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The Movie:
Another series that's part of MTV's "Sunday Stew", "Viva La Bam" stars "Jackass" alum Bam Margera in a show that is entirely about seriously messing with Bam's parents, April and Phil. The entire series is about Bam and friends Brandon DiCamillo, Ryan Dunn, Chris Raab, and Rake Yohn coming up with new (and admittedly, somewhat inspired) ways to cause Bam's parents emotional distress.
The first episode alone has Bam installing a firepole in his parent's house to get from one floor to the other, installing remote-controlled hydraulics in his parent's van to mess with Phil and Bam's uncle while they're trying to eat a not particularly healthy breakfast, they then crush the van and deliver it to Bam's parents and finally, they install $20,000 worth of skate ramps all over the house.
Another episode has Bam dragging Phil and April to Vegas to renew their vows, while he he also hooks up Raab with a fake Russian mail-order bride that he's supposed to marry. Another episode has Bam trying to leave April on an island near the infamous Three Mile Island for 24 hours. When she turns the tables and leaves him and his friends there, Bam attempts revenge. The season finale has Bam, his friends and the band the Bloodhound Gang racing around town in beat-up cars trying to collect items and do tasks in order to win a scavenger hunt. The season ends with Bam and his fam having to move, due to violating what several of the town's ordinances.
Overall, the show has some funny moments (the 3 Mile Island episode, the opening episode), but it does get a little repetitive after a while and I can't see it lasting too terribly long. The animated cutaways will also hopefully be lost in future episodes, as well. In terms of MTV projects, I think "Wildboyz" is somewhat funnier, but fun characters and some imaginative chaos made "Viva La Bam" watchable.
Phil's Hell Day
Don't Feed Phil
The Family Reunion
We're Going to Vegas!
Three-Day Weekend
The Christmas Episode
April Gets Revenge
The Scavenger Hunt
Note: Language on the episodes is uncensored on this DVD edition.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Viva La Bam" is presented by Paramount in 1.33:1 full-frame, the show's original aspect ratio. The picture quality is perfectly decent, as the different cameras used in filming offer varied image quality. Sharpness and detail was mostly fine, although there are moments in low-light or with some of the handheld cameras that appeared softer.
Some of the low-light shots appear mildly grainy and show slight traces of pixelation. However, the source elements appeared to be in fine shape and no edge enhancement was seen.
SOUND: "Viva La Bam" is presented with 2.0 audio. Dialogue, music and various sound effects are clear and clean.
EXTRAS: The main supplement is an "uncommon-tary" featuring Bam Margera, Phil Margera, April Margera and Brandon DiCamillo, Ryan Dunn, Tim Glomb, Chris Raab, and Rake Yohn. The commentaries are surprisingly organized, with no a whole lot of talking out of turn, but there's not really any information here, either. Mainly, we get stories about the show and some funny chats about what's going on on-screen. Entertaining enough for a listen.
The main supplement on the bonus disc is about an hour of bonus footage, including deleted scenes from every episode. the footage from the first episode is a "director's cut" of the opening episode, which focuses on the building of the skate park and the skating contest. We also get to see the results of mis-cooking a can of beans on Three Mile Island from the "April's Revenge" episode. Rounding out the section is a series of random deleted moments.
Rounding out the second disc is the complete Scavenger Hunt list, bios, a photo gallery and music videos from Turbonegro, CKY, Clutch and the Dicamillo Sisters. There's also promos for other Paramount titles.
Final Thoughts: "Viva La Bam" is a mixed bag - some episodes are fairly uneventful and repetitive, while I found some others hilarious. Paramount's DVD offers fine audio/video quality and a good helping of supplemental features. Recommended for fans.
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