Paramount Home Video presents

Jackass: The Movie (SE) (2002)

"This is an unmitigated outrage. I've never seen anything like this before."- Man at Rental Car Shop

Stars: Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Ryan Dunn
Other Stars: Jason "Wee Man" Acuna, Preston Lacy, Dave England, Ehren McGehehy, Henry Rollins, Tony Hawk, Rip Taylor
Director: Jeff Tremaine

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for dangerous, sometimes extremely crude stunts, language, nudity
Run Time: 01h:28m:00s
Release Date: 2006-09-05
Genre: comedy

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
B	B	B	B-	A

 

DVD Review

How the hell do you review Jackass: The Movie? Either you love it, or you're pretty damned sure that our civilization has reached its apex with Johnny Knoxville, Bam, Steve-O and the gang here to herald a slow, langorous decline. While I’m not a huge Jackass fan, and while it may, in fact, bring western culture to its knees, what's done is done. Might as well sit back and enjoy it, I say. And I can almost guarantee that, if you can avoid throwing up, there will be something in this movie that will make you laugh.

What makes it work, for me at least, in spite of several bits where I could barely look at the screen, is the sense of fun with which Johnny Knoxville and the gang go at their business of hurting and/or humiliating themselves in ever-more extreme ways. Partly, I like watching them do stuff that I'll never have to do, but they also seem to be having a freakin' blast. Even with alligators clamped to their nipples, whale sharks attacking their groins, and mouse traps attached everywhere else, they mange to make everything look fun. For being crude, crass, nasty, and unpleasant, it's surprisingly good-natured. And some of the skits are actually pretty inspired. The title of my favorite, Roller Disco Truck speaks for itself. There are also several fun cameos: Spike Jonze, Tony Hawk, Henry Rollins, and even Rip Taylor stop by to aid the guys in their never-ending quest for catastrophic injury and/or abject humiliation.

The movie isn't really much more than an extended episode of the television show, with added language and a lot more self-inflicted violence. There's also a bit more excement, and a great deal more vomit. Newbies, consider yourselves warned. Now, the "unrated special edition" isn't much more than the R-rated theatrical cut with a couple of extended moments of pain, and several male crotch shots sans blur.

The whole "unrated" DVD thing is pretty lame, as far as I'm concerned. Usually, and Jackass really isn't an exception, it's a move to get you to buy an extra copy thinking you're getting a bunch of extra naughtiness that the MPAA wouldn't condone for theatrical viewing. These almost never amount to more than a couple of minutes. Maybe an extra boob or two if you're lucky. For this movie, I was hard pressed to even catch the difference between the original cut and this version. Nevertheless, this edition does give you slightly more bang for your buck than the original special edition. If you're reading this, you're probably already a convert, and you are to be commended, for this movie isn't for the faint-of-heart or delicate-of-stomach. Every so often, it's healthy to let your inner dumbass rise to the surface. That dumbass loves this movie.

Rating for Style: B
Rating for Substance: B

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	yes

Image Transfer Review: Jackass had a budget of about $5 million dollars, so it wasn't filmed on the highest-end equipment. Nonetheless, the transfer here looks good. There were a couple of digital artifacts in spots, but this was pretty rare. Otherwise, the theatrical presentation is well-represented.

Image Transfer Grade: B
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	yes
Dolby Digital 5.1	English	yes

Audio Transfer Review: The disc has both a Dolby 2.0, as well as a 5.1 track. There's not really much difference between the two. The 5.1 track is definitely fuller, and it's the way to go, but it's not an amazing track by any stretch.

Audio Transfer Grade: B- 

Disc Extras

Full Motion menu with music
Scene Access with 40 cues and remote access
Subtitles/Captions in English with remote access
1 Other Trailer(s) featuring Jackass Number Two
18 Deleted Scenes
1 Documentaries
2 Feature/Episode commentaries by director, cinematographer, and Johnny Knoxville; the cast
Packaging: Amaray
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extras Review: There are several extras on the disc, though be warned that the vast majority come from the original disc. There's more here about Jackass the Movie than you ever, ever wanted to know.

The first (and, aside from a new trailer, only) new extra is Too Hot for MTV Additional Footage. These are nine scenes unrelated to the movie. They're mostly pretty quick, and it's pretty clear why most weren't included anywhere else. There are a couple of funny bits, though those with weak stomachs are advised to avoid "The Vomelet." Don't ask me to explain. I won't do it. There's also a teaser for Jackass Number Two. For a limited time, you'll also get a free ticket for that sequel in the box.

As for the pre-enjoyed extras:

There are two commentary tracks, one by the director, the cinematographer, and ringleader Johnny Knoxville. It's a surprisingly subdued track, with some interesting background on how the film came together, and exactly how they pulled off some of the stunts. The second is with the entire main cast. It's raucous, all over the place, and you don't really learn much. It's pretty fun, though.

MTV's Making of Jackass the Movie is a bit better than the standard EPK: there's a lot of great footage of clowning around on the set, some bloopers, and several great scenes of the TV show crew learning how to use movie cameras. It's actually a nice extension to the movie.

Outakes is a couple of minutes of bloopers. Not bad, but with a whole movie about guys clowning around, not really nexcessary.

Additional footage is about 27 minutes of unused bits from the movie. The stuff is all over the board in terms of quality.

Extras Grade: A
 

Final Comments

Since you're either gonna love Jackass or hate it, and those in the former camp are already sold on the movie, the question becomes: is this"unrated special edition" worth it? If you're considering an upgrade, I wouldn't bother. All you're really getting are a couple of extra crotch shots and ten minutes of OK scenes in the extras. It's a pretty weak double-dip of what was a solid original edition. If you're pro-Jackass and don't own the movie already, this is the one to get.

Ross Johnson 2006-09-06