IMDb user comments for
Fubar (2002) More at IMDbPro »

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 4:

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Index

38 comments in total

---

6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Two headbangers from Calgary live the destructive rock n' roll life while dealing with their fear of mortality., 5 June 2002

Author: Don Walkinshaw (don_walkinshaw@hotmail.com) from Aurora, Ontario, Canada

FUBAR (an obscene acronym from the military) is an amazing accomplishment. It tore onto the scene at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001, after being turned down by the Toronto fest. The classic success story of guys who maxed out their credit cards (including their Canadian Tire cards) and took a giant leap into the uncertain future - and it paid off. Telefilm Canada decided to fund the movie (after it was already shot on digital video), and "beefed" the budget up to $350,000 (Cdn.) They did a good job promoting the movie through a soundtrack featuring Sum 41, Gob, Sloan, etc. doing classic Canadian headbangin' tunes. This movie has it all: hilarity and drunken hijinx, intense drama, and incredible acting (although I wonder how much the beer had to do with this). Go see this movie, it is much more than the trailers would suggest: much more than guys acting loud and stupid. It's actually a touching film, with a look at the two main character's fear of mortality.

---

6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
An in-depth examination of two headbangerus canadianus specimens., 27 November 2004
Author: Joe Adonis

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Although filmed in Calgary, any Canadian can identify the unique cultural phenomenon of the aging headbanger. This movie is a brilliant little mock-umentary that is funny and quirky enough to become a cult classic, and is definitely worth seeing. We are taken into the world of Dean, a wannabe bass player, and Terry, a swamper in a furniture factory. The two buddies give the audience a candid look at their lives, captured by documentary filmmaker Farrel Mitchner, whose accidental death is captured on film. The actors fool anybody who isn't aware into thinking that this is a genuine documentary, so it's fun to watch with an unsuspecting friend. A Canadian comedy accessible to any open-minded North American viewer.

---

6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
A real canadian story, 12 June 2002
Author: dean l from edmonton

This movie was so well acted that i cant believe they were not really drinking all nite. There are so many parts of the movie that I lived through. The camping trip was classic, from not trying to set up the tent until you are too drunk to jumping through the fire. The story had to be written by a true 80's headbanger and is a trip down hazy memory lane. This movie wont appeal to everyone, but with the success of the Osbournes there is a lot of people wanting to jump on the bangerwagon. This movie will help them learn what it takes to be a hard core banger.

---

7 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
F----- Up Beyond All Recognition, 12 August 2004
Author: davetex

Recently I got to watch two films that were shot in and around my home town of Calgary.

One film was "Open Range" and the other was "Fubar".

Both films are focused on the reactions of two close friends to the trials that life can throw at you. Both films involve a lot of walking around, talking and strange interactions with other characters in the film. Both films feature people who basically wrote, directed and starred in the movie. Both feature lots of cool alberta scenery and both are worth watching. However, while one film is a carefully crafted yet somehow lifeless product that is ultimately a chore to watch the other is a throbbing wild thing that wiggles like a fish in your hand.

The great flick here is Fubar.

I was mesmerized from the start, mostly because I knew all of the locations intimately. Then I realized, I also knew these two guys intimately. I grew up with them. We all played hockey in the living room and busted stuff. We shotgunned pilsners and we all went "camping" and did hideous amounts of damage to ourselves and those around us in the process and we only survived through sheer luck and by keeping the gas pedal floored and not looking back. Man, its bang on right.

This film captures certain of the unique qualities of being "Canadian" better than any other film that I have seen. Nothing Second City or Bob and Doug Mackenzie ever did compares to the genius that made this film. Its not the goofiness or the idiocy, its the spirit of these two bozos that wins your heart.

Bravo, I'm proud of these guys.

Giver!

---

2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
I laughed so hard I snorted my pilsener, eh?, 12 December 2003

Author: cristo111 from Toronto

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Just Give'r!

If you've ever wondered whatever became of those stoners from High School 10-15 years ago, look no further than this hilarious yet serious mockumentary.

****possible spoilers****

At the great opening sequence, which is essentially a lesson on how NOT to drive, I knew this was going to be a hilarious movie. But I was also pleasantly surprised at the ironically serious message at the heart of the movie - hedonistic escapism may be fun for a while, but ultimately everyone has to face reality, however grim it may be. This is a coming-of-age movie about a couple of guys who should have came of age years ago.

Paul Spence and David Lawrence are instantly recognizable and genuinely believable in their headbanger roles. Michael Dowse does an excellent job of balancing the humour (sometimes light, sometimes dark) with the pathos to make a funny yet touching tale of cancer.

---

3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Terrificly Uncomfortable, 11 March 2005

Author: paulkayefan from United States

Honestly the first 30 minutes of this film is fairly painful as we watch the main characters played by Dave Lawrence and Paul Spence go through their childhood, as twenty-somethings with meaningless jobs and non existent friends and six pack after six pack. Farrel, the documentary filmmaker, decides to follow these Canadian fellows and make a film on their "so-called" life. As one character discovers a health issue that turns his life upside down, the two characters (and the filmmaker) start a journey into the woods and mother nature to excise their fear. It's only at this point that the film really gets going and the director is finally able to take the saran wrap off the characters and let them emote something more than pure silliness. The production value is low but the story while simple is executed well. Look forward for the Director's next film about a deaf deejay: All Gone Pete Tong.

---

It truly is "F.U.B.A.R.," but it's also a funny mockumentary, 8 November 2009

Author: Electrified_Voltage from Guelph, Ontario, Canada

I remember it was the summer of 2002 when I first heard of this mockumentary, reading something about it in a Canadian magazine. For a while, I didn't know much about it, other than the fact that it was comedy movie produced in my country, and didn't get around to seeing it until about four years ago. I may have been reasonably impressed during my first viewing, but I'm not 100% sure. I definitely wasn't sickened by it, which some people obviously would be, but it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I've seen it twice since then, and still think it's a little weird, just like I did the first time, but with my second and third viewing, I had seen it before and knew what to expect, which made it a bit better.

Dean Murdoch and Terry Cahill are two headbangers who have been friends for a long time and live in Alberta, Canada. They love beer, heavy metal, and hockey. A documentarian named Farrel Mitchener has decided to follow them around with a camera, documenting their everyday lifestyle. Terry works at a furniture factory, assisting in delivering furniture to houses, and Dean is a wannabe rock star. The two of them are caught on camera doing what they love, which includes getting drunk and causing a ruckus late at night! Farrel also interviews family members and friends of the Alberta headbangers for his documentary. Eventually, Terry tells Farrel and the camera that his friend has testicular cancer! Dean has been keeping this a secret, but the word gets around, and he cannot ignore his condition any longer!

The first time I watched "Fubar", I expected it be more about a rock band, and didn't think it would be as weird as it turned out to be. However, after watching it three times, I certainly can't say it has never made me laugh. The two main characters are stupid but reasonably likable, and a lot of the humour comes from the stupid things they say, such as Dean thinking Merlin is a real historical figure. Drunken rampages and getting into fights (a fight with Farrel at the campsite, for example), can also really stand out. It can be hard to pick up all the jokes, which I don't think I've ever succeeded in doing. Some parts didn't impress me, such as Dean talking about putting his testicle in the microwave, but most of the film isn't that disturbing. Aside from the humour, I also like Dean's positive attitude during his treatment process. Paul Spence and David Lawrence play the starring roles convincingly, and it's not surprising that the doctor, S.C. Lim, is a real-life physician playing himself here, as his scenes look like they're from a real documentary with a doctor speaking.

Apparently, F.U.B.A.R. is an acronym meaning "F%$#ed up beyond all repair/recognition," and that's probably a fitting title for this movie. It's extremely silly, crude, juvenile, and insane, so much so that the acronym is a good way to describe it, but that's not always a bad thing. It's rated R, which obviously means adults only, and I'm sure the film would make many adults cringe as well, but for some adults, however, probably mostly male, it's pretty funny, even hilarious to some. Around the beginning, I could have easily given "Fubar" an 8/10, but the two idiots can't carry the film for 76 minutes consistently enough for that, and could have really gotten tiring if it were that much longer. Still, this mockumentary is often very funny (for certain tastes), and very Canadian. I'm still not sure if I fully get it, but when it comes to crude, juvenile comedies, you could certainly do much worse.

---

Bangers at their Best, 9 January 2002

Author: brucekea from Toronto, Ontario

I recently saw a press screening of FUBAR and was blown away. This is a very entertaining film. It's a fictional documentary but by no means a "mockumentary". There is a deep honesty in the performances and throughout the film. It speaks to the "banger" in us all. Whether you went through your phase of shot-gunning beers and sporting Megadeath t-shirts or not, one still recognizes the self destructive rebellious side we all have. And there is also a profound truth of friendship here. As well, you will simply laugh. A lot. See this film!

---

1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Awesome!, 5 July 2003
Author: mrchaos33 from Toronto, Ontario

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

You probably went to school with some of them. Or maybe when you see them on the street you cross to the other side. They are headbangers, also known affectionately as ‘bangers. You know the type, long greasy hair with heavy metal t-shirts, who can usually be seen shot-gunning beer and yelling `just giver!' at the top of their lungs. Fubar is a fabulous new uber-low budget mockumentary about two ‘bangers, Dean and Terry, who live in Calgary. Let's face it, these guys are easy targets for ridicule, but director Michael Dowse doesn't go for the easy jokes. Instead he lets us get involved with the characters and get to like them before (WARNING: spoiler ahead) dropping the bomb that Dean has testicular cancer. It is just one of the several unexpected turns that Fubar takes. This film was a favourite at last year's Sundance festival, and it's not hard to see why, it's laugh out loud funny and there is real human spirit here.

---

1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Spinal Tap meets the Blair Witch?, 24 May 2002

Author: the_marquis from Calgary, AB

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I was lucky enough to attend the Calgary opening of FUBAR with the film makers in attendance. The film is a lot of what you would expect, a couple of long hairs with mid two-digit IQ's stumble through life shot gunning beers and trying to get laid.

It opens into something much more at about the 30-minute point. Not to be too much of a spoiler, but one of the "bangers" is forced to face his own mortality, while refusing to change his lifestyle. It's wickedly funny and somewhat disturbing at the same time. Not at all the light weight throwaway film people might dismiss it for, FUBAR is a tight well produced piece of work.

By the way, I never applauded at the end of a movie until FUBAR, and there really is a town called High River just south of Calgary.

---

---

Page 1 of 4:

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Add another comment

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Ratings	Awards
External reviews	Official site	Plot keywords
Main details	Your user comments	Your vote history