Stopping World War II

Toot Toot is an angel, a goddess, more beautiful than anything in our galaxy, and galaxies beyond. Legend says if you spend enough time deep in the forest to find your inner peace you will eventually become one with the almighty Toot Toot, and then you too can put together some amazing bullsh*t and make it look easy. It takes years of dedication and practice, but one day I promise you, you too can make an entire audience of people BLOW AT THE GODDAMN SCREEN.

What a laugh. Fantastic idea that was so much fun to watch. Audience participation was a huge hit.

I am a huge Toot Toot fan, possibly even their biggest as I am one of their two Youtube subscribers. So it is hard for me to not be biased in writing this review, but I'll give it a go. I watched every single Christchurch film, and this was my favourite. The technical aspects of the film are very Toot Toot, which of course is a great thing. Many teams attempt a so bad it's good film, but Toot Toot is the only team who understand how to pull it off well, reflected in their finalist appearances the past two years. It is the use of elements which of course lifts this film into greatness, which I found especially refreshing as the rather dull elements were not used creatively by many of the teams this year. I wouldn't be surprised if you guys take out every single award for the elements. This film will make zero sense outside of the competition, but that doesn't matter, these films are not meant to be for the world, they are created to be enjoyed by the other competitors. I think anyone who competed this year will have nothing but love for this film. Can't wait to see it again at Hoyts Entx. Would love nothing more for this to get to grand finals and win the whole competition.

A woman (together with a friend/daughter) has a goal of going back in time (using her Toyota Corolla powered by energy drinks) and stopping Hitler and ultimately WWII (even though the first date she mentions is 1919). They think the time-travel hasn't worked but actually it's the audience who've been transported and need help to get back to the present. No doubt the best audience participation film produced in CHCH (and maybe the only one) which for that reason alone could see it in the city final. Deliberately lo-fi and simple in its overall set-up - basically a different person addressing the camera at the different "times" offering helpful instructions to the audience - think "Back to the Future" Ride at Movieworld. It fun, pretty clever and was a huge hit with the audience. Certainly a clever use of the elements although they do rely on the audience actually doing what they asked. So lots of love for it obviously but I think for it to win nationally we'd need to send it back to 2004/5.

if anyone else pulled this shit I’d probably grumble about ‘cinematic reality’ or some such wankery. Stopping World War II is either a 1 Star Film or a 5 Star Film (out of 5 Stars that is) for arguments sake i’m going to give it full marks because its easily the hardest i’ve laughed at any 48hours film ever. I don’t want to spoil any of this films delightful surprises (on the off chance that other teams are snooping around in the reviews) but i really hope it plays at the city final. I’d love to experience this film again with a full audience of 48hours classic teams. will it though? it feels like exactly the film the city final needs but if this film gets judged against other more sincere efforts it might come up short :( it’s very much an in joke movie. usually i’m all about films standing up outside the competition in their own right. Toot Toot’s film last year blurred this line, but this year they break it entirely. the use of requirements become the entire driving force of their film and the story feels like a total throw away thing. but shiiiit. the local humour and in jokes they play with at the start are amazing as well as the jab at the rebuild. I love it. towards the end of the film they even bring the whole thing home it’s a bit of a poignant message. side splittingly funny. and thank god Toot Toot are in the final heat. after 3 nights of short films this one was the antidote we needed.

A bold decision that I enjoyed. This film worked well for the audience it screened to, and it has made the short list, so the judges obviously didn't mind the take, I hope it gets into finals as it might inspire others to go in these sorts of directions which is fun the audience, overall well made as I have come to expect from this team

So awesome to see in the theatre. Terrific performances too. Can't wait to see it again!

A deliciously Chch-ian comedy that had me won over from the practicalities of getting to 50 in the city centre. A ton of laughs as per usual, with a clever twist on the prompts (though that did have diminishing returns for me). Maybe could have used one last killer joke to bring it home, but easy to love regardless. Well done, and fingers crossed for the nationals!

This is one of the ballsiest, silliest, funniest 48hour films I've ever seen, and I've never seen anything else like it in the competition, except maybe Toot Toot's film last year. Every moment of this film is hilarious, the team intro which I very nearly veto'd the judging process to award with the winner, the off-the cuff attitudes in which the characters at the beginning talk about time travel, the struggle to reach 50kmph (because 50 is fine, dw about 88), and then of course we travel to one of the coolest utilisations of a film and an audience I've ever seen. Last year Toot Toot blew me away with their hilarious meta commentary (I will never, EVER forget that jandals-slapping-the-puddle cutaway, or the Slamming-the-Doors joke), and this year is absolutely achieving that same standard. This is the first 48hour film I've ever seen which transcends being a film and starts being an interactive experience, which is something that was as wonderful for the audience to experience as it would have been for the filmmakers to witness while watching it in a theatre. Best use of wind, for sure. Again, any misgivings or criticisms I have of this film (and none actually come to mind) are instantly invalidated by the fact that this film achieves exactly what it's trying to do and trying to be. Long live Toot Toot! TITLE REVIEW: STOPPING WORLD WAR II is such a gripping Toot Tootian title, and I love that the film has basically nothing to do with this concept after the first scene.