Search - Meet the Feebles on DVD

Chad B. (abrnt1) from CABERY, IL
Reviewed on 2/29/2012...

The Muppet Show on acid. This film will scar you if you don't know what too expect. It's twisted beyond belief. Ever want to see what would happen if the Muppets were deviants? Watch this film and witness puppets doing drugs,engaging in kinky sex,making porn,going "postal" & other twisted activities. Hard to believe the same director won an Oscar later in his career isn't it?

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Sick, silly, absurd -- fantastic

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 05/21/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It would take someone as talented as Peter Jackson to make "Meet the Feebles" -- a gross, sick, absurd and twistily logical dark (very dark) comedy. If "Frighteners" was Jackson's version of "Ghostbusters," then this is his even weirder version of the "Muppet Show." (Not one for kids, either)The not-so-good "Feebles" variety show has just scored a network special, with buxom singer Heidi the Hippo as the central attraction. Behind the scenes, it's another story: Heidi's lover Bletch the Walrus is cheating on her with a slinky Siamese, Wynard the Vietnam-scarred frog hasn't been able to get more heroin and is having problems with his knife-throwing act (you can imagine what happens), a rat is making pornos in the basement, a blue elephant is embroiled in a paternity suit with a chicken (guess what the kid looks like), Harry the rabbit has come down with a venereal disease, and new porcupine Robert has fallen in love with a beautiful chorus girl.To make things worse, Bletch is involved in a scheme with underworld drug kingpins, one of whom is a whale of a problem (seriously -- he's a whale). Heidi is pigging out on chocolate and starting to come unglued mentally out of fear that her lover doesn't care about her anymore. And when the curtain goes up, will the Feebles be able to get their acts together? (I'll give you a hint: The answer has two letters)Peter Jackson once said that he had a "moronic" sense of humor, and it shows here in all its grimy glory. What if the Muppet Show were plagued with every kind of seediness? Sex, drugs, puppet porn and some really disgusting vomiting (and cast members occasionally eating one another), and a machine-gun massacre are spattered over this story -- and while you may not want to, you'll love it. Jackson's love of splatter-gore shows in a row of birds crushed by a barrel and plenty of flying body parts near the finale. It's so incredibly in "bad taste" that I simply couldn't stop laughing. (Warning to those with weak stomachs: This movie is not for you) He even touches on some interesting questions like: What kind of offspring would two puppets of different species have? Several of the characters are reminiscent of Muppets -- a blowsy diva who storms off when she's unhappy, there's a frog, a chicken who's had an affair with a long-nosed blue guy, a nasty little rat... any of it sound familiar? Jackson takes the concept and runs with it. And there are a bunch spawned especially for this movie, like the glittering fish that Bletch eats, or a malevolent little fly-on-the-wall who takes pleasure in spreading bad news.Most of the characters are either pitiful (Heidi) or revolting (the lecherous, manipulative Bletch). They make porn, they dish dirt, they snort drugs, they bounce into each other's dressing rooms. (There's even a pervert anteater and a fox who does a very dignified -- yet obscene -- musical number!) And Jackson knows to balance out all the wretched characters with likable ones too: Arfur the doe-eyed worm and Lucille (poodle) and Robert (porcupine) as the adoring lovers.The downside? The DVD is fuzzy and overly dark in places, like a videotape that has aged badly. This is a particular problem in scenes that take place in semi-darkness, which many backstage ones do. The extras are... more or less nonexistant. Hopefully this film will be rereleased in a format more worthy of it.You might be able to watch Kermit and Miss Piggy and the rest of the Muppets after you've seen "Meet the Feebles." But I promise you that you will never, ever watch them the same way again. "Meet the Feebles" is sick, silly, and utterly twisted -- not a masterpiece, but brilliantly, weirdly, insanely funny."

Astounding

Jonathan Schaper | London, Ontario Canada | 12/17/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Directed by Peter Jackson who has newfound fame thanks to his work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, this movie (his second, after Bad Taste) has to be seen to be believed.Jackson takes the basic concept of the Muppet show (combining puppets and humans in animal costumes to tell the story about the action backstage at a popular variety show) but carries the concept to a sick extreme, creating a hybrid offspring of the Muppets and such schlock entertainment-industry classics as The Valley of the Dolls. For example, look at the absurdity of the relationship between Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog. In the Feebles, animal characters eat other animal characters or have hybrid offspring. Characters have drug addictions, extramarital affairs, degenerative diseases, star in S&M porn movies on the side, etc. There is an amazing Deer Hunter inspired Nam flashback, a hillarious war between drug dealers and some entertainment bigwigs on a pier (which includes a whale, giant crabs and a giant spider), bodily fluids fly all over the place, a massacre ensues near the end, and it is all topped of by a "where are they now" type of ending as in Animal House or American Graffitti. Oh, yes, there are also musical numbers (I won't spoil the title of the best one).Not as gory as Jackson's Dead Alive, but MUCH sicker."

A horrible transfer ruins the DVD experience

M. Daneker | Spinnerstown, Pa USA | 04/13/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It's very hard to watch this dark, jerky transfer of Peter Jackson's (The Lord Of The Rings) second film (see Bad Taste & Dead Alive)on DVD is beyond disappointing. The movie is smart, satirical and nasty to the extreme. As with Jackson's other early films there is no lack of gross and disgust, and since it's all done with puppets that's a plus. There are plots and sub-plots abounding her. A frog with a heroin addiction who is a knife thrower. A "fly" on the wall reporter trying to break the story of a AIDS ravished bunny - headliner. A hippo being cheated on by her walrus with a cat. A bad drug deal, a drive through the bowels of a whale, a final machine gun massacre, yeah, this film has it all.Unfortunately the DVD is a rush job, a [bad] print is filmed directly to digital and it shows. The movie flashes, there are scratches everywhere, the print is dark and unpolished. This looks literally has if done in someone's basement. Then there's the 5.1 surround mix... why bother, there's just noise on the back speakers. The extras include trailers for all the lousy, stupid low-budget films the company releasing the DVD (DEAD ALIVE PRODUCTIONS)has available. And that's it.What a waste. Wait until someone releases a decent DVD, one that doesn't give you a headache while you strain your eyes trying to watch what's on the screen."