Product Description

From Mike Judge, one of the creative minds behind Beavis and Butt-Head, King of the Hill and Office Space, comes an outrageous sci-fi comedy that'll make you think twice about the future of mankind.

Meet Joe Bowers (Luke Wilson). He's not the sharpest tool in the shed. But when a government hibernation experiment goes awry, Bowers awakens in the year 2505 to find a society so dumbed-down by mass commercialism and mindless TV programming that he's become the smartest guy on the planet. Now it's up to an average Joe to get human evolution back on track!

Filled with razor-sharp sarcasm and outrageous sight gags, Idiocracy will make you laugh out loud whether you're an absolute genius or a complete idiot!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #661 in DVD
• Brand: WILSON,LUKE
• Released on: 2007-01-09
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 87 minutes

Amazon.com
Given that Office Space is a bona fide cult classic, it comes as some surprise that Mike Judge's follow-up wasn't more heavily promoted. Granted, this live-action comedy is a darker, more pointed proposition, but it's unfortunate that few theater patrons got the opportunity to, well, judge for themselves. In Idiocracy, the King of the Hill creator visualizes what would happen if Devo's proposition--that mankind is in the process of devolution--came to pass. The catalyst: the overeducated start having fewer children while the undereducated have more. Enter Joe (Luke Wilson), a military librarian with no family and even less ambition. The Pentagon chooses him for a top-secret hibernation project due to his extreme "average-ness." They select Rita (SNL's Maya Rudolph), a prostitute, for the same reason. When the experiment goes haywire, the two emerge 500 years later--rather than one. Now it's 2505 and they're the brightest people in the over-polluted land. Everyone else is, basically, Beavis and Butt-head. Yes, the satire couldn't be less subtle, but the premise gives Judge license to make as much fun of junk food pop culture as dystopian classics like 1984 and Planet of the Apes. Wilson wisely plays it straight, even if the actors who surround him sometimes succumb to excess. And the effects may be cheesy, but that just adds to the fun. Idiocracy features former footballer Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris) as President Camacho and Dax Shepard (Punk'd) as Joe's futuristic friend Frito. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

A scathing satire on our modern society
If you hated this movie you either didn't get it or were one of the people that the opening narration talks about. This film is a scathing satire about the culture that is breeding things like Paris Hilton, Jerry Springer, and Girls Gone Wild and taking a look at where the United States could be if that culture continues to grow unchecked. The Result is a movie that while not as funny as Office Space, offers a humorous although somewhat frightening look at our society and pop culture. I think this movie is one of those films that will eventually become a cult favorite and generate an even larger following that Office Space has. If you are troubled by your little niece's obsession with being like Paris Hilton or are dismayed by what passes for entertainment these days then you need to see this movie.

Trenchant Satire Lost on the 2006 Audience
As he demonstrated with the theatrically ignored OFFICE SPACE (1999), Mike Judge has a talent for capturing the satiric Zeitgeist while it is still percolating in the popular culture. Indeed, the 2006 audience may not know it, but IDIOCRACY is a brilliantly trenchant satire that is perfect for the era in which we all live. FOX's unceremonious dumping of IDIOCRACY demonstrates a tragic ignorance of their own history with Mr. Judge. Would it have killed FOX--the studio that saturated marketed DATE MOVIE--to treat IDIOCRACY with a little more respect? One hopes that Mr. Judge makes his next film with a studio that recognizes his talents.

Too hot for Fox to handle - grab it before it disappears forever
The way Fox handled this film is destined to become the stuff of legends, and itself should be sufficient reason to see it. Its release was delayed for years, the effects budget was cut drastically, it was never screened for critics and when it WAS released, it opened in a grand total of 130 theaters nationwide, and yanked very quickly after that.

There's enough discussion of the plot here, so I'll skip that. It owes an obvious debt to Kornbluth's "The Marching Morons", and that, too, is enough reason to see it. It is definitely one of the most bitter, cynical, and bleak movies I can recall viewing, and it has far more depth than a superficial look would convey. (I found myself hitting the "pause" button frequently - there's a LOT of details to check out.) The anti-corporate slams are fast and furious, and the scene of people playing the slots hoping for medical care is priceless. Those who complain that "it's dumb" obviously just don't get the point. (Maybe it's too much Fox News?)

Unfortunately, it loses energy in the second half with the contrived "romance". And in spite of what the case says, it is full-screen only. (The case claims it's widescreen, and double-sided.) It could have used some better effects and post-production work, but the studio wouldn't have it. A commentary would have really been welcome, too. What we have, then, is a flawed masterpiece, certainly a future cult film, and maybe, just maybe, one day Mike Judge will get to "finish" it *his* way. I know I'll be hoping.