Welcome to Woop Woop (1997) Reviews

• Brilliant Black Comedy

  jordaan2004-06-13

  Welcome to Woop Woop amounts to a farce with a very unique (and appalling) storyline. The town Woop Woop is literally 'off the map' and its inhabitants interact in a surreal and disturbing fashion. Fleeing from danger in New York, the lead character (Johnathon Schaech) makes it to Australia, only to walk into a much bleaker situation – a kind of time-warp - where Daddy-O is the law, the judge, and the executioner. Rule number one: no-one escapes from Woop Woop. Unfairly criticized as vulgar and offensive, many have missed what this film is all about. Properly understood, however, this makes for highly entertaining (if somewhat foreboding) viewing. Great stuff!

• If you're not Australian, you may not get it.

  jenro952004-05-23

  I saw "Welcome to Woop Woop" a couple of weeks ago on HBO, on the recommendation of my American neighbour. He loved it! And he's right. I watched this film grinning from ear to ear, and if it were not for my neighbour's enjoying it so much, I'd have thought that only Australians would get the drift of this film. "Welcome to Woop Woop" is resplendent with Australian iconography, and if you don't know the space you may have a hard time understanding the references. As an Australian, I can tell you those references are spot on! The language, being out in the bush, the actors Rod Taylor and Barry Humphries (Dame Edna) and so many others, the stereotypical Aborigine. Cockatoos, dunnies(outhouses), the VW van, the backyard tip (dump), the brand of beer (it's real), Rogers and Hammerstein films, kangaroos as Aboriginal spirits, kangaroos as dog meat (true, not good, but true), even the main character's dog ( a Blue Heeler, Australian Cattle Dog), and the reference to the beach. They have nailed this film. 10 stars!

• This is a fun film!

  markguszak2000-08-12

  How can you give a bad rating to this film? This movie rocks. It is so unique and different. Just imagine that you are a grifter that a mobster is trying to kill. Oh yeah, you catch and sell cocateaus (I think that is how you spell it). So you decide to run off to Australia (you can catch some of those birds there). However, while you are in Australia you end up having sex with a lovely lady, who drugs you and marries you while you are passed out. Then she takes you to live on a compound deep in the outback that is run by her charismatic and psychotic father. Played incredibly by Rod Taylor. OK that is enough, you have to watch the rest and you will be happy that you did. This movie is eye and ear candy!

• Brilliant use of Bad Taste and dysphemism for the sex act

  amatthews-12004-08-26

  This is a film classic, in the mode of 'There's something about Mary'. Rod Taylor gives the performance of a lifetime. The ethereal counterpoint provided by the Rogers and Hammerstein scores is strange and wonderful at the same time. It's a comedy, a very dark comedy. It's a love story ... F#*($K me blue, F*@#(K me raw, to the strains of The Sound of Music. It's great entertainment. It's Deliverance meets Rogers and Hammerstein. It's Sex and Drugs, and Broadway show tunes in the Australian outback. A combination your not likely to have sampled before, but one you will wish there was a sequel for. If TV sitcoms are your thing, you just won't get this film. It's bizarre, shocking (if you shock easily), wildly funny, and atmospheric. Is there something about this film that is uniquely Australian? Probably not, this had to have been a bizarre and disturbing dream, or a psychotic episode scripted. It's great entertainment, and certainly an escape from reality. It's a 10

• One of a kind

  preppy-32002-12-09

  Director Stephan Elliott had a big hit with "Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" back in 1994. This is his 1997 followup which was a huge bomb. I like it, but it's easy to see why it failed. A con man (Jonathan Schaech) travels to Australia to kidnap some rare exotic birds (don't ask). He is unexpectedly sexually attacked by a VERY aggressive young woman, and she knocks him out, drugs him and takes him to her hometown, Woop Woop, and proclaims he's her husband. Woop Woop is in the middle of nowhere, has a population of 50 and is definetely a strange place--Rodgers + Hammerstein songs are blasting from speakers all day (!!!), they kill kangaroos and make them into dog food and no one is ever allowed to leave the town. Schaech wants out...but can he make it? To say this movie is bizarre is an understatement--it's VERY weird! Everyone overacts to the extreme (especially Schaech) and wear very weird, colorful costumes (I mean that in a good way). The script goes rambling all over the place, most lines make no sense and then there's the non-stop R&H songs! Still, it is very funny (if a little sick at times) and you can't take your eyes away from it. The acting is, as I said, over the top but great. Schaech gets right in the mood of things from the beginning--he's very lighthearted, grinning continuously and gives his all to his lines. He's also handsome and hunky and has a few nude scenes. Also Rod Taylor chews the scenery again, and again, and again, and AGAIN as Daddy-O--the leader of the town. It does lag a little at the end and it's definetely not for all tastes but totally off-beat and fun--particularly the opening in NYC and the last scene with...well, you'll know! A must-see for R&H fans.