Post-apocalypse Pat
| Post-Apocalypse Pat | |
|---|---|
 "Post-Apocalypse Pat, Post-Apocalypse Pat and his radioactive cat." | |
| Format | Movie |
| Created by | Quentin Tarantino |
| Starring | Biohazard mutants |
| Theme music composer | John Lennon |
| Country of origin | Tea Land |
| Language(s) | Muffled, British |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Dave Filoni, Jon Faverau |
| Production company(s) |
BBC |
| Distributor | BBC |
| Broadcast | |
| Picture format | Can't Understand No Turnips |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Post-Apocalypse Pat 2: Black Mail |
Post-Apocalypse Pat is a 1996 British family comedy film that was produced, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It envisages the world after a nuclear war between NATO and Russia; with Post-(apocalyspe)-man Pat still out delivering mail with his black and white cat, which is now irradiated and more green and brown.
The film follows Pat (played by Stephen Mangan) trying to keep his world together by carrying on and delivering the post; as long as a house has a letterbox; he keeps on delivering. Although, some now have no roofs, or walls, or doors (and the inhabitants inside are fried toast). Pat keeps his spirits up by whistling out of tune. He tools himself up to defend his job, as he now has unlimited access to a lot of American guns after he raided a US Air Force base. His cat, Jess, has mutated into the Pussy Predator (voiced by Jodie Comer). Out to stop Pat and Pussy are drivers from Amazon and DHL. Also in the film is Tom Hardy (made famous by the movie Venom) as the psychopathic postman, Terence 'Lick' Stampp (with two pees). He became 'postal' when the next door neighbour refused to take care of a package after the house next door, which he was delivering to, was destroyed by a drone strike.
Cast and characters[edit]
- Stephen Mangan as Post-Apocalypse Pat
- Jodie Comer voices Pussy Predator
- Tom Hardy as Terry Lick Stampp
- Gary Oldman camoes as Amazon Minion #1
- with Hugh Grant as Amazon Minion #2
- Lee MacBook voices the Mutant Talking Mailbox
- and David Mitchell features as himself
Tarantino's original plan was to have Brad Pitt as Pat and Jennifer Lawrence as Pussy Predator. However, neither could do a British accent, and the fact that Pitt was busy filming Sleepers. So, Tarantino went with option B and cast Mangan and Comer to play the main roles. Hardy was always going to be in the film from the start, as he had been a Postman Pat fan since a kid. With Postman Pat being such an iconic British personality, second to that of Sir Thomas the Tank Engine, Tarantino pulled inspiration from JK Rowling and wanted a full British cast like the Harry Potter films.
Plot[edit]
We first see Post-Apocalypse Pat driving his now rusty red delivery van across an ashen and cratered neighbourhood in Cumbria, England. He is wearing a HazMat suit but with his post office cap and uniform beneath. Pat is cheerfully sticking letters through doors until a squad of Amazon delivery drivers (Hugh Grant and Gary Oldman) block his path to Greendale. He coolly stops his van and rolls down the window. When he politely requests for the Amazon minions to move out the way, a fierce firefight along Greendale High Street erupts. The Amazon drivers retreat after they realise Pat has American weaponry, which we learn in a flashback later on that he stole from Pencaster US Airbase. With the Amazon Minions gone, Pat continues on delivering his current load of mail and packages.
As he is returning to the Post Office to collect his next load of post, he has to stop at a petrol station to fill up his van. Here, he comes across the two Amazon minions again, who are also filling up their delivery trucks for their next batch of deliveries. Pat makes a truce with the Minions that benefits both parties.
A few weeks pass and Pat is confronted by a talking mailbox (voiced by Lee Mack) that has mutated from all the radiation. The mailbox informs Pat that DHL has hired free-lance postman Terry 'Lick' Stampp to steal all of Pat's post. Stampp is revealed to have turned 'postal' after his last delivery.
Stampp catches up to Pat after a short game of 'radiated cat and mouse' and the two have a final post-off(ice). Pat wins, killing Terry in the process. As Stampp takes his final breath, he asks Pat to deliver one final letter to his wife and son. Pat accepts. As Pat gets to the street that Stampp had said, he realises that the Peaky Blinders star had omitted the house number. Pat wanders around, trying each house with no success. David Mitchell (played by David Mitchell) then appears and escorts Pat to his final destination.
Production[edit]
Halfway through filming, Ken Barrie almost replaced Mangan over a contractial dispute, which was fortunely settled as Ken really did not want to star in the film, as he was being forced to by his agent in the event that Stephen did need to be recast.
Jodie also wanted to physically portay Pussy in a catsuit, but Tarantino only wanted the movie to appeal to one fetish community; the feet lovers. So instead, a real cat was bought in to act alongside Mangan on set while Jodie recorded her lines in a booth that were added in post-production.
Reception[edit]
Oscars[edit]
Post-Apocalypse Pat won Best Picture (which is one of the main reasons Kevin Costner took it upon himself to "Americanise" the film) and Best Supporting Voice Actor at the 1997 Oscars.
Reviews[edit]
The film was given a 72% Fresh score on the website Rotten Tomatoes. Critics praised the film with its "originality" and "complex storytelling", however, many of them were turned off in the third act when David Mitchells' character; David Mitchell, appeared to guide Post-Apocalypse Pat to the final house.
Parodies[edit]
A year later, in 1997, Kevin Costner produced, directed and starred in the American post-apocalyptic action adventure film; The Postman. In this film the world has lost its polar icecaps and everyone is living on boats (sounds familiar?). People start eating each other but all rely on 'The Postman' to receive birthday cards.
Another film, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981), attempted to revive the franchise, but was nothing but a garden-variety spy thriller. The premise was at odds with the reality that Pat never rang twice but, if the door were not answered promptly after one ring, he would leave the mail in the shrubs.
American film makers are always eager to take a foreign film, mainly British and Korean, and "remake" it for a domestic, overweight, gun-toting audience. Post-Apocalypse Pat is the second time the Yanks mutilated a beloved British classic, the first being Death at a Funeral.
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