I'd never heard about this movie. The only reason I TiVoed it was because tvmagicguide.com told me that Ricky Jay was in it. And up until one scene, I was totally buying it as a serious documentary that was insanely funny.
My question is: what scene made you realize that the movie was a mockumentary? For me, it was when the sonar operator strips down to her bikini.
Sonar operator with the bikini was a definite "tell", but I suspected something when Werner was telling the Production Director he wanted to film "the urchin in the sellar", THAT moment had me wondering.
That and switching the motors in the boat.
And the expedition "jumpsuits"
FUdge YOU KAGE AND FUdge YOU JABLES
I'LL GET YOU TENACIOUS D!!
I figured it out when they played the circus music over the closing credits. I said to my girlfriend "oh, you mean it was supposed to be a cartoon?" For some reason she started to cry.
shareLike you're sig, AuntieV. What's it from?
Formerly rose-lisa
President of the new imdb Danny Phantom fanclub
Same thing with me- I recorded it thinking it was a straight doc.
My inclanation that it was not real (or all real) grew with each scene that the producer was in after the first couple. I just thought, you know, this guy has a level of duechebagginess that is unbelievable (example- the interviews on the exercie bike).
However, I've seen enough documentaries about ubelievably weird, crazy, or eccentric people to not be completely convinced that the guy was acting.
My girlfriend and I were both shocked and confused by not knowing what if any of it was true. It was fun.
But it was the mechanical monster diagram that really sealed it for me. The diagram was so bad, but the camera crew's shot was too good. The way they followed him down the hallway to find their secret meeting was in a room with a cracked door, providing the camera mirror shot with the horrible diagram perfectly angled into the mirror and at the camera. Too perfect to be not set up.
By the time the "sonar expert" and the misspelled jumpsuits came around, more and more of the dialog was noticible as planned jokes.
I am very glad I watched this. It was a very interesting and unique film. I'm not the type to get all pissy because I was tricked for a while. I respect that. They were very effective at accomplishing what they were going for and making the points I think they wanted make.
I also enjoyed being tricked. I'm an amateur magician, after all.
As others have said, it was Herzog's performance that sold the illusion for so long. He's very good at playing himself.
The diagram part was exactly where I called *beep* and realized it was all staged. The door being left open a crack where the camera crew could see and then as you said the composition of the shot with the mirror. Too good to be random
Once I came to the realization, it was just fun to be in on the joke while the others watching kept thinking it was real.
Talking? During Horsehead bookends?
The minute Zak Penn had to deliver a line. The guy can't act, so when he had to it was painfully obvious. He's just so unnatural.
The jumpsuits, though... that's what drove me to IMDB....
haha, yeah I just saw this on television this week and I thought it was an actual documentary at first. I kept thinking it too, until they saw the thing moving in the water; was too good of a shot to be true, i began asking myself if it the documentary was real or not, but i was still on the fence. It led me on for a while, but when the ship got hit by "a large object", that really sealed it for me. clever mockumentary
shareWOW WOW WOW.
I just finished watching this with my dad and I had to run upstairs to my computer right away!
At the beginning, I thought it was real.
It seemed straight and serious.
It started getting a little silly, but I still wasn't convinced it was all fake.
Even when the girl was there in the bikini, I was trying to defend it.
"Maybe Zak just hired her to make the movie more entertaining!"
But then when Nessie started appearing, and he pulled the gun on Werner,
I KNEW it was fake.
My dad and I were screaming at the TV!
It was so good and I loved this thing.
What a great great movie!
I even thought these people were fake, but they're all real!
Very smart and very funny! Lovesit.
The first scene that didn't ring true was early on when the Producer and the Dir of Photog were arguing about filming the recreations. The whole scene didn't feel right and up until then it was all believable. That scene could have been cut as it had nothing to do with anything.
The second time it didn't ring true was when the Producer brought out the jumpsuits. It was so Spinal Tapish, so Steve Zissou. However, it was funny when everyone showed up at the boat wearing them.
I had inklings when we first meet the Zoologist. He meets Herzog in the restaurant and then asks about the other camera crew filminf him. It was horrible acting and unbelieveable. The jumpsuits were my second clue, though I thought maybe this producer is just a dingle berry.
As soon as the Sonar Operator came on board I knew it. There was NO WAY this thing is real. Then it just got more and more preposterous as it went on. And unfunny. It's a like a bad episode of The Office. It was kind of interesting watching this documentary; then when it became painfully obvious that it was fake, I actually got mad that it was fake - it became a waste of time.
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MoviePatron.com
yeah it was when the girl stripped down to her bikini and zak penn was talking to her like a douchbag. i was shocked and really felt like a trick was played on me.
shareWhen we first see the "monster" I was like OMG! I saw it! But then the 2nd encounter we just get way too many looks at it. If it was real this would have been world-wide news. Plus, the more I thought about it, some of the footage just looked too "perfect." Plus the over-acting by the sound guy who was just too obsessed about hearing other sounds. Actually maybe it was the girl in the bikini. I mean, come on!
sharealso, werner herzog was just so convincing as himself!
he's just a talented man!
For me it was the title sequence for starters....that body floating in the loch ness was not realistic enough to be the title sequence for a documentary, in other words the sequence looked too glossy. Moreover, when jeff goldblum appeared and tried to convince us with his performance that it was a serious documentary, I just could not take it seriously after that :). However, having said that, its still a rather fascinating mockumentary with the charismatic Herzog stealing every scene he is in i.e. 98% of the film. Plus you can never go wrong with Ricky Jay.
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