Mallrats

Audio:
The sound quality of "Mallrats" was slightly upgraded over the previous DVD and LaserDisc special edition releases. Kevin Smith loves pop culture and he loves music. From "Clerks" up until "Clerks II," there are always great musical selections present throughout his films and "Mallrats" is no exception. The music contained on the HD-DVD has a little more jump to it than previous versions and at higher volumes, the sound is improved and the vocals are all the more clearer. Dialogue is clear as well, but there are a few very bad examples of ADR mixing found in "Mallrats" and these seem to stand out even more on the HD-DVD release. The sound effects and ambient effects of "Mallrats" seem greatly improved over the previous releases. When Silent ´Batman´ Bob flies across the screen, the imaging across channels is markedly better. The child that can be heard screaming in the background has depth and the cheering audience at the end is lively. Considering the source material, "Mallrats" is a pretty good sounding disc.

Closing Comments:
The HD-DVD release of "Mallrats" features a repackaging of many elements from the previous 10th Anniversary release of the film. Some of those items were created for the release, while others dated back to the LaserDisc days. The feature commentary finds its video portion dropped, but the rest of that release is contained on this disc. I´ve heard the commentary a couple of times now, but it is still a funny listen. Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Scott Mosier and Vincent Pereira all sit in a room together for the commentary and continue a tradition that was started for the "Clerks" LaserDisc in having very involved and funny commentary tracks for all of the director´s releases.

After the commentary, a nice selection of other items are included. The Deleted Scenes (1:02:45) is massive in size. Vincent Pereira and Kevin Smith provide an introduction to the supplement and each individual scene. Pereira has a tremendous amount of knowledge on the history of the film and he provides a great deal of information as Kevin Smith discusses each scene with him. Some of this material is pages from the screenplay and they can be a little difficult to read as they scroll across the page and the Toshiba does not handle still frame particularly well. Cast Interviews from the Original Set (8:43) features Jason Lee, Kevin Smith and others being interviewed at the Eaton Perry Mall during development of the picture. These casual moments are nice, but there isn´t a lot of depth here.

The supplements get a little more entertaining after the lengthy deleted scenes and EPK feeling set of interviews. View Askew´s Look Back at Mallrats (21:05) is a very nice little reminiscing session between Scott Mosier and Kevin Smith. They discuss in detail the failures of the film and contains a lot of interviews and segments with others involved in the production of the film, as well as other recollections on the making of the film. The humorously titled The Erection of an Epic – The Making of Mallrats (22:09) is another lengthy piece and features a sometimes humorous look at the making of the film. There are a number of interviews and segments and some are funny, while others are not. The segment Mallrats: The Reunion (50:10) is a lengthy discussion with Kevin Smith where the director fields questions from an audience. Smith is an honest individual and this Q&A is quite funny, informative and entertaining.

A few quick and dirty supplements complete the offerings. A Brief Q&A with Kevin Smith (9:02) finds Kevin Smith discussing the Q&A created for the DVD and offering his thoughts on the lengthy special edition release and also his thoughts on the film. Kevin Smith always talks in a matter-of-fact manner and this is a nice little extra. The Outtakes (8:12) are funny and more vile in comedic value than the jokes in the film. Funny stuff, but not for the easily offended. The Music Video "Build Me Up Buttercup" by The Goops was directed by Kevin Smith. Finally, the Theatrical Trailer stops the madness.

Closing Comments:
I loved my 10th Anniversary release of "Mallrats" when it made its way to DVD. Down the road, I will also love the re-release of that DVD title onto HD-DVD. The entire release feels like a port of that older SKU and the picture quality and sound quality is improved, but not by as much as most other titles benefit from. The supplements make continual reference to the DVD, so it feels a little odd watching all of the supplements and being reminded that they were not created for this edition. Maybe in a few years, the 20th Anniversary release will have some new materials. "Mallrats" is a funny, funny film and chocked full of great pop culture references, jokes and homages. While the film wasn´t a huge success in the box office, it has become a deserving cult classic and I´m happy to have a new version of the film for my home video collection.

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