(T)Raumschiff Surprise - Periode 1 (2004) Reviews

• Misses just as often as it hits

  GoD-s-LoNeLy-MaN2006-11-06

  "(T)Raumschiff Surprise" is sometimes funny, sometimes hilarious but it is also embarrassingly stupid at times. It has some new jokes but what I found shocking is that some of the jokes were "borrowed" (from Austin Powers; Loriot,...). So really you have creative ideas and funny and original jokes but in the same scene you have old or plagiarized jokes and gags that are complete misses. I like Bully and I think he is funny, loved "Der Schuh des Manitu". There was a huge hype around this movie and when I finally saw it I was disappointed as the movie did not deliver. About a year after watching it the first time, I watched it again and I laughed about 5 times and smiled maybe another 10 times. I remember laughing quite a bit the first time I watched it but even back then I found it disappointing. This movie is not quite as bad as the IMDb-rating (5.4) suggests but way worse than the hype around it makes you believe it is. (Most of the time my ratings for a movie are below the IMDb-average so me rating it the same as the average voter while saying it deserves a higher score is not a contradiction. Hope you can follow.) ** 5.5/10 **

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• Hilarious nonsense with a spicy gay flavor, just enjoy the ride !!

  johannes2000-12007-01-02

  I absolutely loved this movie. I didn't know exactly what to expect, probably some very under-the-waist gay-jokes (the fact that I still bought this DVD proofs that I'm not really above THAT). But this turned out to be much better and different! In fact there's hardly any actual sexual connotation (okay, the outer form of the spaceship DID remind me of something familiar and at one point there's some sexual innuendo concerning a gravely mistaken shadow!). But otherwise the gay premise is not exploited in nudity, or in provocative gay variations on tits-and-ass jokes, it's mostly limited to the being gay of the three protagonists, which colors their attitude, their actions and their conversation, in a very tongue-in-cheek way. This gives this parody of Star Wars and Star Trek (and probably Back to the Future) an extra dimension that's very original, to say the least, and to me it worked completely. There were more surprises: the FX of this non-American movie is absolutely stunning, as was the sound on this DVD, which at times blew me out of my chair! The whole story develops in a very high pace, we get time-traveling, space trekking, medieval jousting, everything in a hilarious way yet enough believable to get yourself involved into the story and with the characters. The actors do a great job and are all very funny, especially of course the two bickering and ad-libbing male leads Michael Herbig (also the director) and Christian Tramitz. And Till Schweiger, although past forty, is still a treat for the eyes, I remember him from "Der Bewegte Mann", another German gay classic some ten years ago that's among my favorites: equally entertaining but with a bit more of a serious message underneath the very comical surface. I guess that many hard-boiled gay-rightists will find that a movie like this is stereotyping gays, but not I (and being one myself I think I have a right to speak). On the contrary, I actually find it a treat to witness (albeit in a movie) a world in which gay characters (even such "extreme" ones) are considered by everyone around them as just an exotic variation of the human species and in every other aspect as valuable and worthwhile as anyone else. Notice for instance that no-one in the movie makes fun of the gay characters just for being gay or ridicules their all too obvious homosexuality. Alas: up until now such a world still is a fantasy! All in all, I rank this movie 9 out of 10.

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• I support Spucky!

  AnimationPhoenix2006-01-05

  I am an American, but speak German fluently due to my mother being from Germany. I recently saw the film with family friends while in Germany for Christmas. I can't tell you how hard I was laughing the whole time I watched the film. I think the film was very well put together. The dialog is funny, the little hints here and there about Der Shuh Des Manitu was also very witty. I can see why Herr Herbig laughs at night in his sleep from all the gags. I have to say though, the best part of the whole film has to be the sound track. I throughly enjoyed the music from the film. Especially the Miss Waikiki song...that just plan cracked me up. All in all I give this movie a 10 out of 10 for wittiness, music, fantastic special effects, good plot and well thought out story, and for being something different from American films. Yes. It was very Mel Brooksish, though, and very very funny! I'd say it's a must have for all comedy lovers (I bought my copy already!)

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• A Nutshell Review: Dreamship Surprise

  DICK STEEL2005-10-22

  This movie is so insanely gay! And I mean it in both sense of the word. No wonder this comedy broke the German box office with its madcap, low-brow, at times, crass humour. But it's all in good fun. If you're looking for a plot, be reminded that a spoof-fest only has an outline of what resembles a story. The story's not award winning material to begin with, and it was never the intention of doing so. In the future, Earth has colonized Mars, and some aliens aren't happy with it, so war is declared on the Earthlings. Somehow, Earth's last hope lies in the hands of Dreamship Surprise and its crew of merry men, led by the gayish Captain Kork, and equally feminine-like officers Mr Spuck and Schrotty. Needless to say, the crew of Dreamship Surprise is a complete spoof of Star Trek's Starship Enterprise crew, right down to the uniform, the multi-racial crew, and the technology available on board. Serious Trekkies might not take this too kindly though, to see their beloved franchise taken to "new" heights. To save Earth from the aliens, the team has to travel back in time to prevent the discovery of alien lifeforms in Area 51. But it's made more difficult when Kork and crew are more interested in their rehearsals for an upcoming Miss Waikiki competition (don't ask). Which is crazy I tell you. If you think that the Chicken Little ad now showing in theatres is cute, you haven't seen nothing yet! Spoofing obvious movies like Star Wars - pod-racing, battleships hovering in orbit, the Jedi Council, Coruscant, Queen Amidala, Han Solo, Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, Stormtroopers, the list goes on, and Star Trek - the main leads, there are also numerous references to movies like Austin Powers (the phallic-shaped starship), Back to the Future (time travel), Minority Report and even A Knight's Tale. Spoofing and combining key characters from Star Wars and Star Trek have been attempted before in Hollywood comedies, but definitely not in the manner that Dreamship Enterprise had. Stay tuned during the credits, where some blooper scenes are shown, and if you stay until the end of the credits, you'll be rewarded with yet another short hilarious scene. Definitely recommended for an evening after a hard day's work.

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• Simply fond of it (ich mag's einfach)!

  DerWixxer2004-07-27

  After having read all postings and comments about the movie in this place up to now I simply want to tell that I love it! Surely the movie cannot be to everyone's taste especially not to the taste of those who run into cinema with a checklist about "will it be better than 'Schuh des Manitu'", "how many gay-jokes will be cracked", "does German comedy still exist" and so on. I myself was skeptical, too, whether Periode 1 will reach Schuh des Manitu but I was disappointed positively. Tonight I watched Periode 1 the second time and, like in Schuh des Manitu, I discovered gags I haven't perceived the first time because there are enough of it in there! Why do most of the commentators put emphasis on the gay-factor? Surely that was the original attention of "Unser Traumschiff" in Bullyparade but in the movie there surely is more! You remember "Men In Tights" (Helden in Strumpfhosen) by Mel Brooks, the Robin Hood-spoof? O.k., there was no gay-topic in it but it was very smug! Enjoy the details! The counselor of "William der Letzte", the rented spy, the taxi and so on - there's so much in it you can laugh about! Michael Bully Herbig surely accepts the inheritance of Monthy Pythons and Mel Brooks, in my eyes! Simply enjoy it like me!

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