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Fazz's Haggard review inspired me to post this old one
Publisher: Paramount
Thu, 13 January 2005
by: Hillelman
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Remember the class clown? When you were a kid in school (or, indeed, if you still are a kid in school) chances are you can recall this one dude who constantly did stupid things to make everyone laugh because, basically, that was all he was able to do.
The teacher would say something like; “He is just being stupid to get attention. If you laugh it will only encourage him. Ignore him and he will stop.”
You knew full well that the teacher was correct. The kid was making a fool of himself just to get attention. The things he was doing were stupid. But, you couldn’t just ignore him and you didn’t really want to. Because, no matter how dumb his behaviour may have been, that little freak was just plain funny.
The Jackass crew is made up of Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius, Steve-0, Dave England, Ryan Dunn, Jason “wee man” Acuna and friends. These guys got their start skating together and making videos out of their ludicrous antics. Before long their videos began to build a cult following. Their popularity continued to expand to the point that they ended up getting a show on MTV. The next step was a full length “movie” which allowed them to get away with more than they could on television. I think I got that about right, ask Fazz- he knows more about them than I do. Anyway, Jackass the movie is available to own on DVD.
The Jackass guys are more or less class clowns in adult (in terms of age at least) form. They perform a multitude of outlandish, dangerous stunts and abuse themselves and each other in many weird and disgusting ways. They do things that people shouldn’t do. They eat things people shouldn’t eat. They shove things in places that people shouldn’t shove things and they just generally behave more stupidly than people are supposed to behave. And, love them or hate them, they do these things well, with an admirable level of dedication. There’s nothing about their actions or the way they present them that could be considered pretentious; they aren’t claiming to be saving the world or curing any diseases. It seems they simply thoroughly enjoy doing crazy things to amuse themselves and hopefully entertain anyone else who chooses to watch them.
Who is really to say there is no place for such foolishness? Actually, in this day and age, who is to even say what is foolish? All kinds of ridiculous things get taken so seriously in our society. Information regarding celebrity relationships takes up the front pages of our newspapers. Reality TV shows featuring the phoniest people on earth are considered stimulating viewing. Grown men and women read children’s books about pre-pubescent wizards because they are told it is hip. People proudly wear crappy trucker caps in public because some crappy dude from a crappy sitcom had one on in a crappy picture in a crappy magazine. And so on and so forth. Clearly we humans are an absurd race. Jackass embraces humanity’s absurdity and goes out of their way to take silly behaviour to an extraordinary level.
Those who have already been exposed to the material of Jackass will be well aware of what to expect from this DVD. There is no storyline to the movie, it is just a collection of stunts and dares from the crew; the same stuff as usual, just on a larger scale and with better production values.
Just the guys doing a bunch of dumb things. They hire a rental car, remodel it, and enter it in a demolition derby where it gets destroyed totally. Then they return the wreck to the rental place as though it was an everyday occurrence. They also take a dump in a toilet that’s for sale in a hardware store. And skate half pipes with Tony Hawk and Matt Hoffman while wearing fat suits. And launch fireworks from their butts. And let whale sharks eat shrimp from their pants. All of this and much (MUCH!) more, because…well, because it makes them laugh and they feel like it I guess. There are a massive amount of different stunts included here, many of which, it must be said, are quite inventive and creative (in a perverted fashion). The variety keeps things fresh and keeps the appeal strong way longer than would be reasonably expected for this kind stuff.
People tend to dig Jackass or despise it and this movie has little chance of changing that fact. For those still unfamiliar with Jackass here are the four most likely reactions you will have:
1.This is one of the most disgusting and mentally retarded excuses for a movie ever made. How people can make a living from behaving in such a vile manner I’ll never understand. It makes me sick and offends me deeply.
2.It just isn’t funny. Not because it is offensive, this kind of childish material does nothing for me. It is just not humorous.
3.This is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen in my life. Sure it is stupid, but it is also great fun. Any time I’m feeling a bit down I can throw this DVD on, turn my brain off and get a silly grin on my face. This is some of the most hilarious stuff captured on film. EVER!
4.A weird combination of numbers 3 and 1.
Any one of those opinions would be perfectly valid and reasonable. Usually there is no middle ground- you will either laugh your arse off or wonder why others find it so funny.
There is some extremely gross stuff in this “movie”- real vomit, excrement and urine (which gets eaten in snow cone form) are just a few examples of the plethora of sick and twisted content. Nearly every sketch or stunt contains something that could be considered offensive- violence, nudity, swearing, gore, bodily fluids etc. So if stuff like that upsets you, don’t even look at this DVD. Or, maybe those kinds of things don’t bother you in the slightest. Perhaps silly stunts, sight gags and people acting stupid simply fails to make you laugh, or you only find such things amusing in small doses. If that is the case, once again, this DVD is not recommended. However, if you enjoy sometimes watching people go nuts and doing silly things for the hell of it, you will probably not stop laughing from the start of this DVD ‘til the end.
Of course, Jackass the movie isn’t the kind of thing you put on to watch with your mother, or sit around contemplating on an intellectual level. But if you are in the right mood this can be some hugely funny stuff. It is really a perfect DVD to watch with some friends for mindless entertainment that you don’t have to worry about talking over while you have a few beers.
The sound and picture quality of DVD is fine. Nothing mind blowing, mainly because that’s the nature of the material; this isn’t The Matrix. But the transfer is nice and crisp and the sound mix is exactly right, with the volume of the music and dialogue balanced perfectly. For a single disc DVD the extras are very good indeed. There are two separate commentary tracks (the one done by several of the Jackass crew is very entertaining) and a pretty sweet little making of special. It also contains a large amount of outtakes/additional footage (much of which is equally as funny as the stuff that made the final cut) and a few other things. The sucka is well and truly packed; you really get good value from this one.
Jackass the movie is (as I already said) just one of those things that some people will love and others will hate. But it has its place and nobody is being forced to watch. Sometimes people need to be reminded not to take things too seriously. The Jackass boys aren’t hurting anyone (except for themselves) and in their own crazy way they are embracing life to the fullest. Personally I find it hysterical. It is probably most enjoyable in limited doses- so being able to choose to watch a couple of scenes here and there when you’re in the mood makes Jackass the Movie ideal for the DVD format.
by: Hillelman
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