Team America: World Police

Team America: World Police
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Trey Parker
Written by	Trey Parker Matt Stone Pam Brady
Produced by	Trey Parker Matt Stone Scott Rudin
Starring	Trey Parker Matt Stone Kristen Miller Masasa Daran Norris Phil Hendrie Maurice LaMarche
Cinematography	Bill Pope
Edited by	Tom Vogt
Music by	Harry Gregson-Williams
Production company	Scott Rudin Productions
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	October 14, 2004 (2004-10-14) (Denver) October 15, 2004 (2004-10-15)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	Template:Film US
Language	English
Budget	$30 million
Box office	$50,907,422

Team America: World Police is a 2004 action comedy film written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Pam Brady and directed by Parker, all of whom are also known for the popular animated television series South Park. The film is a satire of big-budget action films and their associated clichés and stereotypes, with particular humorous emphasis on the global implications of US politics. The title of the film itself is derived from domestic and international political criticisms that the U.S. frequently and unilaterally tries to "police the world". The film features a cast composed of marionettes. Team America focuses on a fictional team of political paramilitary policemen known as "Team America: World Police", who attempt to save the world from a violent terrorist plot led by Kim Jong-il.

The film was primarily inspired by Thunderbirds, a popular British TV show created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson which also featured an all-marionette cast, though Stone and Parker were not fans of the show. The duo worked on the script with former South Park writer Pam Brady for nearly two years. The film had a troubled time in production, with various problems regarding the marionettes as well as the scheduling extremes of having the film come out in time. In addition, the filmmakers fought with the Motion Picture Association of America, who returned the film over nine times with an NC-17 rating. The film was recut by a few seconds and rated R.

The film was released in the United States on October 15, 2004 and received generally positive reviews. Team America grossed over $51 million worldwide. The film was released on DVD in the United States on May 17, 2005, available in both R-rated and Unrated versions.

Plot

Team America exists to stop terrorists from committing world crimes. With a home base within Mount Rushmore, the team consists of: Lisa, a psychologist; Carson, Lisa's love interest; Sarah, an alleged psychic; Joe, an all-American jock who is in love with Sarah; and Chris, a technological and martial arts expert who harbors a mistrust of actors. The team is led by Spottswoode, a United States government agent. I.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E. is their highly-advanced supercomputer.

The story opens in Paris, France, where the team interrupts a group of terrorists in action. During the ensuing firefight, the Team destroys the Eiffel Tower (which then collapses onto and destroys the Arc de Triomphe) and the Louvre, 'saving' the day but ironically causing more damage than if they had not been present. Carson then proposes to Lisa, but the moment is cut short when a dying terrorist kills Carson. In search of a new member, Spottswoode recruits Gary Johnston, a Broadway actor, who was starring in Lease, and who has college majors in Theater and World Languages. Gary will use his acting talents to infiltrate terrorist organizations. Unbeknownst to the team, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il is supplying international terrorists with weapons of mass destruction, planning a mysterious worldwide attack.

I.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E. is informed of a terrorist meeting in Cairo, Egypt. Gary manages to successfully infiltrate the terrorist group due to his fluency in their language, which is shown to be a caricature of Arabic that consists mainly of the words "Derka", "Muhammad" and "Jihad". During this time, both Lisa and Sarah become romantically attracted to him. Chris, however, hates Gary, because he is an actor. Gary is sent in undercover, and gains trust of a terrorist lieutenant despite having a poor disguise. The team attempts to capture the terrorists, and although Team America successfully foils the plan, their actions again leave most of the city in ruins. The group is criticized by the Film Actors Guild (F.A.G.), a union of liberal Hollywood actors. The group includes Gary's favorite actor, Alec Baldwin, and his heavy criticism is discouraging to Gary. Meanwhile, the United Nations assign Hans Blix to inspect Kim Jong-il's lair, but Blix is killed by Kim Jong-il's man-eating sharks. As Team America relaxes, Gary expresses his guilt to Lisa, remembering a time where his acting talent caused his brother to be killed by gorillas. As the two consummate their relationship, a group of terrorists blow up the Panama Canal.

The Film Actors Guild blames Team America, believing that they are responsible, as the terrorists claim this is retaliation for Team America's attack in Egypt. Gary, realizing his acting talents have once again resulted in tragedy, abandons the team, causing conflict among the remaining members. Believing the terrorists to be operating within Derkaderkastan, the original members depart, only to be attacked and captured by terrorists and the North Koreans, respectively. Meanwhile, Michael Moore infiltrates the team's base and suicide bombs the area. Kim Jong-il, upset with the terrorists' actions, expresses his frustration and despair by singing "I'm So Ronery". Meanwhile, Gary slips further into alcoholism.

In North Korea, Kim Jong-il plans to host an elaborate peace ceremony, inviting not only the Film Actors Guild but also the world's political leaders. Alec Baldwin is chosen as the ceremony's host. During the celebration, a series of bombs will be detonated throughout the world, reducing every nation to a Third World country. Gary returns to the Team's headquarters in Mount Rushmore and finds only ruins, although Spottswoode and I.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E. have survived. After regaining Spottswoode's trust by performing oral sex on him, and undergoing a one-day training course (shown as a montage for comic effect), Gary is sent to North Korea.

Gary manages to free the team. They are confronted by the Film Actors Guild and a violent battle ensues, which involves panthers being released at the team, and leaving most of the Guild brutally slain, with Alec Baldwin remaining alive as the host of the ceremony. Soon after, Chris confesses to Gary that his mistrust of actors is due to the fact that at 19 years of age he was raped by the cast of Cats. The team then confront Kim Jong-il. Although initially unsuccessful, Gary convinces the world's leaders to unite when he recites the drifter's emotional speech that he heard in the bar, stunning Alec. Kim Jong-il then kills Alec with an assault rifle, but is defeated by Lisa and impaled on a Pickelhaube. Kim's bombs are disarmed; and he is revealed to be a cockroach from another planet. He flees, departing in a miniature spaceship, but promises to return. As Gary and Lisa begin a relationship, the team reunites, preparing to combat the remainder of the world's terrorists.

Cast

• Trey Parker as Gary Johnston / Joe / Carson / Kim Jong-il / Hans Blix / Matt Damon / Tim Robbins / Sean Penn / Michael Moore / Helen Hunt / Susan Sarandon / Drunk in Bar / Other voices
• Matt Stone as Chris / George Clooney / Danny Glover / Ethan Hawke / Other voices
• Kristen Miller as Lisa
• Masasa as Sarah
• Daran Norris as Spottswoode
• Phil Hendrie as I.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E. / Chechen terrorist
• Maurice LaMarche as Alec Baldwin
• Chelsea Marguerite as French mother
• Jeremy Shada as Jean Francois
• Fred Tatasciore as Samuel L. Jackson
• Scott Land as Lead puppeteer
• The film also features a man dressed as a giant statue of Kim Il-sung, two live cats, two nurse sharks, and a cockroach, with the difference in size with the marionettes played for humorous effect.

Production

Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were exhausted with production on Team America and scheduling extremes.

After the "hassle" of producing their last film, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Parker and Stone vowed never to create another film. The film's earliest origins involve Parker and Stone watching Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds on television while bored. When the duo saw the series, they recalled seeing it on television but were not fans. Parker found that the series was unable to hold his interest as a child because "the dialogue was so expository and slow, and it took itself really seriously." The duo inquired about the rights to the series and found Universal Studios was doing a Thunderbirds film directed by Jonathan Frakes. "We said, 'What? Jonathan Frakes is directing puppets?' and then we found out it was a live action version, and we were disappointed," said Parker. The two then read in the trades that The Day After Tomorrow had been sold to Fox due to a one line pitch regarding global warming, which Parker and Stone found hilarious and "insane." Parker recalled Stone running up to him during work at South Park holding the paper, who sat down and read the synopsis regarding "sudden global warming attacking the earth." The two were in tears from laughing. The two got a copy of the script, and soon realized that "The Day After Tomorrow was the greatest puppet script ever written." Originally intending to do a shot-for-shot puppet parody of The Day After Tomorrow, Parker and Stone were advised by their lawyers that there could be possible legal repercussions. The spoof would have been called The Day After the Day After Tomorrow, and been released a day later than The Day After Tomorrow. News broke of the duo signing on to create the film on October 17, 2002, with Stone revealing that it would be an homage to Anderson. The news was confirmed in June 2003, with Variety quoting Stone as saying "What we wanted was to do a send-up of these super important huge action movies that Jerry Bruckheimer makes."

When the duo pitched Team America to Paramount, the studio believed the film would not be a financial success. The two pitched the film to their producer Scott Rudin first, who immediately "got" and understood the project, and eventually convinced Paramount to give the project the green light. Studio executives were initially less than thrilled with the project; as soon as dailies were shown, the studio jumped on board. The studio was, ironically, in favor of the lack of political correctness, but were confused by the use of puppets. The executives explained that they could not make profit from an R-rated puppet feature, and Parker countered that they had said the same thing regarding an R-rated musical (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut) but they did. Parker, Stone, and longtime writing partner Pam Brady spent nearly two years perfecting the Team America script. For influences, they studied scores of popular action and disaster films, such as Alien, Top Gun, and S.W.A.T. The duo watched Pearl Harbor to get the nuances of the puppets just right when they were staring at each other, and also used Ben Affleck as a model. To help shape the film's archetypal heroes (from the true believer to the reluctant hero to the guy who sells out his friends for greater glory), they read Joseph Campbell. "On one level, it's a big send-up," Brady said. "But on another, it's about foreign policy." The first draft of the script was turned in well before the Iraq War. The film takes aim at various celebrities, many of whom came out in opposition to Iraq War in 2003. Brady explained this in an interview as though everyone wanted an expert on the subject, a celebrity would take center stage instead.

The film's central concept was far easier to dream up than to execute. Team America was produced using a crew of about 200 people, which sometimes required four people at a time to manipulate a marionette. The duo were forced to constantly rewrite the film during production due to the limited nature of the puppets. The 270 puppet characters were created by the Chiodo Brothers, who previously designed puppets for films such as Elf and Dinosaur. The costumers of the crew were responsible for making sure the over 1,000 costumes remained in cohesive order and were realistic. Production began on May 23, 2004. The project was interrupted multiple times early on in production. As soon as filming began, Parker and Stone labored to find the right comic tone; the original script for the film contained many more jokes. After shooting the very first scene, the two realized the jokes were not working, and that the humor instead came from the marionettes. "Puppets doing jokes is not funny," Stone found. "But when you see puppets doing melodrama, spitting up blood and talking about how they were raped as children, that's funny." The film was filmed by three units shooting different parts of the film at the same time. At times, the producers would have up to five cameras set up to capture the scene filmed.

The film was painstakingly made realistic, which led to various shots being re-done throughout the process due to Parker and Stone's obsession with detail and craftsmanship. For example, a tiny Team America-scale Uzi cost $1,000 to construct, and Kim Jong Il's eyeglasses were made with hand-ground prescription lenses. Although the filmmakers hired three dozen top-notch marionette operators, simple performances from the marionettes was nearly impossible, with a simple shot such as a character drinking taking a half-day to complete successfully. Both Parker and Stone agreed during production of Team America that it was "the hardest thing [they'd] ever done." Rather than rely on computer-generated special effects added in post-production, the filmmakers vied to capture every stunt live on film. Parker likened each shot to a complicated math problem.

It's a back-and-forth with the board. They said it can't be as many positions, so we cut out a couple of them. We love the golden shower, but I guess they said no to that. But I just love that they have to watch it. Seriously, can you imagine getting a videotape with just a close-up of a puppet asshole, and you have to watch it?

—Trey Parker on the clashes between he and Stone and the MPAA

Even before the scene's submission to the Motion Picture Association of America, Parker planned to "have fun" pushing the limits by throwing in the graphic scene. The duo knew the racy film would be met with some opposition, but were outraged when the film came back with their harshest rating, NC-17. In the original cut of the film, the puppets made love for about a minute and a half, but it was cut down to 50 seconds. The original scene also featured the two puppets urinating and defecating on one another. The entire joke was based on what children do humorously with dolls such as Ken and Barbie. At least nine edits of the puppet love scene were shown to the MPAA before the board accepted that it had been toned down enough to qualify for an R rating. Parker contrasted the MPAA's reluctance for the sex scene to their acceptance of the violence: "Meanwhile, we're taking other puppets and, you know, blowing their heads off, they're covered with blood and stuff, and the MPAA didn't have a word to say about that." In addition to the sex scene, the MPAA were also upset with a puppet being eaten alive by sharks. The duo faced a similar conflict with their previous film, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, in 1999.

From September 18, the film began principal photography and editing. The film was required to be turned in completed by the end of September. The pressure took a toll on both filmmakers. Stone said that in order to work for 20 hours, which was normal for Team America, he would take sleeping pills to go to bed and drink coffee to stay up. He also described Team America as "the worst time of [my] life." A hectic production schedule and various puppetry problems transformed the experience into high drama. The film was barely completed in time for its October 15 release date. For example, at a press junket in Los Angeles on October 5, journalists were only shown a 20-minute reel of highlights because there was no finished print. Many of the film's producers, besides Parker and Stone, had not even seen the entire film on film with the sound mix until the premiere.

Individuals parodied

Famous people depicted as puppets in the film include Michael Moore, 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, Tony Blair, Queen Elizabeth II, Peter Jennings, and Hans Blix. With the exception of Jennings, Tony Blair and Queen Elizabeth (and Sheen, whose death is not shown despite being involved in the F.A.G. vs. Team America battle), all are killed in dramatic and extremely violent ways.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was not smiling about the film, and the DPRK asked the Czech Republic to ban it.

Reactions from those parodied were mixed; Alec Baldwin found the project "so funny", and expressed interest in lending his voice to his character. In a 2008 video interview with Time, Baldwin related how his daughter's classmates would recite Kim Jong-Il's line to him, "You are useress to me, Arec Bardwin." Sean Penn, who is portrayed making outlandish claims about how happy and utopian Iraq was before Team America showed up, sent Parker and Stone an angry letter inviting them to tour Iraq with him, ending with the words "fuck you." Both George Clooney and Matt Damon are said to be friends with Stone and Parker, and Clooney has stated that he would have been insulted had he not been included in the film. While Matt Damon was originally meant to be an intelligent person in the film, Parker and Stone saw during production that his puppet was so malformed it "looked retarded." Inspired by an anecdote Damon tells in which he relates his fatigue with people coming up to him and shouting his name, they decided to have him only able to say his name, similar to the character Timmy in South Park.

Kim Jong-il, a noted film buff, never commented publicly about his depiction in Team America: World Police, although shortly after its release North Korea asked the Czech Republic to ban the film. The filmmakers acknowledged this in a DVD extra and jokingly suggested he sing "I'm So Ronery".

Michael Moore is depicted as a fat, hot dog eating glutton who partakes in suicide bombing and is 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 or 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, written by Moore, animated and directed by Harold Moss] right after me that made it look like we did that cartoon.

A deleted scene also shows Meryl Streep and Ben Affleck (who is portrayed with a real-life hand).

Release

Reviews of the film were generally positive. It rated a 78% ("fresh") at Rotten Tomatoes, (and 68% of the site's Top Critics) with the consensus "Team America will either offend you or leave you in stitches. It'll probably do both." The Metacritic rating is 64/100 ("generally favorable reviews").

Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson was supposed to have met Trey Parker before production, but they cancelled the meeting, acknowledging he would not like the film's expletives. Anderson felt "there are good, fun parts [in the film] but the language wasn't to my liking".

National Review Online has named the film #24 in its list of 'The Best Conservative Movies'. Brian C. Anderson wrote, "the film’s utter disgust with air-headed, left-wing celebrity activism remains unmatched in popular culture." However, 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) popularized the term "South Park Republican" to describe himself and other like-minded fiscal conservatives/social libertarians. Parker himself is a registered Libertarian.

The film suffered oppositional criticism before it was released. In August, Internet gossip columnist Matt Drudge blasted Paramount and the filmmakers for trying to "mock the terror war." A week later, the conservative group Move America Forward criticized the film, saying it was "inconceivable" that filmmakers would have spoofed the Nazis during World War II. Before the film was released, statements were released by a "senior Bush administration official" condemning the film. Upon receiving the news, the duo called and found it was instead a "junior staffer," causing Stone to quip "What is it - junior or senior? What are we talking about here? Who knows? It might have been the janitor." The two eventually decided it was free publicity, which they were fine with. Some media outlets interpreted the film's release on October 15 to be in theaters before the November elections. In reality, the release date had nothing to do with the elections; in fact, the film was intended to be released earlier but production fell behind.

Box office

Team America made $12.1 million in its opening U.S. weekend. The film eventually grossed a total of almost $51 million, with $32.8 million in U.S. domestic receipts and $18.1 million in international proceeds.

Filmmakers' response

In an interview with Matt Stone following the film's release, Anwar Brett of the BBC asked the following question. "For all the targets you choose to take pot-shots at," he asked, "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."

In another interview, Parker and Stone further clarified the end of the film which seems to justify the role of the United States as the "World Police".

Because that's the thing that we realized when we were making the movie. It was always the hardest thing. We wanted to deal with this emotion of being hated as an American. That was the thing that was intriguing to us, and having Gary (the main character) deal with that emotion. And so, him becoming ashamed to be a part of Team America and being ashamed of himself, he comes to realize that, just as he got his brother killed by gorillas -- he didn't kill his brother; he was a dick, he wasn't an asshole -- so too does America have this role in the world as a dick. Cops are dicks, you fucking hate cops, but you need 'em.

Music

Untitled

Marc Shaiman was originally hired to compose the original score and help Parker compose the film's songs. He helped compose "Everyone Has AIDS" and "Derka Derk (Terrorist Theme)". He submitted a score, but the studio rejected it and fired Shaiman, hiring Harry Gregson-Williams as a last minute replacement (Parker had instructed Shaiman to score the film as if it were a typical action film, which they agreed would make it funnier, while the studio felt the score should play up the comedy). However, Shaiman still conducted the orchestra in the film's scoring sessions.

The film's songs include:

• "America, Fuck Yeah": Played throughout various parts of the film, along with the "America, Fuck Yeah (Bummer Remix)", intended to mock the stereotypical American's freedom-loving, jingoist form of patriotism.
• "Freedom Isn't Free": Played when Gary decides to take a "detour" with Baxter, the limo driver. The song concludes with the declaration that freedom in fact costs $1.05 ("a buck oh five"). It is a parody of nationalistic country songs like "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)" by Toby Keith, "Have You Forgotten?" by Darryl Worley and "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" by Alan Jackson.
• "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; a parody of Diane Warren-penned powerballads from Jerry Bruckheimer-produced action films ("I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" from Armageddon, "How Do I Live" from Con Air, "There You'll Be" from Pearl Harbor.)
• "I'm So Ronery": Sung by Kim Jong-il when he feels everyone else is incompetent.
• "Montage": Sung when Gary is training with Spottswoode. The song is a stylistic parody of "Push It to the Limit" by Paul Engemann, "Hearts on Fire" by John Cafferty (Rocky IV soundtrack) — the song even features the line 'even Rocky had a montage' — and "Holding Out for a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler, songs famed for appearances in '80s films. A slightly different version of the song was featured in the 6th season South Park episode "Asspen."
• "North Korean Medley": Gibberish song used to distract the group of people in Kim Jong-il's large mansion before Alec Baldwin's speech. A parody of North Korean pop music by artists such as the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble and Mansudae Art Troupe, which generally extols the virtues of Kim Jong-il and his father Kim Il-sung; Kim Jong-il's name is repeated over and over.
• "The End of an Act": Played after Gary quits Team America and gets drunk; a ballad which poses the question, "Why does Michael Bay get to keep on making movies?" It's a love song featuring the refrain "Pearl Harbor sucked, and I miss you". This song's lyrics and musical style are parodies of love ballads commonly written for action films that the film satirizes, such as "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith which appeared on the Armageddon soundtrack and "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin from Top Gun.
• "Everyone Has AIDS", sung by Gary in the Broadway musical Lease (a parody of Rent).
• The song played while the team is debriefing and partying is Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride"
• 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.
• Stylistically, the Gregson-Williams score is reminiscent of the Hans Zimmer/Trevor Rabin style used in several Michael Bay films (Gregson-Williams was at one point a member of Zimmer's Media Ventures group), which further plays up the parody aspects of the film. In fact, several cues seem to be direct parodies of music from Bay's films, most notably Rabin's Armageddon score, echoed in the tracks "Lisa & Gary" and "Putting a Jihad on You," while parts of "Kim Jong Il" are lifted from the track "Attack" from Zimmer's Pearl Harbor score.

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

External links

• Official website
• Team America: World Police at IMDb
• Template:Bcdb
• Template:AllRovi movie
• Team America: World Police at Box Office Mojo
• Team America: World Police at Rotten Tomatoes
• An analysis at Flakmagazine
• Roger Ebert's review