The entire release feels like a port of that older SKU...
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Movies, video games, comic books and action figures are all parts of any boy´s life growing up. Kevin Smith has enjoyed many of the same things I have and he makes movies about them. I wasn´t necessarily a huge comic book fan, but I had a few issues of The Amazing Spider-Man. G.I. Joe and The Transformers were more my speed as a youngin. I still love my Sega Genesis and have a very large collection of vintage and current consoles. EA Sports "NHL Hockey" was a staple of getting through Penn State and the quote "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned for Sega" is something that graces my own personal webspace and has been uttered more than once in proper context. There is a lot about my growing up that was definitely ´nerdy´ and a Kevin Smith movie rekindles those nerdy moments. All that has been missing from a Kevin Smith movie is jokes about Warhammer 40k.
"Mallrats" was a box office flop for Gramercy Pictures when it was first release. Director and creator Kevin Smith was given a then- large ten million dollar budget to make his film after the worldwide success of his black and white Indie darling "Clerks." With his on-screen persona Silent Bob and overly noisy sidekick Jay (Jason Mewes) returning to this sequel to the earlier film, the picture failed miserably in theaters. The film is now released by Universal under the Rogue Pictures banner and has become a tremendous success for the studio as a video release and its multitude of home video releases all have sold well and after a dozen years, the picture is no longer considered a complete bomb and has become a bona-fide cult classic in a series that has seen six films released in its ´trilogy.´
I will admit now that I am a tremendous fan of the "View Askewniverse" series of films from Kevin Smith. From the moment I first watched "Clerks," I was hooked and have watched each of the resulting films a number of times each. I look to these films as being pop culture comedies that are witty and hilarious in their situations and comedy. Yes, the films are ´potty-mouthed´ adolescent humored romps through sexually and drug driven culture, but Kevin Smith has a strong handle on life for our generation and "Mallrats" is simply another chapter in the long running look at what it is like to grow up as a product of the Eighties and Nineties. The humor is over-the-top and everything that appears on-screen cannot be necessarily believed, but for anybody that has wondered about Superman´s sperm or hoped to use the Force to levitate an object will cherish many of the moments contained in this film.
There are a number of familiar faces contained in "Mallrats" and the recent success of NBC´s "My Name is Earl" has made star Jason Lee a familiar face to America. His co-star on the television hit, Ethan Suplee had an early role in "Mallrats." Jeremy London, Shannen Doherty, Claire Forlani, Joey Lauren Adams and Michael Rooker have all had successful careers in front of the cameras. Another actor had a very early performance in "Mallrats" and years later, Ben Affleck is now perhaps the most successful actor to emerge from Kevin Smith´s band of brothers. "Mallrats" is an ensemble comedy that is contained with a never-ending stream of jokes and comedic situations. The Easter Bunny gets his ass handed to him by Jay and Silent Bob and a Batman homage goes awry when Silent Bob crashes into a woman´s dressing room. The term "Stink Palm" is grossly introduced. The fun never seems to stop in "Mallrats" and the close nit cast certainly appeared to have a lot of fun in making the film.
"Mallrats" is certainly not "Clerks." The dialogue isn´t as cleverly written and "Mallrats" relies more on physical comedy and over-the-top moments than the grounded-in-reality situations of "Clerks." The events in the first film could all have happened, but a definite level of disbelief needs to be suspended to fully enjoy the laughs contained in the sophomoric effort by Kevin Smith. If you sit back and enjoy the film for what it is, it is hard to not laugh and be entertained by it. It is meant to celebrate and poke fun at the nerdy idols of growing up in a time when Duran Duran ruled the airwaves. The language is heavy and the drug and sex humor is almost non-stop. It´s damn funny, but perhaps my own life experiences come close to what happens in this film and I can truly enjoy it. "Clerks" will always be my favorite Kevin Smith film and "Mallrats" does not rank second, but I still love it.
Video:
The amount of excitement and hype I had built up for the HD-DVD release of "Mallrats" was pretty high. I wasn´t expecting a vibrant looking film that pushed the tech, but I certainly had hoped it would be a definite improvement over the passable DVD release. I had spent more time watching the movie on LaserDisc than I did any of the more recent formats, but eagerly looked forward to "Mallrats" joining "Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back" and "Clerks II" on my High Definition shelf. Unfortunately, "Mallrats" did not look much better than the DVD release and all of the excitement I felt towards the release quickly subsided when I realized this wasn´t much improved over the DVD release; at least when comparing that title through an upconvert player. Now, popping the standard definition release into an older player does show the improvement in this release, but I was still hoping for more.
The coloring of "Mallrats" is very good and the comic book-like opening credits of the film look superb. Fleshtones are also very good and the colors are consistently strong throughout the film. Jason Lee has a bit of rosy coloring to his nose and cheeks, but the actor was sick during production and the HD-DVD only highlights his red nose in some early filmed scenes. The level of detail is where the film does not necessarily improve by much. Skin details, textures and depth are all lacking when compared to many other releases, but this is more at fault to the original source materials than the mastering of the title. A thin layer of grin was present throughout the film and darker elements showed definite edge enhancement. The picture quality isn´t bad, but it does fall slightly below average.
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[release]20852[/release]