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Hot Rod
[HD DVD] R0 - America - Paramount Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (19th December 2007). |
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The Film
 Andy Samberg and his creative partners Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone were originally behind the sketch comedy website The Lonely Island. Their sketches were popular enough to warrant the attention of "Saturday Night Live" (1975-Present) creator and producer Lorne Michaels, and Samberg was confirmed to be joining the cast of the series with Schaffer and Taccone also coming onboard the team as writers. Their run would include memorable and often hilarious short films and music video parodies such as "Dick in a Box" in which they did with Justin Timberlake as well as the 'Punch When Eating' short where Samberg punches people as they're about to east something and features a cameo from Jon Bon Jovi. Their style brings a fresh new brand of comedy to the series which had been in a slump for years. Their popularity on the series would eventually stretch out into feature films as we've seen in the past with other 'SNL' players branching out, and "Hot Rod" was Samberg's film. The script was originally written for Will Farrell, but for some reason or another it never happened and The Lonely Island boys got a crack at the script and developed it geared towards their brand of humor. The film was shot in-between the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons of 'SNL' and was promptly released to theater-goers who all but ignored the film. On paper the film bombed, I don't even remember its theatrical run and here it is now on HD DVD (and DVD). I'm not entirely sure why this film didn't get a big enough release, other than the fact that there are no real known stars but that shouldn't be factor considering the massive success of "Knocked-up" (2007) and "Superbad" (2007) both featuring a relatively unknown cast. "Hot Rod" may not be as funny as either of those two films, but it is funny and has some stand out moments that'll have you in stitches. "Hot Rod" tells the story of Rod Kimble (Andy Samberg), a wannabe stunt man who attempts jumps and other dangerous things to hone is craft, and the only problem is that he's really crap at being a stunt guy and screws up every attempt. Things aren't made better by his crew either, a group of losers consisting of his step-brother Kevin Powell (Jorma Taccone) and his friends Dave (Bill Hader) and Rico (Danny R. McBride). While Rod tries to become the best stuntman ever, he learns that his childhood crush Denise (Isla Fisher) has moved back home and the challenge to win her takes over. The only problem is Denise is currently going out with Jonathan (Will Arnett), a successful city boy who also happens to be a giant asshole. While trying to win the girl and doing dangerous stunts Rod learns that his step-father Frank (Ian McShane) is dying, Rod has never been able to beat Frank in a fight, so he decides to raise money by doing various stunts to help his step-father so that he can be well enough to finally get his ass kicked. But of course all kinds of challenges are thrown in our hero's face. At first glance there's a lot about "Hot Rod" that resembles 2004's "Napoleon Dynamite" especially in regards to the 'geek chic' nature of the film. All the characters are the easily classified in that way, from their sense of dress to their mannerisms and what they think is cool largely being based on anything 1980's. This style was the flavor of the month back in 2004-2005 but seems a bit old hat now, especially when you have people like Judd Apatow redefining the summer comedy...twice this year. Despite its geek style the film does have some hilarious moments from the opening scene where Rod slams into his landing ramp to the other crazy stunts that go wrong scattered throughout the film. The physical humor stands out the most, and considering this is a film about a wannabe stunt guy it makes sense to focus on that aspect heavily but never exclusively. The film includes such inspired acts of comedy as the frustrated punch dance sequence which parodies "Footloose" (1984), and although the sub-plot with Rod and Denise can be considered been-there-done-that, the dialogue between them makes it enjoyable and will almost always induce a smile. In the hands of another comedian, (Will Farrell for example) this could have easily become a vanity project with the star taking the focus but the world in which these guys created allows the entire cast to partake in the fun and as a result feels like a group effort in which everyone involved gets to showcase their talent. Bottom line is that "Hot Rod" is not that original but it's damn funny and Samberg makes a likable goof-ball that you can root for.
Video
Presented in the film's original widescreen theatrical ratio of 2.35:1 this high-definition transfer is presented in 1080p 24/fps and created using AVC MPEG-4 compression. Like the Standard DVD transfer it is a good effort, it's just not all that impressive and certainly not a title you'd use to display your HD set-up. While a slight improvement over the DVD release in areas such as sharpness, depth and detail I was still disappointed in the in the fact that some shots still looked a little soft and that skin tones verge on the orange at times. On the plus side the image is clean and smooth looking which is expected. Black levels are deep and bold and shadow detail is consistent, I spotted very little grain and no compression related issues. Overall it's a good transfer for HD DVD but nothing special.
Audio
Four audio tracks are included in English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround presented at 48kHz/24-bit as well as Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 tracks in English, French and Spanish. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its English TrueHD track. The 5.1 mix is a slight upgrade from the standard 5.1 mix on the DVD, adding a bit more depth to the ambient surrounds and the stunt scenes which seem to have a bit more oomph behind them. Although being a comedy the majority of the sound is very much front heavy, with clear and distortion free dialogue. While this is a step up from the standard 5.1 mix it still fails to really impress and provide for a totally immersive surround experience, but then again it's not really meant to considering the type of film we're dealing with. Optional subtitles are included in English, English for the hearing impaired, French, Portuguese and Spanish.
Extras
Paramount has released this film on HD DVD with an audio commentary, three featurettes, deleted and extended scenes, additional videos and the film's theatrical trailer. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up we've got a feature-length audio commentary by the film's director Akiva Schaffer and cast members Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone. The track is largely screen-specific as they open it up by commenting on what it's like being in the recording booth along with a bunch of ugly naked ladies, the tone is pretty much established right away that you're in for a light-hearted track with lots of jokes. They occasionally comment on the film, in fact Shaffer tries to veer the conversations onto the film but Samberg and Taccone always crack a joke or bring it down to another level, it's rather funny listening to these guys as you really get a sense that they've been working together for a long time and clearly enjoy each other's company, you'll hear about a variety of things from who they prefer to spoon with to stories from the production. Overall you won't really get a lot of information on the making of the film but you'll have a good time listening to the track, almost as fun as watching the film itself. "Ancestors Protect Me: Behind-the-Scenes of Hot Rod" is a featurette that runs for 7 minutes 57 seconds and features interviews with the key cast and crew as we see footage of the production, they comment on the story and dumbing down the script for Samberg, on working with each other and the stunts. The tone is very jokey and tongue-in-cheek as they insult each other and crack jokes on set. If it wasn't clear enough in the commentary that this film was fun to work on you'll certainly find that here, oh and a pants less Jorma too. Following that are 15 deleted and extended scenes which can be viewed individually or with a 'play all' feature and also can be viewed with optional audio commentary by the film's director Akiva Schaffer and cast members Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone, in the track they comment on the scenes and why they didn't work, the scenes included are: - "Opening Credit Biker" runs for 38 seconds, Rod and a biker rev up their bikes at the traffic lights. - "Rod Shuts Front Door on Kevin" runs for 1 minute 19 seconds, Rod continues to shut out Kevin. - "Rod Meets Denise" runs for 43 seconds, Frank tells Denise that Rod has no penis. - "Rod and the Lamps" runs for 40 seconds, in anger Rod smashes all the lamps in the house. - "Rico High-Fives" runs for 22 seconds, an extended version of Rico's intense high-five sequence. - "Rico and Dave Converse" runs for 54 seconds, additional improve moments with these characters. - "Kevin and Rico Shotgun Beers" runs for 1 minute 24 seconds, Rico show's Kevin how to shotgun a beer. - "Family Dinner" runs for 1 minute 3 seconds, Frank tries to make Rod angry by hitting him. - "Playing with Toys" runs for 2 minutes 12 seconds, Rod projects his fantasy's on the toys he plays with. - "Double Date" runs for 52 seconds, additional improved lines during the date scene with Jonathan, Denise and Rod. - "Rod and Kevin at the Screening" runs for 34 seconds, Rod says something weird to his step-brother. - "Rod Impresses Goth Kids" runs for 1 minute, Rod shows off a few tricks. - "Rico Hits on a Lady" runs for 50 seconds, a couple of improved pick-up lines that backfire on Rico at the ice cream stand. - "Barry Pasterneck" runs for 1 minute 1 second, more improved lines from the radio host. - "Kevin Sings Karaoke" runs for 57 seconds, features Kevin singing to his stuffed animals in this semi-creepy scene. An outtakes reel is next and runs for 3 minutes 32 seconds, here we get some funny moments, alternate improved lines among other things. A series of 8 Kevin's videos is included and feature the following: - "Stuntman Forever" runs for 1 minute 4 seconds, a clip displaying Rod's stunt abilities and the 7 sins of a stunt man. - "Training Video #1: Shimmy Exercise" runs for 26 seconds and features Rod trying to shimmy up a tree. - "Training Video #2: Wall Exercise" runs for 23 seconds and features Rod running up a wall. - "Jetski: The Real Deal" runs for 15 seconds and sees Rod showing off someone else's jetski.' - "Remembering Rod" runs for 28 seconds, an 'in memoriam' clip that estimates Rod's death at around 2010. - "Training Video #3: Dexterity Exercise" runs for 33 seconds, Rod flexes in front of the camera. - "Training Video #4: Cone Slalom" runs for 45 seconds, Rod shows us how to slalom around parking cones. - "Donut King!" runs for 25 seconds and features Rod pulling a donut in some dirt with his bike. Also included is "Punch-Dance", a featurette that runs for 1 minute 57 seconds and is a look at the sequence in the film that is inspired by the Warehouse sequence in "Footloose" as we get a comparison between the two scenes. After that we've got "Home Video Footage of Orchestra Recording Session" a featurette which runs for 1 minute 28 seconds and is exactly as the title suggests, the orchestra during the scoring session for the film. Rounding out the film's extras is the original theatrical trailer which runs for 53 seconds.
Overall
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