Studio: Tippitt Studios
Release Date: 12/6/2022
Rating: Unrated
Film Grade: B
The Story: Uh, well, there really isn’t much of one here. The movie starts out with a soldier/spy/terrorist(?) descending next to a fortified outpost. The audience follows along, guided by a map that is literally disintegrating as we go deeper and deeper into an imaginative underworld.
And then it takes a left turn.
My Take: How does one even begin to describe this movie? Let’s start with the filmmaker. This is a Phil Tippett production. The name may not be familiar, but you’ve seen his work in dozens of movies. Remember the chessboard scene in A New Hope? Or the AT-ATs and tauntauns in The Empire Strikes Back? The dragon from Dragonslayer? How about the robots in RoboCop? He moved beyond stop motion and go motion and made the jump to digital effects, winning an Oscar for his contribution to Jurassic Park.
But his heart is still with the old-school process of moving a physical puppet one frame at a time to create the illusion of life. For the past 30 some years he had a project pecking away at the back of his mind. Some of the film dates back to those days, but most if it has been produced since then under a crowd-funding model.
The result is something unconstrained by any studio, a complex vision of a man who opens up a world that is unlike anything we have ever seen before. Think of some of the weirdest scenes Guillermo del Toro has put on film, and then multiply those visuals by 1000, and you might have an idea of what to expect. The film is so densely packed with detail it would take dozens of viewings to absorb it all.
Tippett employs different techniques, switching from stop motion to live action, sometime seamlessly. Oftentimes it’s as disjointed as a horrible dream, fitting its dark nightmare of a travelogue.
Superficially, one can draw comparisons to Hell, but this film aims at much more than that. Just don’t expect it to be served to you on a rusted and decrepit platter. This is a film that strongly wants you to find your own meaning in it, and it is ripe for mining in that respect.
There is no intelligible dialog to help you out, this is a journey you will take on your own.
Video: The movie is composed of a variety of styles. From super-grainy, to muddy, to sharp, to dark. There’s nothing here that is impressive from a sharpness perspective, but that is on purpose. The different styles match the mood, temper, and feel of the movie in a satisfying way, and don’t hurt the visuals in any way.
Audio: Just as there are a variety of visual styles, the soundtrack also has its own feel. Its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 just cannot keep up with the amazing scenes depicted in the movie, although there are moments that definitely add to the dire feel of the film. This is one area that could have used a little more attention, and I struggle to remember much of it a day after the viewing.
Special Features: - Interview with Phil Tippett
- Mad God Influences & Inspirations
- Maya Tippet's The Making of Mad God
- Maya Tippett's Worse than the Demon
- Academy of Art University & Mad God
- Mad God Behind-the-Scenes Montage
- Behind-the-Scenes Photo Gallery
Final Verdict: I can’t recommend this movie. Unless you’re ready for a disturbing fever dream a of a dark, dystopian world unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Fueled by an unbound imagination, you’ll see imagery that mixes madness with fear and revulsion.
My wife did not like it at all, and this is certainly not for everyone. I don’t even know that it’s for me, but I think I’m glad to have experienced it.
It is definitely not for children.
There is an incredible amount of passion and love that went into what is becoming a lost art form as digital effects supplant the earlier versions.
For those willing to take a wild, wild ride and who don’t require a strong plot, this is worth checking out. For the timid and literal-minded, it is best avoided. A viewing of the trailer below gives you an idea of what you might be in for if you chose to take the trip.
Shocking Fact: An undertaking like this can take serious toll on the filmmaker. Tippett's obsession with the project triggered a mental breakdown, and he spent a week in a psychiatric ward, where he was diagnosed with unipolar depression.
My Review System:JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
Xbox One X
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup
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