The Foot Fist Way appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. A low-budget effort shot on 16mm film, the transfer showed its origins.
Sharpness looked mediocre at best. Close-ups demonstrated decent delineation, but most of the movie came across as rather soft and fuzzy. No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I noticed only minor edge enhancement. However, grain became very heavy throughout the flick, and I also noticed a few specks and nicks.
Colors always remained bland. I guess the film featured a natural palette, but the hues were so flat and lifeless that it was tough to tell. Blacks were acceptably dark, and shadows were acceptable, though the grain made low-light shots murkier than they should’ve been. I expect that the transfer replicated the source material fairly well, but it remained too ugly for anything above a “D+”.
While more impressive than the visuals, the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack of Foot Fist Way was unexceptional. The soundfield largely focused on music. The songs and score boasted good stereo imaging and featured nice reinforcement from the surrounds. Otherwise the track remained quite uninspired. In terms of effects, the side and rear speakers offered light reinforcement, but that was it. I couldn’t identify a single moment that stood out as remotely memorable.
Audio quality was fine. Speech always seemed natural and concise, and the lines lacked edginess or other issues. Effects were so low-key that they didn’t provide much range. Those elements were clear, though, and without problems. Music remained the best part of the track, as the score and songs seemed dynamic and full. I thought the music sounded good enough to boost my grade to a “C+”, but the track never impressed in any way.
A smattering of extras fill out the set. First comes an audio commentary with director Jody Hill, actor Danny McBride and production designer Randy Gambill. All three sit together for this running, screen-specific track. They look at cast and performances, sets and locations, stunts, visual design, influences and origins, working on a low budget, deleted scenes, and a few other production notes.
Don’t expect a particularly winning chat. Occasionally the participants throw out some decent thoughts about the film’s creation, but not with much frequency. Instead, they often joke around, tell us what they like about the flick, or simply name actors. Fans of Way might find enough to keep them occupied, but the commentary didn’t do much for me.
A Behind the Scenes Featurette runs 25 minutes, 13 seconds. In an unusual twist, the piece includes no interviews or narration. Instead, it simply consists of grainy, blurry black and white footage from the set. Edited in a rapid-fire manner and accompanied by cheesy music, we never get a feel for the production or see anything remotely interesting. A self-consciously arty piece, the featurette tells us and shows us nothing of even basic value, and it looks terrible. This utter waste of time stands as one of the worst DVD extras I’ve ever had the misfortune of watching.
Next we find a collection of Bloopers. This two-minute and 12-second area splits into two clips: “Danny Laughs While On the Phone” and “Danny and Jody Laugh”. As those titles imply, these are just standard takes in which the participants make mistakes and giggle. Yawn.
After this we get 20 Additional Scenes and an Alternate Ending. The former fill a total of 30 minutes, 51 seconds, while the “Alternate Ending” goes for one minute, 11 seconds. Since nothing funny pops up in the final film, should you expect anything entertaining here? Nope. Most of the clips just offer more lame gags, though a few minor plot points emerge as well; for instance, Mike gets a more proper introduction. The “Alternate Ending” offers a significantly darker twist to the flick, but not one that succeeds.
A few ads open DVD One. We get clips for Defiance, The Love Guru, and American Teen. These also appear in the Previews area along with promos for Kenny Vs. Spenny and South Park Season 11.
When a critic refers to a film as “the best thing of its kind since Napoleon Dynamite, I should know to run away as quickly as possible. The Foot Fist Way doesn’t actually bear a great resemblance to Dynamite, but it shares that stinker’s absolute lack of wit or cleverness. The DVD presents flawed visuals, acceptable audio, and some erratic extras. I can’t recommend this terrible movie.
