Les dieux sont tombés sur la tête

Don't be put off by the talk of poor production values, bad dubbing, goofy Benny Hill-esque slapstick, and questionable acting. Once you get a look at the enormous smile on Xi's face, you'll forget all of that. This is one of the most gentle, pleasant, and likable movies I've seen in a long time (all of that in a good way).

I'd always heard about it, but somehow managed to miss it over the years. Finally saw it this weekend, and it's a real gem.

For you DVD viewers, there's a documentary with interview footage of Xi. The only problem--no subtitles! Some bozo obviously blew it on the transfer, making it possibly the most frustrating doc ever produced...Be warned!

"The Gods Must Be Crazy" is a Comedy - Adventure movie in which we watch a Bushman traveling in the end of the world when he gets involved with modern civilization. He does not know anything about it so, a lot of crazy situations occur.

I found this movie simply amazing because it had a very clever plot, full of funny scenes and the narration of Paddy O'Byrne was equally good. The direction which was made by Jamie Uys who is also the writer, it was very good and he combined very well adventure with comedy while the narration added a new aspect in the movie. The interpretations of N!xau who played as Xi, Marius Weyers who played as Andrew Steyn and Sandra Prinsloo who played as Kate Thompson were very good. To sum up, I have to say that "The Gods Must Be Crazy" is a nice comedy movie to spend your time with and I recommend everyone to watch it because I am sure that you will laugh a lot and you will have a great time.

A lovely little simple film with a shoestring budget. This film proves Hollywood is crazy for spending so much money when all it needs to do is hire one clever person like (writer/director) Jamie Uys. This film is everything that Hollywood isn't. Simple, silly, fun, genuine, not slick, NOT contrived, real...etc... This movie also proves people don't care about big name actors and exploding cars (though if you are a bushman this has both those things). What they want is a good story told in a clever manner.

Crazy, goofy, and silly are the three most operative words to describe "The Gods Must Be Crazy". But the movie is also very original. It's appropriate that the word crazy is in the title because this is the craziest movie I've ever seen. "The Gods Must Be Crazy" is a South African made comedy that was made back in the early 1980s but didn't get released until 3-4 years after shooting was completed. It became a surprise hit in the U.S. after it was released in 1984, and it did very well in other countries too. "The Gods Must Be Crazy" features three separate stories that get tied together towards the end. One story is about a bushman who goes on a journey to return a Coke bottle that he found to the Gods after the bottle starts causing harm to some of his family members. Another story revolves around a war that breaks out in Central Africa. And the other story centers around a clumsy scientist who tries to take a pretty South African woman to her new job as a schoolteacher in a small African village, and does everything wrong. This is my favorite part of the movie. The scientist is played by Marius Weyers, and he gives an inspired slapstick comedy performance. Some of the things that he does in the film had me exploding in laughter. The scenes with the jeep that he drives are priceless. Sandra Prinsloo is a good foil as the schoolteacher who unfortuneitly has no choice but to put up with his clumsiness. When Weyers and Prinsloo are on screen, "The Gods Must Be Crazy" is at its funniest. The other two stories are good, but not great. Nevertheless, there are some unusual scenes in these parts of the movie too. But the scenes involving the scientist and the schoolteacher are the best parts of "The Gods Must Be Crazy". It's too bad that they didn't turn up in the dull sequel. I think these parts of the movie alone is enough for me to recommend "The Gods Must Be Crazy".

*** (out of four)

It seemed simplistic, yet it was so brilliant in its execution that it ranks as one of the more interesting films of the last century. Unique and different, this film showed a different side of Africa and introduced one of the few genuine characters in the African Bushman. Highly recommended for anyone who has not seen this film. If you can find it, rent it.