What a great movie. With a dark, dusty visual style every bit as good as "Bladerunner", with costumes & props every bit as good as "Mad Max", with a totalitarian theme every bit as good as "THX-1138", and with a satirical wit every bit as deadpan as "Robocop", this film was quite an achievement.
It has so much going on... For me, one of the strange highlights was seeing Deep Roy (who played the oompa loompas in the recent "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory") as the sinister crime boss... sort of like the Godfather meets Tattoo from Fantasy Island. Another winning performance was Kathy Ireland herself who managed to pull off a sort of Alice (in Wonderland) but with a voice like Betty Boop. How she did that & keep a straight face is beyond me.
The plot is simple yet bizarre, a sort of pastiche of "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" mixed with "Wizard of Oz" and maybe some bits of "Sixteen Candles" thrown in for good measure. I don't understand how MST3k could mock this film as it already clearly mocks itself. I mean, come on, with Kathy Ireland's crazy helium voice, it's pretty obvious that nothing is intended to be taken seriously. Still people just don't get it, thinking this is a bad movie. On the contrary, it's so good at making fun of itself that nobody realizes it.
In that sense it's a lot like "Barbarella" except with the sexiness considerably toned down (yes, so if you came here expecting to see some gratuitous cleavage & booty shots of swimsuit models, you're better off with Baywatch). I'm not sure what its official MPAA rating is, but I'd say it's a very tame PG. And that's precisely what makes it so unexpected and hard to categorize. You'd think it would be a scifi sex farce like "Barbarella" or "Galaxina", but it is definitely not (although I wouldn't discount an occasional adult double-entendre or two).
Expect something maybe like "Labyrinth" but with a harder edge and a much stronger sense of satire, and I think you'll have a blast. Like Labyrinth, it's clean & family friendly, but there's definitely a darkness & sophisticated sense of humour that makes it clearly for grown ups too.
Pay no attention to the MST3k lemmings who rated this a 2.5 out of 10. If you go into this expecting to have a good time, you won't be disappointed. The visuals alone are worth the price of admission.
It has so much going on... For me, one of the strange highlights was seeing Deep Roy (who played the oompa loompas in the recent "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory") as the sinister crime boss... sort of like the Godfather meets Tattoo from Fantasy Island. Another winning performance was Kathy Ireland herself who managed to pull off a sort of Alice (in Wonderland) but with a voice like Betty Boop. How she did that & keep a straight face is beyond me.
The plot is simple yet bizarre, a sort of pastiche of "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" mixed with "Wizard of Oz" and maybe some bits of "Sixteen Candles" thrown in for good measure. I don't understand how MST3k could mock this film as it already clearly mocks itself. I mean, come on, with Kathy Ireland's crazy helium voice, it's pretty obvious that nothing is intended to be taken seriously. Still people just don't get it, thinking this is a bad movie. On the contrary, it's so good at making fun of itself that nobody realizes it.
In that sense it's a lot like "Barbarella" except with the sexiness considerably toned down (yes, so if you came here expecting to see some gratuitous cleavage & booty shots of swimsuit models, you're better off with Baywatch). I'm not sure what its official MPAA rating is, but I'd say it's a very tame PG. And that's precisely what makes it so unexpected and hard to categorize. You'd think it would be a scifi sex farce like "Barbarella" or "Galaxina", but it is definitely not (although I wouldn't discount an occasional adult double-entendre or two).
Expect something maybe like "Labyrinth" but with a harder edge and a much stronger sense of satire, and I think you'll have a blast. Like Labyrinth, it's clean & family friendly, but there's definitely a darkness & sophisticated sense of humour that makes it clearly for grown ups too.
Pay no attention to the MST3k lemmings who rated this a 2.5 out of 10. If you go into this expecting to have a good time, you won't be disappointed. The visuals alone are worth the price of admission.