| | | Altered State Police.
Features: DVD, Checkpoint
"Stoned teen-agers, nutty cops, topless chicks and car chases" (Newhouse News) perpetrate huge laughs in this outrageous comedy that's so funny it should be illegal.Captain O'Hagen (Brian Cox) tries in vain to control the imaginations and hormones of his bumbling team of five Vermont Highway Patrolmen. But when the opportunity to solve a real crime rolls their way, the formerly inept Super Troopers pounce into action to become highway heroes.
"Often making the Farrelly brothers look like Noel Coward, Broken Lizard's material is good-natured and agreeably goofy..." David Rooney, Variety
"Hilarious!" Gannett NewsService
"Damn, it's funny!" Harry Knowles, Ain't It Cool News
"There's a thin line between smart-stupid and just plain stupid, and Super Troopers walks it with ease." Jami Bernard, New York Daily News
"...a smarter and much funnier version of the old "Police Academy" flicks." Lou Lumenick, New York Post
"Broken Lizard does [crude humor] with a s***-faced integrity that's worth a salute." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"...may seriously impair your ability to ever again maintain a straight face while speaking to a highway patrolman." Todd Anthony, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Editor's Note
Broken Lizard, a comedy troupe formed by former students of Colgate University, wrote and star in the enjoyably lightweight comedy SUPER TROOPERS. They play state troopers who preside over a quiet stretch of highway in Vermont. The low crime rate allows them time to pursue their own interests--mostly playing elaborate pranks on each other and on the hapless speeders they stop. Their captain, O'Hagan (Brian Cox), asks them to settle down for a while, because the governor (an amusing cameo by TV's former WONDER WOMAN, Lynda Carter) is thinking of cutting off their funding and turning their precious highway over to the jurisdiction of the hated local cops, headed by the sneaky Chief Grady (Daniel Von Bargen). The wild and not very bright troops are unable to stay out of trouble, so they'll only keep their jobs if they somehow manage to crack a big drug case. Director Jay Chandrasekhar (who also stars as the smartest trooper, Thorny) does a great job of keeping things quick and light, and the easy camaraderie of the Broken Lizard troupe gives even the grossest humor in the film an appealingly playful quality, harkening back to the innocent days of movies like STRIPES.
| Features | Alternate Ending | | Audio: English, French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Audio: Spanish Dolby Digital Stereo | | Deleted Scenes | | Dubbed: French, Spanish | | Extended Scenes | | Featurette | | Interactive Menus | | Original Theatrical Trailer | | Outtakes | | Scene Selection |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Foxvideo |
| Release Date: 9/6/2005 |
| Running Time: 99 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2002 | | Catalog ID: 2004955 | | UPC: 00024543049555 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | Rolling Stone
"...[Chandrasekhar] does have a knack for orchestrating raucous comic teamwork..." 02/28/2002 p.66Total Film
"...These five comedians have the potential to be every bit as cultishly popular as Canada's 'Kids In The Hall'....SUPER TROOPERS showcases their enormous promise..." 11/01/2002 p.109 Reel.com 6 of 10
Super Troopers' opening is a good example of its mediocrity. A trio of potheads is pulled over by Vermont highway patrolmen Thorny (director/co-writer Jay Chandrasekhar) and Rabbit (Erik Stolhanske, another co-writer). Before the cops make it to the car door, the poor kid in the backseat is forced to ingest baggies full of weed and 'shrooms. A lengthy prank is played on the threesome by the officers, but the film only makes clever use of the ultra-inebriated guy twice. There's an amusing bit when he hears everyone speaking as if through a tunnel and another where he pleadingly moans, "candy bars"...We're talking Smokey and the Bandit-level humor here...While most of the gags don't inspire hilarity, there are times when an anarchic brand of humor breaks through. In one scene, Mac suggests to his partner Foster that they play the "meow" game with the guy they've just pulled over. This involves trying to say the word "meow" as many times as possible before returning to the patrol car. Foster adopts his best yokel accent and says things like, "Meow fast do you think you were going?" and "Not so funny meow, is it?" While others might guffaw at Farva's alternating between guzzling beer and vomiting copiously at an open-bar party, I preferred these more clever bits. - Rod Armstrong
Chicago Sun-Times 7 of 10
"Super Troopers" plays like it was directed as a do-it-yourself project, following instructions that omitted a few steps, and yet the movie has an undeniable charm. Imagine a group of Vermont state troopers treating their job like an opportunity to stage real-life "Candid Camera" situations. Now imagine that all of the troopers have ambitions to be stand-up comics. And that they were inspired to get into the force by watching "Police Academy" movies. But that they are basically good guys. That kind of describes it...Broken Lizard, I learn, began as an undergraduate troupe at Colgate in 1989, raised $200,000 to make a movie named "Puddle Cruiser," and instead of making a distribution deal did a campus tour to show it. "Super Troopers" aims higher, and may spin off a Fox TV sitcom which, on the basis of this film, might work..."Super Troopers" has kind of a revue feel. There is a plot, which somehow arrives at a conclusion, but the movie doesn't tell a story so much as move from one skit to another, with a laid-back charm that is more relaxed and self-confident than the manic laffaminit style of the "Police Academy" pictures. No movie is altogether uninspired that includes lines like "desperation is a stinky cologne." I can't quite recommend it--it's too patched together--but I almost can; it's the kind of movie that makes you want to like it. - Roger Ebert
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