- Super Troopers
Infobox Film | name = Super Troopers
caption =
director =Jay Chandrasekhar
producer = Richard Johnson III
writer =Jay Chandrasekhar
Kevin HeffernanSteve Lemme Paul Soter
Erik Stolhanske
starring =Jay Chandrasekhar
Kevin HeffernanSteve Lemme Paul Soter
Erik Stolhanske Brian Cox
music = .38 Special, The Unband
cinematography = Joaquín Baca-Asay
editing =Jay Chandrasekhar Jacob CraycroftKevin Heffernan
distributor =Fox Searchlight
released =2001
runtime = 103 minutes
language = English
budget = $3,000,000
preceded_by =
followed_by = Super Troopers 2
imdb_id = 0247745"Super Troopers", (also known as "Broken Lizard's Super Troopers") is a
2001 comedy film written by and starring theBroken Lizard comedy group (Jay Chandrasekhar , Kevin Heffernan,Steve Lemme ,Paul Soter andErik Stolhanske ).Marisa Coughlan ,Daniel von Bargen andBrian Cox co-star whileLynda Carter has a cameo appearance. The movie was directed by Jay Chandrasekhar. In total,Fox Searchlight paid $3.25 million for distribution rights of this movie [http://www.popmatters.com/film/reviews/s/super-troopers.shtml] ; this movie made $18.5 million at the box office.Plot
The plot centers on five Vermont state troopers who seem to have more of a knack for pranks than actual police work. Most of their time is spent devising new ways of messing with the heads of the people they pull over, hazing the new recruit, "Rabbit", and tormenting their easily infuriated radio dispatcher, Farva, who has been exiled from patrol work because he, as later revealed during the credits, was involved in a fight with several students on a traffic stop of a schoolbus. Their days of pranking and slacking off are cut short when the troopers suddenly find themselves attempting to solve a
murder , bust a drug-smuggling ring, and avoid having their post eliminated by the state's impending budget cut — resulting in their transfer, or quitting and "opening up a roller disco."The troopers have an ongoing rivalry with the local police department in Spurbury and constantly have fights with them ("highway cops versus the local cops"); one such dispute breaks out into an all-out fistfight, further increasing the station's chances of being shut down. The rivalry eventually results in the governor's (
Lynda Carter ) praise for the efforts of the Spurbury PD, who had managed to keep one step ahead of the state police by making their department appear responsible for the confiscation of the smuggled drugs.Defeated, the defrocked troopers unexpectedly stumble upon the local police running protection for the drug smugglers. The film's
epilogue finds the state troopers' highway post still eliminated due to the budget cuts; however, they are the new local police officers (replacing their presumably incarcerated corrupt predecessors) and thus continue their hijinks in and around their jurisdiction.The Troopers
*Arcot "Thorny" Ramathorn (
Jay Chandrasekhar ) is a veteran of the Vermont State Troopers who is more or less the second in command in his station. Although he is the most serious of the field officers in his station, he has no inhibitions against bending the rules and playing pranks if he knows they will not result in any serious repercussions. He has a son as well as a hippie girlfriend who owns ahead shop . Both he and his girlfriend sleep with other people including a couple the troopers arrested. His ethnicity remains a point of confusion and humor for the others who confuse him for aMexican ,Arab-American and anAfrican-American rather than theIndian-American that he is.
*Jeff Foster (Paul Soter ) is arguably the calmest and most reserved trooper of the force. He engages in a relationship with Spurbury local police officer Ursula during the movie and, with help from her, ultimately uncovers the corruption of the local police. He is often mocked by his coworkers for his inability to grow a moustache.
*MacIntyre "Mac" Womack (Steve Lemme ) is the trooper who enjoys pranks the most. He is called a "“sick mother fucker”" by Captain O'Hagen for the level to which he takes his tricks. Mac is the proud owner of a costume that looks like a man having sex with a bear. Mac is also the most expressive of the troopers, whether verbally ridiculing Farva for his lame tricks or nearly taking out his anger for the closing of his station through violence against Foster.
*Robert "Rabbit" Roto (Erik Stolhanske ) is the newest addition to the force. He is partnered with Ramathorn until he is caught speeding in a car confiscated from two suspects as stolen property and demoted to dispatch, although he is soon promoted back. He is often accused by Farva of knowing more about drugs than he should and is accused of having toured with theGrateful Dead when he was younger.
*Rodney "Rod" Farva (Kevin Heffernan) is fat, loud, obnoxious and arrogant. He is almost always under suspension from field work due to his inability to control his anger. His pranks (shenanigans) are often described as “cruel and tragic” rather than “cheeky and fun” making them not simply “shenanigans”, but “evil shenanigans”. He advocates the naming of his patrol car with Ramathorn as “Car RamRod.”
*Captain John O'Hagen (Brian Cox ) is the captain of his Vermont State Trooper barracks. He acts as a mentor and father to his troopers and tries his best to keep the station from being cut from the budget. He is a two-time boxing champion in theNavy and is derided by Farva for his choice in dress as wearing a “Canadian Tuxedo” — an outfit made completely fromdenim . Brian Cox is also the only actor to play a Trooper who is not a member of Broken Lizard.Filming
"Local Cop" scenes were mainly filmed in the City of Beacon, and the "Highway Cop" scenes were filmed on
New York State Route 117 and theTaconic State Parkway both inWestchester County, New York in the towns of Ossining and Briarcliff Manor Fact|date=November 2007, withRockefeller State Park Preserve , which runs parallel, used as well. The syrup chugging scene was filmed in M's Cozy Corner located in Fishkill, NY which has since closed and been replaced by a pharmacy. The pharmacy closed in 2007 due to flooding. [cite web |url=http://wduv.com/common/movies/notes/28259-1-full.html |title= Movie Production Notes: Super Troopers |accessdate= 2007-03-30] . The opening scene involving the white Mazda Miata was shot at a pub called the Golden Rail in Newburgh, NY. The bar is located right offNew York State Route 32 (North Plank Road) and is not far from theNewburgh-Beacon Bridge and the cities of Fishkill and Beacon - where other scenes were also shot for the film.Critical reception
The film has received mixed reviews from critics, greeted warmly by some and scalded by others. Aggregate review website
Rotten Tomatoes scores only 36% [ [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/super_troopers/ Super Troopers] , "Rotten Tomatoes.com". AccessedApril 9 ,2008 .] positive reviews whileMetacritic , another aggregate review website, gives it a metascore of 48 out of 100, [ [http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/supertroopers?q=super%20troopers Super Troopers] , "Metacritic.com". AccessedApril 9 ,2008 .] which, according to the website's rating system, scores as "Mixed or average reviews". Film criticRoger Ebert awarded the film 2½ stars out of 4 saying "I can't quite recommend it--it's too patched together--but I almost can; it's the kind of movie that makes you want to like it" [Ebert, Roger. [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20020215/REVIEWS/202150308/1023 Super Troopers] , "Chicago Sun-Times ",February 15 ,2002 . AccessedApril 9 ,2008 .] .Prequel
At the 2006 Comic-Con Convention in
San Diego, California , comedy troupeBroken Lizard revealed that aprequel for the film is in the works. It will take place in the 1970s and will follow the fathers of the main characters in the original film. [cite web |url=http://www.moviehole.net/news/20060724_news_from_comic_con_super_troo.html |title=News from Comic Con: Super Troopers 2 is on! |accessdate=2007-03-30]References
External links
*imdb title|id=0247745|title=Super Troopers
* [http://www.aeonity.com/ab/soundboards/movies/super-troopers.php Super Troopers Movie Soundboard]
*rotten-tomatoes|id=super_troopers|title=Super Troopers
*mojo title|id=supertroopers|title=Super Troopers
* [http://www.myspace.com/therealbrokenlizard Broken Lizard Official MySpace Page]
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