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217 of 260 found the following review helpful:
 An Extremely Un-PC Political Comedy--"Borat" Turns Itself Into The Year's Most Controversial FilmNov 13, 2006
By K. Harris
"Film aficionado"
I guess I am shocked at how divisive this film seems to be--it's apparently another in the camp of "love it" or "hate it." I was familiar with Sasha Baron Cohen and the Borat character from HBO's "Da Ali G Show". While I was amused by this reprehensible, yet surprisingly innocent "Kazahstanian," I was skeptical about a full fledged big screen treatment. Turning a comedy skit into a feature movie is a "iffy" proposition, at best. Take a look at almost every Saturday Night Live adaptation for corroboration. I'd have to say, then, that I was pleasantly surprised--Borat is a winner.
Part scripted, partly hidden camera improv, partly "Jackass" tomfoolery--you're never quite sure what is to be believed in "Borat". Some may feel that this limits the film's effectiveness as commentary, but I feel this enhances it's comedic appeal. For there is such unbridled outrageousness to be had in "Borat," it's hard not to be caught up in the spirit. I probably laughed more consistently within the framework of this spare 83 minute film than I have all year. Some of it is dumb humor, to be sure--some of it was shock value or disbelief.
But a large part of the humor comes from real life. By playing the moronic, offensive imbecile--Cohen, and thus Borat, expose a cavalier prejudice, hypocrisy, and/or intolerance that exists within American culture. Whether it's buying a gun to kill Jews, viewing women as sex objects to be violated, or supporting the genocide of our enemies--Borat always finds willing subjects to engage, people who in one way or another identify with these barbaric ideas.
It's tempting to dismiss Borat as offensive nonsense, I know many have already stated that opinion. It might also be tempting for others to embrace "Borat" as one of the more unapologetic and politically relevant films in quite some time. But I don't think it is attempting anything quite so significant--and that, in truth, may be it's greatest success. It walks the line unlike any other film in recent memory. It has elicited much love from fans and major critics and much hatred from it's detractors. This power to provoke such passion, such debate--be it feelings, emotions, thoughts, ideas--that is the film's crowning achievement. This crazy little film is not only one of the year's funniest films, it has also become one of the year's most talked about. Who can argue with that? KGHarris, 11/06.
27 of 35 found the following review helpful:
 DVD packaging.... INGENIOUSMar 07, 2007
By Danna L. Gutman
Ok, I haven't even played this DVD yet. I saw the film twice in the theaters, and I think enough has been said about it on here...
***May contain spoilers***
But let me say that when I got my Borat DVD in the mail today (how I love Amazon deliveries the day DVDs are available - and with super saver shipping no less) I was a little confused. I opened the package, and found a DVD covered by your usual sleeve promoting its highlights like any other you might buy in the US. Then, I eagerly slipped the plastic-covered DVD out of the sleeve, turned it over to read the back, started reading and wait... what? or rather, CHTO? because the entire DVD cover is in Russian.
Now, I read Russian. And I have purchased pirated DVDs for $2 at Moscow metro stations because that is pretty much what you do when you're in Russia. So the fact that I examined this DVD case for a good 5 minutes, opened it to find what looks like a DVD-R disc with "Borat" labeled in permanent marker and seriously considered the possibility that somehow a pirated DVD had been sent by Amazon... finally, of course, I realized that the whole thing was a joke. Possibly even funnier to me than any single joke in the film. The giveaway was the single slip of paper inside promoting more films you can buy from the US and A that are legal in kazakhstan...
Anyway. Now all I have to do is go to Russia and purchase an ACTUAL pirated version to compare!
The DVD should be purchased for the uncanny packaging alone, but I guess I have ruined the surprise...
15 of 19 found the following review helpful:
Surplus material makes for most glorious DVDMar 06, 2007
By Flipper Campbell
The "Borat" party continues on DVD, with cool-stupid menus and lots of howlers in the "Surplus Material" section (that's extra features to most of us). A 20-minute video about the Borat character's U.S. promo tour -- "Global Vistings and Television Shows for Purposes of Propaganda of Documentary" -- takes us to Cannes, with the infamous florescent thong incident that freaked out photo editors worldwide. From the Riviera, it's on to the talk-show circuit with appearances on Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno. Borat to Conan: "Your pubis, is it red? May I harvest it?" On Leno, Borat is ready for love as he mistakes Martha Stewart's bed-making demonstration for an invitation to sex. Stewart plays along, sort of.
There's also a mock late-night TV music ad, with Borat singing to kids about their miseries and then covering "Born to Be Wild" from the stupid van. In the "Censored Footages" section of 8 clips, check out Borat's visit to an incredulous doctor -- "That means you had sex with your sister? ... No high 5" -- and a "Baywatch" spoof, "Sexy Drown Watch," with plenty of flab on display -- and another thong.
It all adds up to a bonus half-hour with Borat, most of it as good as anything in the movie.
6 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Don't worry, it's not a bootleg...high fiveMar 11, 2007
By Juliana M. Willis
"Cynical Humorist"
My husband wants to buy the dvd after we just watched it twice this weekend from netflix, but when he took it out of the sleeve, to his shock the disk looks like a bootleg dvd with the name "BORAT" written in a sharpie--this was the intention of the distributers for added shock value/humor. It is a legitimate dvd.
The film is quite funny and sometimes embarrassing to watch...sometimes utterly excrutiating, but I was screaming with laughter througout the whole film. Sacha Baron Cohen is so great as Borat, and never loses his energy when faced with sometimes dangerous Americans and the ballsy extremes he goes for a laugh. Most of the people he encounterd were good sports, and the ones who weren't--you just can't help but feel a little perturbed by. I can go through life not seeing this movie again, but my husband really loved it...we're probably going to end up buying it.
13 of 17 found the following review helpful:
 Socratic IronyMar 13, 2007
By Sky
The public reaction to Borat speaks volumes about the very small amount of the US population that either doesn't have HBO or simply has never tuned into HBO's Da Ali G Show. Sacha Baron Cohen certainly didn't break new ground with the Borat character in the full-length feature film Borat. Indeed, the Borat character was a regular part of the Ali G show first popularized in the UK in 2000 and introduced to US viewers via HBO in 2004.
So technically, all the hub-bub on the one side of the fence about Borat being a "racist" character or a misrepresentation of the Kazakhstan people is about 7 years late. And the suggestion on the other side of the fence that Borat is the funniest movie or character to come along in years is way overrated.
The Borat character is funny. But what is funnier is watching the reaction to the character by the people that he is duping. Similarly, Cohen's Ali G character (a stereotypical hip-hop, British ghetto banger TV host) and the Bruno character (a stereotypical gay mannerismed TV host) have the same modus operandi....
....And that modus operandi is Socratic irony. The characters deliberately feign ignorance in order to expose weakness in another's position. The result: most of the time hilarity. Whether it's Borat, Ali G or Bruno, the laughs are less to each character's behavior and more to the reaction of the person being duped and the commitment that people have to being politically correct so as not to question the ridiculous opinions and questions that Cohen's characters come up with. Cohen's characters' naive stupidity make his victims look equally stupid...Socratic irony. (The only victim that I ever saw that had enough intelligence to walk out of the situation without any regard to whether or not he was offending the Cohen character was Donald Trump.)
Comparitively, if what we're really after here are public reactions to pranks and gags, you can get it all for free on YouTube. Cohen just has a better knack for executing his gags on VIPs. Therefore, to make a full length movie that developed the Borat character was a bit overkill for me. A movie that was similar to Da Ali G Show that mixed up the characters a bit would have kept the gags a bit more fresh.
So do you want to see some funny pranks and gags that get a bit tired by the end of full length feature film about just the Borat character? Then the Borat movie is for you. Would you rather see it mixed up a bit between different characters? Then go with Da Ali G Show seasonal DVD releases. You want pranks and gags for free? Go to YouTube.
But don't be fooled into being offended by any of the Cohen characters. They are not real; the man behind the mask really isn't that stupid. He's trying to make YOU look stupid. And if you take Cohen's characters seriously, you will indeed look stupid. You see? Socratic irony.
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