On the “Rich Mahogany” edition Blu-ray for 2004’s Anchorman, we find a film called Wake Up, Ron Burgundy. It uses alternate takes and deleted scenes from the original shoot to create a new tale that acts as an adjunct to the theatrical Anchorman.

Going into 2014’s Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5, I figured it would deliver something like Wake Up. Given the probable abundance of unused footage shot for 2013’s Bad Grandpa, it seemed logical that the filmmakers could cobble together a second movie from the “leftovers”.

That’s true to a degree, as we do see gags and footage that didn’t make the theatrical edition. However, Grandpa .5 acts more as a behind the scenes documentary than anything else.

In addition to behind the scenes shots, we get new interviews with those involved in the movie. We hear from director Jeff Tremaine, makeup effects designer Tony Gardner, producers Derek Freda and Spike Jonze, key makeup effects artist Steve Prouty, associate producer Knate Gwaltney, executive producer Trip Taylor, first AD Joe Osborne, art director JP Blackmon, camera operators Andrew Laboy, Tom Heigl, Heather Brown and Donny Anderson, director of photography Dimitry Elyashkevich, boom operator Seamus Frawley, and actors Johnny Knoxville, Catherine Keener and Jack Polick.

Grandpa .5 looks at the origins of the movie’s Irving Ziskin role and his depiction on Jackass as well as makeup, character/gag development, the nature of the “marks”, camera/audio issues and technical areas, and specifics of various sequences. Along the way, we see a good number of outtakes not featured in the finished film.

As a documentary, Grandpa .5 works well. The use of so many outtakes becomes a bonus, especially when we see the gags that don’t succeed. Plenty of the jokes flop due to a variety of reasons, and it can be fun to see how the actors deal with these situations.

The interviews also add useful information. These provide good insights into the challenges that came with this sort of improvisational movie, and we get a solid overview of the ups and downs of the production.

All of this makes Grandpa .5 a solid documentary – but not one I’d recommend, at least not as packaged here. This is the kind of program one normally finds as an extra on a Blu-ray, not as the main attraction. If Paramount had bundled it as part of a new Bad Grandpa special edition, I’d be more likely to advise a purchase, but with a list price of about $23, Grandpa .5 seems awfully pricey for what is essentially a “bonus disc”.

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa .5 appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Grandpa .5 used a variety of camera formats to capture its material, so the quality tended to be a bit messy.

In particular, the “hidden camera” bits left it with lackluster definition much of the time. Some shots displayed pretty good clarity, but quite a few seemed moderately soft and mushy. Interview shots created specifically for Grandpa .5 were concise and accurate.

Light signs of jaggies and shimmering appeared, and I saw mild edge haloes at times, perhaps due to attempts to bolster the sharpness of the original material. Outside of some light video artifacting in darker shots, source flaws failed to appear.

Colors went with natural tones. These consistently came across with reasonable clarity and vivacity. The hues never excelled, but they were perfectly adequate. The same went for the blacks, which seemed acceptably dark, and shadows. A few low-light sequences were somewhat thick, but these usually seemed to be fairly clear. I gave the image a “C“ because of the softness, but that appeared to reflect the source.

As for the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Grandpa .5, it proved satisfactory but don’t expect a stellar soundfield. Music provided much of the audio, as songs and score offered good stereo imaging. Otherwise general environmental information dominated. Since the movie came with so many interviews, not a lot of life emerged.

No problems with quality emerged. Speech was natural and concise, even when recorded in potentially problematic situations. Music sounded lush and full, while effects appeared clear and accurate. The audio seemed pretty mediocre, but it suited the film.

Grandpa .5 comes with exclusive extras, and we open with a Roundtable Interview. In this 12-minute, 26-second piece, we hear from director Jeff Tremaine, actor Johnny Knoxville and producer Spike Jonze. They discuss makeup effects, character development, performances, story/gag areas, and related elements. The participants give us a good look at various moviemaking issues in this informative piece.

Casting Billy goes for three minutes, 16 seconds and features Tremaine, Knoxville, and actor Jackson Nicoll. As expected, we find out about how the crew brought Nicoll to the movie. Despite the show’s brevity, it offers a solid overview.

Eight Deleted Scenes fill a total of 11 minutes, 28 seconds. These deliver notes from Knoxville and Tremaine as well as a mix of gags unused in the film. We don’t see anything that differs much from the content in Grandpa .5, but it’s good to hear some additional details.

We also find 13 minutes, 56 seconds of Outtakes. This offers mostly gag reel stuff, but some alternate bits also appear. That makes it more valuable than most collections of this sort.

Though the cover of Bad Grandpa .5 touts it as a “brand new movie”, in reality it just offers a brand new documentary. While this comes with plenty of outtakes, it doesn’t give us a new story, so fans who expect a narrative with more adventures will encounter disappointment. The Blu-ray provides mediocre picture and audio along with some interesting supplements. Grandpa .5 offers an enjoyable glimpse behind the scenes but I can’t recommend it due to price; it’s just too expensive for a glorified bonus disc.

To rate this film, visit the original review of BAD GRANDPA