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The Movie:
"Jackass" started off as one of those things that I doubt anyone involved thought would be what it turned out to be. The series, which became one of the most popular ever on MTV (and spawned a feature film that, despite being essentially an extended episode costing $5m, went on to make nearly $65m) , can best be described as a twisted, drunken version of "Fear Factor", with some "America's Funniest Home Videos" thrown in for good measure. Essentially, star/host Johnny Knoxville and his band of pranksters (Bam Margera, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Ryan Dunn, Wee Man, Preston Lacy and others) come up with new (and, love it or hate it, you have to admit that they're occasionally pretty creative in their own bizarre way - see "Urban Kayaking", which I'm surprised never caught on - there's so many big city fountains out there) and sometimes quite dangerous ways to either injure themselves (don't try this at home, kids!) or shock and/or embarass others.
"Jackass: The Box Set" offers a look at the train wreck that was "Jackass", with three volumes that offer a total of nearly 300 bits, not to mention an additional disc of bonus material. The bits are consistently funny, sometimes absolutely disgusting and occasionally, remarkably horrific. As for the remarkably horrific part, look no further than "Poo Diving", where Ryan Dunn jumps completely (scuba mask and all) into a sewage treatment tank, with sewage rushing into the tank the entire time. Not too much later, Dunn jumps into a tank full of sardines in 32-degree water - but that's not all, as he then sits in a bin and gets buried by the tank's contents. In one of many dangerous bits, a bunch of the Jackasses try their best to keep standing on a treadmill running on full power, only to find themselves flung backwards.
There are also bits that are brief and immature, but still done in a way that's incredibly funny. In one, Knoxville travels to a town called Mianus, and asks townspeople questions like, "What is there to do in Mianus?" and "How do you have fun in Mianus?" In another brief bit, the group crashes a yoga class and, despite looking like they're seriously trying to be involved, fart noises suddenly break the silence.
There are definitely bits throughout the series that don't work, but they're often still pretty amusing, as the group always tries their best. These include: "Bread Suit" (Knoxville wears a bread suit to feed the birds, who seem uninterested), "Lawn Trap" (Bam tries to pull a prank, but it doesn't work all that well), "American Werewolf" (Steve-O dresses in a werewolf suit and runs around London, howling at people), "The Straightjacket" (taking Bam away in a straightjacket) and others.
"Jackass" also shows the early inspiration for MTV's "Viva La Bam", as star Bam Margera is seen terrorizing parents April and Phil in a handful of segments here, including "Heavy Metal Alarm Clock". "Wildboyz" stars Chris Pontius and Steve-O (as well as co-star Manny) also have some interaction with animals here prior to their recent MTV nature series.
As for the controversy, "Jackass" ran into trouble on MTV when a few teenagers were injured imitating the show's stunts. The show has a medic (in one bit here, Knoxville calls his doctor, who has a tone of "what the hell are you doing now?") and the cast - as we see in the movie in a couple of scenes - get injured. Watch the movie as stupid, silly and crudely hilarious entertainment. Don't try these stunts yourself (after watching the movie and the series, I don't know why anyone would want to.)
The DVD
VIDEO: "Jackass" is presented by Paramount in the show's original 1.33:1 full-frame aspect ratio. Filmed with digital video cameras with somewhat varying quality levels (always fairly basic), the picture quality shows off "Jackass" about as well as it's possibly going to look. Sharpness and detail are often pretty good, although there are definitely moments that look softer than the rest - especially some of the night sequences, which can look somewhat muddy.
Aside from some minor shimmering, the picture remained free of flaws such as edge enhancement or pixelation. Colors looked natural and accurate, with no smearing or other issues. Again, the show certainly isn't slick in any ways (sick yes, slick no) and the image quality is very fine for the material.
SOUND: The 2.0 audio is very basic "documentary style" audio, with all of the crashes and dialogue generally sounding crisp and clear, aside from moments where street noise or other environmental sounds overwhelm the dialogue a bit.
EXTRAS: Many of the segments have commentary from Johnny Knoxville, Wee Man, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Dave England, Ehren McGhehey, Preseton Lacy, Dimitry Elyashkevich and Jeff Tremaine. The commentary is mostly a mess, but a fun one - many segments have everyone talking over one another, and there's a lot of laughing and joking. Occasionally, cool stories about the making of the bit rise above the chaos, but mostly it's just the group having a great deal of fun watching the bits and making fun of themselves.
The fourth disc opens with "Gumball 3000" (45 minutes), which is a look at the famed 3,000 mile road race that members of the "Jackass" crew participated in. Essentially, the race goes from London to Russia and back (with partying and other insanity along the way), and the racers use a wide variety of cars, but mostly some pretty spectacular (and spectacularly expensive) autos. The documentary is pretty funny, as the bunch crack jokes and pull pranks while stuck in the car with each other. There's also optional commentary available here, as well.
"Where Are They Now?" is a 50-minute documentary that looks at what the former "Jackass" crew members are up to these days. While Steve-O and Chris Pontius are doing "Wildboyz" and Bam Margera and others are doing "Viva La Bam", this documentary offers a look at what everyone is up to and their opinions on the show's legacy. This is definitely a piece that the fans will enjoy, as we hear about deleted stunts, what or who inspired certain bits, filming techniques (or lack of them, as there were times when stunts had to be done again because the film crew missed the bit), favorite moments and more.
Next is "Cribs: The Jackass Edition", which features Bam Margera, Steve-O, Johnny Knoxville, Chris Pontius and Ryan Dunn's houses. There's also "Jackass" member appearances at the 2002 VMAs and 2002 Latin VMAs, the two skits featuring Brad Pitt ("Abduction" and "Night Monkey 2"), photo galleries and previews. Last, but certainly not least, there's a terrific book included in the set that offers information about the creation of the show and about skits that did and didn't happen.
Final Thoughts: "Jackass" is dumb, dangerous, goofy, immature and often pretty sick, but when it works, it's absolutely hilarious. This DVD set provides hours of stupid fun (complete with entertaining commentaries and a disc of bonus material), and fans will definitely want to pick this up.
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