Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Where to Invade Next Blu-ray Movie Review

Botswana? Isle of Man? Nibiru?

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 27, 2016

Contrary to its suggestive title, Where to Invade Next isn't about U.S. foreign policy and the seemingly constant wartime footing the nation has found itself on since World War II, and in the post-9/11 era in particular. No, controversial Director Michael Moore's (Capitalism: A Love Story) latest feature is about his attempt to import domestic policy ideas from abroad to the U.S, masquerading as a one-man "invasion force" in the quest to bring change to his homeland. Moore vacations, er, travels predominantly through Europe and Iceland (with a quick stop in Tunisia for good measure) with an eye out for social constructs that differ from, and improve on, their counterpart systems in the United States, focusing largely on labor and education but hitting a few more highlights, including women's rights, drug laws, and so forth. Moore doesn't hide his progressive-minded agenda and takes a seriously one-sided, slanted, and unbalanced look at the way things work abroad and domestically, but the film works well enough in his established style and preaching-to-the-choir context.

Skipper Michael Moore.

In Where to Invade Next, Michael Moore travels through Europe in search of little bits and pieces of social and political systems that, when cobbled together, could make the United States the land he's always wanted it to be. He begins in Italy where he discovers that workers enjoy plenty of paid vacation time, long lunches, and an unstressed workforce. He heads west to France where he learns that school lunches are served to a much higher standard than what kids consume in the United States. His crisscross journey through Europe continues with a stop in Slovenia (not Slovakia) where higher education is free. In Germany, like in Italy, workers are treated to shorter hours, higher pay, and more free pampering than they receive in the U.S. He heads to Europe's west coast, Portugal, where drug use is not prohibited and prisons are not overflowing with minority drug offenders. He stops by Norway for a look at that country's unique prison system and subsequently travels south to Tunisia where the government champions women's rights by way of funding health clinics and abortions. Finally, he visits Iceland, the first nation in the world to democratically elect a female as president. There, he looks at how that's empowered women all over the country.

Moore's political travelogue essentially amounts to various Europeans (for the most part) espousing their way of life and appearing stunned when they learn that the United States doesn't follow suit. Whether that's in regard to school cafeteria foods, work hours and paid leave, prison stays, or educational standards, the movie follows the same simple formula, in what amounts to a collection shorts, as it maneuvers through Moore's journey to discover why the United States sucks and why (and how) Europe does things much better. Moore doesn't dig all that deeply; he offers snapshot visions of utopia where every public school child receives a Sidwell Friends lunch, where workers are paid to get pampered at a spa, where only the inmates have the key to their "cells" and a trip to prison results in instant rehabilitation in a resort-like setting that more closely resembles an American upper middle class neighborhood than it does a prison. What Moore tries to accomplish in the film is to cobble together his best-case scenario utopian vision for America and show why a bit of French lunch here, Italian work hours there, and Norwegian prison systems would make America great again, or give her a future to believe in, or whatever.

And the movie is a fair bit entertaining in its task. Moore, love him or hate him, exudes a certain charisma and flashes an honest smile when other viewpoints align with with Moore-colored glasses. He seems genuine in his pursuit to make his country a better place, at least as it lines up with his own ideologies and perspectives, and he's constructed the movie -- which he wrote, produced, directed, and funded out-of-pocket -- in way that doesn't make it feel at all self-indulgent but rather a passion project that gives him the opportunity to present his vision for the country to his audience. But he presents a very one-sided vision. Opposing viewpoints are never heard and there's nary a problem to be found with any of the social and political constructs he champions or even a hesitation in any of his interviewees in their advocacy thereof. The movie is a two-hour paid commercial for progressive liberalism -- more taxes (though he claims taxes would, in a roundabout way, go down under his plan) and especially more government -- that he makes entertaining enough to watch, though with very little to balance things out. Then again, it's his movie, and certainly his prerogative to present his views in any way he sees fit. It's nice he lives in a country that allows him to do so.

Where to Invade Next Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Where to Invade Next's 1080p transfer doesn't really excite the eyes, nor does it offend them. The digital source material features light-to-pervasive noise and some occasional mild-to-moderate aliasing, but it's otherwise a fairly clean, straightforward presentation. The image captures that hallmark midrange digital glossiness and flatness, but it's rarely a hindrance to any critical factors of concern. Detailing is fine. Moore's worn ball caps and clothes, elegant European exteriors, and general facial details are finely revealing, the latter in particularly capturing a broad range of pores, facial hairs, tattoos, and makeup seen on the film's various interviewees. Colors are cheerful and balanced, enjoying a lifelike neutrality that sees colorful clothes worn by schoolchildren, for example, standing apart with good depth of color and nuanced saturation. Flesh tones retain positive neutrality, and the movie rarely gets dark enough to find much room to concern the review with comments on black levels. Overall, this is a perfectly enjoyable transfer, with the caveat that a couple of key faults are in play for the duration.

Where to Invade Next Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Where to Invade Next features a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack that offers plenty of discrete and immersive surround detail amongst the otherwise talk-heavy experience. Militaristic details heavily push through the stage right off the bat. Bass is potent, clarity impressive, and spacing wide across all sides. Other details, such as a bullet train zipping through the stage, are powerfully impressive. Voices emanate from all over the stage when a cacophony of presidential sound bytes swirl about the listening area early in the movie. Otherwise, the track has little offer beyond straightforward and well-prioritized dialogue, which comes through the center clearly and articulately.

Where to Invade Next Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Where to Invade Next contains no supplemental content. No digital or DVD copies are included, either.

Where to Invade Next Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Just as films from, say, Dinesh D'Souza won't win over any converts entrenched on the political left, Where to Invade Next won't win over any converts entrenched on the political right. Moore's film could almost pass for a two-hour commercial for Bernie Sanders, a Presidential candidate he endorsed on his website earlier in this election cycle; the film espouses many of the Vermont senator's campaign promises, such as free college education and various social reforms. The film plays with an overtly snide but, at the same time, halfway entertaining style. It's a bit too long in the tooth but Moore's agreeable style, at least when he's in his comfort zone (which is most of the movie), makes the film a blast for his backers and a tolerable watch even for his opponents. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Where to Invade Next features decent video, good audio, and no supplemental content. Progressive minded audiences have probably already purchased. Conservative viewers should probably pass, though the film shouldn't make the blood boil quite so deeply as some of Moore's other cinematic excursions, if only for its more playful, in some ways rambling and harmless, nature.