ALL SCI-FI Forum Index ALL SCI-FI
The place to “find your people”.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Idiocracy (2006)
Goto page 1, 2  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Sci-Fi Movies from 2001 to 2010
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
orzel-w
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 19 Sep 2014
Posts: 1877

PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2015 10:18 pm    Post subject: Idiocracy (2006) Reply with quote



I think I probably initiated the thread for this movie on the old website, so I'll give it another shot.

Idiocracy is a sci-fi comedy which I enjoyed enough from Netflix to buy the DVD. It starts out with a humorous exposition of how evolution is now leading to a decreasing level of intelligence in the human population, setting the stage for the rest of the movie. The rest of the movie shows the two main characters (played by Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph) of average intelligence being recruited for a 24-hour test of suspended animation, which, of course, goes awry. They wake up instead 500 years later, finding they are now the two most intelligent people on the planet.

The entire movie is a send-up of current perceived trends (at least those you complain about every day). As such, it achieves a higher rank on the sci-fi scale than most serious sci-fi lately, which, strictly speaking, should be extrapolation of the latest scientific developments and their impact on the characters and/or society in general.

Not to be missed in the bonus materials is the deleted scene titled "The Museum of Fart". This is obviously homophonic for "Museum of Art", so you can imagine what the scene is about. But I think seeing the title before watching the scene enhanced my enjoyment because you just know where the humor is heading.

_________________
...or not...

WayneO
-----------
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Robert (Butch) Day
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 19 Sep 2014
Posts: 1437
Location: Arlington, WA USA

PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 2:38 am    Post subject: Re: Idiocracy (2006) Reply with quote

orzel-w wrote:
... most serious sci-fi lately ...

WHAT serious sci-fi? It's mostly fantasy disguised as sci-fi.
_________________
Common Sense ISN'T Common
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
orzel-w
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 19 Sep 2014
Posts: 1877

PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 5:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sci-fi that takes itself seriously, as opposed to sci-fi comedy.
_________________
...or not...

WayneO
-----------


Last edited by orzel-w on Sat Oct 28, 2023 4:44 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Robert (Butch) Day
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 19 Sep 2014
Posts: 1437
Location: Arlington, WA USA

PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 7:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wayne, I whole-heartedly agree. But it's getting DAMNED hard to find!
_________________
Common Sense ISN'T Common
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17016
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:00 am    Post subject: Re: Idiocracy (2006) Reply with quote

Robert (Butch) Day wrote:
WHAT serious sci-fi? It's mostly fantasy disguised as sci-fi.

Yep, that's my big complaint, too. And even when a story does employ science, they get it wrong in embarrassing ways. It's plum sad.
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sat Oct 28, 2023 6:07 pm; edited 2 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17016
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2018 12:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

IMDB has 32 trivia items for this movie. Here’s a few of the ones I found the most interesting, in the blue text. Very Happy
________________________________

~ The very small Surgeon General's warning seen on the Tarrylton's Cigarettes billboard reads: "Warning: The Surgeon General has one lung and a voicebox but he could still kick your sorry ass".

Note from me: Laughing

~ When Joe (Luke Wilson) is being apprehended by the police in Costco, the background screens display why he is wanted: "For being a dick" "For excaping from jail" "For fucking up lots of sh*t".

Note from me: I almost corrected the spelling of the word "escaping", but I thought maybe it was deliberate and part of the joke.

~ In addition to the Fuddrucker's gag, early drafts of the script had another scene showing the devolution of sports, with a stadium's marquee sign changing from "Championship Baseball" to "Extreme Baseball" (essentially just a bat fight), to finally just "Fire".

Note from me: "Essentially just a bat fight". That one cracked me up. Very Happy

~ Nearly all of the logos for actual present-day businesses are altered in the future. The exception is the logo for FOX News, which is the logo in use by the network at the time of this film's release.

Note from me: A subtle dig at the Trump News Network? Maybe.

~ When Joe is escaping from prison he runs past a rusted out DeLorean, an obvious nod to another time travelling movie, Back to the Future (1985).

Note from me: Nice touch. Very Happy

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Aug 22, 2023 2:20 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Custer
Space Sector Commander


Joined: 22 Aug 2015
Posts: 932
Location: Earth

PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2018 12:54 pm    Post subject: Re: Idiocracy (2006) Reply with quote

orzel-w wrote:
It starts out with a humorous exposition of how evolution is now leading to a decreasing level of intelligence in the human population, setting the stage for the rest of the movie.

That reminds me of the C. M. Kornbluth short story, "The Marching Morons," of which Wikipedia says "The story is set hundreds of years in the future: the date is 7-B-936.

John Barlow, a man from the past put into suspended animation by a freak accident involving a dental drill and anesthesia, is revived in this future.

The world seems mad to Barlow until Tinny-Peete explains the 'Problem of Population': due to a combination of intelligent people not having children and excessive breeding by less intelligent people, coupled with the development of more sophisticated machinery that makes it less important to possess intelligence in one's working life (see Fertility and intelligence), the world is full of morons, with the exception of an elite few who work slavishly to keep order.

It's a while since I read it, but I seem to remember a rather slow automobile which fooled its occupants into thinking it was zooming along by the use of phoney engine noise and a stiff breeze from the air conditioner...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17016
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2018 1:24 pm    Post subject: Re: Idiocracy (2006) Reply with quote

Custer wrote:
" . . .due to a combination of intelligent people not having children and excessive breeding by less intelligent people and coupled with the development of more sophisticated machinery that makes it less important to possess intelligence in one's working life (see Fertility and intelligence), the world is full of morons, with the exception of an elite few who work slavishly to keep order."

If scares me to think just how much sense this makes! Shocked
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Aug 22, 2023 2:20 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gord Green
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 06 Oct 2014
Posts: 2940
Location: Buffalo, NY

PostPosted: Mon Dec 10, 2018 3:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Holey Eugenics Batman!!!

A perfect example of a Progressive future
_________________
There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17016
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Fri Mar 03, 2023 4:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________________________

Enjoy the trailer!


_________________ Idiocracy 2006 Trailer HD


___________

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Krel
Space Ranger


Joined: 19 Feb 2023
Posts: 190

PostPosted: Fri Mar 03, 2023 5:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When they filmed the movie they looked for the most ridiculous footwear they could find, and found Crocks which they thought no reasonable person would wear. Then the movie sat on the shelf for two years, and by time it was release, guess what the popular footwear was.

When I first read about the story line, the first thing I thought of was "The Marching Morons". Reading his stories, you'll find that C. M. Kornbluth and his wife had a dim view of humanity.

Despite my best efforts, I have never seen the whole movie, and I really want to.

David.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17016
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Fri Mar 03, 2023 6:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

__________________________________________________

That story about the shoes is pretty funny. Very Happy

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Maurice
Mission Specialist


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 460
Location: 3rd Rock

PostPosted: Mon Aug 21, 2023 3:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

True story. This film was being shot at the Austin Studios in Austin, Texas in the summer of 2004. In the stage next door the Star Trek fanfilm Starship Exeter: The Tressaurian Intersection was being shot. The Exeter crew took to dumpster diving cast-offs from Idiocracy, and the cargo bay of a wrecked starship includes many of such items, including a "Starbucks" sign that got remade into a cargo transporter console. Some Idiocracy crewmen caught them dumpster diving carpet scraps, and pointed them to a roll of unused carpeting and said "have at." So the ship's corridors and other rooms are full of Idiocracy carpeting.

In fact, since Exeter was shooting at night, some of the Idiocracy crew occasionally wandered over and helped light some sets and so on. And the Exeter A.D. sweet-talked one of them into bringing their Chapman crane over to do the big opening shot dropping down into the bridge from 30 feet in the air. You can see that shot right at the top of the episode here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkuJG1_2MnU&ab_channel=TheStarshipExeter

_________________
* * *
"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17016
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 3:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

______________________________________________

What a great experience that was! Thanks for sharing it with the members of All Sci-Fi. Cool

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
orzel-w
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 19 Sep 2014
Posts: 1877

PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2023 5:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
~ When Joe (Luke Wilson) is being apprehended by the police in Costco, the background screens display why he is wanted: "For being a dick" "For excaping from jail" "For fucking up lots of sh*t".

Note from me: I almost corrected the spelling of the word "escaping", but I thought maybe it was deliberate and part of the joke.

I've heard some people pronouncing words that begin with "esc" as though they were spelled like that.

Enjoy the whole movie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tv5shB4Gg0

_________________
...or not...

WayneO
-----------
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Sci-Fi Movies from 2001 to 2010 All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group