Line #3 Film/StrangeWilderness


1	[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/strange_wilderness.jpg]] '''''Strange Wilderness''''' is a 2008 comedy-adventure film produced by Creator/AdamSandler's production company Creator/HappyMadisonProductions, and was based on a series of independently produced short videos of the same name from the 1990s. The film stars Creator/SteveZahn, Allen Covert, Creator/JustinLong, Creator/JonahHill, and Kevin Heffernan.
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3	Peter Gaulke is the host of his late father's nature program, ''Strange Wilderness'', and under his direction, the show has become a wildly inaccurate and unprofessional joke. To save the show from cancellation, he and his crew embark on a quest to find the legendary Bigfoot. Unfortunately, a rival nature show crew is also in search of the creature, and they have a three-day head start.
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6	!! This movie contains examples of:
7	* AlasPoorVillain: Pierson may be a SmugSnake, but he and his crew didn't deserve to be ambushed and brutally murdered by jungle natives.
8	* TheAlcoholic: Whitaker.
9	* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Pierson and his crew to the protagonists. Then again, it's hard not to be when you see what massive screw-ups the protagonists are.
10	* AllForNothing: The team's hunt for Bigfoot end with [[spoiler:the idiots pulling out guns and shooting him on the spot.]]
11	* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The crew hops in their RV in Los Angeles, destination: Ecuador, via Mexico. The very next scene has them southbound on California Highway-1 in Big Sur... ''200 miles north of LA''. Probably intentional.
12	* BulletHell: Bigfoot is just as surprised to see Gaulke's crew as they are to see him. Unfortunately for him, they're idiots, and they're armed.
13	* CaptainObvious: Many of the "facts" on Peter's show, such as:
14	** "Sharks can only be found in two places on Earth: the Northern and Southern Hemispheres."
15	** "It is estimated that bears kill over 2 million salmon each year, although attacks by salmon on bears are much more rare."
16	* CloudCuckooLander: Most of the cast, especially [[Creator/JonahHill Cooker]] and [[Creator/JustinLong Junior]].
17	* CoolOldGuy: The show's old cameraman Milas, which comes with the turf of being played by Creator/ErnestBorgnine.
18	* DisqualificationInducedVictory: A variation played for black comedy, what with the "disqualification" that saves ''Strange Wilderness'' being [[spoiler:the entire crew of the better wilderness show having been massacred by a misfortunate encounter and no replacement shows being available]].
19	* DistractedByTheSexy: Happens quite a bit in the show, whether it's an overly long segment about topless "native girls" ([[ComicallyMissingThePoint they're actually from Long Beach]]) or incredibly crude dialogue during a scene with two lions getting it on.
20	* ElectricJoybuzzer: Cooker is fond of using one of these, particularly [[GroinAttack punching guys in the nuts with it]].
21	* FanDisservice:
22	** Creator/RobertPatrick showing the results of having to patch himself up after a run-in with a particularly nasty local tribe.
23	--->''They tied me to a tree and did what they do to every white man they don't kill. [[GroinAttack They cut open my scrotum with a sharp stick, and let my testicles spill out onto the ground]].''
24	** Invoked when Peter (who just had his front teeth knocked out) hits on the woman in the dentist's waiting room.
25	* GroinAttack: While Peter is taking a piss, a wild turkey tries to swallow his penis and ends up getting it lodged in its throat.
26	* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe:
27	** When we last see Pierson, he's missing the lower half of his body from the native attack.
28	** Danny loses both legs at the hip to a shark.
29	* InUniverseFactoidFailure: There are several examples provided by the titular show, one of the most memorable being "Bears derive their name from a football team in Chicago."
30	* ManChild: Peter's whole crew, but especially Junior. This is a guy who can't go 5 minutes without getting high and actually ''tattoos eyes'' on his eyelids so that people think he's awake while he's sleeping on the job.
31	* MakeItLookLikeASuicide: After the crew [[spoiler:gun down Bigfoot, they decide on a backup plan of making it look like he hung himself. While there's still a ton of bullet holes in him.]] Given how the crew are weapons-grade idiots, it should not be surprising that no-one buys it when they watch the footage.
32	* MultipleGunshotDeath: [[spoiler:Bigfoot buys it to multiple AK-47s handled by the ''Strange Wilderness'' crew, who open fire in a moment of drunken panic when Bigfoot gives them a JumpScare.]] Also an example of IJustShotMarvinInTheFace.
33	* OnlySaneMan:
34	** Cheryl is remarkably more mature than the rest of the crew. Dick also shares this role with her when he joins the team, [[spoiler:at least until he becomes piranha chow]].
35	** The network head Ed Lawson is also this when he criticizes the ''Strange Wilderness'' show featuring people getting killed.
36	* OverlyLongGag: The [[MemeticMutation laughing shark loop near the end]]. Also, the crew's incredibly juvenile reactions to their jungle guide being named Dick.
37	* PlotHole: The movie doesn't explain what the hell Bigfoot is doing in Ecuador, considering most Bigfoot sightings are in the US Pacific Northwest.
38	* ShaggyDogStory: After the group eventually finds Bigfoot, [[spoiler:they panic upon seeing him and messily shoot him dead. This results in the network pulling the plug on the ''Strange Wilderness'' show... and then [[UnCancelled uncancelling it]] a few months later because they found out about Pierson's death, and couldn't find a replacement show]].
39	* ShoutOut: Bigfoot's design is clearly designed to be reminiscent of the title character from ''Film/HarryAndTheHendersons''.
40	* TerribleIntervieweesMontage: Played with. Whitaker is the first to be interviewed for the animal wrangler's position, and when he admits that he doesn't have any relevant experience and is only applying because he can't get any other job, Peter and Fred give him a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and tell him to go fuck himself. However, all the candidates who follow are then shown telling Peter and Fred what irredeemable assholes they are and refuse to even consider taking the job, resulting in them having to hire Whitaker anyway.

Context Film / StrangeWilderness