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DVD Review


Superbad
2-Disc Extended Edition

 

Starring: Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Bill Hader and Seth Rogen
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RRP: £17.99 / £19.99
CDR46694 / CDR46694UR
Certificate: 15
Available 21 January 2008


Seth and Evan are about to head off to college and want nothing more than to hook up with the girls at High School before it’s too late. All that stands in their way is a complete lack of alcohol with which to impress at the biggest party of the year. They enlist the help of their friend Fogell, a.k.a. McLovin and, armed with a fake I.D., go in search of a liquor store that will serve them. What they end up getting in return is a rollercoaster ride of incompetent cops, irate college boys and an unforgettable finale at the big party itself...

Superbad is a rare breed of movie - a teen comedy that on the surface appears to be going for cheap laughs (through excessive use of swearing) but is actually a well constructed and intelligently written movie. That said, this is one of those films that you'll either instantly warm to or totally hate.

To be honest the whole film really rests on the shoulders of Jonah Hill's Seth. If Hill's performance wasn't believable, then the whole movie would have been a wash out. While Michael Cera (as Evan) and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (as Fogell) are great in their roles, watching the additional material on these discs made me realise that they seemed to be just playing themselves, whereas while Hill's over-the-top performance may well be an extension of his real character, a less confident actor would have made a pretty poor job of turning an arrogant idiot into a loveable character. Hell, I even bought the idea that Emma Stone's Jules would possibly find something about him attractive.

When broken down to it's core elements, Superbad is a coming of age movie that sees two inseparable best friends finally come to the realisation that they are truly scared of facing a future apart - they've been there for each other for as long as they can remember, and having to make new friends fills them with dread. With the two going to different colleges, this is their last change to go wild. And, with probably the only party they've ever been invited too beckoning, both boys are finally in with a chance of impressing the girls they both fancy.

But as Seth has been asked to buy the alcohol to help things go with a bang, he employs the help of his two trusted friends to help make the perfect end to their school lives. Along the way we discover a few secrets - like why Seth hates Becca, the girl that Evan fancies. Apparently Seth, when a lot younger, had an unhealthy obsession with drawing penis' all the time. And when Becca stumbled upon one of these illustrations she freaked out. The result being Seth spent some time in counseling. These penis' drawings are fantastically funny, and it was great to see that the end credits feature more of them.

Extras include an audio commentary which sees producer Judd Apatow and Hill get into an argument (more of that later) the end result sees Apatow walking out; Deleted and Extended Scenes (12 mins which actually seems to feature more alternate takes than anything); The Making of Superbad (13 min featurette that goes behind the scenes and interviews the main cast and crew); Dancing Title Sequence (3 min look at the filming of Cera's dancing title sequence) and trailers for other films - which seem to be so important that they are oddly enough included on the special features page as well as on the main menu page.

The audio commentary is a little disjointed, mainly down to there being too many participants. Producer Apatow unfortunately has brought his young daughter, nine year old Maude, to the recording. This was a bit of an odd move. Why on earth would anyone bring their nine year old to the audio commentary recording of a 15-certificate movie and then get angry when people start swearing in front of her. Originally, I wasn't sure whether this was just another gag being pulled on the audience, but Apatow seemed genuinely annoyed and a little stroppy.

If you purchase the single disc edition, then that's your lot for features (and you also only get the theatrical cut of the movie). But if you purchase the double disc edition you get the extended cut of the film and a lot more features.

Disc two includes Line-O-Rama (4 min look at several lines that involved slightly different gags); Gag Reel (4 min worth of outtakes); Cop Car Confessions (33 min of short improvised segments with Bill Hader and Seth Rogen in the front of their police car and a famous person in the back. UK audience will probably have a hard time working out who any of the guests are though); The Vag-Tastic Voyage (1 min version of the online porno trailer that Seth and Evan watch in the movie; Table Read (28 min of various read throughs of scenes from the script from 2002 and 2006); Auditions (13 min worth of auditions for the three main characters); Michael's Voicemails from Jonah (a handful of odd voicemails that Hill left for Cera on his mobile phone before, during and after filming); Snakes on Jonah (5 min featurette that sees two odd guys who try and get Hill to handle large spiders, bugs and snakes); TV Safe Lines (3 min look at how a lot of the lines had to be recorded with TV safe dialogue); Everyone Hates Michael Cera (7 min spoof documentary which sees the cast and crew snubbing Cera on set. While you know it's all fake, some of the scenes are incredibly uncomfortable to watch); On Set Diaries (18 min of to camera pieces from various members of cast and crew as filming progresses); The Music of Superbad (13 min look at the work that went into composing the soundtrack); Press Junket Meltdown (3 min spoof UK press interview where Hill storms off).

I would usually only recommend the single disc edition for releases like this - to be perfectly honest there's not really that much material on the second disc that you'll want to watch more than once - but as the RRP is £2 difference (and most online stores are selling them at the same discount price) it really comes down to whether you want to own the original theatrical cut of the movie or the extended version.

While I'm sure there will be thousands of people who are offended by this movie, those that actually take the time to appreciate its deeper level will see that beneath the surface is a beautiful film with a lot of heart. Oh yeah, and it's hilariously funny too.

8

Darren Rea

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£12.98 (Amazon.co.uk)
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£12.99 (Play.com)
Single Disc Edition
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£12.97 (Tesco.com)
Double Disc Edition
   
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£11.93 (Asda.co.uk)
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£12.93 (Asda.co.uk)
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£11.93 (Thehut.com)
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£12.93 (Thehut.com)
Double Disc Edition

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