Idiocracy (2006)

Private Joe Bauers, a decisively average American, is selected as a guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program but is forgotten, awakening to a future so incredibly moronic he's easily the most intelligent person alive.

Director:

Mike Judge

Writers:

Mike Judge (story), Mike Judge (screenplay)

Stars:

Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Luke Wilson	...	Joe Bauers
Maya Rudolph	...	Rita
Dax Shepard	...	Frito
Terry Crews	...	President Camacho (as Terry Alan Crews)
Anthony 'Citric' Campos	...	Secretary of Defense
David Herman	...	Secretary of State
Sonny Castillo	...	Prosecutor
Kevin McAfee	...	Bailiff (as Kevin S. McAfee)
Robert Musgrave	...	Sgt. Keller
Michael McCafferty	...	Officer Collins (as Mike McCafferty)
Christopher Ryan	...	Hospital Technician (as Ryan Melton)
Justin Long	...	Doctor
Heath Jones	...	Cop #1
Eli Muñoz	...	Horny Guy
Patrick Fischler	...	Yuppie Husband

Storyline

Officer Collins has been spearheading one of the US Army's most secretive experiments to date: the Human Hibernation Project. If successful, the project would store its subjects indefinitely until they are needed most. Their first test subject - Joe Bauers - was not chosen for his superiority. Instead, he's chosen because he's the most average guy in the armed services. But scandal erupts after the experiment takes place - the base is closed, and the president denies any knowledge of the project - Unfortunately, Joe doesn't wake up in a year, he wakes up in 500 years. But during that time human evolution has taken a dramatic downturn. After waking up, Joe takes a prison-assigned IQ test and finds that he's the smartest guy alive. Awaiting a full presidential pardon if he can solve one of the country's biggest problems - the dwindling plant population, Joe races against time to solve this problem. But he alienates half the country in the process. Can he make things right and escape a ...

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Plot Keywords:

political comedy | hibernation | stupidity | futuristic | false utopia | 

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Taglines:

In the future, intelligence is extinct.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sex-related humor

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Joe (Luke Wilson) is being apprehended by the police in Costco, the background screens display why he is wanted: "For being a dick" "For escaping from jail" "For fucking up lots of shit".

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Goofs

Throughout the character listing, Joe Bauer is listed as "officer" or "private". He is actually a Corporal.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: As the 21st century began, human evolution was at a turning point. Natural selection, the process by which the strongest, the smartest, the fastest, reproduced in greater numbers than the rest, a process which had once favored the noblest traits of man, now began to favor different traits. Most science fiction of the day predicted a future that was more civilized and more intelligent. But as time went on, things seemed to be heading in the opposite direction. A dumbing down. How ...

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Crazy Credits

A note near the end of the credits says "This film was also cut entirely on a computer".

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Connections

References King of the Hill (1997)

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Soundtracks

Toda Mi Vida
Written by Anthony 'Citric' Campos (as Anthony Campos), Jose M. Lam, Rosalio Cruz and Jose Jimenez Jr.
Performed by Pueblo Café
Courtesy of Balboa Records, Co.

User Reviews

A "pre-documentary"; scary-prescient.

Saw this for the first time tonight; almost creeped out how accurate it is. Or was? (It was released over ten years ago.)

Somehow in 2006 Mike Judge saw it all coming. Particularly striking was his understanding that middle school values ("He's wrong cuz he got his ass kicked!!") would become standard in American culture. And that professional wrestling and rap aesthetics, including the way those worlds view women, would become mainstream and respectable.

I'm not sure the central premise -- that stupid people outbreed smart ones -- is watertight. Seems to me most of the Idiocracy types I know come from families of 1 to 3 children. Rather, it seems that folks who should know better have been converted to trailer park values.

Or maybe it's all that Gatorade.

Anyway, if you haven't seen Idiocracy, see it now. You'll be blown away by how incredibly accurately it portrays current American society and its economy.

And if you have seen it, but not recently, see it again.

Sorry to get all faggy on ya, bra.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 January 2007 (Germany)

Also Known As:

3001

Filming Locations:

Seaholm Power Plant - 800 W Cesar Chavez Street, Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$124,367, 3 September 2006

Gross USA:

$444,093

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$495,303

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Ternion Pictures, Major Studio Partners

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1