First time I saw this movie, I thought it was the dumbest thing I’d ever seen. It took a second viewing to really start to appreciate how great of a film it truly is. After about 10 viewings, I find it one of the most entertaining and sincere movies I’ve ever watched. Not quite a masterpiece. But definitely genius.
It almost always takes TWO TIMES. I have personally tested this with at LEAST 15 people. First time, you have expectations of it being your typical movie. The second time, when you KNOW nothing you expect, like a plot is going to happen, and you just watch the characters, you fall in love and are quoting everything and laughing hysterically by the end. Only one of the 15 laughed on the first try.
My experience exactly! My younger guitar students saw the humor that I missed and when they quoted some of the dialog I had to laugh...Then, watched it again. Now it's one of the funniest films I've ever watched. I 'get it' now!
Same here, me and my mom both didn't get it. I watched it again without her and I was like, "this movie is actually great?" And she was in disbelief, for I was the one who complained the most about it after the first viewing by far.
In my experience, the one thing I have noticed most about the popularity of this movie is that the people who were most like Don, Summer and Randy at school really don't find the film funny at all.
@@jimthecactus7425 I thank Jesus for realizing I was Don. Once I met Jesus my senior year of high school, I realized my Don-ness and realized that I needed to change into a humble dude.
A guy at my school made homage to this movie and recreated Napoleon's dance scene for the holiday talent show 2 days ago. I felt kinda bad for him bc no one really understood what he was referencing, or that he was referencing anything, except for a very select few of us. I think a lot of people just thought he genuinely sucked.. not me bro I got you 👍 he was the best act
@@buttercupcoffee5972 yeah I'ma get on his insta that made my day lol but I was also kinda high and out of it, which made it even more amazing to watch lmao. I'ma tell him
I think the reason I love Napoleon Dynamite so much is because it actually felt like a teen experience! Hollywood has this idea of glamorizing high school with each teen movie they have, with sex, cliques, and an awkward teen that somehow becomes “Beautiful” with a makeover. Napoleon felt more real to me, with an awkward teen that was happy the way he was, who was a moron but a good friend, and there was no sudden change of him turning into a “cool” person. He stayed the same.
Gotta say it aged well. I loved it back then and I still love this movie. After it came another one of my favorites, Nacho Libre came out, which borrows comedy tropes from Napoleon Dynamite.
In Nacho Libre, I love Jack Black SO much in movies! And the song where I think I am a real religious man is great & touching! I love the scene where he dies the flying eagle and sees the nun cheering for him! Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre are really fun and good movies!
@@jacksmith9729 Not the Dallas burbs, exclusively. Seventeen years ago in the Ft. Worth burbs my friend. Texas hadn't been Californisized yet and there were less than half the people there are now.
Johnny Guzman ah ok I was thinking Fort Worth actually since I think most people in North Dallas suburbs always pretty much thought of themselves as extensions of Dallas more so than separate, small town. Double is nothing btw, Frisco (for example) is 6x what it was 20 years ago , it’s nuts
What town? I too grew up in a small town in North Tx. Went to High School in Bryson Tx in the 80s and these characters were pretty much exactly what it was like then. I loved the movie because it brought back great and funny memories of those school days. I still live in the town I was born in back in 1970 (Graham Tx.)
Napoleon Dynomite was released in 2004, why don't you compare it to the Charlie's angels movie released in 2003. that one had a domestic box office of 100 million.
I find it funny that despite the movie taking place in the early 2000s, everything had a 80s feel. Like time hasn’t caught up in this small town. Napoleon’s house used VHS cassettes even though DVDs were commonplace by then. Deb’s and Napoleon’s outfits for the school dance were very 80s. The computer Kip used for online dating was so outdated, even in the 2000s. The photo set that Deb has is very 80s, especially the background colors. Uncle Rico’s outfit throughout the movie is very 80s although that might be because he wants to hold on to the 80s, a time where he was at his football peak and could’ve gone pro.
I think it seemed more 90’s ish, but I will say, I think they purposely had the movie feel like it takes place in any decade from 1970 to 2005 because, while it did actually take place in the early 2000s, most people in areas like that aren’t wealthy enough to always be buying the newest version of everything. As someone who grew up in the 2000s in rural Minnesota, I can confirm this movie is actually accurate, though, it was more like it in my earlier memories, not when I was in high school, but that’s just me being 22 and not 30.
It's not the town, it's just the family and that girl he liked. Notice how the rest of the people in the movie were dressed for the current period. And as for Pedro, it would be because back then, foreigners would somehow only be exposed to older stuff from American culture.
Having grown up in a small town, I can say small towns are like that. We always joked our town was 10 years in the past. One of the interesting aspects of Napoleon Dynamite is that you can't quite tell when the movie is taking place...sometimes it feels like it's in the present time (even now), sometimes it feels like it's in the mid to late 80's, other times in the early 2000's when it was made. It's an interesting aspect of the film.
What Napoleon Dynamite has that Juno or Little Miss Sunshine don't have is a powerfully strong connection between the characters and the setting on the part of the people who wrote, produced and directed the film. The others are much more Hollywood-type films, small-scale and well-done though they may be.
@eaglerising88 I was just thinking of the film the other day, for some reason. Wondering about Jon Heder's career and the careers of all those people, actually. In a way, how do you follow that film up?
eaglerising88 And I absolutely hated Juno and liked Little Miss Sunshine. Napoleon is the perfect balance because it’s pure. The video mentioned Wes Anderson and Tod Solondz, two other directors who are extreme examples of “you either love them or hate them”. The Hesses just got so much right.
Too bad you're that uninformed. It's basically an autobiography by Jared Hess. Most of what you see in the film is based on things that he or his brothers said or did. How much more "connection" do you want? The kid working at the chicken farm wearing the "Kanab" tee shirt is his kid brother. He's the basis for Napoleon's voice. He was also the one who called home wanting a ride from school because he "didn't feel very good." The action figure trailing behind the bus on a string? They did that. Etc, etc. That's why the movie is so bizarre. LIFE is bizarre, especially when you grow up with goofy brothers. When I was a kid we used electrical tape and a stick (for a cigar) to turn my 3 year old brother into Groucho Marx. You must have had a boring, humorless childhood.
My students chose this movie as a class reward. I'd never heard of it. It took me a bit to realize that it was actually *supposed* to be funny, and then I set aside the stack of papers I was supposed to be grading and just had a great time.
I never really noticed that it didn't have a plot until I got older and started writing. It never affected my experience. It has always been an amazing movie.
@Nathan Branson The prom, Pedro running for president, Kip and Rico being salesmen, etc. They're more like beats that follow each other than plots, really, and there's plenty more beats in the movie for sure. I guess the president thing is kinda the centerpiece for the movie, but it's not introduced until like the 2nd half. It definitely doesn't need a “plot” to be entertaining, though.
I feel bad for people who say "I don't get it". I'm not even being condescending. It's like a color blind person not "getting" colors. It's just sad they miss the entertainment and humor.
@@gogetavsvegito I do think there is a debate to be had that its having fun at the demographics expense, I cant tell if jared hess was making a love letter to his hometown or making fun of it because he escaped.
I always saw the heavy Wes Anderson influence in this film, particularly the style of framing and flat affect dialogue. But for some reason I saw millenials going for Dynamite and didn't really connect with Rushmore.
I personally think Napoleon Dynamite is one of the most accurate representations of high school. There is the prom and running for class president, but other than that, it is just people getting through the day.
One of my favourite details is that the 'snobby rich girl' is a casheir at the discount store. It reminds us that even the 'cool' kids are insecure, and that we don't know what truly goes on in their lives.
I moved to Japan when this movie had become so successful. I showed it to my Japanese girlfriend and she loved it so much. In Japan it was titled “Bus Man” to elude to a popular movie at the time in Japan titled “Train Man.” I was amazed at how well she connected with the movie even though she had never been to America.
There is another reason that it was titled "Bus man" in Japan, and that is Napoleon exudes all the stereotypical charcteristics of Otaku, you might say that Napoleon is an American Otaku.
Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre are the two most underrated movies imo. Maybe not underrated, but under appreciated. I can watch those movies over and over and they seem to have just some sort of charm to them.
The fact that this movie didn't rely on profanity or dirty jokes for its comedy really gives it the edge on similar films. It really does make it accessible to everyone.
By 2009, Hollywood gave up on those movies... I moved to LA and said I liked that movie, to real Hollywood Producers and they just say that guy is too emotionally disturbed and his film genre is not repeatable, and he just got lucky. I think Nacho Libre lost what Dynamite made or something.
Hollywood is now either really clean or really dirty. The atmosphere is on either two extreme. Nd and other movies like it use real scenery to convey reality. And nothing is more entertaining than reality
Comedy was already dying in cinemas by late 2000's and moving to the internet. You could get all the relatable comedy you could eat there, so of course Hollywood doubled down on blockbusters, reboots and eventually comic book movies.
Napoleon Dynamite is authentic. The people who make it big in Hollywood have nothing but contempt and hostility for the "flyover state" denizens portrayed in Napoleon Dynamite. They're not capable of producing authentic art.
Most of us from the 80s knew a guy like Napoleon that is why this was so funny. In the 80s tetherball was popular and a game called 4 square. I laughed because of the realism.
in my school we played 4 square but we used 9 squares. 4 people in each corner, we used the squares between us to bounce the ball and we threw it as fast as we could and if the guy receiving couldn't catch it then he's out
Is it in Preston too? I haven't been in that area really, because I live around Idaho Falls, but it's still cool how close it all is. Literally nothing cool happens in Idaho haha
Spam McBot It isn’t our milk companies, it’s under the Australian and New Zealand Food Safety Legislation. There is list of chemicals that cannot be used in food. This includes bleach. Not even our white bread uses bleach. Australia has a strict import policy on food products, so getting bleached milk is hard to find. It’s why Devondale milk is the main seller in AUS, despite the cheaper costs of milk from places like China. I know you didn’t ask, but trying to make a point. Don’t be arrogant when you don’t know the facts lol
I left my home state of Idaho at 14, moving from a town of 6,000 people to the east coast. For me, Napolean Dynamite is a sweet recollection of what it was like to live in rural Idaho in the late sixties.
I think that it’s a great representation of what some of the smaller towns in America *feel* like. It has an aesthetic to it that is pretty unique and isn’t (and arguably couldn’t be) captured by bigger films/studios.
I was a Napoleon Dynamite impersonator and you wouldn't believe the reactions I'd get at festivals and conventions. It really was the "anti" teen movie
@@SirDieALot666 in 2007 I danced on stage at schoolies festival and people lost their minds. I'd walk around at our local comic con and other conventions, people asking for photos every 30 seconds. I'd be in character of course. It's super easy cosplay for how effective it is.
Grew up in Afghanistan and then in the DC area, but somehow Napoleon Dynamite feels like home. Like a safe place I can return to every time I watch it. So nostalgic!
I am in my late 50s and last year I flew halfway around the world to visit Preston. I am not ashamed to say I cried with joy being there and visiting the sites.
I grew up in rural Canada in the 80's and 90's and this film captures that setting so accurately, even the lack of a plot because if you didn't have a car you often felt bored and had nothing to do. a true classic, one of my favorite films.
This movie did have a plot, but you get so invested in the characters that you don't care what the story is. The characters in this movie are so quotable and relatable, that when the movie ends, you just want it to keep going.
This movie is easily one of the best I’ve ever seen. The subtle yet unique music. The organic line delivery. The fluid blend of comedy into the nearly every scene in the movie. All made it extremely iconic and memorable.
@@gogetavsvegito my fishes aunts grandma's uncles dogs owners boyfriends mistress' cousins babysitters mom's stepsisters mom watched a micheal bay movie
I remember watching it for the first time at my aunt's house, i was bored, had nothing to do, changing channels and then suddenly i stopped at the moment where Napoleon was doing jump on bmx. That was certainly best stop in my life.
Napoleon Dynamite is you and your friends laughing about an inside joke, and Little Miss Sunshine & Juno are your parents coming in with cookies and juice, trying to get in on the fun.
I had just finished my freshman year of high school when it came out. Even though I live in a non-rural area (an hour away from New York City) I still found it appealing even then, since I was a weird, nerdy, barely expressive kid dealing with various mundane stuff.
My mom and I quote this movie to this day when talking about everyday things. It’s one that we both didn’t see until after it was released on DVD and we both cried from laughter when we first saw it. I’ve also been told my Napoleon impression is pretty freakin’ sweet
This was a brilliant movie, and Jon Heder was absolutely perfect in the role. I really don't think anyone else could have pulled it off to such a degree.
Even after all these years, it’s still one of my favorite films. I DID know kids like these. And given that I had an eclectic group of friends, they were my friends. It’s Truly a perfect movie. Not one thing I’d change. Not one thing that isn’t laugh out loud or cringe funny, endearing, or strangely beautiful. It’s gone on to become a true American classic and rightly so ❤️ and the dance scene is still EVERYTHING 💃🏻
This will always be my favorite movie. I think I’ve watched it 100 times. I know every scene by heart, and can do decent impressions of Pedro, uncle Rico, Napoleon, and kip. This movie is definitely a timeless masterpiece
great video, although you can't really compare Napoleon Dynamite to Juno or Little Miss Sunshine because the latter two had somewhat already established actors.
The best movies are done with personal emotion. He wasn't making a movie - he was making a story about his childhood. Just like music; the more personal it is the more real it feels to us
Napoleon Dynamite is one of a kind. There will never be another movie like it, no matter how hard people try. It’s really a love letter to small town America by people who lived there. 🤩👍🏻
I know it was very popular at the time it was released but I think people seriously underrate how influential this movie is from a cultural standpoint. I mean, this movie basically popularized the individualized humor gags now featured in literally billions of memes across the internet in the modern time. It pioneered this type of humor before social media as we know it became accessible to the average person as well.
Napoleon Dynamite is up there on one of my favorite movies of all time. I watched it at least... LEAST 3 times a year. and I just randomly plays it as background noise. it resonates with me despite the fact that I don't live in Middle America. There is something timeless about the character and comedy that it transcends the Middle America stereotype.
It's supposed to take place in rural Idaho, which isn't much different from Eastern Washington--basically the same place. I lived in small town in Eastern WA and Napoleon Dynamite basically gives me PTSD. It's genius. Not because the movie is so great. But because it perfectly captures this painful boredom that permeates everything. For every character in that movie--Napoleon, his brother, the sensei, Pedro, Uncle Rico, the old farmers . . . . I've got a one-to-one correlation for each of these characters to real life people that I knew. Oh . . . . so two old farmers shoot a cow dead in front of a school bus (movie), let me tell you about the time that a farmer shot a pig in the head with a shot gun in a pen next to our school bus stop just as we were getting off the bus. Uncle Rico, you say? I know about 10 of those guys. The Sensei? Oh yeah. I mean . . . . yeah . . . . .just . . . yeah. It's absolutely crazy just how on the head this movie is.
I love watching this movie. It's one of the few indie films that can be memorable even without a plot. I have a vote for pedro mug that I love. I remember when the movie came out in 2004, it felt like that movie represented what it was like at that time. Especially for teens in small towns
I originally thought Napoleon Dynamite was set in the late 70's around the time I graduated from High School. Napoleon's 3-piece suit reminded me of the one I wore in my senior picture in 77. Uncle Rico's van is a 75 model Dodge Tradesman and Kip's shorts and dark socks are a spot-on match of my Dads vacation wardrobe. The movie refreshes those rarely thought of, yet curiously embarrassing memories of my youth.
Once I went to a "bad taste" party dressed as Napoleon Dynamite and my buddy (RIP) literally rolled on the floor laughing when I showed up and did the signature run like 5:43. I will never forget that day and his laugh.
Seeing this film for the first time was one of my favorite theater experiences ever. Mainly because my and my friends' expectations were really low. Back then going to the movies every Friday night was just what teenagers did, and Napoleon Dynamite was one of those "There's nothing good out that we haven't already seen, so let's see what this is." People say "ROFL" but have never literally rolled on the floor with laughter, but my friends and I did that night.
2:56 even though I'm a woman Napoleon standing next to Pedro reminds me of myself being a teen living in Southern California. My best friends were usually Mexican and I'm tall and kind of awkward lol
Napoleon Dynamite is one of those rare movies that get funnier with each consecutive viewing. First time I saw it I didn't like it, by the 10th viewing I was dying of a laughter induced stroke.
