Just a few years into South Park’s run, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone tried to leverage the show’s success by making a puppet action movie, and the result was 2004’s Team America: World Police, which is still a one-of-a-kind movie experience. And, finally, after two decades, it’s finally getting a release on 4K Blu-ray on June 25, and you can preorder it now at Amazon, Walmart, and Target.
Team America is about a group of black ops soldiers who handle impossible, world-saving missions that nobody else can hope to pull off–the movie is parodying that common action trope through the lens of 9/11 and ensuing wars in the Middle East. Though, honestly, the film is probably best remembered now for the still-amazing puppet sex scene, which includes several bits of depravity you don’t normally get to see in a theatrically released movie.
Preorder Team America: World Police 20th Anniversary Limited Edition
$20-$26
Team America is an R-rated puppet action movie made in the style of the old TV show Thunderbirds, but with the same sort of outlandish and irreverent sense of humor that made South Park so popular. It’s aged very poorly in some significant ways–for better and worse, this is a 2004 movie through and through. But Team America is also a very specific portrait of the George W. Bush era of American politics, and that’s an interesting thing to revisit in a lot of different ways.
As usual for Blu-rays, prices vary at each retailer at the moment. Walmart has the lowest price at $20, while Target is at $24.49, and Amazon is taking preorders for $26. Prices will likely level out in the coming weeks, and Amazon’s preorder price guarantee ensures you will pay the lowest price from the time you order and release.
This release of Team America: World Police comes with a 4K Blu-ray, standard 1080p Blu-ray, and digital edition. Since this is an anniversary edition, it naturally comes with a bunch of special features, which we’ve outlined below.
Team America: World Police 20th Anniversary Edition Special Features
- Team America: An Introduction
- Building the World
- Crafting the Puppets
- Pulling the Strings
- Miniature Pyrotechnics
- Capturing the Action
- Up Close with Kim Jong-il
- Puppet Test
- Dressing Room Test
- Animated storyboards
- Deleted/Extended scenes and outtakes
- Theatrical trailers
Team America isn’t the only thing from Trey Parker and Matt Stone getting the 4K upgrade this summer–South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut is also being released on 4K Blu-ray on June 25. That makes that a pretty big day for Gen Xers and older millennials. You can preorder the South Park movie on 4K for the same prices at the same retailers: Amazon, Walmart, and Target.