Benvenuti a Woop Woop

I'd never heard of this movie, never knew Rod Taylor was Australian (this from someone who saw Hitchcock's "The Birds" in a theater during its initial release) and I really need to see it again when it is not interrupted every five minutes by a string of commercials, as on the Sinclair (Charge!) station where I did see it. No need to say much more; the other reviews tell you as much as you need to know, but I will say the opening sequence in New York probably probably nails the world's view of American gun culture and the two endings (preceding and following the closing credits) are worth the wait.

I did love the throwaway line about the asbestos mine burning for weeks.

"Welcome to Woop Woop" takes Australian cliches to the extreme. When con-artist Teddy escapes to the Australian outback, he finds himself drugged, unconsciously married and trapped in "Woop Woop" an outback town inhabited by zany hooligans.

I enjoyed it. Initially, I didn't want to rent it after reading several negative reviews, but I'm glad I finally did proving that critics are often wrong.

There's one scene which I won't spoil that hit the film's high-point, and let's just say I will never look at the Sound of Music again, or at least Mother Abbess.

The soundtrack was fantastic (especially the "Climb Every Mountain" remix) and the cast were great. Johnathon Schaech and Dee Smart gave nice performances, but the show stealers were arguably Rod Taylor and Susie Porter. Both reigned with charisma and succeeded in entertaining and disgusting audiences with their amazingly repulsive father/daughter performance . Paul Mercurio also makes a humorous cameo reiterating one of the stricter rules of "Woop Woop" ~ "Nobody leaves".

Although some scenes caused me to wince, such as the Woop Woop abbatoir scenes and a funny, yet disturbing incestual relationship, I suggest you check it out.

Welcome to Woop Woop is a brilliant satire of Australian culture.

7.5/10

One of the wonderful aspects of cinema is that all the various originality of a culture can be presented, in any combination, with their indigenous visual and aural realities. The arid outback, the aussie dialect, and the Down Under idea of Wacky combine in this oh-so-funny film to bring you to tears from laughing so hard. You'll find yourself rewinding to see a great slapstick scene again, or to hear exactly what someone said. A quick take will clarify a confusing one several scenes earlier causing renewed laughter yet again. When the credits began rolling I began laughing again at remembered shots still teasing my memory. And laughter isn't all this film has to offer - bits of poignance, ire, and mystery are added to the recipe to round out its flavor. The story could only have been told in Australia by Australians to acheive so great result. So, Laugh me dead, Mate, if this wasn't a gem of a film!

I tell you folks, that was THE FUNNIEST line of irreverent dialogue I've ever heard! Seriously, I can somewhat understand why Aussies who have reviewed this very smart, funny and VERY whacky film are besides themselves over the stereotypes and how some of their brethren are depicted here. Now, yet another group of people understands and feels what minorities everywhere feel when the same type of satire is done to them, but to an extreme! But, hey! Loosen up a bit-just let that "Breezer" rip! It's all good! I exchange emails with several Aussie folks Down There regularly, and they seem to talk and act very much as I do. So I can watch this film knowing that what I see is "over the top" in it's characterization, and NOT indicative of all Australians. Every ethnic group has it's "lower elements" for sure. But, I'm sorry, this was some hilarious stuff! All these characters were two sandwiches shy of a picnic! I've always been a Rod Taylor fan, and he steals this flick wholeheartedly. That guy is still one of the finest actors still working, and I know he's up there in age now. These folks live in a world far removed from reality. The remarks ("beef curtains", etc) are fresh (most of us here in the US have NEVER heard these expressions) and the whole town gathering nightly for 'Rogers & Hammerstein' movies (and a LOT of beer guzzeling) as the high point of another dreary day reminded me of the Wizard Of Oz's munchkins singing. Yup, sure enough, the plot had some holes for sure, but otherwise, the performances were great, from Johnathan Saaech on down.

I flat out loved this film. It was quite a pleasant surprise and yes, I agree it has cult status written ALL over it! See it for a monster laugh! I'll be willing to bet it caused quite an uproar when released!

Set in the Australian outback you might have thought this movie would have had more in common to the directors previous movie Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, The (1994). At the London Film Festical screening director Stephan Elliot started off before the screening that this definitely wasn't the case, and telling us it was about the more obnoxious of his country folk.

This shows a side of Australia that is being rather swept under the carpet. Although raucous and rude in the first half of the movie the mood turns darker towards the end.

And don't forget to wait till after the credits end for an amusing extra.

There are some very funny scenes including Barry Humphries as a blind petrol pump attendant - which so outraged the US lead that he had to spend time recovering in his trailer - it was done fortunately in one take with Humphries ad libbing the scene. And an excellent performance by Rod Taylor as the leader of the community.

Shot in the height of the summer, due to Stephan Elliot becoming ill just before the original start date, the crew needed 36,000 gallons of water per day to survive and in one scene they had to fit the dogs in the scene with shoes to allow them to run across the set.