Product Description

The Gods Must Be Crazy I:For five thousand years things have stayed pretty much the same for Xi and his fellow Bushmen. Then one day an empty Coke® bottle drops magically from the sky and life goes topsy-turvy in the face of this generous "gift of the Gods." An international sensation THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY is one of the most original and thought-provoking comedies ever. Starring a real-life Bushman N!xau it's a movie that looks at us from the other side - and shows us just how crazy we are!The Gods Must Be Crazy II:This delightful sequel to the hilarious hit comedy is a piece of divinely inspired lunacy! Xi again collides with the so-called civilized world when he embarks on a search for his children who are accidental stowaways on a poacher's truck. He soon crosses paths with two very odd couples lost in the desert. Xixo perplexed by their strange antics nevertheless finds himself drawn into a crazy adventure with people who know how to make magic machines...but constantly need to be saved from the wilderness and from each other.System Requirements:Running Time: 108 Min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG UPC: 043396106499 Manufacturer No: 10649

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3394 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2004-02-03
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Georgian, Chinese, Thai
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 207 minutes

Amazon.com
South African director Jamie Uys caught lightning in a bottle with The Gods Must Be Crazy--a Coke bottle, to be specific. This slaphappy collection of goofy pratfalls and culture-clash gags became an enormous international smash, and made a sort of star out of the Bushman selected to play the central role, the completely ingratiating N!Xau. He plays a man, unaware of white culture, who finds a Coca-Cola bottle in the Kalahari (dropped by a passing pilot) and promptly has his life turned around by this mystical object. The movie looks slipshod and even amateurish at times, yet its attitude is so bubbly it's hard to resist. Proving that physical comedy remains a true international language, millions of moviegoers around the world drank it up.

The Gods Must Be Crazy II (1989) returns N!Xau to the bizarre world of the white man, this time in a slicker plot (and a with a bigger budget) that, perhaps predictably, yields fewer real belly laughs than the first time around. Director Jamie Uys sticks to his cherished notions that tribesmen are wiser than civilized people, and that fast-motion comedy is inherently funny. The storyline begins with N!Xau's innocent Bushman searching for his lost children; he then gets sidetracked by subplots. The humor is basic, but in best silent-movie tradition Uys prepares his set-pieces with elaborate care, and he understands the value of the long-delayed pay-off. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

"So how did the land rover get up the tree?"
In 1980, director Jamie Uys (1921-1996) wrote, produced, directed and even acted in a landmark film entitled "The Gods Must Be Crazy" which is about a little Bushman named Xixo (N!xau, 1944-2003) from the Kalahari Desert who has ever ventured far from home nor has any concept of technology. When a coke bottle falls from a plane that is flying overhead and nearly hits Xixo, he believes that it is a gift from the gods, takes it and uses it as a tool for many everyday tasks. Other members of Xixo's tribe also use the bottle, but they eventually begin to fight over it. Deciding that the bottle is an evil thing, Xixo decides that he must return it to the gods and begins a lengthy journey to find the edge of the world from which to throw the evil bottle away. Also being totally uneducated about other people's (and nation's) customs and laws, Xixo hunts an animal for food in a park. Park rangers come along, are unable to communicate with Xixo and arrest him for poaching. Unfortunately for Xixo, he has absolutely no concept that he has done anything wrong, but when he is brought before a local court, a man is there who speaks Xixo's language. The court awards custody of Xixo to the man, a mechanic named Mpudi (Michael Thys), who is friend and an assistant of sorts to a bumbling wildlife biologist, Andrew Steyn (Marius Weyers). Andrew is smitten with his village's new school-teacher, Kate Thompson (Sandra Prinsloo). The village also has a church whose reverend is played by Jamie Uys. While Xixo is trying to cope with technology, while Andrew is trying to woo Kate and while Mpudi is trying to keep their demonic land rover working, a terrorist named Sam Boga (Louw Verwey) is also on the loose.

Jamie Uys' plot, dialog and direction was completely supurb in "The Gods Must Be Crazy". Jamie Uys won the Most Popular Film Award from the Montréal World Film Festival in 1983, and it was nominated as Best Foreign Film by the César Awards in France in 1984. Sadly, "The Gods Must Be Crazy" received no attention from the Academy Awards. The characters in the film are both endearing and engaging, especially Xixo whose innocence in the face of modern civilization was superbly acted by N!xau. I was very sad when I heard of N!xau passing away earlier this year. He will always be remembered as the little Bushman. Overall, I rate "The Gods Must Be Crazy" with a resounding 5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it to everyone. I applaud Jamie Uys, N!xau and the other actors in the film for creating such a masterpiece on a shoe-string budget and can't wait to get a copy of the film on DVD!

The Ultimate Culture Clash Comedies
This set contains two great comedies set in the beautiful deserts of Botswana, Africa.

The first "The Gods Must be Crazy" was released in 1980. I was surprised just how much it shows that in hair and clothing styles, but I hardly noticed after the first few minutes. It actually starts much like a documentary, telling about life in a bushman tribe in the Kalahari. One day, they discover a Coke bottle. Thinking it a gift from the gods, they begin to use it for all kinds of tasks, only to find it has introduced strife to their community. Xixo sets out to find the end of the world and return it to the gods. Meanwhile, a despotic revolutionary is on the run after a failed coop attempt. And a biologist is trying to get over his fear of women to transport the new school teacher and to the village.

This movie starts out a little slow, setting up the bushman culture and customs, so that when the movie gets going, we'll get the laughter. Most of the comedy is at the expense of civilized humans, but some great points are made about out reliance on our technology. Some of the physical gags involving the barely running jeep and the nervous biologist are priceless, and the plotting of these three stories is brilliant.

"The Gods Must be Crazy II" (1989) once again finds Xixo traveling into the world of the strange civilized man when his kids accidentally stow away in an ivory poacher's truck. Meanwhile, a corporate lawyer and biologist have been stranded in the desert when their plane is blown off course during a freak storm. And two opposing soldiers are trying to capture each other.

This story starts and moves much faster. I hadn't seen it as recently as the first one, and I'd forgotten just how funny this one was. I think it might actually be a little funnier. This time, there's more interaction with the wild life of the area for some great gags. Xixo is the only returning character, but the heroes are still likable.

My only real complaint is philosophical. These movies elevate the bushman to an almost perfect status with an ideal life. Ironically enough, one of the documentaries does show that their lives have really been glamorized for the film and their existence is much harder. Still, it's always good to laugh at oneself, and these movies certainly make you wonder just how civilized we really are.

The DVD set isn't quite up to normal standards for the format, but still acceptable. Both films are presented in anamorphic widescreen, but the picture is marred by lots of dust and grain. It's certainly still watchable, but it's not the crystal clear pictures I've been spoiled with on DVD. The first movie is presented in mono, and I had a little trouble hearing it. Part of the problem was what seemed like a very poor dubbing, probably partially because of the age and low budget of the original. The sequel sounded much better in stereo, but neither movie will show off your sound system. Still, they get the job done, and I think that less is more with these films. Each disc has one documentary on it. The first is a feature on the real life of star N!xau who played Xixo. As I mentioned earlier, it paints quite a contrast to the life presented for these films. The second is a short tribute to creator/director Jamie Ulys which give a little behind the scenes look at these movies.

While these DVD's won't be setting any new standards, they are certainly adequate. And the films contained on them are two classic low budget comedies from the 80's. If you're willing to laugh at yourself, pick these up. Any fan of the movies will appreciate them, especially for the price.

Great movie, nice DVD
After waiting several years, I finally was able to buy "The Gods Must Be Crazy 1 & 2" on DVD. A few brief comments:

1) Both "Gods" films are great entertainment.

2) DVD picture quality is better than what I've seen on TV or from the VHS version, which really looked worn out. However, don't expect "Star Wars" digital camera clarity.

3) For the first time I saw both "Gods" movies in widescreen, which is a nice treat. TV always shows them in Full-Screen, including the VHS version.

4) There are documentaries of director Jamie Uys and actor N!Xau. The one about N!Xau is the most interesting. It details the hard, difficult live he lived in the Kalahari, in stark contrast to the happy, carefree life depicted in the films. Clips of N!Xau's funeral are also shown. One gripe: when N!Xau is talking, and he talks quite a bit, there is almost no translation of what he's saying!!! Frustrating. Nevertheless, it's still a fascinating, honest portrayal of a special man.