Team America: World Police Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Team America: World Police Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf July 30, 2023

Matt Stone and Trey Parker are fully committed to the world of “South Park,” the iconic animated show they created in the 1990s. “South Park” has been exceptionally good to the men, making them a fortune and creating a legacy of up-to-the-minute production that’s unrivaled, with such speed, creative autonomy, and lucrative reward understandably impossible to give up. However, when Stone and Parker elect to make movies, they do really well when manufacturing memorable entertainment, with the pair partnering on 1993’s “Cannibal! The Musical,” 1997’s “Orgazmo,” and 1998’s “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.” Stepping out of the cartoon womb for a rare visit to the big screen, Stone and Parker try to make a puppet-based action extravaganza with 2004’s “Team America: World Police,” inhaling Jerry Bruckheimer fumes as they pants the state of the world in the early 2000s, creating their own take on “G.I. Joe,” but with marionettes and a healthy disdain for Hollywood actors and North Korean dictators. “Team America: World Police” is certainly unwieldly at times, but it’s impressively mounted, with the production refusing to go cheap and easy with this valentine to action cinema and screwball patriotism of the day.

Gary (voiced by Trey Parker) is a Broadway actor approached by Spottswoode (Daran Norris), the founder of Team America, a counterterrorist force that requires the thespian’s assistance. Terrorists are planning to trigger weapons of mass destruction around the globe, tasking Gary with undercover work to stop such violence, backed by the team, including leader Joe (Parker), empath Sarah (Masasa Moyo), psychology expert Lisa (Kristen Miller), and martial arts expert Chris (Matt Stone). Organizing the takeover of Earth is North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il (Parker), who partners with members of the Film Actors Guild, led by Alec Baldwin (Maurice LaMarche), in a plan to destroy major cities, allowing evil to rule.

Written by Parker, Stone, and Pam Brady, “Team America: World Police” is a broad concept that’s even more outrageous in execution, with marionettes made the stars of the picture, bringing “Thunderbirds” visuals to what’s basically a vigorous takedown of Michael Bay moviemaking. The idea is almost worth the purchase price alone, but the feature looks amazing, even when trying to highlight the crude nature of the puppetry for laughs. Design elements (including puppet creations from the legendary Chiodo Brothers) are extraordinarily detailed, taking viewers to various cities battered by terrorist and Team America violence, while the marionettes are vividly crafted, representing the best in stringed movement. The bigness of the endeavor is ironic, but it works, with Parker and Stone aiming to create widescreen mayhem using the oddest of actors and their delightfully intricate environments.

For additional information and analysis, please read Michael Reuben’s 2015 Blu-ray review.

Two versions of “Team America: World Police” are included on this release: an Unrated Cut (98:18) and the Theatrical Cut (97:40).

Team America: World Police Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

"Team America: World Police" was originally released on Blu-ray in 2015 by Warner Brothers, and now Shout Factory takes control of the title. The AVC encoded image (2.40:1 aspect ratio) presentation is listed as a "New remaster from a 2023 4K scan of the original camera negative." With this movie, detail matters, and frame information is clear and welcoming during the viewing experience, with the particulars of this puppet universe open for exploration. Skin surfaces are textured, along with costuming. Sets are also dimensional and crisp, preserving the endeavor's tremendous craftsmanship. Colors are exact, with bold patriotic primaries on war machines and clothing choices. Deeper reds and golds are found with North Korean activity. Delineation is satisfactory. Grain is fine and film-like. Source is in good condition.

Team America: World Police Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix preserves sharp dialogue exchanges, with puppet performances defined throughout the listening event. Scoring cues are equally clear, with strong instrumentation and dramatic position. Soundtrack selections are also crisp, with a bigger rock beat and vocals. Surrounds push out musical moods, also dealing with city and building atmospherics, along with community bustle. Sound effects are active, offering some low- end explosions and moving gunfire, with mild panning effects.

Team America: World Police Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• "An Introduction" (5:10, SD) is an overview of the "Team America: World Police" experience, with producers Matt Stone and Trey Parker exploring the various characters and their special abilities. They also discuss the incredible labor involved in making a movie with puppets, with Parker claiming how much he hates actors, preferring to work with marionettes.

• "Building the World" (12:42, SD) takes a look at "Team America: World Police" with production designer Jim Dultz, visual consultant David Rockwell, property master Brad Elliot, and set decorator Richard C. Walker, who were tasked with creating a global adventure for the puppets. The trick of the film was generating an average American's perspective of international areas, exaggerating environments. Forced perspective ideas are shared, along with miniature set designs, which are loaded with details for fans to find.

• "Pulling the Strings" (10:09, SD) examines the hard labor of marionette work on "Team America: World Police," featuring interviews with puppet art director Charles Chiodo, puppet producer Edward Chiodo, puppet supervisor Stephen Chiodo, principal puppeteer Kevin Carlson, puppet coordinator Frank Langley IV, and puppet designer Norman Tempia. The focus here is on the intricacy of the production, with strings everywhere as ideas were constantly reworked to meet the needs of the directors. Some brief thoughts are shared on the puppet sex scene.

• "Crafting the Puppets" (8:01, SD) is a look at the stars of "Team America: World Police," with creators Charles, Edward, and Stephen Chiodo, puppet designer Norman Tempia, sculptor Don William Lanning, mold maker Steve Newburn, lead painter Thomas Killeen, lead mechanic Jurgen Heimann, lead animatronic Joe Andreas, and costume designer Karen Patch walking through the process of puppet creation, identifying how all the insane details of this world are put together.

• "Capturing the Action" (6:44, SD) examines the look of "Team America: World Police," celebrating the work of cinematographer Bill Pope, who was tasked with bringing an epic scale to the practical world of puppets.

• "Miniature Pyrotechnics" (4:50, SD) explores the explosive content of "Team America: World Police," with special effects supervisor Joseph Viskocil walking viewers through the various locations that were blown up for the film.

• "Up Close with Kim Jong-Il" (5:10, SD) takes a look at the formation of the villain of "Team America: World Police," with co-producers Matt Stone and Trey Parker, cinematographer Bill Pope, puppet designer Norman Tempia, and property master Brad Elliot recalling stages of development (including the manufacturing of real glasses) and puppet execution.

• "Dressing Room Test" (2:05, SD) and "Puppet Test" (4:10, SD) present early movement work with the stars of the movie.

• Storyboards (12:12, SD) are offered.

• Deleted/Extended Scenes and Outtakes (6:07, SD) are presented.

• And a Teaser Trailer (1:35, SD – missing some audio) and a Theatrical Trailer (2:20, SD) are included.

Team America: World Police Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Team America: World Police" has a large sense of humor, taking jabs at everything and anything, with Parker and Stone returning to their proudly politically incorrect ways as much as possible. Not everything lands (the production was rushed, and the editing reinforces this), but most of the ideas here are at least amusing, with some inspired takes on limousine liberalism and extreme jingoism (Team America's base is located inside Mount Rushmore). Parker's efforts to add songs to the endeavor are also welcome, making one wish he'd just go the full-musical route with the work. "Team America: World Police" is such a strange idea, fitting into the insanity of the post-9/11 years, but Parker and Stone commit to the whole thing with gusto (even if the punishing shoot made them swear off making movies), delivering a unique viewing experience that explores their fascination with action spectacle and world politics, using the oddest filmmaking approach to do so.