Epic Movie
| Epic Movie | |
|---|---|
 Promotional movie poster for Epic Movie. | |
| Directed by | Jason Friedberg Aaron Seltzer |
| Written by | Jason Friedberg Aaron Seltzer |
| Produced by | Paul Schiff |
| Starring | Kal Penn Jennifer Coolidge Adam Campbell Faune A. Chambers Darrell Hammond Jayma Mays Fred Willard Tim Lockwood David Lehre |
| Distributed by | Regency(International) Warner Independent Pictures (US) |
Release dates | January 26, 2007 |
Running time | 85 Min. (Theatrical) 92 Min. (Unrated) |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million |
Epic Movie is a 2007 American film directed and written by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. It was produced by Paul Schiff. It was made in a similar style to Date Movie and the Scary Movie series. The film mostly references The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Plot
Four orphans each receive a Golden Ticket, each via a different film "parody" - Lucy (The Da Vinci Code), Edward (Nacho Libre), Susan (Snakes on a Plane), and Peter (X-Men trilogy). This ticket entitles them to visit the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Willy tells the orphans that the secret ingredient in his chocolate is human parts, and he plans to keep the orphans in his factory to use them for his chocolate. He succeeds in getting the ingredients (Lucy's sweet "heart", Edward's "peanuts", Peter's "surprise" tooth, and Susan's lemon "head") to the tune of "Fergalicious," he then brands Peter's backside, and is now holding the orphans captive. Lucy finds a wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) and after a series of items fall on her along with a woman (in the unrated movie she is naked) she climbs inside to meet Mr. Tumnus.
He welcomes Lucy to "Gnarnia" by showing her around his home (as a "parody" of Cribs) and warns her of the grave danger she is in. Edward follows Lucy to Gnarnia and meets the White Bitch commenting with awe "Stiffler's Mom..." (referring to her past role in the American Pie series). She convinces him to trap the other orphans. Everyone makes his or her way to Mr. Tumnus' house, where the orphans discover that they are all related to one another, and that the White Bitch killed their parents. Edward goes to see the White Bitch at her castle and realizes all she cares about are the other orphans. He realizes that she is evil and refuses to tell her where the other orphans are. Unfortunately, the White Bitch flashes him her chest, and Edward, transfixed, gives her the information unhesitatingly. He is then Punk'd, and locked in the castle prison. Harry Beaver sends Lucy, Susan, and Peter out of the winter scenery and into the woods to train for the war. They end up meeting a graying Harry Potter, along with a balding Ron Weasley, and a pregnant Hermione Granger. They all help Lucy, Susan, and Peter train for the war. Back at the White Bitch's castle, as she prepares a WMD that will create a new continent for her and her followers to live on, her assistant hands her a computer with her MySpace on the screen with an IM from Silas saying that the kids have escaped. Edward tries to find ways to break out of prison, and does so with the help of Captain Jack Swallows. Swallows sells Edward to the White Bitch and reveals that the ship they are on is an amusement park ride.
The White Bitch traps Edward in a prison and then kills Jack Swallows. Edwards grabs the WMD from her but accidentally drops it into the water. Upon finishing their training, Lucy, Susan, and Peter, head to the camp of Aslo. There they encounter James Bond, Chewbacca, and Borat. The entire camp volunteers to help the orphans fight the White Bitch's army, including Lord of the Rings characters and Peter's X-Men classmates. Aslo agrees to help the orphans on the condition that he may seduce them, including Peter. After encountering the White Bitch, Aslo is quickly killed off. Upon facing the White Bitch's army, the foursome realize they are outnumbered because nobody came to help them (because Susan vomited on them the previous night after drinking). As Peter is about to be struck down, he grabs a remote off the ground, which he uses to pause time (Click). He heals the injuries of his comrades, and the orphans proceed to kill the army as it is paused. When the army is destroyed, Edward uses the remote's TiVo menu to erase the White Bitch's evil plot. Before they can kill the White Bitch, Peter stops them and makes a speech about how they will give her a fair trial, yet before the lecture is over, Jack Swallows runs the White Bitch over with his cartwheel. Harry Beaver promotes all four of them Kings and Queens of Gnarnia. They are each described: Peter "the heroic", Edward "the loyal", Susan "the just", and, Lucy, the "dumb-shit". They rule Gnarnia for many years, and in their old age, they discover the wardrobe once again, and walk through it, becoming young again. Borat appears to congratulate them, but Jack Swallows' cartwheel runs them over, and then he says "NOT!". Then he turns around and smacks his own behind and then the credits roll. In the Unrated, Longer Version of the movie, Willy Wonka comes in and says "I told you it was going to be an epic adventure" and then the Oompa-Loompas come in and start singing the Willy Wonka theme song. Willy Wonka then goes in the wardrobe and puts out a (do not disturb) sign that refers to the girl in the wardrobe. Then, Jack Swallows comes in with the wheel and crushes the Oompa-Loompas and the orphans/rulers of Gnarnia.
Parodies
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - Introduction of Mr Tumnus, the White Bitch, the beavers and several characters from the original film. Also the Main parody.
- The Da Vinci Code - This movie is parodied in Lucy's introduction and later in Mr. Tumnus house, where the orphans start researching for clues in a portrait of The Last Supper. The character Silas is also one of the main villains, where he appears as a deranged masochist.
- Nacho Libre - This movie is parodied in Edward's introduction.
- Snakes on a Plane - This movie is parodied in Susan's introduction.
- X-Men trilogy - These movies are parodied in Peter's introduction.
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - In the scene with the four orphans at Willy's factory.
- A Christmas Story - When Lucy gets her tongue stuck to a lamppost when she arrives in Gnarnia.
- Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan - The character Borat appears in the very end of the film.
- P. Diddy - A faun version of him makes a cameo appearance during the "MTV Cribs" parody.
- MTV Cribs - The scene with Mr. Tummus showing Lucy around his house.
- Mission: Impossible III - The scene with Lucy getting a message from Mr. Tumnus on a camera.
- The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift - The scene where the White Bitch's lackey drives her sled and sees Edward.
- American Pie - When Edward first sees the White Bitch he calls her "Stifler's Mom" and on the DVD version a "MILF" (both characters played by Jennifer Coolidge)
- Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle - Two references were made through out the whole movie. One when the White Bitch shows Edward her "White Castle", and another during the fight scene, Edward is called Kumar.
- Superman Returns - The scene with Peter imagining himself as a hero, and the Bitch's new-continent forming WMD.
- Punk'd - The scene with Edward at the castle.
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Pirates appear in numerous scenes.
- Saturday Night Live - The song "Lazy Pirate Day" is taken from the famous skit "Lazy Sunday" and Darrell Hammond who appears in the movie was on Saturday Night Live.
- Pussycat Dolls - The song "Beep" is parodied during the "Lazy Pirate Day" song.
- Batman Begins - When Susan, Lucy, and Peter were on their way to Aslo's camp, one of the signs say Gotham City.
- Laguna Beach - When Susan, Lucy, and Peter were on their way to Aslo's camp, one of the signs say Laguna Beach.
- Star Wars - When Mr. Beaver says "May the force be with you" and some of the characters appear at Aslo's camp. Stormtroopers are also seen charging at the four children in the final battle scene.
- Harry Potter - An adult Harry Potter and his two middle-aged friends (they parody Hermione and Ron Weasley) prepare the three children to fight the White Bitch.
- Scarface - Antonio Montana makes a single repeated appearance as a faun in the MTV Cribs parody scene of the movie.
- Click - The remote Peter uses during the battle and the girl jogging.
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail - The black knight makes a cameo appearance during the battle.
- V for Vendetta - A look-alike of V (using a Michael Jackson mask) makes a cameo appearance in the credits.
- Mel Gibson - A look-alike shares a prison cell with Harold and makes an appearance in the credits.
- Shrek - Is mentioned in the credits.
- Doritos - Doritos chips are referred to and seen in the introduction of Edward.
- Mortal Kombat - the flying kick Silas gives Aslo in their fight refers to the Shadow Kick from Johnny Cage.
- Kanye West - parody of when he said George Bush doesn't care about black people.
- Princess Diaries 2 - A part in the Harry Potter parody, when Susan attempts archery.
- MySpace - Girl checks her MySpace page; her top friends include Britney Spears and Paris Hilton
- 24 - The White Bitch's weapon is said to hit on 24 hours
- Chappelle's Show - Before killing Mr. Tumnus, Silas declares "I'm Rick James, bitch!"
- Paris Hilton - In Susan's introduction, Susan falls off a plane onto Paris Hilton who says "I'm so hot!"
- Talladega Nights - Pit Crew is in Gnaria village cheering the kids.
- Wonderbread - The Pit Crew's shirts say Wonder-Full and have the same colors as the Wonderbread logo.
- Casino Royale - James Bond, accompanied by two women, greet Susan, Lucy, and Peter as they enter Aslo's camp.
Cast
Box office
Epic Movie debuted at #1 at the box office with a gross of $18.6 million over the opening weekend.[1] As of May 8, 2007 the film has grossed $86.8 million, with $39,739,367 of that amount earned domestically, making the film another reasonable financial success in the (genre) Movie films, despite negative reviews from critics.[2] The film was an economic success for its producers not least because it had a comparatively low budget, estimated at $20 million (the same as Date Movie).
Critical reception
Despite the film's success at the box office, it generally received extremely negative reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that out of 56 user reviews, all but one were negative, for a "Rotten" rating of 2%. On IMDb, out of 30,268 user ratings, the movie has a rating of 2.3 out of 10, putting it at #80 on IMDb's "Bottom 100" list.
References
External links
