Jackass: The Movie comes from Paramount in an anamorphically enhanced transfer in the film’s original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The film looked as “professional” as it could considering how the film was made and the material they were presenting and ultimately, the image was consistently sharp and detailed throughout. (As an aside, the studio has a fullscreen version of the film available as well, so make sure when you purchase the DVD, you look for the “Widescreen” banner on the box.)
The Jackass crew got bigger toys to play with in Jackass: The Movie and the lower-end DV cameras that the kids used on the television show have been replaced with much nicer, more professional equipment … all advantages of the much larger budget. The film’s color palette was quite natural looking and presented no concerns whatsoever. Bleeding and oversaturation were never an issue and things looked as pleasing as you might expect them to considering the majority of Jackass: The Movie was shot on video. Ultimately, sewage was appropriately dank and dark looking; puke and dung were grotesquely colorful; and members’ butt-cheeks portrayed accurate fleshtones.
For those of you familiar with the show, the upgrade in picture quality is quite obvious and there’s a very professional “gloss” across the entire production. While the opening and closing segments of the movie were shot on film, the segments in-between were still shot on video – although of a much higher quality than the now defunct television show. However, the overall production values remain the same, as the footage still looks like it was shot by a bunch of kids running around with some high-priced video cameras filming themselves acting like a bunch of jackasses.
Image quality was pretty stable throughout with very few errors encountered. Pixelation was spotted in a couple of areas (usually because the camera was violently jarred for whatever reason), as was a slight amount of shimmer and edge enhancement. Grain was only evident in the darkest of scenes, and print flaws were all but non-existent in the film. All in all, a very pristine print.
Paramount’s presentation looks as good as it possibly can given the type of material involved and fans of the film won’t find anything to complain about here. Everything looks as it should and quite simply Jackass: The Movie has never looked better. Excellent job.
When you upgrade your budget, everything around you gets upgraded and since the boys from Jackass made the leap from the small screen to the big, they got a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio transfer to go along with it. That being said, this isn’t really the type of film that’s going to exploit and/or show off Dolby’s 5.1 capabilities during even its most active moments.
I really don’t know what to tell you about this mix, as if you’ve ever seen the show - and I’m sure the majority of you have at least once in your life – you know what to expect. While the audio has been given a very noticeable and very definitive upgrade from the television show, it’s still not at a level where it can even begin to complete with even a mid-level action blockbuster. Even so, those of us who love the show don’t care and won’t care – none of us are purchasing this disc to show off a really cool pan or impressive ambient moment – we’re buying it to laugh our ass off and thankfully, those moments seem to have been upgraded as well.
In a nutshell, the film is a very forward-driven affair, with a few moments of active surround use. Dialogue was firmly anchored in the front channel and never showed any moments of harshness or edginess in relation to the transfer – and if it was present, it was usually interference from the mics that the crew wore on their person during some of the more active stunts. The film contained a very energetic soundtrack and Paramount presented those tunes with excellent stereo separation and fidelity at all times. The LFE was used to reinforce the soundtrack, as well as add some emphasis to certain effects like heads/bodies bouncing off of the pavement or quick punches to the nuts.
Paramount has also included an English Dolby Surround transfer, as well as English subtitles and all in all, Jackass: The Movie was a pleasing listen.
Paramount has done an excellent job with the supplements for Jackass: The Movie. There’s actually much more than expected, with many of the supplements being quite a nice surprise. Let’s take a look, shall we?
After popping the disc in, we are presented with a theatrical trailer for The Core, as well as a DVD trailer for Extreme Ops and Jackass: Volumes 2 and 3. These can easily be skipped by pressing your –MENU- button if need be.
Starting things of is a Commentary with director Jeff Tremaine, cinematographer Dimitry Elyashkevich, and Johnny Knoxville. This commentary was a lot of fun, as the trio was recorded together and obviously has a great time recalling what it was like making this film. The commentary was evidently recorded a couple of weeks after the film hit theaters and the boys are in a great mood because if I’m not mistaken, the film claimed the #1 spot for at least a couple of weeks. Even so, there’s nothing really technical discussed here, as all you really hear about is the set-up and execution of the stunt that’s currently on the screen, as well as the occasional gem and anecdote from behind-the-scenes. There are definitely some great stories from the group here and this commentary is simply another fun way to watch and enjoy the film.
Surprisingly, there are two commentaries on the disc and the next offering is a feature-length Jackass Group Commentary that features the remainder of the players. Included here are Ehren McGhegan, Steve-O, Bam, Preston, Party Boy, Wee Man, Dave England, and Ryan Dunn and they were all recorded together in order to make this quite a lively experience. This commentary could substitute for the previous one, as it’s nothing more than a bunch of semi-sober guys sitting around watching their movie and goofing on each other. However, this commentary’s a bit more disjointed than the previous one and these guys are quite simply all over the map while watching and discussing the film. Listening to the commentary was a lot of fun and again, a great way to enjoy the film. It’s obvious these guys are a tight-knit and fun-loving group and it was cool to hear them dissect the film for us in the commentary. A really nice addition.
MTV’s “Making of Jackass: The Movie” (24:34) is next and given the fact that I totally dig the source material, I really enjoyed the featurette. The interviews with the cast and crew aren’t as informative as they are funny and there’s not a whole lot to be gleaned here other than these idiots had a great time spending someone else’s money to do stupid stuff and break things. Topics aren’t covered so much as are certain sequences, stunts and/or personalities and I really enjoyed this extra quite a bit. Definitely worth a look for any self-respecting Jackass fan. (That’ll be the first and only time you’ll see “self-respecting” and “Jackass” in the same sentence!)
Next up are a series of Outtakes (7:10) and while this may seem like it’s going to be funny, it really isn’t. This section is really nothing more than flubbed lines during the “Hello. I’m so-and-so and this is –insert stunt name here-.” Funny in spots, but don’t get your hopes up.
Additional Footage (27:51) follows and here we have extensions of segments that ran in the film, as well as segments that were cut. We can select them to view individually (‘Grocery Store Shopping Cart’, ‘Pocket Ass Return’, ‘Seattle Skimboarding’, ‘Ceiling Fan’, ‘Bullfighting for Dollars’, ‘Gary’s Dog’, ‘Mustard Assault’, ‘Preston Chases Wee Man’, ‘Party Boy Rockabilly’, ‘Poo River Pole Vault’, ‘Little Red Wagon’, ‘Bamboo Boo’, ‘Steve-O Nurse Shark’, ‘Phil Vs. Alligator’, ‘Party Boy Rat Tail’, ‘Sand Vagina’, ‘Party Boy Crosswalk’, ‘Party Boy Philosophy’, and ‘The Failed Ending’) or view them all at once through Paramount’s handy –PLAY ALL- feature. Many of the segments were of the same caliber as what ran in the film, so this was almost like having 30-minutes added to the feature itself. This was a really nice addition to Paramount’s already fine set and one that I enjoyed immensely.
A selection of Music Videos follow and included are two selections – “If You’re Gonna Be Dumb” by Roger Alan Wade (fullscreen and Dolby 2.0) and “We Want Fun” by Andrew W.K. (widescreen and Dolby 2.0). Nothing great, but the Andrew W.K. song is pretty catchy if nothing else. Worth checking out at the very least.
Following is a selection of Jackass: The Movie Promo Spots (5:02) and included are nine promos that ran on TV/MTV in promotion of the film. The spots can be selected individually (‘Peer Pressure’, ‘Immunization’, ‘Nutrition’, ‘Hobbies’, ‘Doctor’, ‘Safety on Wheels’, ‘Merchandise Promo’, ‘Critical Acclaim’, and ‘Soundtrack Version C’) or though Paramount’s –PLAY ALL- selection. These TV spots are followed by the film’s Theatrical Trailer.
Finishing off the disc are some rather informative Cast and Crew Biographies, as well as some Galleries of “Photo” and “Poster” variety. The photo gallery was rather generic, but the poster gallery contained some really interesting concepts that I never saw used anywhere in Tupelo, Mississippi (Big Shock!).
Ultimately, Paramount has included a very nice selection of supplements for the film and fans will find themselves very pleased with the results. This was a really great set and one that I’m glad to have in my collection. Job well done from the fine folks at Paramount.
Look - you already know whether or not you want it – my review isn’t going to sway you one way or the other. However, if you enjoyed Jackass, you’ll absolutely love Jackass: The Movie and Paramount’s DVD presentation is worth every penny – guaranteed.