BLU-RAY REVIEW: Kevin Smith 3-Movie Collection

[JessHorsley]

Miramax brings three of the Mallrats master's best to Blu-ray hi-def...

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To many a geeks, Kevin Smith is a god. His ability to capture both the emotional trauma and physical abuse of those who were raised on Marvel comics, NES video games, and old school film has many a movie-lovers in love. Now, thanks to Miramax, fans of three of this writer/director's best films to Blu-ray hi-def.

Included in this 3-movie set is the one which put the writer/director on the map: Clerks; the fan-favorite follow-up love story to Mallrats, Chasing Amy; and the obnoxious and overly crude laughfest, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

Each film comes to life beautifully in gorgeous 1080p hi-def. Both Clerks and Chasing Amy appear in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio while Jay & Silent Bob appears in 2.35:1. All three feature impressive audio tracks as well; both Clerks and Chasing Amy featuring English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio while Jay & Silent Bob features a English 5.1 Uncompressed audio track. All three include both English and Spanish subtitles.

As for bonus features, all three include a variety worth exploring.

Clerks includes both the theatrical version of the film as well as the "First Cut" of the film. Both versions feature full film commentary; the theatrical cut a commentary from 1995 with Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier, Jason Mewes, Brian O'Halloran and more while the "First Cut" features a commentary with all of the above as well as Jeff Anderson (Randall). The Theatrical Cut also features an "Enhanced Playback Track" (which asks trivia questions as well as features quotes from cast and crew) while the "First Cut" features an intro by Smith.

Other special features on Clerks specifically include an animated short entitled Clerks: The Lost Scene, a 6-minute short from 2002 entitled “The Flying Car," the original cast auditions, a behind-the-scenes featuette entitled “Snowball Effect: The Story of Clerks," as well as outtakes from this featurette, an odd-ball documentary called “Mae Day: The Crumbling Of A Documentary” featuring an intro from Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier, a 10th anniversary Q&A, MTV spots with Jay and Silent Bob, musical performer Soul Asylum's "Can't Even Tell" music video, and a theatrical trailer.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back includes an audio commentary with Smith, producer/editor Scott Mosier, and actor Jason Mewes as well as instant access to select scenes from the film which "showcase the ultimate in high definition picture and sound" (ie - a plug for Blu-ray hi-def!)

Last, but certainly not least, Chasing Amy actually includes a number of new and exclusive special features available only on Blu-ray, including an audio commentary with Smith and producer Scott Mosier, a special behind-the-scenes documentary entitled "Tracing Amy: The Chasing Amy Doc," a special sit-down conversation with actor/director/writer Smith and actress Joey Lauren Adams entitled "Was it Something I Said?," and a special Q&A 10 years later with Smith and various cast members. Likewise, previously released special features include deleted scenes, outtakes, and trailers.

Overall, for those fans who have yet to pick up any of Smith's brilliantly written and well-acted films, the Kevin Smith 3-Movie Collection on Blu-ray is one place (and the most affordable place!) to start. While all three of these films have been previously available on Blu-ray, it's no surprise that there are at least a few new things to see here, specifically on the Chasing Amy disc. Likewise, there's nothing like picking up three great films in one bundle at an affordable price and obtaining something of a treasure chest of brilliant 1990's film making in the process.

The Kevin Smith 3-Movie Collection is available now wherever fine home video is sold.


- Jess C. Horsley