through, not only because of the jokes (some ofwhich appear to be far too subtle for most of the reviewers here), butbecause of the audacious premise of using what appear to be Barbies andGI Joes to "act" in a WW2 film. If you don't know the Ealing comedies,or British war films, or history for that matter, you will probablyscratch your head at this film. But if you enjoy the quirky, or youwere ever a little boy who made war SFX while playing with toysoldiers, you just might enjoy it. The voice cast features some of thefinest British actors.This is NOT a movie for kids, as there is a fair amount of "language"(mostly from an insane vicar played by Richard E. Grant), some briefsexual humor, and some graphic, bloody violence (which nevertheless isvery funny since it involves the dismemberment of plastic actionfigures). Enjoy this weird spoof of war movie clichés, and don'tcomplain about the quality of the puppets. If you do, you're completelymissing the point.