MALLRATS - HD DVD review

Movies, video games, comic books and action figures are all parts of any boy's life growing up. Kevin Smith has enjoyed many of the same things I have and he makes movies about them. I wasn't necessarily a huge comic book fan, but I had a few issues of The Amazing Spider-Man. G.I. Joe and The Transformers were more my speed as a youngin. I still love my Sega Genesis and have a very large collection of vintage and current consoles. EA Sports "NHL Hockey" was a staple of getting through Penn State and the quote "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned for Sega" is something that graces my own personal webspace and has been uttered more than once in proper context. There is a lot about my growing up that was definitely ‘nerdy' and a Kevin Smith movie rekindles those nerdy moments. All that has been missing from a Kevin Smith movie is jokes about Warhammer 40k.

"Mallrats" was a box office flop for Gramercy Pictures when it was first release. Director and creator Kevin Smith was given a then- large ten million dollar budget to make his film after the worldwide success of his black and white Indie darling "Clerks." With his on-screen persona Silent Bob and overly noisy sidekick Jay (Jason Mewes) returning to this sequel to the earlier film, the picture failed miserably in theaters. The film is now released by Universal under the Rogue Pictures banner and has become a tremendous success for the studio as a video release and its multitude of home video releases all have sold well and after a dozen years, the picture is no longer considered a complete bomb and has become a bona-fide cult classic in a series that has seen six films released in its ‘trilogy.'

I will admit now that I am a tremendous fan of the "View Askewniverse" series of films from Kevin Smith. From the moment I first watched "Clerks," I was hooked and have watched each of the resulting films a number of times each. I look to these films as being pop culture comedies that are witty and hilarious in their situations and comedy. Yes, the films are ‘potty-mouthed' adolescent humored romps through sexually and drug driven culture, but Kevin Smith has a strong handle on life for our generation and "Mallrats" is simply another chapter in the long running look at what it is like to grow up as a product of the Eighties and Nineties. The humor is over-the-top and everything that appears on-screen cannot be necessarily believed, but for anybody that has wondered about Superman's sperm or hoped to use the Force to levitate an object will cherish many of the moments contained in this film.

There are a number of familiar faces contained in "Mallrats" and the recent success of NBC's "My Name is Earl" has made star Jason Lee a familiar face to America. His co-star on the television hit, Ethan Suplee had an early role in "Mallrats." Jeremy London, Shannen Doherty, Claire Forlani, Joey Lauren Adams and Michael Rooker have all had successful careers in front of the cameras. Another actor had a very early performance in "Mallrats" and years later, Ben Affleck is now perhaps the most successful actor to emerge from Kevin Smith's band of brothers. "Mallrats" is an ensemble comedy that is contained with a never-ending stream of jokes and comedic situations. The Easter Bunny gets his ass handed to him by Jay and Silent Bob and a Batman homage goes awry when Silent Bob crashes into a woman's dressing room. The term "Stink Palm" is grossly introduced. The fun never seems to stop in "Mallrats" and the close nit cast certainly appeared to have a lot of fun in making the film.

"Mallrats" is certainly not "Clerks." The dialogue isn't as cleverly written and "Mallrats" relies more on physical comedy and over-the-top moments than the grounded-in-reality situations of "Clerks." The events in the first film could all have happened, but a definite level of disbelief needs to be suspended to fully enjoy the laughs contained in the sophomoric effort by Kevin Smith. If you sit back and enjoy the film for what it is, it is hard to not laugh and be entertained by it. It is meant to celebrate and poke fun at the nerdy idols of growing up in a time when Duran Duran ruled the airwaves. The language is heavy and the drug and sex humor is almost non-stop. It's damn funny, but perhaps my own life experiences come close to what happens in this film and I can truly enjoy it. "Clerks" will always be my favorite Kevin Smith film and "Mallrats" does not rank second, but I still love it.

Video:
The amount of excitement and hype I had built up for the HD-DVD release of "Mallrats" was pretty high. I wasn't expecting a vibrant looking film that pushed the tech, but I certainly had hoped it would be a definite improvement over the passable DVD release. I had spent more time watching the movie on LaserDisc than I did any of the more recent formats, but eagerly looked forward to "Mallrats" joining "Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back" and "Clerks II" on my High Definition shelf. Unfortunately, "Mallrats" did not look much better than the DVD release and all of the excitement I felt towards the release quickly subsided when I realized this wasn't much improved over the DVD release; at least when comparing that title through an upconvert player. Now, popping the standard definition release into an older player does show the improvement in this release, but I was still hoping for more.

The coloring of "Mallrats" is very good and the comic book-like opening credits of the film look superb. Fleshtones are also very good and the colors are consistently strong throughout the film. Jason Lee has a bit of rosy coloring to his nose and cheeks, but the actor was sick during production and the HD-DVD only highlights his red nose in some early filmed scenes. The level of detail is where the film does not necessarily improve by much. Skin details, textures and depth are all lacking when compared to many other releases, but this is more at fault to the original source materials than the mastering of the title. A thin layer of grin was present throughout the film and darker elements showed definite edge enhancement. The picture quality isn't bad, but it does fall slightly below average.

Audio:
The sound quality of "Mallrats" was slightly upgraded over the previous DVD and LaserDisc special edition releases. Kevin Smith loves pop culture and he loves music. From "Clerks" up until "Clerks II," there are always great musical selections present throughout his films and "Mallrats" is no exception. The music contained on the HD-DVD has a little more jump to it than previous versions and at higher volumes, the sound is improved and the vocals are all the more clearer. Dialogue is clear as well, but there are a few very bad examples of ADR mixing found in "Mallrats" and these seem to stand out even more on the HD-DVD release. The sound effects and ambient effects of "Mallrats" seem greatly improved over the previous releases. When Silent ‘Batman' Bob flies across the screen, the imaging across channels is markedly better. The child that can be heard screaming in the background has depth and the cheering audience at the end is lively. Considering the source material, "Mallrats" is a pretty good sounding disc.

Closing Comments:
The HD-DVD release of "Mallrats" features a repackaging of many elements from the previous 10th Anniversary release of the film. Some of those items were created for the release, while others dated back to the LaserDisc days. The feature commentary finds its video portion dropped, but the rest of that release is contained on this disc. I've heard the commentary a couple of times now, but it is still a funny listen. Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Scott Mosier and Vincent Pereira all sit in a room together for the commentary and continue a tradition that was started for the "Clerks" LaserDisc in having very involved and funny commentary tracks for all of the director's releases.

After the commentary, a nice selection of other items are included. The Deleted Scenes (1:02:45) is massive in size. Vincent Pereira and Kevin Smith provide an introduction to the supplement and each individual scene. Pereira has a tremendous amount of knowledge on the history of the film and he provides a great deal of information as Kevin Smith discusses each scene with him. Some of this material is pages from the screenplay and they can be a little difficult to read as they scroll across the page and the Toshiba does not handle still frame particularly well. Cast Interviews from the Original Set (8:43) features Jason Lee, Kevin Smith and others being interviewed at the Eaton Perry Mall during development of the picture. These casual moments are nice, but there isn't a lot of depth here.

The supplements get a little more entertaining after the lengthy deleted scenes and EPK feeling set of interviews. View Askew's Look Back at Mallrats (21:05) is a very nice little reminiscing session between Scott Mosier and Kevin Smith. They discuss in detail the failures of the film and contains a lot of interviews and segments with others involved in the production of the film, as well as other recollections on the making of the film. The humorously titled The Erection of an Epic – The Making of Mallrats (22:09) is another lengthy piece and features a sometimes humorous look at the making of the film. There are a number of interviews and segments and some are funny, while others are not. The segment Mallrats: The Reunion (50:10) is a lengthy discussion with Kevin Smith where the director fields questions from an audience. Smith is an honest individual and this Q&A is quite funny, informative and entertaining.

A few quick and dirty supplements complete the offerings. A Brief Q&A with Kevin Smith (9:02) finds Kevin Smith discussing the Q&A created for the DVD and offering his thoughts on the lengthy special edition release and also his thoughts on the film. Kevin Smith always talks in a matter-of-fact manner and this is a nice little extra. The Outtakes (8:12) are funny and more vile in comedic value than the jokes in the film. Funny stuff, but not for the easily offended. The Music Video "Build Me Up Buttercup" by The Goops was directed by Kevin Smith. Finally, the Theatrical Trailer stops the madness.

Closing Comments:
I loved my 10th Anniversary release of "Mallrats" when it made its way to DVD. Down the road, I will also love the re-release of that DVD title onto HD-DVD. The entire release feels like a port of that older SKU and the picture quality and sound quality is improved, but not by as much as most other titles benefit from. The supplements make continual reference to the DVD, so it feels a little odd watching all of the supplements and being reminded that they were not created for this edition. Maybe in a few years, the 20th Anniversary release will have some new materials. "Mallrats" is a funny, funny film and chocked full of great pop culture references, jokes and homages. While the film wasn't a huge success in the box office, it has become a deserving cult classic and I'm happy to have a new version of the film for my home video collection.