Team America: World Police

Team America: World Police is a 2004 film by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the Comedy Central show South Park, shot with marionettes, styled after those in the Supermarionation TV series of British producers Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson; the movie concept was developed after Parker and Stone failed to secure film rights to the Andersons' Thunderbirds. The satire is in the Parker / Stone trademark over-the-top style, and several original songs are reminiscent of the South Park feature film, an earlier project by the same team.

Plot

The story starts with an attempted terrorist bombing in Paris, which is foiled by Team America; although the team manage to lay ruin to Paris in the fight, destroying a number of landmarks such as the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower (in the movie, all of the major Paris landmarks are located in one small plaza). Sarah destroys the Louvre to foil the terrorists' plan. As Carson, one of the team members, proposes to colleague Lisa, a terrorist — left for dead — rises up and shoots Carson, killing him.

In New York City, Team leader Spottswoode tries to recruit Broadway actor Gary Johnston to join the team. At first, Gary is worried that Spottswoode is a Hollywood movie director who will make Gary perform oral sex on him, but eventually Gary joins Spottswoode in a limo (a comically-stretched version of a Lamborghini Diablo), which "valmorphanizes" into an airplane and takes them to the Team America Headquarters inside Mount Rushmore. Gary is introduced to the other team members: Sarah, an empath who senses the obvious, from San Francisco, California; Chris, the best martial artist from Detroit, Michigan; Joe, an all-American quarterback from the University of Nebraska; the computer I.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E. (voiced by radio personality Phil Hendrie); and Lisa, to whom Gary is attracted. After some soul-searching in Washington D.C. (with a satire of country music playing the background), Gary is convinced to join.

Gary's first mission involves going undercover in a tavern in Cairo, Egypt, (Joe: Cairo... that's in Egypt) in an attempt to discover the terrorists' plans. The scene inside of the tavern is a parody of the Mos Eisley Cantina from the first Star Wars film. Just as he is about to uncover the plans, his teammates are spotted, and the terrorists run, taking Gary with them. Team America chases after them, almost killing Gary and destroying various landmarks, including the Sphinx, Abu Simbel, and the Great Pyramid, along the way. During the firefight, the female team members discuss their love lives.

After rescuing Gary, they return to their headquarters and celebrate, convinced that they have foiled the terrorists' plan. In fact, it was a complete fiasco that eliminated a few low-level terrorists, while the primary targets were alerted and unmolested. During the victory celebration, Gary and Lisa are shown alone, and discuss their feelings for each other. Lisa is attracted to Gary, but still hurting from the death of Carson, and says she will become involved with Gary only if he promises he will never die. After stating he could never make that promise, she appears unfazed, saying, "If only you could promise that, I could make love to you right now." Gary hastily promises. This leads to an extended hardcore pornographic scene between Gary and Lisa, which was heavily edited by Stone and Parker for the theatrical release in order to secure an "R" rating. The scene included anal sex, oral sex, and Gary urinating in Liza's mouth and Liza returning the favor with her excrement.

Peter Jennings reports that the Film Actors Guild (abbreviated F.A.G.), led by actor Alec Baldwin and other liberal celebrities such as Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Danny Glover, Helen Hunt, Janeane Garofalo, George Clooney, Samuel L. Jackson, and Matt Damon, are outraged by Team America's conduct in Egypt (In a deleted scene shown on the DVD, a news-report states that France and Egypt hate Team America, and will probably kill them when they come again, though this was a parody of the BBC News in Britain, rather than actual American reports). Many voices will be recognized from South Park in this scene. The real terrorist plan is revealed to be masterminded by Kim Jong-Il, the leader of North Korea. Hans Blix shows up at his palace asking for an inspection and threatens to write him an angry letter, but Kim Jong-il feeds him to his sharks (this scene mimics one from the James Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me).

Meanwhile terrorists, angry about what happened in Cairo, bomb the Panama Canal in retribution, killing thousands. The Film Actors Guild blames Team America for the Panama-bombing. Gary, who admires Baldwin, concludes that his acting has once again caused death, and quits Team America, going on to becoming an alcoholic bum (even vomiting comically around six times, all in a lengthy period of time). Team America goes on a mission, but is shot down over the ocean and captured by Kim Jong-il. F.A.G. protests in front of the Team America headquarters, with Tim Robbins saying they should put an end to the team, as they cause more harm than good. Michael Moore commits a suicide bomb attack against the headquarters, and Spottswoode, who was the only one there, is believed to be dead. In the F.A.G group, Helen Hunt suggests a new course of action for the guild, while Janeane Garofalo feels they should read the newspaper and repeat it on television like it is their opinion. All Matt Damon can say throughout the film is his own name, in a voice that makes him sound mentally retarded. As the meeting concludes, Baldwin introduces their new leader, who turns out to be Kim Jong-il himself.

Gary decides he must rejoin Team America. Spottswoode has survived the attack, and makes Gary perform oral sex on him to prove his loyalty. After that, Spottswoode takes Gary through an intensive one-day crash course (wherein the song "Montage" is played) in combat skills.

Gary goes to North Korea to rescue the rest of the team, fight F.A.G., and foil Kim Jong-il's plan. He succeeds, and Kim Jong-il is pushed off a balcony, which leads to his body being impaled by a German diplomat's World War I-era helmet. A cockroach-like alien, however, escapes from the mouth of Kim Jong-il, much like a similar scene in the movie The Hidden. It is revealed that the dictator's body was controlled by the insect. The roach, taunting Team America in Kim's voice, escapes in a small spaceship. The song played at the end of the closing credits, "You Are Worthress, Arec Barrwin," explains roach-Kim's motivation. He is from the planet Gyron, and his species, the Zypods, are at war with the bee-like Barmacks. Earth, after its human population had been eliminated through war, was intended as a new home for the Zypods. Since that mission has failed, roach-Kim anticipates condemnation to the "pit of Cryrock."

Deaths

terrorist 1 - shot through window by lisa

terrorist 2 - beaten up by chris

terrorist leader - blown up in louvre after sarah fires a rocket

terrorist 4 - shot by chris and joe

Carson - dies after being shot by terrorist 4

translator - shot in head by kim jong-il

dirkastan terrorist 1 - hit by car

dirkastan terrorist 2 - shot through back of head

dirkastanians - killed by sarah with gattling gun

dirkastanian leader and dirkastanian - blown up in car crash

hans blix - eaten by sharks

panamanians - died in flood

michael moore - blows himself up

Baxter - dies in explosion

koreans - shot in planes, boats and submarines.

korean guard 1 - shot by gary

korean guard 2 - shot by gary

balcony guard - shot off balcony by gary

Liv Tyler - blown up by grenade and decapitated

George Clooney - blown up by grenade and decapitated

Ethan Hawk - shot in stomach letting inards fall out

Janeane Garofalo - slightly decapitated by a shotgun

Susan Sarandan - shot off balcony and flattened on impact

Sean Penn - eaten by panthers

Danny Glover(God) - eaten by panthers

Helen Hunt - sliced in half by Sarah with a sword

Samuel L Jackson - Head kicked in half by chris

Martin Sheen - kicked in face that prosumably broke his neck/killed offscreen

Matt Damon - neck snapped

Tim Robbins - burns to death

Alec Baldwin - shot by kim jong-il which eventually blows up his head

Kim jong-il - stabbed by german hat

Targets of satire

Team America itself satirizes the perceived jingoism that leads American administrations to take unilateral foreign policy action that critics deride as "policing the world." The Film Actors Guild (F.A.G.) satirizes the perceived extremism and anti-Americanism of Hollywood celebrities. The "Film Actors Guild" is a reference to the Screen Actors Guild, and the acronym of the fictional organization, F.A.G., is often a derogatory term for homosexual men.

There is a scene early on in the movie where Gary (the main puppet character in the movie) is in a play called Lease, singing the song "Everyone has AIDS". This is a satirical play on the musical Rent, wherein several of the characters are suffering from AIDS. Gary himself satires Mark Cohen, the main character of the play, evidenced by the telltale scarf that Gary wears, which is Mark's trademark.

According to Parker and Stone, to avoid being pigeon-holed as simply a movie about the 2004 U.S. election, the film deliberately does not name any American politicians; Kim Jong-il and Hans Blix are the only real political figures directly identified in the film. Team America acts without any guidance from the White House or the Department of Defense. On the other hand, others see Team America's incompetent and needlessly destructive operations as a jab at current American counter-terrorism policies. The team's reliance on an actor who is inexperienced in politics, foreign policy, or military operations possibly satirizes incompetence in foreign policy matters, or in the government in general. Political and social commentator Andrew Sullivan considers the film brilliant in its skewering of both the left and right's approach on terrorism. Sullivan (a fan of Stone and Parker's other work, as well) coined the term "South Park Republican" to describe himself and other like-minded fiscal conservatives/social libertarians. Parker is a registered Libertarian.

Many Hollywood actors are directly satirized, by name. Sean Penn is portrayed making an outlandish claim about Iraq, which might be a reference to the portrayal of happy, kite-flying Iraqi children in Fahrenheit 9/11: "Before Team America showed up, it was a happy place. They had flowery meadows, and rainbow skies and rivers made of chocolate, where the children danced and laughed and played with gumdrop smiles." Janeane Garofalo's character states, "Our job as actors is to read the newspapers, and repeat what we've read on TV, like it is our own opinion." In the film, Alec Baldwin is portrayed as the leader of F.A.G. and proclaimed on two different occasions to be "the greatest actor ever." According to Parker and Stone, Penn sent an angry letter inviting them to tour Iraq with him and ended it with the words, "Fuck you." They also stated that Baldwin took a very different view of the film, even offering the use of his own voice for the Alec Baldwin character. Matt Damon was also parodied to be mentally handicapped, only saying his name throughout the movie, similar to the character Timmy in South Park^[1].

Filmmaker Michael Moore is depicted as a suicide bomber, while referred to as a "giant socialist weasel" by the supercomputer. Stone explained the reason for this portrayal in an MSNBC interview:

"We have a very specific beef with Michael Moore...I did an interview, and he didn't mischaracterize me for anything I said in Bowling for Columbine. But what he did do was put this cartoon [titled A Brief History of the United States of America(^[2]), written by Moore, animated and directed by Harold Moss and the Idealabs studio] right after me that made it look like we did that cartoon."^[3]

Bowling for Columbine includes a brief interview with South Park co-creator Matt Stone, who suggests that South Park was largely inspired by Stone's childhood experiences in Littleton, Colorado. Stone presents a vision of Littleton as painfully normal, and highly intolerant of non-conformist behavior. In a segment that immediately followed the interview in the first release, an uncredited cartoon in a style strongly reminiscent of South Park is featured, depicting the National Rifle Association and Ku Klux Klan as interchangeable evil organizations. However, this sequence was not the work of Matt Stone, nor that of Trey Parker. It became a point of contention between the two and Moore, as they believed Moore meant to imply they had contributed to his film beyond the interview.^[3] The animation was in fact made by FlickerLab. Subsequent releases attempted to counter this assumption by delaying the animation until ten minutes later in the film. Parker later claimed on The Charlie Rose Show that he does own a gun and has the opposite opinion of the animation in Moore's film.

Team America also parodies movies relying on ethnocentrism in their US American audience. When a new location is shown, the caption will give the place's name and its distance from the United States in miles (in reality measured from New York City). In the film's theme song, "America" is often pronounced "'merica". All landmarks in Paris and Cairo are closely located. Also, other languages are simplified to the point of ridicule. French is reduced to stock phrases such as "sacre bleu", the only Spanish line is "no me gusta," repeated several times, and Arabic is given as a guttural combination of the words "derka", "jihad", "sherpa", "bakala", "Mohammed," and "Allah." The Korean language was also simplified for the movie. While no real Korean words were actually used in speech, the real verb endings of "~~ㅂ니까 (~~mnikka)?" (sentence ending in a question) and "~~ㅂ니다 (~~mnida)" (sentence ending in a statement) were used after nonsensical words to give the dialogue a Korean-like sound. A few lines do sound like authentic Korean: when the guards see Gary, one says something like "nuga iya, saekki," or "who are you, fucker?" The movie's soundtrack features a song entitled "North Korean Melody", consisting of mostly gibberish words on top of a stereotypically Asian melody;^[4] the only recognizable words in the song were "Kim Jong-il," presumably referring to the cult of personality surrounding the ruler. Despite not using real Korean words in speech, real Korean written characters are used in all Korean writing in the movie. The stereotypical Asian pronunciation of English "R"s instead of "L"s is used heavily by Kim Jong-il. For example, he greets people with "Herro," and calls Hans Blix "Hans Brix," even singing a song in the movie entitled "I'm So Ronery." When Koreans write their names or introduce themselves, they always use their family name first: Kim (family name) Jong-il (given name). Western culture is the opposite. So, when Hans Blix meets Kim Jong-il in Kim Jong-il's palace, Blix addresses Mr. Kim as "Mr. Il." This could be a reference to Harry Truman's infamous faux pas when greeting of Chiang Kai-shek (the president said, "Mr. Shek").

In some scenes, particularly in the Panama Canal scene, hemp plants are placed around the scenery, made to look like ferns due to their relative size. Also, some plant leaves were made up of shredded dollar bills.

Despite the teaser trailer's boast that George W. Bush and John Kerry (along with several other celebrities) are "going to be really, really mad when they see Team America: World Police," neither Bush nor Kerry are actually seen or mentioned, although marionettes that look similar to them (and their wives) can be seen in the audience of Lease, a parody of Rent and to some extent of the original Broadway play and film The Producers.

Filmmakers' response to critical reaction

In an interview with Matt Stone following the film's release,^[5] Anwar Brett of the BBC asked the same question that many film critics had wondered aloud in their reviews of Team America: World Police — "For all the targets you choose to take pot-shots at, George W. Bush isn't one of them. How come?" Matt Stone replied, "If you want to see Bush-bashing in America you only have to walk about 10 feet to find it. Trey and I are always attracted to what other people aren't doing. Frankly that wasn't the movie we wanted to make."

Kim Jong-Il, a noted film buff^[6], has never commented about his depiction in Team America: World Police, although shortly after its release North Korea asked the Czech Republic to ban the movie. ^[7]

Box office performance

Team America was a surprise financial bomb upon release, making $12.1 million in its opening U.S. weekend. Since then the film has made a profit internationally, but domestically only just made back its production costs ($30 million) after over two months in release. ^[8] Worldwide, it eventually garnered over $50.8 million at the box office. ^[9]

Individuals parodied

Famous people depicted as puppets in the film are: Michael Moore, Peter Jennings, Alec Baldwin, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Helen Hunt, George Clooney, Liv Tyler, Martin Sheen, Susan Sarandon, Janeane Garofalo, Matt Damon, Samuel L. Jackson, Danny Glover, Ethan Hawke, Kim Jong-il, Peter Jennings and Hans Blix. With the exception of Jennings, all are killed in dramatic and extremely violent ways (e.g. Moore suicide-bombing Team America's Mount Rushmore headquarters and Samuel L. Jackson getting his head split open by a kung-fu kick). None of the real-life actors lent their voices, although Alec Baldwin expressed an interest in doing so. Both Clooney and Damon are said to be friends with Stone and Parker, and according to a report, Clooney has stated that he would have been insulted had he not been included in the movie.^[10] Also, Damon was meant to be an intelligent person in the movie, but when Stone and Parker saw that his puppet looked like a mentally retarded individual, they decided to have him only able to say his name.

Trivia

• One of the world leaders present at the conference is Mobutu Sese Seko, even though in real life he died in 1997. The name of his country reads "Zaire" rather than Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been the country's name since 1997.

• The Paramount Pictures logo sequence at the start of the film is played in reverse, leading up to the first scene in space.

• The footage of the debris from Earth exploding in the beginning of the film was reused footage of the debris from Veridian III from Star Trek: Generations.

• The Michael Moore puppet that was blown up was stuffed full of ham.

• The Peace Conference show that Kim Jong-Il had put on for the world leaders was based off of the North Korean Mass Games performances.

• In the special features of the DVD, Parker comments that it would be their lifelong dream to have Kim Jong-Il to play a stage version of "I'm So Ronery".

• The torture scene with Chris and one of Kim Jong Il's workers is similar to the torture scene in the South Park episode, Red Sleigh Down with Santa and "Santa's Balls", even including the same dialogue.

• The locations of the WMDs, as shown in Kim Jong Il's map, do cover a number of major cities but also show a large number in sparsely-inhabited areas, such as the Australian outback or the center of Borneo. The cities which do have WMDs planted on them include Liverpool but not London and Hamburg but not Berlin. Also, the Black Sea is depicted as land.

• When the members of the F.A.G. decide to stand against the members of Team America, they all yell "Qapla'" which is actually the Klingon word for "Success"

• In an interview for Channel 4's 50 Greatest Comedy Movies it was announced that the amount of backbreaking labor that Trey Parker and Matt Stone went through to get the film made (which ultimately led to "The Year From Hell") forced the two to vow never to make a sequel.

• Parker and Stone have often said that their original plan for the film was simply to recreate Armageddon, word-for-word, shot-for-shot, with the marionette puppets, but were immediately shut down by Paramount's legal department.

• The "eat his own head" line maybe a reference to the South Park episode Super Best Friends, in which David Blaine eats his own head.

• The song "Montage" was used first in the South Park episode Asspen.

• Kim Jong Il's death by impalement is similar to the way Saddam Hussein dies in Parker and Stone's other feature film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (he was impaled on a rock in hell).

• When Gary goes to fight F.A.G. and save Team America, he waves his hand in front of the faces of the North Korean guards and says "You do not need to see my credentials." This is a reference to the Jedi Mind Trick seen in all of the Star Wars movies.

• When Gary is vomiting in the alleyway after the bar scene, the chocolate milk flavored product Yoo-Hoo was used to create the illusion of vomit. (reference needed)

• At the beginning, before Lisa shoots a terrorist; she says "Terrorise this!". This is an obvious spin-off of The Matrix, where Trinity points a gun at an agent and says "Dodge this" before proceeding to shoot him.

Music

Marc Shaiman was originally hired to compose the original score and help Trey Parker compose the film's songs. He left the film after helping to compose Everyone Has AIDS and Derka Derk (Terrorist Theme) (with Trey Parker composing the rest of the songs on his own, according to the end credits). To compose the score, Shaiman was replaced by Harry Gregson-Williams. In a curious twist, Shaiman later conducted the orchestra in the film's scoring sessions.

The film's songs include:

• America, Fuck Yeah
• Freedom Isn't Free: Played when Gary (Trey Parker) decides to take a "detour" with Baxter, the limo driver. The song concludes with the declaration that freedom in fact costs "a buck 'o five ($1.05)".
• Derka Derk (Terrorist Theme), an instrumental parody of "Cantina Band" from Star Wars.
• Only a Woman: Played during the love scene between Gary and Lisa.
• I'm So Ronery: Sung by Kim Jong-Il (Trey Parker) when he feels everyone is incompetent.
• Montage: Sung when Gary (Trey Parker) is training with Spotswoode (Daran Norris)
• North Korean Medley: Gibberish song (Kim Jong-Il's name repeated over and over) used to distract the group of people in Kim Jong-Il's large mansion before Alec Baldwin's speech.
• The End of an Act: Played after Gary quits Team America and gets drunk. It's a love song featuring the refrain "Pearl Harbor sucked, and I miss you.". This song's lyrics are parodied version of "I don't wanna miss a thing" by Aerosmith which appeared on Armageddon soundtrack. That film was also directed by Michael Bay. Also, its music has resemblances to Take My Breath Away by Berlin which was appeared on Top Gun soundtrack.
• Everyone Has AIDS, sung by Gary in the Broadway play Lease.
• The song playing when the team walks through Kim Jong-Il's palace is Tomoyasu Hotei's Battle Without Honor or Humanity, which was also featured in Kill Bill.

There is also a bonus song sung by Kim Jong Il named "You Are Worthress Arec Barwin" during the end credits of the film. The song provides some explanation of the film's ending sequence.

See also

• List of films set in or about North Korea

References

• Moriarty Visits Matt & Trey On The TEAM AMERICA Set! - set report from AintItCool.com
• Team America: World Police - synopsis, clips and images from LatinoReview.com
• (October 2004). Play: South Park's Puppet Regime. Wired 12.10. Accessed October 6, 2004.
• BBC Interview with Matt Stone

Wikipedia information about Team America: World Police This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Team America: World Police". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.