Jackboots on Whitehall

I was reading about alternate history outcomes of WW2 and wanted to enjoy a film about it. I had seen and really enjoyed "It Happened Here" and almost watched it again but decided to look for another title. Many were unavailable but this one was, I'm happy I decided to watch. A puppet war comedy film, in my opinion, will have a small target audience. I believe that this audience would mainly be males. Now the puppet aspect may limit it further as not many people will watch a full length puppet film. I know about Team America and its success, so I take it that it was the inspiration for making the film. Being a British film makes a lot of sense. The Brits are known for all of the Anderson's productions which I grew up on in the 1960s to present. I actually showed my wife an episode of Stingray last week by coincidence and she enjoyed it, it was not only cool to watch but fun to crack jokes to. I completely understand why so many hate this film, times have changed since the 1960s. Back then (in the USA) males would watch war shows that glorified heroics. Then the Korean War and Vietnam War happened and views about the military's status changed in USA society. To serve was glorified prior to the 1970s. Then gradually, military service was considered not glamorous and for people that could not cut it in the non-military economic world. In the UK which has had to use its military on its own soil, I suspect that today their is more "patriotism" for military service then in the USA, despairingly labeled as the world's policeman. I don't fit the USA mold as I am a veteran, and a proud citizen. Since I enjoy puppet films this is a natural choice for me, but I doubt my wife would want to watch it. This movie was made for males who love alternative history, puppets and escapism.

Stan Steel, i have no clue what film YOU were watching, but i for one thoroughly enjoyed this flick... Winston Churchill? As a puppet? Oh my, genius! This film can't get a 10/10 from me personally, i mean, it's no Schindler's list, or Titanic, it's not about to become an instant classic -- take it with a pinch of salt, what you get for your time is a hilarious take on WWII Britain, with a great cast of voice actors. I'm so glad this wasn't another hack at American humour. The film was well executed, admittedly the effects weren't Transformers style, but it just added to the humour of the film. Conclusion: an extremely cutesy British comedy... with puppets (:

My friends and I waited over an hour in line for tickets to this movie at the Edinburgh Film Festival as it was touted as one of the top 10 to see. The trouble was finding tickets as both screenings were sold out! The organisers added it to best of show on the last day of the festival - luckily. I absolutely loved it! Brilliant! Stan Steel how did you see the movie again in July??? EIFF ended June 26th and I was at the last screening. I know it definitely hasn't been released because I've been tracking its status online. The art direction and animation were mind-blowing! At points I even had to remind myself that these were in fact puppets! I definitely recommend seeing this whenever it's out in theatres. Tally ho!

Maybe it's because I grew up on Supermarionation but I loved this! The references to war films - and their clichés, they come thick and fast. Trying to guess who voiced which character. It also for me referenced British children's comics from the 70s, for e.g. Commando for the boys and Bunty for the girls. The animation was bad enough to be inspired. The individual characterisations made me think of the old Margaret Rutherford films. The young are all beautifully bland and everyone over 40 is a grotesque. If you want a film that evokes wet Saturday afternoons sat on the hearth rug in front of a black and white TV clutching your comic, this is it. It could have only been improved if Al Murray had been the village pub landlord!

After seeing the tag line on the trailer "Team America meets Inglourious Basterds", I was eager to see this. And it didn't disappoint. Well not too much.

Some may bemoan the puppetry, you can see the rivets a mile away on the joints (imagine the elbow of an Action Man figure), but the non-stop action distracts you from this. It's funny too, delivering excellent caricatures of historical characters, as well as a huge amount of comical references to other films.

However, the nature of a puppetry film is that a lot of hard work goes into it, and as a consequence, the length of the film cannot be too long. This film was so good, that I almost forgot at some parts that it wasn't a live action film. So when it ended, I was left wanting more. I felt as if not enough had happened, and was slightly disappointed.

But not to worry, it's still worth a watch.