Napoleon ten years later…. “It puts the lotion on the skin or else it gets the hose again.” Yak! “That’s right, Tina. It gets the hose again.” “Yes it does.” “Just put the frickin’ lotion on the skin then put it back in the basket! GOSH!”
I never thought about how squeaky clean this movie was... it doesn't feel like a Disney movie or something you'd want to show to kids, but you have to think hard to realize there is no swearing, violence or anything overtly sexual.
Jon Gries is also vegetarian. The steak eating scenes, he would spit the meat out before swallowing. When he couldn't use cuts in the scenes, he would spit it into napkins like he was wiping his mouth.
I walked into flight deck control aboard USS Iwo Jima. This was on the TV. I watched for a few minutes and asked aloud, "Just what is this supposed to be?" One of my petty officers said, "Senior, just imagine you're a 15 year old boy. Enjoy." I've enjoyed the movie many times since. Thank you, Petty Officer McDonald.
I have a germaphobe and I HATE FLIES!!! So, after watching the movie, I'll never forget that scene where they're eating eggs outside that have a lot of flies landing on it.
In 2016 I went on this crazy road trip with some girl I met through skateboarding. We drove from Iowa to Seattle, then down to San Francisco, making many stops to skate along the way. On the way back home we drove up through southern Idaho and decided to stop in Preston. Of course we had to see Napoleon's house. It was funny. We got some photos and signed the guestbook. My friend took a leak in the grassy ditch on the side of the road. That spot is visible in the cow shooting scene. After that we went to a few more locations and finally Pedro's house. The woman who lived there was outside and welcomed us to town. She took photos of us on our phones and told us how some neighborhood kids had recreated the bike jump scene two weeks prior. The best part is that woman was wearing a "vote for Pedro" shirt. I'm pretty sure there's a news clip on here about that town and the movie and she's in it. Photos are on my Instagram (mike_hellstrom) for proof. My sisters always joked that the movie was secretly about me because I had hair like Napoleon and always said things like "gosh" and "fine". The first time we saw the movie was in a hotel in New York City on Christmas day 2004 (or 2005, I forget which). I still remember my sisters cracking up when Napoleon first spoke during the opening bus scene. Years later I later found a very Napoleonesque photo of me in the DVD case for the movie. Wonderful. Anyway, your video is great. I'm definitely more of a horror movie guy nowadays but _Napoleon Dynamite_ still brings back a lot of sweet memories.
First of all, your road trip sounds epic. And the fact that the lady was wearing a Vote for Pedro t-shirt blows my mind. So cool. Thank you for sharing this. It put a smile on my face. And thanks for watching as well 😎
I disagree. I've noticed that people who DON'T like the small town they are from and decide that crazy metro areas are better are generally just bad people and/or they have a hivemind mentality which basically means they will cave to whatever the people in these big metro areas believe even if they don't truly believe it themselves. Birds of the same feather flock together. There is a lot more crime in metro areas. And they are cramped and expensive. Why anyone would want to live in such an environment boggles my mind.
What boggles my mind is people that are to stuck in there little town world and scared to leave there comfort zone thats sad. I grew up in a town like that it blows everyone knows everyone business. There's a whole world out there to see people just waste there life in the same place forever. Small minds small town bottom line.
One of my cousins died when I was 17 and it devastated my dad to a point where he hardly left his bed for a while. I didn't know what to do as I had never felt such a profound loss before, let alone witness my dad like that. I showed him Napoleon Dynamite thinking "well, I laughed, maybe he will laugh...there's nothing really offensive in it...If nothing else it'll be distracting." He laughed his ass off, and while the grief ebbs and flows through the years, he still quotes it daily. I wish the people who made this modest "little project" knew how much they helped me and my family throughout that time; all the effort they went through to make it is the reason I was able to cheer my dad up.
No, it does the opposite. It makes it worse, it becomes less realistic. In real life, people swear all the time, if no one ever swears, that doesn’t accurately reflect reality.
@@elijahfordsidioticvarietys8770 Actually, it depends on the cultural norms and where you live, if you live in a town that has more Christian values/religion, people swear less.
Kids like Elijah think they’re so deep commentating like the joker, go to his profile this kid in HS looking like a younger nerdy Adam DeVine from Workaholics. This generation never got checked in the comments like 2008-2012 RU-vid comments.
It's annoying when I see other films/shows use too many curse words as a filler. It's not funny and it doesn't add anything to the story or scene. Napoleon Dynamite shows you can make a movie on a low budget with clean humor and still find an audience for it. Such a great film. The story behind it is so inspiring!
I agree. It's actually a challenge to make a film without one these days. I'm guilty of it in some of my films as well. It doesn't bug me but it also doesn't add much. Okay maybe sometimes it does 😄
Agreed!!! I’m not bothered by natural amounts of cussing you’d hear in real life, but it annoys me when it’s so lazily done. This movie really is a perfect example of how to pull it off.
Swear words are only bad to those who give meaning to them. I don't see them as bad words, so they have no impact on my psyche. Morality is subjective, as well as language.
Being from the Midwest myself, specifically Iowa, I love how the film is just about the life of Napoleon and those around him. It just begins, things happen and it ends. Essentially it’s like everyday life. It’s truly an amazing film and one I love to this day.
Jared, I am also from Iowa and love this movie. I was a middle school teacher when this movie came out. I used to show my students bits of this movie right before dismissal. Love it.
Back when this movie came out I was in sales for a huge poster distributor. I was good at finding and making contact with people coming to our city. I located Aaron Ruell's manager somehow and to my surprise a few days later my phone beeped thru and my coworker said "You have Kip on line 1" lol I just about died. I maintained composure and asked if for about 100 bucks he'd autograph some movie posters. He said sure and told us where we would meet. A day later he calls back and said "My buddy Efren who played Pedro in the film is here too if you'd like his autograph also". I was beside myself. We went and met them at the hotel. They were super nice. Aaron was quiet and Efren was a flirt. I ended up getting some work bonus for the whole thing. I wish Jon had been there. Either way, good memories.
I met a guy who went to Preston High School, in Preston, Idaho (where the movie was filmed). He said the auditorium in the movie (during the class president speeches & performances) was filled by kids who actually went to Preston High. Sure enough, when I watched the movie again, I saw that kid clear as day sitting in the crowd. I believe I heard that Jared Hess grew up in Preston as well.
Yeah it did. I should’ve mentioned it. I remember letting the music from the dvd menu play like 20 times in a row before playing the movie. Definitely a crucial part of the film.
I first watched this movie in middle school. Our orchestra teacher would play it on days we had no assignments. I remember a lot of the other kids didn't really get the humor, but I found it really funny, and I still do to this day.
This month, while in a log cabin in the north woods with no internet, i finally watched it with my preteen kids and they can’t get enough of it. We’ve already watched it like affinity times.
My long term partner grew up in Preston. I lived there for a month and they definitely had Vote for Pedro shirts on display. Surprisingly, in a Mormon town, they had a coffee shop. It was really good too.
This film shows what good writing can achieve. Too bad Hollywood thinks a substandard script with big names is enough. For example look at the latest GeorgeClooney and Julia Robert’s film, TICKET TO PARADISE. What junk filmmaking and the budget was no doubt a 100 times that of Napoleon Dynamite
The name Napoleon Dynamite was an alter-ego moniker made up by musician Elvis Costello in the 1980’s. Anyway, loved the movie and your video, good stuff!
I bought this DVD because I was told by so many people I needed to see the movie. I watched it I didn't get it. Uncle Rico was funny I liked that character. A few months later a friend of mine came to visit from out of town and we got talking about it. So I decided to watch it again with him and we laughed our butts off. It could have been all the beer, but the second time I saw it I picked up on the a day in the life humor. I also think it's hilarious that Macks mom from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is in the movie as grandma. She is so funny. "Make a dang case-a-dealy-ya!" Also Pedro's sister, who is uncredited, played in Next Friday with Ice Cube. She was the sister of the cholos who lived across the street from Day Day.
Oh nice! I didn't know Pedro's sister was from Next Friday. It's funny, I've heard other people say that Napoleon Dynamite grew on them over time as well, as opposed to right off the bat.
When I first watched this movie, I thought it was the biggest waste of time I ever spent. But I just had to watch it again. And again, and again. Great movie!
It’s such a rare thing when all the parts come together how they do in this movie, from the credits to the brilliant characters it is a totally relatable masterpiece in my opinion
Everyone in this movie was perfectly cast. Everyone played their roles beautifully. I couldn't imagine any character being played by any other actor. This is one of those movies that went over my head the first time I watched it. It wasn't until I was non-stop quoting it around everyone that I started to realize how gosh dang funny it was. I watched it again and loved every second of it.
Great movie. I remember very well when it came out and my friends and I loved it--for its quirkiness. Lots of comments about it being clean, which I also appreciate very much. Too bad J. Hess didn't stay with that strategy, as we will notice in his movies like Gentlemen Broncos. In that movie much of the Napoleon Dynamite innocence is missing. Case in point: the antagonist's pension for altering character names into those that allude to a specific body part. Hess also wove several "adult" themes into the story. Looks like he chucked the clean humor strategy.
Over there in that creek bed, I found a couple of Shoshoni Arrow heads. Lyle had me crying! I Still have no idea what the heck that movie was about, but it was interesting.
I know a ton of folks saw the movie almost every day in its run at our indie theatre. I bought it so I can watch it anytime I like forever! Mad respect to all!
Everyone who wasn't one of the super cool kids growing up could relate to this movie. Everyone was really good and there were so many good laughs that it would be hard not to like it.
Elvis Costello used the name Napoleon Dynamite as an alias on one of his albums many years before the movie came out. I think it might have been to get around some contractual issues. Maybe that's where the guy on the street got the name from.
What Hollywood don’t understand is low budget film doesn’t mean suck… and if you you take too much control over the film will make it suck.. if you allow the film crew to do what they want.. it could be a success Friday and napoleon dynamite is a perfect example for this.
So true. Too many interfering studio peeps these days. Just let the artist do what they have to do. That’s how we get original gems like Friday and Napoleon Dynamite.
When this movie came out I refused to see it bc people wouldn’t shut up about it, it was everywhere, people quoted it incessantly etc just like it says in this video. I have a real kneejerk reaction to things I feel are being shoved in my face all the time. Didn’t actually see it until about I want to say three years ago, and now it’s in my top couple movies of all time.
I was in thos movie. Message me if you have questions, but I was an extra. I had conversations with almost all of the cast and used to have one of the vote for summer posters they put on the lockers. Anyway, my 5 minutes of fame I guess.
Yeah I liked the part where she was a cashier at King's. There used to be King's stores in lots of towns in Idaho, but they're all gone now. I used to ride my bike to downtown Caldwell and buy candy and stuff at King's.
I live about 10 minutes from Mahomet, IL currently. Grew up in an even smaller town though in Vermilion County. My Original hometown hasn't ever passed 1600 in population. Not even considered a town, it's a village. Napoleon Dynamite always feels like home in so many ways.
It's nice to hear someone who actually knows of Mahomet, IL at all. I remember my dad teaching me how to drive a stick shift and we drove through Vermillion county while doing so. Thanks for sharing. Will always love Napoleon Dynamite and the setting it takes place in.
