Strange Wilderness (2008)

0% of critics liked it
(44 reviews)
35% of users liked it
(108,506 ratings)

A pair of animal enthusiasts desperate to boost the ratings of their failing television series "Strange Wilderness" set out for the Andes in search of the elusive Bigfoot in this comedy directed by Fred Wolf and starring Justin Long, Steve Zahn, Kevin Heffernan, and Ernest Borgnine. Peter Gaulke… More A pair of animal enthusiasts desperate to boost the ratings of their failing television series "Strange Wilderness" set out for the Andes in search of the elusive Bigfoot in this comedy directed by Fred Wolf and starring Justin Long, Steve Zahn, Kevin Heffernan, and Ernest Borgnine. Peter Gaulke (Zahn) and Fred Wolf (Allen Covert) are the energetic hosts of "Strange Wilderness" -- television's most unconventional nature show. When the ratings take a nosedive and they are confronted with cancellation, Peter finds himself resorting to desperate measures in order to stay on the air. Perhaps if the "Strange Wilderness" crew could somehow track down the most elusive creature ever to stalk the woodlands, they could keep their show on the air and go down in history as the adventurers who solved one of nature's greatest mysteries. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 25 min.
Directed By: Fred Wolf
Written By: Peter Gaulke, Fred Wolf
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Feb 1, 2008 Wide
On DVD: May 20, 2008
Studio: Paramount Classics

Critic Reviews

Aaron Hillis, Village Voice
No snob to low-brow ridiculousness when it's actually unexpected, I'll admit to being amused exactly once.
Philip Marchand, Toronto Star
This movie is designed for an audience that likes gross-out humour and endless silliness.
Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times
Despite the presence of funny guys such as Zahn, Garlin, Justin Long and Jonah Hill, along with veteran character actors Ernest Borgnine, Joe Don Baker and Robert Patrick, the movie fails to be even passably funny.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
There are stupid stoner comedies and then there are stupid stoner comedies that ain't funny, and the latest effluvium from Adam Sandler's Happy Madison production company is mostly a bummer.
Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Times
Underachieving even by the standards of stoner comedies, Strange Wilderness is so inert that it doesn't so much unreel on screen as loiter there, giggling at its own outrageousness.
Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter
Laughter is definitely an endangered species where Strange Wilderness is concerned.
Dave White, Movies.com
Hatefully stupid and unfunny.
Nick Rogers, Suite101.com
Any resemblance to comedy is purely coincidental and unintentional. The only reason to chuckle is to prove you haven't died while watching it. Its credits should be handed to a mercenary. It's not a film. It's the Zeroes' worst pop-culture excretion.
Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel, 3BlackChicks Review
What's strange is that this movie even got made.
Brian Webster, Apollo Guide
Extras on the disc include a painfully lifeless Reel Comedy episode on the film.
Brian Webster, Apollo Guide
It's just plain lazy (or incompetent or both) filmmaking from start to finish.
Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures
While not as funny as the other Happy-Madison stoner comedy Grandma's Boy, Strange Wilderness has a perverse charm that oozes out of the film when watched at home.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
The movie starts out unfunny and gets unfunnier as it goes along. (Blu-ray Edition)
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
After watching Strange Wilderness, you may want to soak your feet in a tub of live piranhas, just for laughs. You'll find it a lot more fun than anything in this movie.
Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile
What can you say about a film when its most memorable scene is the one in which Steve Zahn's private parts get caught up in a turkey's throat?
Austin Kennedy, Sin Magazine
I would say 20% of the jokes work and the rest fell flat!
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
Players like Hill, Long, and Zahn have natural comedic ability, but there's honestly not much they can do with such weak material.
Ryan Cracknell, Movie Views
A few cute gags aside, this is an exercise in stupidity aimed at those who find 15 different names for a bong to be funny.
Daniel Etherington, Film4
Really not very funny. Unless you're a moronic frat boy who's been smoking a lot of wacky backy, in which case it's probably hilarious.
Ken McIntyre, Total Film
Strange Wilderness is a never-ending bundle of self-consciously raunchy skits aimed at under-achieving slackers who are too high to notice how desperately pathetic it all is.

Read all 23 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Manu G

They could solve the world's biggest mystery, if only they had a clue. Entertaining movie which was dumb most of the times but was funny too at times and made me laugh. It depends on your sense of humor if you'll enjoy this movie or be a waste of time for you, watch at own… More
They could solve the world's biggest mystery, if only they had a clue. Entertaining movie which was dumb most of the times but was funny too at times and made me laugh. It depends on your sense of humor if you'll enjoy this movie or be a waste of time for you, watch at own risk and if you do watch it don't take it so seriously. When his father dies, Peter Gaulke inherits "Strange Wilderness," dad's TV show about animals. After ratings plummet and the show is canceled, we watch a long flashback to see its demise. The studio head gives the show two more weeks. An old friend brings a story about Bigfoot in Ecuador, so a long road trip ensues with stops along the way and enough problems, misjudgments, and deaths to sink a less intrepid band. Peter's team faces competition from a better-funded and more practiced set of rivals. Who will find Bigfoot first, and will they get it on tape and save the show? Can Peter make dad proud?
Albert K

Wow... this was so boring
Jeff "

Strange Wilderness for me is a harmless comedy. Sure the film is definitely not a classic, but it did make me laugh. People take the film seriously, and thats why they pan it. The can't appreciate something comical. This film is much better than most comedies out there. Strange… More
Strange Wilderness for me is a harmless comedy. Sure the film is definitely not a classic, but it did make me laugh. People take the film seriously, and thats why they pan it. The can't appreciate something comical. This film is much better than most comedies out there. Strange Wilderness is a much better fil that Semi Pro for example or Land Of The Lost. Sure the film could have been better, but compared to most Happy Madison failures (Paul Blart, Deuce Bigalow, etc) this is a good film. This film is not great, but it's good. Strange Wilderness is the type of film that you watch when you have nothing else better to do. The low brow type of humour may not appeal to many, as I came to notice by all the negative reviews. However Strange Wilderness is a film for people who have a vulgar and twisted sense of humour (thats why I like it, cause thats my sense of humour) Now I'm not saying that this is as good as The Hangover, far from it, but this film has some really funny moments. This is by far along with Grandma's Boy one of the better Happy Madison productions. May not win any oscars or be remembered as a great comedy in the years to come, but for what it is; it will make you laugh if you have a twisted sense of humour. One of the weaker aspects of the film is Joe Don Baker, I can't stand him, he is by far one of the worst actors I have ever seen. He basically plays the same character in every he does, and he ruins it. They totally missed the mark in doing so. Again, Strange Wilderness is not for everyone, but if you like harmless fun, then this film is for you.
KJ P

It's extremely satisfyingly funny! But the plot unravels more than any movie i've ever seen!
Coxxie M

this is a piece of crap, but mildly entertaining on a saturday withnothing to do rented it with my free rental and watched on a big widescreen t.v. crap.
Dean M

Follows the demented crew of a nature show as they tramp through the jungle in search of Bigfoot, writer Fred Wolf's directorial debut reaches for "stupidly funny", but gets mostly plain stupid. The Sandman-approved regulars prowl for laughs, doing their darnedest to… More
Follows the demented crew of a nature show as they tramp through the jungle in search of Bigfoot, writer Fred Wolf's directorial debut reaches for "stupidly funny", but gets mostly plain stupid. The Sandman-approved regulars prowl for laughs, doing their darnedest to make daft scenarios - like a very intimate turkey attack - funny, but it seems that the joke well has run dry. There are some amusing bits, but expect your loungerroom to be filled less with laughter and more the sound of chirping crickets.
Emily A

This movie was amusing, but had some very big problems. One of which was a script that seemed a little half-assed. Despite really funny performances from all the actors (especially Steve Zahn, for whom I have a soft spot), the story really seems like it was written in an afternoon.… More
This movie was amusing, but had some very big problems. One of which was a script that seemed a little half-assed. Despite really funny performances from all the actors (especially Steve Zahn, for whom I have a soft spot), the story really seems like it was written in an afternoon. Despite this there are genuinely funny moments. It's just too bad that they all take place in the first ten minutes of the film.
Luke B

A great comedic cast are given a rather mediocre script and just about salvage enough enjoyment for the duration of the film. Mostly jokes fall flat and no chemistry is built up between the crew. Most of the actors are out of their comfortable group of friends. Heffernan without… More
A great comedic cast are given a rather mediocre script and just about salvage enough enjoyment for the duration of the film. Mostly jokes fall flat and no chemistry is built up between the crew. Most of the actors are out of their comfortable group of friends. Heffernan without Broken Lizard, Hill without the Apatow crew, Covert without Sandler. Sure they all do rather well separately but the group just never feels like the bunch of friends a road trip movie should be about. The film also goes straight for disgusting when trying to achieve the big laughs resulting in mostly nervous laughter. A turkey/penis "gag" goes on for a horrifically enjoyable amount of time and Robert Patricks "scar" will have me never looking at him the same way again. It's at its best when dealing with the wildlife footage with ridiculous voice overs and at least it doesn't resort to some pathetic romantic sub-plot.
Lenny M

Suuuuuuuuuuucked. So redundant and the stupidity isn't even funny.
Douglas W C

Only made it through half an hour of this crap.
Steve K

I figured that with this collection of comedians that the film had to be at least somewhat funny, but the fun they apparently had on set didn't translate to the screen at all. The outtakes in the Special Features were the funniest thing involved. Blah.
Lorenzo v

Wow. That wasn't funny at all. 'Strange Wilderness' is a Happy Madison production about a TV wildlife host whose TV show Strange Wilderness is dropping in the ratings. In order to save the TV show, he and his crew decides to go to South America and track down the… More
Wow. That wasn't funny at all. 'Strange Wilderness' is a Happy Madison production about a TV wildlife host whose TV show Strange Wilderness is dropping in the ratings. In order to save the TV show, he and his crew decides to go to South America and track down the mythical Bigfoot. Steve Zahn plays the show host Pete Gaulke and Allen Covert plays his bestfriend/soundman Nick Wolf. Other cast members include Jonah Hill, Justin Long, Ashley Scott and Happy Madison regular Peter Dante. Okay first off, I just want to flat out say that a turkey shoved down your holiest of holies is NOT funny. I don't know who came up with that idea but rest assured it is not funny. Not even a chuckle. The jokes mostly consists of toilet humor, green jokes, racism jokes and sharp blunt cussing. They think swearing for no apparent reason is funny. I pity them. This is by far the worst film I've seen with Adam Sandler's name attached to it and I have seen the equally horrendous "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry". Steve Zahn tries to be funny but the script and his dialogs is restricting him to do so. Happy Madison regulars Allen Covert and Peter Dante weren't funny either. "Grandma's Boy" sure had a bad script but the jokes were at least funny and the actors were stand-outs. But in Strange Wilderness, every last bit of it is downright horrendous. The jokes, the script, the actors, every scenario is either unbelievable, far fetched or just plain sick. The one scene that managed to make its way to the top of this rubble is the shark with the funny teeth but it wasn't really a laugh out loud moment. Happy Madison better get back on track or they'll be the one who gets shut down. .5/5
Nani V

This movie was pretty lame. The only funny person was Justin Long. Jonah Hill shouldn't have gone with that accent. The tan dude was annoying with his lines. They weren't funny AT ALL!
Matt P

Nearly everything about this movie is incredibly unlikeable. From the utterly disgusting "humor" to a completely incompetent story, this movie is a dog.
Stephen E

Stupid even by stoner standards. But I love that scene where Peter asks Cooker if he's wearing a thong. It's so funny.
Deb S

Strange Wilderness is an awful film in reality. The plot is thinner than a microscopic germ and the acting is atrocious but there was some funny and sometimes hilarious parts.
Philip P

Possibly the most pointless movie I have ever seen. But very funny at times-The concept of puttign ridiculous commentary to these old wildlife shows seems fun, but is not enough for a full-length feature. Justin Long and Jonah are great together, but they need to stick with Apatow… More
Possibly the most pointless movie I have ever seen. But very funny at times-The concept of puttign ridiculous commentary to these old wildlife shows seems fun, but is not enough for a full-length feature. Justin Long and Jonah are great together, but they need to stick with Apatow and the Frat Pack gang and not let themselves wander into Adam Sandler land. Its two different kinds of comedy and I have no Idea what the point of Farva being in this movie was-he should also keep with his Broken Lizard posse-if these guys are gonna try and incorporate each other at least have a really funny movie-not a stoner comedy with a few good laughs here and there. Wasnt at all what i had hoped for, but was kinda what i knew it would be-the laughing shark will never get old though.
Jon O

The cast is misused and the story is abysmal. But there are a few laughs to be had. Probably a lot more if you're high.
William G

Even for Happy Madison, exceedingly slapdash and not very funny.
Stephen E

Stupid even by stoner standards. But I love that scene where Peter asks Cooker if he's wearing a thong. It's so funny.