Blu-ray Review: The Kevin Smith Collection
When we heard that we were getting The Kevin Smith Collection on Blu-ray, we were very excited about the news. We fought internally about who would get to review it, cause we're all such fierce lovers of his work. As you know if you've listened to the ComicsOnline Podcast, we love Kevin Smith in everything he does. We watch all his movies, we friend him on all social networking sites, we've listened to every episode of SModcast, we watch every Evening With-we wait all day through some really crappy panels, wasting our Saturday every year just so we can see him speak live in Hall H at Comic Con. Then a few days ago we heard that we were getting The Kevin Smith Collection on Blu-ray...
Vilification.
And then it arrived and we found out the distressing news. While this is A Kevin Smith collection, it's not THE Kevin Smith Collection by any stretch of the imagination beside that which would indicate that it's THE Kevin Smith collection in question that currently being sold under the name The Kevin Smith Collection. And that's not all! It's not even THE Kevin Smith collection Volume One, as the movies aren't even the first three in the View Askewniverse' Jersey Chronicles. I supposed my first clue was that the case didnt' match the press release. It says "The Kevin Smith 3-Movie Collection". That might have been good to know.
Syntax.
Sure we have the 15th Anniversary Edition of Clerks. on Blu-ray now, and it does make us happy to see not only multiple versions of the film, not only the original extras, but also some brand new extras, but as we all know, Kevin Smith's first film is not the first film in the Chronicles.
Vagary.
Sure we have an amazing edition of Chasing Amy on Blu-ray, a film whose errors in cinematography are even more obvious in 1080p high definition video, but even so still hold up to be such an iconic film of its era, but wait, didn't we skip something? I'm certain we skipped a film...
Quandary.
Sure we have Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back... Wait, what? The second-to-last film in the series by publication date, but somehow in a Chasing Dogma way the 4th in the sexilogy, is the third of three Blu-ray s to be included in "The Collection"? Why?
Catharsis.
Oh Kevin Smith with you maniacally interconnected stories and Miramax with your less than complete "Collections" what ever are we as fans to do? Watch some awesome movies and shut up about it? Okay!
Clerks.
Clerks. is awesome as ever, and by ever I mean still watchable and quotable
and hilarious, but really not any clearer on Blu-ray, cause hey, it was shot
by amateurs using 16mm black and white film. We're lucky to ever have seen it at all. We're probably never going to get any better resolution out of
this bubbling pile of dick and fart jokes. The top 37 reasons to have it on Blu-ray are these:
1- It's got both versions, plus the animated lost scene and all the other Clerks-related extras in there too.
2- There's even a Jay and Silent Bob Making-of Documentary on it. Why? There's none of the Jay and Silent Bob disc? Really?
3- What's a good plate with nothing on it?
37- 37?
CLERKS Blu-ray Bonus Features
All New Bonus Feature!
- Introduction By Kevin Smith
- “Oh, What a Lovely Tea Party: The Making of Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back"
Plus:
- Theatrical Version of the Film
- Classic Commentary (1995)
- Enhanced Playback Track - synchronized trivia and cast & crew quotes
- “The First Cut” Version
- Kevin Smith Intro (2004)
- “The First Cut” Audio Commentary (with New Authoring / 3 viewing modes)
- Clerks: The Lost Scene - Animated Short
- “The Flying Car”
- Clerks Restoration
- Original Auditions
- “Snowball Effect: The Story of Clerks”
- Outtakes From “Snowball Effect”
- “Mae Day: The Crumbling Of A Documentary” With Intro By Kevin Smith And Scott Mosier
- 10th Anniversary Q & A
- MTV Spots With Jay & Silent Bob
- Soul Asylum “Can’t Even Tell” Music Video
- Theatrical Trailer
Chasing Amy:
After all these years, "Fingercuffs" still smells as sweet as Chasing Amy reveals 10 years later. Like Clerks. before it, Chasing Amy is an important film in film and geek pop culture. It cemented the idea of the "bromance" long before it was in fashion. It showed millions that lesbians can fuck and gave a little view into the world of indy comics. While you can tell that there's something not quite right about the rain, keep in mind that this was produced with only $250k, which was amazing even ten years ago.
CHASING AMY Blu-ray Bonus Features:
All New Bonus Features!
- “Tracing Amy: The Chasing Amy Doc”
- “Was It Something I Said?” - A Conversation With Kevin & Joey
- 10 Years Later Q & A - With Kevin Smith And The Cast
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director/Actor Kevin Smith and Producer Scott Mosier
Plus:
- Deleted Scenes
- Outtakes
- Trailer
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back:
While it's not as close to the Oni Press comic book Chasing Dogma (that perfectly bridges Chasing Amy and Dogma) as we would like it to be, it takes elements from this and adds in a whole new story as well. And with that story, it brings the hot diamond-thieving babes Jennifer Schwalbach (Clerks 2), Eliza Dushku (Buffy, Angel, Tru Calling, Dollhouse), Ali Larter (Heroes), and Shannon Elizabeth (American Pie), as well as a host of other guest stars and characters from previous Askewniverse pictures. Keep in mind that this "live action dirty cartoon" was meant to be the last movie in the series, so if it seems desperately stuffed overfull, that's cause it is, and what a wild wonderful way to do it.
JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK Blu-ray Bonus Features:
- Audio Commentary - Director Kevin Smith, Producer/Editor Scott Mosier & Jason Mewes
Denouement.
ComicsOnline gives The Kevin Smith Collection 4.5 out of 5 underdelivered collections of classic indy films that made it big.
Buy it now on Amazon.com