Deleted scenes

Rated R for language and sex related jokes

The premise of Mike Judge's latest offering is a promising one: a lowly but affable Army librarian named Joe is recruited to participate in a secret military hibernation experiment. He's suppose to be asleep for a year, but a bureucratic screw up leaves him dozing for 500 years. He awakes to find a world that's massively dumbed down, and the planet overpopulated by the stupidest people in society. A sort of WWE social order has arisen, with the economy and environment in ruins. Now the smartest person on the planet by default, Joe finds himself faced with the daunting task of solving the moronic culture's problems and getting human evolution back on track. If it's not too late. ****

"Idiocracy" has a terrific idea behind it, but that's about it. The biting wit that Judge displayed in "Office Space" and "Beavis and Butthead" seemed to have been defanged, resulting in a film that never overcomes its one joke premise that keeps repeating itself ad nauseum. Worse yet, the idea isn't all that original; I don't think Mike Judge is the only person on the planet to notice that a lot of stupid people are breeding rapidly. The film is partially redeemed by an appealing turn by Luke Wilson, whose likeable performance as Joe is probably the only reason not to hit the stop button. He convincingly conveys the dilemma of a man out of time, and stuck in a time populated by people who could be outsmarted by Kevin Federline. Some amusing cameos by Justin Long and Thomas Haden Church make the film more bearable, but those efforts are wasted in trying to save an unsalvageable film. Running time on the film is a scant 84 minutes, but for "Idiocracy", that's way too long with the story that could be told in about 20 minutes. ******

Image and Sound:

For a terrible movie, "Idiocracy" looks and sounds terrific. The widescreen anamorphic transfer looks crisp and clear, with bright vibrant colors. With the 1:85:1 aspect ration, the black bars that annoy so many viewers are reduced to a minor distraction. The Dolby 5.1 sound is equally as impressive, making you wish the filmmakers put as much effort into making the movie as they did into the audio/video. ********

Some inconsequential deleted scenes are the only offering Fox Video deigns to give moviegoers in exchange for their $19.98. Audio commentary by Mike Judge would have been a fascinating addition, considering the film's troubled production rumors. Sadly, any tales he has to tell will have to wait for a two disc special edition arriving at some point in the future. The same can be said for any featurettes, talent bios, music videos, and theatrical trailers. *******

Final Words: