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The Movie: Another day, another direct-to-video sequel. While one wonders at what point the market will become oversaturated with these offerings, the demand certainly still exists - the latest "Bring It On" and "American Pie" direct-to-video sequels managed surprising numbers. Which leads us to "The Naked Mile", the latest in the "Pie" series. The film focuses on Eric Stiffler (cousin of the Sean William Scott character from the first three films and other Stiffler brother Matt from the fourth film), played by John White (who, as with the other actors playing Stifflers, somehow sounds exactly like Seann William Scott.) After another embarassing opening (a running gag in the series) that results in his grandmother's passing, Erik realizes that he's the only Stiffler ever to be graduating high school and still a virgin. While in a caring relationship with Tracy (Jessy Schram), she has told him she isn't ready to have sex yet. After a night together doesn't exactly go well, Erik decides to go with other cousin Adam Stiffler (Steve Talley) to the local college for the weekend in order to participate in "The Naked Mile", an event after finals where a ton of coeds run a mile naked. Meanwhile, Tracy stays at home worrying about the state of their relationship. Not surprisingly, Mr. Levinstein (only remaining original cast member Eugene Levy - getting a paycheck here, but that's okay because Eugene Levy is okay) is on-hand to offer advice to everyone involved. Otherwise, what we get here are the usual hijinks (drinking, slapstick, more female nudity than the other films) and some unexpected ones (the group has a rivalry with a group of little people who continually destroy them on the football field.) The film isn't anything new really from the franchise and it still isn't funny as the second or third films (can't say I've ever liked the first "American Pie"), but it's an improvement over number four, which I thought wasn't half bad for a direct-to-video feature. The DVD VIDEO: "The Naked Mile" is presented by Universal in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The presentation quality was quite nice, as the picture looked consistently crisp and well-defined, even in some of the darker interiors. While some slight edge enhancement and artifacting were noticed in a few scenes, neither issue was much of a distraction. Colors remained bright and nicely saturated, with no smearing or other issues. SOUND: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is just fine for this sort of material, using the surrounds nicely to deliver ambience during the party scenes, but otherwise remaining a front-heavy mix. Audio quality was fine, with crisp dialogue and bassy, punchy music. EXTRAS: 6 minutes of deleted/extended scenes (nothing too remarkable), a somewhat funny gag reel, "Yoga Guide to Getting Girls" featurette, "Bare Essentials" featurette, "Little People, Big Stunts" featurette, "Life on the Naked Mile" featurette and finally, audio commentary from director Joe Nussbaum and cast members. Web extra for the movie: an interactive "video swapper" game (http://www.americanpiemovie.com/game/) Viewers can also check out a clip from the "Life on the Mile" featurette here and the official site here. Final Thoughts: While it doesn't bring anything new to the table, "American Pie 5" does offer some enjoyable lowbrow laughs. The DVD presentation offers a nice set of extras and fine audio/video quality. Fans of the series should try a rental. 
Film Grade The Film B- DVD Grades Video 89/B+ Audio: 87/B Extras: 85/B |