PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back: Special 2 Disc Edition (2001)

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back: Special 2 Disc Edition (2001)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 21-Oct-2002

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Menu Audio
Audio Commentary-Kevin Smith (Dir), Scott Mosier (Prod) & Jason Mewes
Deleted Scenes-42 with intros
Outtakes
Gallery-3
Featurette
Featurette-Will And Jon And The Clit
Featurette-Ham Affleck
Featurette-The Genius Of Will Ferrell
Trailer-Internet Trailers (2)
Featurette-Behind The Scenes
TV Spots-6
Featurette-Morris Day & The Time-Learnin' The Moves
Featurette-Guide To Morris Day & The Time
Music Video-I Got High-Afro Man
Music Video-Kick Some Ass-Stroke 9
Featurette-Comedy Central's Reel Comedy-Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back
Filmographies-Cast & Crew
Storyboards
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2001
Running Time 99:13
RSDL / Flipper RSDL
Dual Disc Set
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Kevin Smith
Studio
Distributor

Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.
Starring Kevin Smith
Jason Mewes
Case Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual
RPI $34.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
English for the Hearing Impaired
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits Yes

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is the latest instalment from actor, writer, and director Kevin Smith. Smith is responsible for the cult films Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma. Part satire, part road movie, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is one of those films that you will either love or despise. Personally, I am firmly in the latter category. The story revolves around the two characters of the title travelling across the United States to Hollywood to stop a film being made about their life. The two have been characterised in comic book form and Hollywood is turning the comic into a feature film. Along the way they have a series of adventures and meet a revolving door of oddball characters. The film is littered with cameos from the likes of Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Carrie Fisher to name but a few.

    Humour is very subjective. One person's laugh riot is another person's poison. Unfortunately, I found Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back to be painfully un-funny and appallingly self-indulgent. Self-referential humour is one thing, but when it is written this poorly it becomes tedious very quickly. The main problem I had with the film was a total dislike for the two title characters, especially the Jay character played by Jason Mewes. Jay is so obnoxious that he makes any character played by Tom Green seem inspired. In fact, this film is even worse than Freddy Got Fingered, something I thought couldn't possibly exist. Mind you, I'm sure there are fans of the film who will disagree with my opinion strongly, but that is my 2 cents worth. I am a big fan of politically incorrect humour, made popular in recent times by The Farrelly Brothers. The difference between say Kingpin (another road movie) and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is that the former actually has likeable characters and is actually funny. Judging by Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back's poor box office, it didn't cross over into the mainstream, so it is definitely for fans only.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 2:35:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    Sharpness levels are perfect, with superb shadow detail. There is no grain present and no low level noise to speak of.

    Colours are natural and bright. In fact, they are rendered beautifully.

    There are no artefacts of any kind present.

    This is a reference quality transfer, and one of the best I've seen.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back has been graced with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and an audio commentary presented in 2.0.

    Dialogue is always clear and there are no audio sync problems.

    The film's music consists basically of a collection of chart toppers, and is reasonable.

    Surround channel usage is first rate, with great use made of directional sound effects.

    The subwoofer supports the 5.1 perfectly.

    All-in-all, this is a very dynamic soundtrack.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Menu Audio

Audio Commentary

    This commentary is by Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes and Producer Scott Mosier. I found the commentary to be sporadically interesting and a lot more entertaining than the film itself. Fans will love it.

Deleted Scenes

    There are 42 deleted scenes amounting to about 90 minutes worth of footage, which has to be a record. The deleted scenes are presented by Smith, Mewes and Mosier. I found the scenes to be as redundant as the ones that remained in the film.

Outtakes

    About 10 minutes worth of fairly unfunny behind the scenes material.

Gallery

    3 galleries devoted to conceptual art and storyboards, set photos and poster design.

Featurette - Behind-the-Scenes

    This runs for about 14 minutes and is basically your standard press kit fluff, although I found this quite funny and it should please fans.

Featurette - Comedy Central's Reel Comedy.

    An MTVish doco that is split into several parts; The Genius of Will Ferrell, Ham Affleck and Will and John and The Clit. Quite amusing, with plenty of interviews with the principals.

Featurette - Morris Day and The Time: Learning The Moves.

    This feature shows the two leads learning the moves, and is not very interesting.

Featurette - The Guide To Morris Day And The Time

    Outlines the band's career.

Trailers

    Two internet trailers and a half dozen TV spots.

Music Videos - Afro-Man's `Because I got High', Stroke9's `Kick Some Ass'.

    Fans of the music will enjoy.

Filmographies-Cast & Crew

    Standard info on the talent involved. Not bad, with some fun additions.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    Both the R4 & R1 versions are basically the same, the only difference being PAL superiority.

Summary

    Fans of the film will relish this excellent 2 disc Collector's Edition which comes with a great set of extras and a reference quality transfer. As for the film itself, I'm sure there are many fans of the movie out there, but personally I thought it was quite possibly one of the worst films I have seen in the last 10 years.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Greg Morfoot (if interested here is my bio)
Saturday, February 22, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-535, using S-Video output
DisplayLG 76cm Widescreen Flatron Television. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderSony HT-K215.
AmplificationSony HT-K215
SpeakersSS-MS215

Other Reviews
AllZone4DVD - Frank D