100 movies: The Gods Must Be Crazy

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100 movies of 2012
Every year I set myself a target, usually of about 100, of films to watch. These are new films. Not new, new films. But films that are new to me. Any time I’ve seen a new one, I post a bit of a brain dump of my thoughts on the film here. Enjoy!

The Gods Must Be CrazyThe Gods Must Be Crazy (28/12/12)

A comic allegory about a traveling Bushman who encounters modern civilization and its stranger aspects, including a clumsy scientist and a band of revolutionaries.

The Gods Must Be Crazy has a solid score of 7.1 on IMDB and 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Yet it features the acting talents of a real life Bushman called N!xau and many, many extras whose talents definitely don’t lie in acting. But you know what? The Gods Must Be Crazy is a ridiculously fun film.

It begins as something like a documentary. But slowly descends into some epic Benny Hill style comedy, complete with sped up ‘action’ scenes. Don’t let that put you off. The Gods Must Be Crazy is a very likeable film. And that lies in the sheer innocence of the film itself and its leading character of Xi, the Bushman on a journey to give back to the Gods what they gave to his people. Along the way he gets caught up in the ‘modern world’ but still maintains that innocence of someone who’s not exposed to it. There are some hilariously childish consequences. But I challenge anyone not to laugh at them. You will fail.

The film was a bit of a hit. Grossed $100 million worldwide. Spawned three sequels (All of which don’t exactly look great.) N!xau even managed to get a house with electricity for his family after his first starring role. I’d call that a win for him!

I was hoping to end my 2012’s film watching year with a decent film. And I reckon I have. The Gods Must Be Crazy hasn’t got high production values. The actors should probably be called ‘actors’. But it is a ridiculously fun ride.
Rating: 4/5

Read on to see all the films watched this year…

90 Films so far this year

  1. The Tourist 1/5 (02/01/12)
  2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 5/5 (03/01/12)
  3. World’s Greatest Dad 2/5 (14/01/12)
  4. Haywire 3/5 (19/01/12)
  5. Dead Snow 3/5 (20/01/12)
  6. The Artist 5/5 (21/01/12)
  7. Priest 2/5 (05/02/12)
  8. The Muppets 5/5 (15/02/12)
  9. Faster 4/5 (19/02/12)
  10. Chronicle 4/5 (22/02/12)
  11. Safe House 4/5 (24/02/12)
  12. Reservoir Dogs 4/5 (25/02/12)
  13. This Means War 4/5 (02/03/12)
  14. The Royal Tenenbaums 3/5 (03/03/12)
  15. Reign of Fire 3/5 (04/03/12)
  16. Dear John 2/5 (04/03/12)
  17. Road to Perdition 5/5 (05/03/12)
  18. The Three Musketeers 3/5 (06/03/12)
  19. The Eagle 2/5 (10/03/12)
  20. Everybody’s Fine 2/5 (14/03/12)
  21. Frankenstein 4/5 (15/03/12)
  22. Love and Other Drugs 2/5 (15/03/12)
  23. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger 2/5 (17/03/12)
  24. The Big Lebowski 5/5 (18/03/12)
  25. The Hunger Games 3/5 (23/03/12)
  26. Headhunters 4/5 (07/04/12)
  27. Super 1/5 (07/04/12)
  28. The Cabin in the Woods 5/5 (13/04/12)
  29. Watchmen 4/5 (14/04/12)
  30. The Hurt Locker 3/5 (21/04/12)
  31. Avengers Assemble 5/5 (26/04/12)
  32. 22 Bullets 2/5 (28/04/12)
  33. Bad Teacher 1/5 (29/04/12)
  34. Red Riding Hood 1/5 (04/05/12)
  35. A Perfect Getaway 4/5 (05/05/12)
  36. Ca$h 1/5 (13/05/12)
  37. Kung Fu Panda 2 3/5 (14/05/12)
  38. Everything Must Go 2/5 (24/05/12)
  39. New York, I Love You 2/5 (25/05/12)
  40. Beginners 4/5 (26/05/12)
  41. Prometheus 4/5 (03/06/12)
  42. The Tree of Life 2/5 (04/06/12)
  43. The Lovely Bones 3/5 (05/06/12)
  44. Snow White and the Huntsman 3/5 (06/06/12)
  45. The Devil’s Backbone 4/5 (07/06/12)
  46. Britain in a Day 5/5 (11/06/12)
  47. The French Connection 4/5 (15/06/12)
  48. Insomnia 3/5 (16/06/12)
  49. Rebel Without a Cause 4/5 (22/06/12)
  50. A Lonely Place to Die 3/5 (26/06/12)
  51. Killer Joe 3/5 (29/06/12)
  52. The Amazing Spider-Man 4/5 (03/07/12)
  53. Raising Arizona 4/5 (04/07/12)
  54. Horrible Bosses 4/5 (06/07/12)
  55. Broadcast News 3/5 (07/07/12)
  56. We Need to Talk About Kevin 4/5 (07/07/12)
  57. Miller’s Crossing 4/5 (18/07/12)
  58. The Dark Knight Rises 5/5 (20/07/12)
  59. 21 Jump Street 5/5 (29/07/12)
  60. The Mystery Team 3/5 (07/08/12)
  61. The Help 4/5 (11/08/12)
  62. The Bourne Legacy 3/5 (13/08/12)
  63. The Expendables 2 4/5 (17/08/12)
  64. Brave 5/5 (19/08/12)
  65. Dracula 3/5 (19/08/12)
  66. The Woman in Black 3/5 (24/08/12)
  67. The Mummy 4/5 (28/08/12)
  68. Lawless 3/5 (30/08/12)
  69. Real Steel 2/5 (31/08/12)
  70. [REC] 3 Genesis 2/5 (04/09/12)
  71. Take Shelter 4/5 (15/09/12)
  72. Dredd 3D 3/5 (19/09/12)
  73. The Apartment 5/5 (23/09/12)
  74. Young Frankenstein 5/5 (25/09/12)
  75. Looper 5/5 (28/09/12)
  76. Sinister 3/5 (10/10/12)
  77. Skyfall 5/5 (26/10/12)
  78. The Prince & Me 3/5 (31/10/12)
  79. Crazy, Stupid, Love 4/5 (03/11/12)
  80. Argo 5/5 (07/11/12)
  81. Super Troopers 3/5 (22/11/12)
  82. The Raid 5/5 (24/11/12)
  83. Moneyball 4/5 (27/11/12)
  84. Lars and the Real Girl 4/5 (28/11/12)
  85. The Illusionist 3/5 (29/11/12)
  86. Seven Psychopaths 4/5 (12/12/12)
  87. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 4/5 (13/12/12)
  88. Midnight in Paris 4/5 (22/12/12)
  89. It’s a Wonderful Life 4/5 (24/12/12)
  90. The Gods Must Be Crazy 4/5 (28/12/12)

14 Comments

  1. I saw this comedy for first time in 2012 as well, and agree it’s fun and likeable. My favorite scenes are the voice-overs of the bushman, and the misunderstandings between the awkward guy and the woman. Some really funny moments! Opening those gates, hilarious stuff. N!xau got a small amount of the 100 mill, ha ha, nice one.

    • The gate scenes were excellent. Such a simple gag but hilarious! It’s great to hear so many other bloggers out there have seen this one.

  2. I’ve been wanting to see this one for a while; it’s one my father mentions every now and then. Glad to hear it holds up pretty well.

    I did a bit of looking, and there’s only one actual sequel, The Gods Must Be Crazy II. The others are just Chinese knockoffs.

  3. This is one of my favorite comedies of all time! In fact I just saw parts of it when it came on TV whilst I was in my hotel in Jakarta and I couldn’t help but watch it. Such a hoot through and through and most of the cast are unknown. Too bad the sequels didn’t live up to this one though.

  4. I’ve always wanted to watch this movie. I thought the concept was pretty funny. I mean a falling soda causes all this ruckus. Too funny!

    On a random note, I’m watching Catfish (the documentary). It’s pretty weird and interesting at the same time. I would think you would maybe like it. I mean with your experience with online dating and all.

  5. You’re right to call this a ridiculously fun film.
    I say that even though I haven’t seen it since I was a child, but I still remember certain sequences and how entertained I was. Perhaps I should give it a go one more time.

    It’s hard to make such a loveable and innocent film that also happens to be funny. Kuddos to Mel Brooks!

  6. Hey Jaina,
    I loved this film as pre teen and it always seemed to be on HBO when I was growing up, I saw the film again about 2 years ago and still found it hilarious. My cousins and I would quote this movie during sleepovers. Nice Review

    • It sounds like I’m very far behind in discovering this film. I’d not even heard of it, but the whole world seems to be very knowledgeable of it!

      Thanks for stopping by, Scott 🙂

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