I ’ll never forget where I was June 30 , 1999 . That was the night I made the inauspicious decision to see Will Smith ’s Wild Wild West on its opening night — while on a screen next door , one of my presently - to - be favorite movieshad also just been let go of . Smith ’s moving picture was terrible , but the next night , I right that wrongfulness and go steady South Park : adult , Longer & Uncut , and everything has been better from that consequence on .
By 1999South Park was already an fabulously democratic show but , for one understanding or another , I did n’t really watch it . I ’d come across some instalment and bask it but I never got into it . ( I was intoIndependence DayandMen in Blackthough , hence the opening dark decision . ) Nevertheless , I was queer to see what a film version looked like , especially with any and all barriers of censorship broken down .
Sitting down in the theater , I ’m not sure I live this film was a melodious . Maybe I did and I put it out of my mind , but I call up right away being delighted and surprised . At this point in my spirit , I was already a huge melodious rooter . The original West Side Story was one of my favorites and I would regularly sing along with movies like Aladdin , Little Mermaid , and Lion King . And still , I was not ready for the flick to be not only a musical but an all - timer of a musical , feature banger after banger . All of which I still literally know every single word of , even all these twelvemonth later .
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut turns 25 this week.Image: Paramount
That first Nox though , “ Mountain Town ” may have set the tone , but “ Uncle Fucka ” brought down the menage . If I close my eyes , I can still find out and feel the theater reverberate with shock and reverence during the song . No one was quick and that ’s certainly how Trey Parker and Matt Stone design it . It ’s a strain so vile , so repellant , and so hilarious it ’s like a punch in the face and abdomen at the same time . forthwith you realize this moving-picture show is go on a level you were not quick for . Then you realize the the strain and diegetic movie it ’s in — an R - rate musical version of a TV show , mind you — is go to be the accelerator for the rest of the tale , and things rise to another level totally .
Everything get Billy Wilder and mirthful from there and despite having seen the film dozens of times , watching it this calendar week for its 25th day of remembrance , I still found myself overwhelmed with delight throughout and laughing consistently . Which , I have to admit , left me more conflicted than I was expecting .
In 1999 , big , Longer & Uncut was already implausibly offensive . That ’s the whole point . But in 2024 , the fact it might be even more offensive seems sadly prophetical . Parker and Stone find out what censoring and awe of language might do to us . And while the United States never declared war on Canada over the issue like it does in the movie , at times it for sure feels like we ’re now at state of war with ourselves for that reason .
Image: Paramount
That receive me reckon a little deeper . Does my personal tolerance for unsavory comedy and a perceive power to distinguish between spoken communication used for hatred or humour come from being so nearly familiar with this motion-picture show ? I opine it may play a part . And in that manner , I ’m grateful for it . I desire to be a somebody who understands there is a line and crossing it is bad . But also that tiptoeing on it , if done right , can be uproarious . Like Satan aver , “ Without evil there can be no salutary so it must be good to be malign sometimes . ”
After seeing South Park : Bigger , Longer & Uncut in 1999 , I go on and continued to discover more of Parker and Stone ’s musical comedy . Cannibal The Musical , for one . later on , I was first in phone line forTeam Americaas well as The Book of Mormon . The 2nd two body of work similarly to South Park , pushing bound to make really important points , and I bed them all for it . The South Park pic also broadened my sympathy of what musical comedy can be . It ’s not a musical genre that can enjoin only one character of story . It can differentiate any type of tale and , when it ’s as smart and beautiful as South Park , it can be magical .
And so , 25 years after its handout , I still love South Park : Bigger , Longer & Uncut . This time though , one thing had changed during my re - watch . After singing the songs , laugh and smile throughout , when the final reprise start , I begin to cry . It hit me just how much the movie mean to me , how long it ’s been a part of my life , and just how incredible it is from top to bottom . I ’m fairly nostalgic to begin with but to palpate that for this movie is the other thing I did n’t expect . What can I say , though ? “ That movie has distort my fragile piffling mind . ”
Image: Paramount
South Park : larger , Longer & Uncut turn 25 on June 30 . Paramount allow for io9 with a written matter of its blade fresh 4 K release for review , and you cangrab a copy here .
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