User reviews

"(T)Raumschiff Surprise" is sometimes funny, sometimes hilarious but it is also embarrassingly stupid at times. It has some new jokes but what I found shocking is that some of the jokes were "borrowed" (from Austin Powers; Loriot,...). So really you have creative ideas and funny and original jokes but in the same scene you have old or plagiarized jokes and gags that are complete misses.

I like Bully and I think he is funny, loved "Der Schuh des Manitu". There was a huge hype around this movie and when I finally saw it I was disappointed as the movie did not deliver. About a year after watching it the first time, I watched it again and I laughed about 5 times and smiled maybe another 10 times. I remember laughing quite a bit the first time I watched it but even back then I found it disappointing.

This movie is not quite as bad as the IMDb-rating (5.4) suggests but way worse than the hype around it makes you believe it is. (Most of the time my ratings for a movie are below the IMDb-average so me rating it the same as the average voter while saying it deserves a higher score is not a contradiction. Hope you can follow.)

** 5.5/10 **

A year and a half after its premiere in Germany (T)Ramschiff Surprise finally came out on DVD in Russia. I have waited for this movie to be shown down here since I read the first review on it about a year ago. Yes, it happened at last, two days ago I bought the film and this is what my commentary says: The year is 2304, a long and exhausting war between Earth and Mars is nearly over. The Martians are ready to strike the Eath the final blow than will bring the history of the humankind to its untimely end unless.. Unless we use the time machine, travel 300 years back and prevent the people's first encounter with beings from the space.With human resources on the verge of depleting two gorgeous gays are chosen to fulfil the mission (if the first 10 minutes of the movie do not make you laugh, this is definitely not your movie). The film chronicles the fabulous journey of these innocents through time and space during which everything that can go wrong, goes wrong. (T)Rauschiff Surprise is not another stupid parody, when you sit and count on your fingers: this scene is taken from the Star Wars, and that one is from Shrek, etc. etc. Herbig's movie offers you much more: the plot is complicated, the characters are interesting and the dialogues are witty. Unfortunately Herbig could not refrain from poking fun at himself and the film does have some references to his masterpiece Manitu's shoe- if you have not seen it, you won't be able to appreciate it- Santa Maria makes a short appearance and we have a glimpse of Vinnehuch (I dare say the first and so far the only gay Indian ever shown in a movie). These scenes seem to be out of place and could have been left on the cutting room floor. Anyway, it is the only problem I saw in the film. All in all, to my taste, (T)Raumschiff Surprise is awesome, light hearted, the film has everything to leave its viewers in a good mood and with warm memories that will last for a long time. The cast is brilliant: Michael Herbig is a superstar, to see Christian Tramitz playing gay was such an experience!! Til Schweiger is not known in Russia, I have never seen him before but he is a great actor! Recommended

After having read all postings and comments about the movie in this place up to now I simply want to tell that I love it! Surely the movie cannot be to everyone's taste especially not to the taste of those who run into cinema with a checklist about "will it be better than 'Schuh des Manitu'", "how many gay-jokes will be cracked", "does German comedy still exist" and so on. I myself was skeptical, too, whether Periode 1 will reach Schuh des Manitu but I was disappointed positively. Tonight I watched Periode 1 the second time and, like in Schuh des Manitu, I discovered gags I haven't perceived the first time because there are enough of it in there! Why do most of the commentators put emphasis on the gay-factor? Surely that was the original attention of "Unser Traumschiff" in Bullyparade but in the movie there surely is more! You remember "Men In Tights" (Helden in Strumpfhosen) by Mel Brooks, the Robin Hood-spoof? O.k., there was no gay-topic in it but it was very smug! Enjoy the details! The counselor of "William der Letzte", the rented spy, the taxi and so on - there's so much in it you can laugh about! Michael Bully Herbig surely accepts the inheritance of Monthy Pythons and Mel Brooks, in my eyes!

Simply enjoy it like me!

Three hundred years in the future, Mars is colonized by humans and their leader Regulator Rogul (Hans-Michael Rehberg) plans to conquer Earth. Queen Königin Metapha (Anja Kling) is advised to send the gays Captain Kork (Christian Tramitz), the Vulcannette Brigitte Spuck (Michael Herbig) and the engineer Schrotty (Rick Kavanian) from the Surprise to the past in an experimental time machine to destroy the spaceship that human discovered in Area 51 in 2004 and avoid their technological knowledge in spacecrafts. She summons the trio and the taxi driver Rock Fertig Aus (Til Schweiger) brings them to the meeting but Rogul attacks Earth. In the havoc, Kork, Spuck, Rock and Metapha travel to the past but they are hunted down by the evil Lord Jean Maul (Rick Kavanian). Now the only hope for the human race depends on the success of their mission.

"(T)Raumschiff Surprise - Periode 1" has a promising storyline, with a parody to the cults "Star Trek" and "Star Wars". However this sci-fi comedy is not my type of humor and is indicated only for very specific audiences. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "A Espaçonave das Loucas" ("The Spacecraft of the Crazy Gays")

This movie is so insanely gay! And I mean it in both sense of the word. No wonder this comedy broke the German box office with its madcap, low-brow, at times, crass humour. But it's all in good fun.

If you're looking for a plot, be reminded that a spoof-fest only has an outline of what resembles a story. The story's not award winning material to begin with, and it was never the intention of doing so.

In the future, Earth has colonized Mars, and some aliens aren't happy with it, so war is declared on the Earthlings. Somehow, Earth's last hope lies in the hands of Dreamship Surprise and its crew of merry men, led by the gayish Captain Kork, and equally feminine-like officers Mr Spuck and Schrotty. Needless to say, the crew of Dreamship Surprise is a complete spoof of Star Trek's Starship Enterprise crew, right down to the uniform, the multi-racial crew, and the technology available on board. Serious Trekkies might not take this too kindly though, to see their beloved franchise taken to "new" heights.

To save Earth from the aliens, the team has to travel back in time to prevent the discovery of alien lifeforms in Area 51. But it's made more difficult when Kork and crew are more interested in their rehearsals for an upcoming Miss Waikiki competition (don't ask). Which is crazy I tell you. If you think that the Chicken Little ad now showing in theatres is cute, you haven't seen nothing yet! Spoofing obvious movies like Star Wars - pod-racing, battleships hovering in orbit, the Jedi Council, Coruscant, Queen Amidala, Han Solo, Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, Stormtroopers, the list goes on, and Star Trek - the main leads, there are also numerous references to movies like Austin Powers (the phallic-shaped starship), Back to the Future (time travel), Minority Report and even A Knight's Tale. Spoofing and combining key characters from Star Wars and Star Trek have been attempted before in Hollywood comedies, but definitely not in the manner that Dreamship Enterprise had.

Stay tuned during the credits, where some blooper scenes are shown, and if you stay until the end of the credits, you'll be rewarded with yet another short hilarious scene.

Definitely recommended for an evening after a hard day's work.

A rather dull brew that Bully (the name says it all) has concocted here: Old jokes with a really really long beard are recycled into a wannabe original Star Trek spoof. Directing and acting are mediocre at best and most of the time just pathetic.

That the movie hides his potential homophobia behind the slogan that the grossly stereotypical gay characters are 'likable' and 'nice' is a rather cheap trick. It would have been really original if the 'gay' characters aren't gay after all, debunking the myth of the effeminate gay man. That a small part of the gay 'scene' in Germany embraces this movie as a positive portrayal of gay men on film shows nothing but their superficialness and ignorance of the normal/ordinary gay men that are definitely tired of the stereotypes pushed on them or the portrayal of gay men as a monolithic group. As another reviewer pointed out, the portrayal of 'the gay men' in the German media nowadays doesn't reflect the diversity of them at all, they are just normal men doing whatever they have to do after all. The way this movie shows anal intercourse as *the* gay sex and makes silly jokes about it is simply pointless, embarrassing and silly. Frankly, just look at the effects movies like this may have on the self-image of gay youth.

That another German low-level toilet-humour comedian, Mr. Raab, is part of the movie doesn't surprise me at all. To show this movie as a great German comedy is simply embarrassing for Germany - or it proves that the stereotypes concerning German humour are either embraced by the German media or not that wrong after all. On the other hand they maybe wanted to go for it and remake one of those silly Hollywood comedies - they shouldn't waste their money like that. When reading the news one wonders whether the huge amount of money spent on this movie may be needed elsewhere. And if you want to watch good comedies in German, go and watch some Austrian ones.

Far away in the future, a bunch of guys are waiting to be chosen as miss Haikiki. On earth, war is raging against Mars. The first ones are the only chance the second one can survive... Mixing Star Trek and Star Wars could be a good idea, and making fun of those movies can be a high point in fun...can...this movie is a total failure (except for special effects who are really good for this kind of a movie). Well, i saw this movie at 1 am at the Brussels international Fantasy Film Festival, and i should have better slept it trough. The only scene that is good enough to be seen is the car-washing scene, but the other 80 minutes, you should better leave the room. The movie was so plainly unfunny that the whole theater was falling asleep (as i couldn't, drank to much cafeine). The good thing about the movie is that it has end...well like every other movie, but in this one, it's the only unexpected thing you're waiting for... Go get a life and don't watch it...or you could watch Space Balls and have fun.

Michael "Bully" Herbig delivers another great movie adaptation of one of his stints from the comedy show "Bullyparade". The movie manages to blend screwball comedy with clever in-jokes at such a high rate that you will often miss a joke because you're still laughing from the last one. Mileage will vary of course, the more scifi you know, the more of the jokes you will get.

Unless you are some Political Correctness fanatic who'll be put off by the three queens Kork, Spuck, and Schrotty, you will be thoroughly entertained by this delightful timetravel romp.

9/10

Somehow this movie didn't manage to make me laugh ONCE. I liked the original skits in the TV series so maybe 87mins of Kork & co are just a tad too much. The best scenes are the ones you can see in the ads on TV, the rest is just plain silly and boring.

The effects are rather good showing an unusual high production standard for a German movie, but that's about all good I can say about this movie.

I can't make out what kind of humor this is supposed to be. I was looking for more than a couple of gay jokes. Go watch Jay & Silent Bob if you want to see something funny :)

I am an American, but speak German fluently due to my mother being from Germany. I recently saw the film with family friends while in Germany for Christmas. I can't tell you how hard I was laughing the whole time I watched the film. I think the film was very well put together. The dialog is funny, the little hints here and there about Der Shuh Des Manitu was also very witty.

I can see why Herr Herbig laughs at night in his sleep from all the gags. I have to say though, the best part of the whole film has to be the sound track. I throughly enjoyed the music from the film. Especially the Miss Waikiki song...that just plan cracked me up.

All in all I give this movie a 10 out of 10 for wittiness, music, fantastic special effects, good plot and well thought out story, and for being something different from American films. Yes. It was very Mel Brooksish, though, and very very funny! I'd say it's a must have for all comedy lovers (I bought my copy already!)

I don't know whether the movie "Traumschiff Surprise" was translated in English. Because it's hard to understand all the gags, if you can't speak German well (and it's nearly impossible to translate all jokes, because many jokes who are funny in Germany, doesn't make sens in the US any more). Even the title is a funny pun: TRAUMSCHIFF Leave the T and it is RAUMSCHIFF (German word for space shuttle). Leave THe word SCHIFF and it is TRAUM (German word for dream). Or the gags with these US generals at the beginning: one of the name plates says "Reisfeld". A joke with the names: Donald RumsFELD and Condoleezza RICE (because Reis is the German word for rice). OK, that's very difficult to explain if you don't understand the German language, like I said (of course you've got to know the US politics in this case, too :). In my opinion, the film was funny; but not as funny as Michael Herbig's 1st film:Der Schuh Des Manitu (Manitou's Shoe). Of course they act as a bit gay guys, but I think we live in the 21th century and in this case, some people are really behind the times. Laugh above it, it's just a movie.

Two days ago I've seen this film, and I was disappointed. His first Film was not bad, so I expected this one also to be good, which wasn't the case- Well the Special Effects were not bad (but necessary for this kind of comedy? I doubt it- a 60's SF Setup would have been better). One of the problems of this film was the time-travel plot, where the settings changed too often (it made me feel that Bully tried desperately to tie some of his sketches together instead of making a movie with a good plot). The sketches itself were OK, but, well a movie is more than a sum of sketches, it needs a plot with a climax, it needs tension building up till the end (I'm thinking about - I't a mad mad world or Peter Sellers Film's or the better National Lampoon films), gags building up over more then the lenght of one sketch etc. etc.

Some of the Sketches (especially the one with the thermometer were VERY deplaced and not funny any more), the 100st Darth Vader persilflage (well, I've seen a dozen better ones.) The medevial setup was very OK, but because of the plot it was too short, the same case was with the western setup.

So: Summary: No money lost (had it on my blockbuster card), i would give the film 4 out of 10.

German TV gets sillier every day. You must have seen it to believe. The same goes for Periode 1. It is actually a comedy show that runs once e week. Once upon a time these comedians decided to make a movie. It was called `Der Schuh des Manitu' and it became the greatest success in cinema history in Germany. I couldn't believe that. I found it not the least bit funny nor do I find the tv series funny. But both have a huge fan base. Bully, the star of the this whole travesty isn't funny either. The only thing he does, is pretending to be gay. You see this every week in his show you saw this in `Der Schuh des Manitu' and you see it now in `Periode 1'.

I don't know what is going on in peoples minds. The can laugh a thousand times about the same old joke as long as the media tells them that the jokes are good. It reminds me somewhat of Farenheit 451….

Being gay is even trendy now. Thanks to the German TV. They realised to construct e extremely positive stereotype about gays. You see gay dozens of times every day in lots of shows, films and commercials etc. And they do always follow the same stereotype. For example a gay man is always sympathetic, he knows much about fashion, he is the man who understands women, he behaves a little bit over the top in every aspect. But he is always very, very sympathetic. I do not have something against gays but I have something against this stereotype. Here in Germany there are two kinds of gay reactions to the film. The superficial ones that loves the movie because they are shown as most positive, sympathetic and nice guys and who are even influenced in their behaviour by the stereotype shown in the media. And the others, more sophisticated ones, how know that they are all thrown into one an the same pot. They know that gays are individual as every other person on this planet and not only a one dimensional stereotype or a trendy appearance that will be replaced in the future from some other appearances.

After `Der Schuh des Manitu' German people were allowed to vote for a sequel. For example one could vote for another western or a star trek like sequel etc. As you see the star trek parody has won. And so it came to the slogan that this is the first democratically voted movie in history. But most of the movie plays in medieval times. Bully (the main actor and director) said in an interview that he always wanted to make a medieval movie. That said you can mention for yourselves how democratic this movie is. But that doesn't matter because `Periode 1' is on its way to be even more successful than its predecessor.

There are certainly other dim-witted personalities in this movie that are very popular and that every child knows in Germany. For example the not-so-funny Stefan Raab. He made one of the most stupid songs for this movie that will be a number one smash-hit before long.

All these factors: the beloved stereotype, the democracy, the stars and the music in combination with the commercials that you are confronted with all day through and last but not least the pride of the Germans to have created an Hollywood-like movie with special effects and gay slapstick jokes that do not have hide behind American comedies make this movie look like the greatest achievement in cinema history but if you lift the veil a little bit you see that it is only an empty husk of a movie, a wanna-be Hollywood flick and unfunny as hell. The same jokes repeat throughout the whole movie. It is so boring and even worse it is a `positive-gay-propaganda'. Sounds kinda funny but it isn't. Tanks for reading. (2/10)

To start off, the film's producer Michael Herbig asked Germany to vote on his next film after "Der Schuh des Manitu" and the people chose (T)Raumschiff Surprise to be its topic.

Five minutes after film start you know whether you are going to like it or not. Frankly, I'm slightly getting sick of this "you-must-laugh"-humour that has still not reached its climax in Germany. In his first big feature movie "Der Schuh des Manitu" the cool charm was underlined by a "super-gay"-Indian (sorry, Native American) but in this flick we got an all gay spaceship (which only appears VERY rarely). It's not the fact that they are gay which bothers me, it's rather the fact that as the audience you are left with no choice than either laugh about it or leave the theater. I chose to give it a chance but I was more and more disappointed, particularly after about 20min when everything that the title stands for gets totally lost. The movie appears like it doesn't know where it's going and the more it tries to get further, the more it gets stuck with cheap jokes which have no class at all.

To be honest, I hate writing this because I had such big expectations of this movie that it annoys me how disappointed I was. The special FX shots are really cool, the music is state of the art, make up is nice, story got probably written on the dunny and the actors try their best (they really do)... Unfortunately that just doesn't make a good movie! And there has been another Spaceballs already, for humanity's sake! If you keep that in mind while watching "(T)Raumschiff Surprise" it's only devastating... And i seriously wouldn't be surprised if gay people rampage on this one! What a pity!

Do you know the show this is based on? Well I mean the German tv show Bullyparade - but of course it would also help if you knew the Science Fiction shows and movies this is based on too - actually spoofs would be a better description. Apart from that I was actually surprised to see Til Schweiger in this ... actually not just to see him, but to see him "work" - no pun intended.

Jokes are hit and miss (again with the puns), but you can tell they love the things this is based on. You may take offense because this mixes Star Trek and Star Wars lores and tropes ... but it is not meant to offend. The innuendo throughout the movie on the other hand ... not sure how this will be taken. A fun movie that those familiar with what this means, will be able to enjoy a lot more than others ... also comedy ... can you lower your expectations and just laugh at almost anything? It would help immensely.

Maybe my expectations were too high (and whose wouldn't be after 'Schuh des Manitu'?), but I came out of this movie a bit disappointed. Many of the gags didn't connect. The gay-jokes weren't new if you have seen the 'Bullyparade' on a regular basis, and there were too many trailers out that already showed many of the good scenes.

The only really funny part were the take-outs at the end. Maybe Bully should shoot a movie, throw it away, and just give us 90 minutes of take-outs...that would be excruciatingly funny.

There are some things that work, though. The movie starts you off laughing with a totally misplaced music score, and ends you laughing with the take-outs. In between, it gets a bit thin. The CG are surprisingly good. The dogfight was both funny and exciting. And some of the actors know how to do their thing (Sky duMont and Christoph Maria Herbst as the King and his adviser being most notable. Bully and his gang were only average). The many allusions to other SciFi movies made me smile a couple of times - but I guess this was lost on the average Bully-audience.

In conclusion: Not a waste of money, but not something I would rent to see again on DVD. Go see it once.

6/10

I didn't like this movie and I haven't watched it fully. I do not need gay movies, no thanks. "Why do most of the commentators put emphasis on the gay-factor?" Because most of the commentators aren't gays and find gays disgusting and not acceptable, that's obvious ;). Comparing it with BORAT I think BORAT is much better. I wouldn't recommend to watch this movie.

I didn't like this movie and I haven't watched it fully. I do not need gay movies, no thanks. "Why do most of the commentators put emphasis on the gay-factor?" Because most of the commentators aren't gays and find gays disgusting and not acceptable, that's obvious ;). Comparing it with BORAT I think BORAT is much better. I wouldn't recommend to watch this movie.

German comedy based upon a German sketch show bit about the Starship Surprise and its gay crew. Think gay Trek Think funny, in a very wrong sort of way. Yes, I know Germany and comedy don't go together, but this movie actually works, and when you aren't laughing you find yourself curious enough to want to know how its all going to come out. Looking infinitely better than George Lucas's last three Star Wars films and made for a fraction of the budget this is a scifi spoof that plays like a twisted version of Spaceballs but where the jokes are not so scatter-shot and are tied to the plot. The plot has to do with the evil Martian Empire coming to take over or destroy earth depending on whether or not we want to surrender. The only hope is the crew of the Starship Surprise which the leaders of earth want to send back in time to prevent the events at Roswell New Mexico 300 years before. The crew isn't interested since they'd rather prepare for the Miss Waikiki Contest. Eventually they do go back but the time machine doesn't quite work right and we end up with knights and armor and western spoofs as well. If you're a Trek fan its worth seeing. If you're a Star Wars fan its worth seeing and the same goes for all scifi junkies. Yes its dumb, but its funny which is all that matters. If you can get your hands on this movie give it a shot, its definitely worth a bucket of popcorn and a soda.

This movie was somehow slipped into the lineup at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. It was one of the few late 11 pm showings and the other late showings were all good so I took this one in. They took what might be a funny 4 minute television comedy sketch and stretched it out into a hour and a half long feature film.

The special effects scenes are one of the few redeeming values of this movie. Actually the movie had a good look to it in the fact that it seemed like they spent some money on it's overall production but my question was why? Why would anyone go to the bother of making this movie and for who? Out of about 400 people in the theater I heard maybe 2-3 laughing out out loud which made me wonder if the they were shills paid by the filmmakers to encourage the audience to laugh. When it was over I thought to myself, was that the worst movie I've ever seen? Well, admittedly I did smile at a few scenes and the old Star Wars-style effects looked good and just for making me think that it may have been the worst movie I ever saw made me give them some credit.

Yeah, so, I'm not German (though I do speak it)...

The humour is not inherently German (i.e. there is some!), but it is funny. Very, very funny. Bully started with "Der Schuh des Manitu", and that was a poor German ape of Blazing Saddles... but this is different. For a start the special effects make you wonder how Star Wars I-III managed to spend their significantly larger budget. They're good. There's something almost British about the comedic understatement and dead-pan delivery. A knowledge of colloquial German is useful though.

The "icon" of the movie, the gay trio of Kirk (Kork), Spock (Spuck) and the other one (it isn't clear which Star Trek character he's meant to be), is the weakest point of the flick, but fortunately it is a minor intrusion. There is plenty of wit, spoofing and entertainment besides. Til Schweiger is excellent - a German Bruce Willis, maybe? Perhaps, as an Auslander, I find this movie more endearing than I should, but I highly recommend it.

Mopsgeschwindigkeit!

The film has many good ideas, but sadly most of them had been used elsewhere before, e.g. time travel to the middle ages, sci-fi devices with ridiculous labelling, etc. In other words, although the film is fairly enjoyable on its own, it is a little too noticeably made to order.

Part of the cliche-pile is a completely useless romance; these were once compulsory in German cinematic comedies (up to the 1970s anyway) and you would think film makers would have liberated themselves by now from this constraint. The best asset of the film is the camp humour, but even on this level there is a snag: it is insufficiently explained why our heroes are so fond of the Miss Waikiki competition...

I saw the movie and it was great! I couldn't stop laughing. The whole room (over 300 people) couldn't stop laughing. This movie is awesome funny. Everybody who liked the jokes of "Manitou's shou" will LOVE (T)Raumschiff Surprise!

I can't agree with antialias11, because I can't understand how somebody can't laugh all the time through this movie. I think Bully, Tramitz, and Rick were great. The jokes on other Sci-Fi-Movies were great - all jokes were great.

Bully did a great job again. Let's hope he'll do another movie :D