Thumb Wars: The Phantom Cuticle

Spoofs are a very hit and miss thing type of movie background. When done right, it can be a zany adventure that you seem to have a permanent smile whacked on your face from start to finish like Flying High, Miss. Cast Away and to a much lesser extent, Scary Movie.

But when spoofs are done badly, it really shows. They can go from being an enjoyable film that makes fun of other films to being one reference of movie after movie with stupid pop culture references that are vomit inducing (Friedburg, Seltz).

This is a great spoof, it has zany humor, accomplishes what is promised and best of all, has the smile on face factor that makes this type of movie, however stupid the humor is, very, very enjoyable.

This is, by the way the first in the 6 part series of Thumb movies and this is probably the best (Maybe not as good as Part 6, Thumbtanic) and is an all round good way to spend 21 minutes. It is worth a watch for fans of the art of spoof.

Overall, give it a try, and if you cant find it on DVD, it is on Youtube.

I rate this 69%.

Ace Ventura director Steve Oedekerk is all about overblown physical comedy and Thumb Wars, a Star Wars parody, is in no way an exception to his style. It is a half hour's long spoof of the old Star Wars trilogy (not the Phantom Menace, as the title suggests) in which thumbs are used as characters. You may think you have the good taste not to see this, but I assure you that some of the jokes had me in stitches when I first saw it and I am still quoting this film today, years later. However, you most definitely need to be a Star Wars fan and/or well familiar with the films in order to appreciate the gags that Oedekerk attempts.

Oedekerk has snapped up on all of the already silly things and the poor writing in the original Star Wars saga, and taken them to the extreme by making them twice as silly and overblown. Take the borderline whiny attitude of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker; in Thumb Wars an opportunity to make fun of this is never missed and the character has this whiny voice and complains about everything. It starts with Luke living at his uncle and aunt's house, much like the original saga, and confronting them one day with: "YOU DON'T KNOW WHO I AM INSIDE! YOU NEVER HAVE! I'M GONNA RUN AWAY AND NEVER COME BACK EVER! " (*storms out crying*) And so starts his adventure to overthrow the empire. Oedekerk also points to the things that George Lucas simply never bothered to explain. Like, Leia (or Princess Bunhead, as she is appropriately called here) once in the empire ship: "I escaped somehow. Let's go." Priceless.

Sometimes, the observant viewer can tell that a lot of thought has been put into some of the lines, like the thumb of Han Solo constantly making references to Harrison Ford's movies. While other times, the lines are so random that you just have to laugh out loud. It's also freaky how much thumb Obi-Wan Kenobi sounds like Alec Guinness, the real Obi-Wan. Pay attention to details like this and remember not to take things too seriously. Thumb Wars isn't flawless and there were one or two gags that I thought could have been removed completely, but the awesome dialogue usually makes up for this. I've seen all of the thumb parodies (Blair Witch Thumb, Thumbtanic, etc) and this is my favourite.

'Thumb Wars' is a hilarious 'Star Wars' parody! The cast of thumbs couldn't be better. Steve Odenkirk has created a spoof that will stand the test of time. I hope that it will continue to be shown on TV and released on video. May the thumbs be with you, always...

I have read some of the IMDb user comments for this "movie" and have come upon the conclusion that some people need to lighten up! It's a comical parody, for Pete's sake - not an Oscar entry! It's not supposed to WOW you over with million dollar special effects - it's supposed to poke fun at our modern film culture.

This film was not released in theaters but was made strictly for home entertainment uses. I purchased the DVD box set of all 6 Thumb films for my kids for Christmas and we have laughed ourselves silly at these clever and quite creative shorts. Such titles as, "Thumbtanic", "The Blair Thumb", "Frankenthumb", "The Godthumb" and "Bat Thumb" - each one a hilarious and extremely inventive jab at classic cinema. Who would have ever thought of making films with thumbs as the stars? Only Steve Oedekerk and Co., that's who!

Who cares if Star Wars came out in 1977 and the jokes for this film are old and tired? This is good stuff, people! Sure, the characters in the film are all thumbs – that's why it's called "Thumb Wars"! Want a hearty, cheap laugh at a classic sci-fi film? Watch this and you won't be sorry!

A fun little short film created by Steve Oedekerk. An altered version of Star Wars (the original) acted out by thumbs. Sure it's a silly idea, but it had me laughing out loud at some of the lines. The names are hilarious, especially "Oobedoob Scobydoob Benubi". It's the only movie in the Thumb series that I've seen, but I found it pretty amusing. With a running time of 29mins, it's gimmick doesn't overstay it's welcome.

*** (Out of 4)