Tank Girl (1995)

[LedHead4Life 0]

Tank Girl is full of action, comedy, and talking kangroos created from humans and a dog. That's the best way to decribe it oher than Malcolm Mcdowell has a hologram head for half the movie. :lol:

[jingodjangomourning 20]

Perhaps my favorite IMDB trivia bit, of any movie:

 

"MGM insisted on cutting a scene of Tank Girl and her kangaroo boyfriend Booga reclining after sex, despite spending $5,000 on a prosthetic penis for Booga."

 

I can't help thinking that Paul F. Tompkins chiming in as Ice-T would be incredible.

[psybab 0]

This movie MUST be covered. It might be my favorite bad movie of all time. Whatever happened to Lori Petty? This movie, I imagine.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

I actually saw this in theaters opening weekend. Yeah, I was the one. Some of my friends wanted to see something else, but I was all "Tommy Boy, what? This is based on a COMIC! Fuck you guys!". Anyway, "Tommy Boy" was pretty awesome...

[seanotron 2307]

They recently played this on TV and I had forgotten how utterly wonky it was. I'd also forgotten it featured a young, brunette Naomi Watts.

[lolholm 5]

Does Ice-T wear a kangaroo suit in this one or is my memory off?

[Lando 2019]

You are correct. I would like for them to do this movie and get Ice T for it.

[PhillipMedoc 648]

The comic this was based on was so great. Done by the guy (Jamie something) who does all the art for Gorillaz now. So yeah, I saw it in the theater with my girlfriend -- we were both also excited because local Seattle band

had a song in the film. I don't like Lori Petty, Ice-T's kangaroo make up must have been terrible to sit through each morning, and this doesn't capture the spirit of the comic at all. Not sure if a film could.

 

Honestly surprised it got made at all as Tank Girl was not a huge property or even known among most American comic readers.

[seanotron 2307]

Jamie Hewlett, a very cool dude. He also drew a comic based on Pulp's 'Common People' that I was a big fan of.

 

[jarrycanada 2483]

I really got to make a mental note to my self to see this film. I've been meaning to for a long time..but it keeps escaping me.

[RyanSz 3140]

Does Ice-T wear a kangaroo suit in this one or is my memory off?

 

Yes he does and for you Doug Loves Movies fans, this is the answer to the never picked category "Kangaroo Jack City" which never got the love that it should have.

[thestray 361]

Jamie Hewlett is amazing, Definitely one of the people I strive to be as good as, as an artist. This movie definitely doesn't capture the comic, and like cat&beard said I don't think it could really be done. Tank Girl is a good example of comics being their own thing, I could rant for days about comic book adaptations and how I feel it's affected the medium, but maybe that's too esoteric of a discussion.

 

Definitely down for them to discuss this movie. It would be amazing if they got Paul F Tompkins back on the show, or somehow the actual Ice T.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

 

Yes he does and for you Doug Loves Movies fans, this is the answer to the never picked category "Kangaroo Jack City" which never got the love that it should have.

It reminds me of the "Dolphin Lundgren" category (features Dolph Lungren, a dolphin, or both) that I knew was "Johnny Mnemonic" that kicked around forever until someone FINALLY picked it.

[PhillipMedoc 648]

Just thinking about this films bums me out because:

 

1) like thestray said, the comic is pretty amazing. The art and layout is incredible. And it builds a world in which it makes sense that a Tank Girl can love a kangaroo-human hybrid named Booga. And that there's a Jet Girl and a Sub Girl (I think?). And they drink shitloads of beer, play baseball, and Tank Girl has a koala. It must be a particular British sensibility that many Americans just can't quite put their heads around and definitely doesn't translate well to an American-made film, in a manner similar to the Judge Dredd comic from 2000 AD (which has been running since 1977!)

 

2) Malcolm McDowell has been stuck playing these shitty villain roles for a couple decades now. They're almost all completely the same, he's just doing the same bit over and over. (Watch the live action Fist Of The North Star from 1995 if you want to see an example of said shtick in a VERY shitty movie). It's depressing, because I know he's capable of so much more.

 

I think I actually hate this movie.

[thestray 361]

Just thinking about this films bums me out because:

 

1) like thestray said, the comic is pretty amazing. The art and layout is incredible. And it builds a world in which it makes sense that a Tank Girl can love a kangaroo-human hybrid named Booga. And that there's a Jet Girl and a Sub Girl (I think?). And they drink shitloads of beer, play baseball, and Tank Girl has a koala. It must be a particular British sensibility that many Americans just can't quite put their heads around and definitely doesn't translate well to an American-made film, in a manner similar to the Judge Dredd comic from 2000 AD (which has been running since 1977!)

 

 

I don't think it's so much a British sensibility that doesn't translate as it's just a thing that's very much tailored to the medium it was created in. There's so much going on in any given page, shitload of text, and there are jokes that only really work on a page, each issue is not so much a linear ongoing narrative as it is just like random short stories and vignettes that don't always wrap up or explain everything and there are prologues and non sequiturs and all types of random shit. It's a comic's comic.I think all the charm of it is lost when you try to extrapolate that to a 3 act live action movie script.

[PlanBFromOuterSpace 3138]

 

2) Malcolm McDowell has been stuck playing these shitty villain roles for a couple decades now. They're almost all completely the same, he's just doing the same bit over and over. (Watch the live action Fist Of The North Star from 1995 if you want to see an example of said shtick in a VERY shitty movie). It's depressing, because I know he's capable of so much more.

 

 

He's one of these guys where I simultaneously enjoy AND dread his involvement in something, as his resume is such a mixed bag of hit and miss, so you never know what to expect quality-wise, but he's usually fun to watch. He's like a slightly less picky Christopher Walken in that sense.

[thestray 361]

Malcom McDowell is just one of those guys who while being well respected also probably doesn't have people beating down his door to offer him big roles or anything. He's less of a movie star and more of a guy just doing the work where he can get it and does his best, whether it be a really good role in a film or as a bad guy on a Monk episode or something.

[AprilFoolsRebel 457]

I saw this one in theatres with a bunch of friends. We absolutely loved it! A big part of that was the fact that we all loved Lori Petty so much at the time. Not to mention the comic, which as others have noted, was pretty amazing.

 

Yes, it was big and dumb. And we didn't care at all!

[SlidePocket 707]

Perhaps most notable for ending Lori Petty's mainstream film career, and one of Naomi Watts' first Hollywood parts.

[Blast Hardcheese 636]

I saw this movie and Johnny Mnemonic back-to-back when I insisted on renting both on VHS, much to my then-girlfriend's dismay. I know this is why she broke up with me not too soon after and I 100% do not blame her in the least.

[jordang 1]

Holy jeez, I didn't realize it was directed by Rachel Talalay, who did a great job on Doctor Who. That's kinda neat.