The Turkey of Panem - The Starving Games - DVD

Film: It was bound to happen. After the infamous directing duo Jason Friedberg and Aaron Steltzer (Date Movie) already made fun of the popular Twilight series with Beilight - Bi(s)s zum Abendbrot, now The Tribute of Panem has to take its turn. In The Turkey of Panem, the two send young Kantmiss Evershot (Maiara Walsh) into the Starving Games hosted by evil President Snowball (Diedrich Bader). Winning here would bring her family much needed food and her much desired fame. To that end, Kantmiss then enjoys killing her opponents on camera or making out with her District 12 colleague Peter (Cody Allen Christian). But is that really enough to win these games? And why do any superheroes, sorcerer's apprentices, or country singers suddenly show up in the arena? Is their talent for archery enough for Kantmiss to make it through this mess alive?

If you've ever seen a film by Friedberg and Steltzer, you know what's on offer here. Poor acting, as many fart-, diarrhea- and full-on-the-nuts gags as possible, as well as the completely pointless placement of references to other films or various short-term pop-culture phenomena, such as Korea's hit export Psy. The fact that it's only marginally funny when bad Expendables doubles show up or Kantmiss shoots the main character from The Fantastic World of Oz with one of her arrows doesn't matter at all. Here, the sledgehammer is used to dish out what it can. True, there is a relatively large audience that finds this kind of humor funny. And such viewers can be forgiven for laughing at gags like an unimaginative Avatar parody. But objectively speaking, a film like this is simply poorly crafted and in some ways a little annoying.

Annoying because a film like The Tribute to Panem in particular could have offered potential for a much cleverer and funnier parody. In the approach that is even evident here from time to time, for example when it comes to the sponsors of the Starving Games. But whenever there's a good laugh in the chaotic action, it's immediately ruined by the next fecal joke. Jason Friedberg and Aaron Steltzer still don't seem to have understood that a good spoof comedy isn't just about showing the audience something they know and punctuating it with funny fart noises.

Since movies like The Turkey of Panem can be produced quickly and cheaply, which you can clearly see in the work of art, spoof comedies like this will unfortunately continue to exist as long as there's money to be made from them. Who could laugh heartily about Beilight - Bi(s)s zum Abendbrot or about My Wife, the Spartans and I, will surely have a lot of fun with The Turkey of Panem. But for those who find humor not only in the digestive tract, but also in the head, should give this film a wide berth. Therefore: only for real Friedberg/Steltzer fans worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: From a purely technical point of view, the film can fully convince. Image sharpness is very good, colors are pleasantly punchy, and contrasts are well matched. There is no dirt or picture noise to be discerned. The audio is in a dynamic Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, which has some decent surround effects to offer in addition to the dialogue, which is mixed to be well intelligible. Good!

Extras: The DVD has just under 15 minutes of bonus material to offer. In addition to the trailer and a brief behind-the-scenes look (approx. 4:18 min.), there is some uncommented B-roll footage (approx. 2:20 min.), outtakes (approx. 3:54 min.), and interviews with Brant Daugherty (approx. 1:54) and Ross Wyngarden (approx. 2:08 min.). Unfortunately, no subtitle options are available for any of these extras.

Conclusion: The Turkey of Panem is a typical Friedberg/Steltzer comedy that gives away much of its potential in favor of low-lying fecal jokes. This may bother lovers of classic spoof comedy and all fine minds, but fans of the infamous directing duo's films will once again get their money's worth. Who could laugh heartily about Beilight - Bi(s)s to the supper or about My wife, the Spartans and I, can get this technically well converted DVD confidently

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp