Watch Team America: World Police

October 11, 2004 saw the release of Team America: World Police, a satirical look at global politics by the creators of South Park Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Pam Brady. Considered an "action comedy" the cast is made up of over 270 puppets backed by a crew of 200 people. Inspired by Thunderbirds a British comedy composed of marionettes it includes influences from action films like Alien and Pearl Harbor as well as more comedic touches from the film Megaforce. Opening weekend saw a gross of $1,212,0358 in the USA, and has since grossed over $51 million.

The plot consists of actor Gary Johnston, a popular broadway actor with a dark past, being recruited by paramilitary force Team America. He is needed to help resolve a violent plot by Kim Jong-il, but he will have to do it inspite of opposition from F.A.G. (the Film Actors Guild) and his own insecurities. There is a romantic subplot between several of the characters and one of those pairings led to a NC-17 rating until some selective editing.

This film is 98 minutes in length and the theatrical edition is rated R for violence, strong language, adult themes and humor of a crude sexual manner. Which is why there are two versions of the film - one is unrated while the other is rated R. The difference is 40 seconds of racy puppet action. Such things are to be expected from Parker and Stone who are known for parodies and crude humor. Speaking of which this movie includes parodies of many, many people including Michael Moore, George Clooney, Tony Blair, and Kim Jong-il.

That said the movie has generally seen positive reviews holding a 76% (Fresh) rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and 64/100 at Metacritic. It is number 24 on the National Reviews Online list of Best Conservative Movies. This says a lot considering the time of release for this film - after 9/11 during the Iraqi war and the Bush administration when anything unpatriotic was universally panned.