DVD
REVIEW: HOT ROD
DVD
HD-DVD

11/24/07

Let me start by making a confession
. . . I have a very open sense of humor. I’ll laugh at almost
any kind of humor. Having said that, I actually enjoyed this
movie. I also realize, however, that not everybody will. It
falls in the Anchorman, Benchwarmers, Napoleon Dynamite,
Nacho Libre category of humor films. If you are a fan of
those, you’ll enjoy Hot Rod. It is physical, stupid, corny,
unexpected, and just plain off the wall humor. Not exactly
high quality, but still very fun to watch.
Hot Rod Kimble (Andy Samberg) has the heart of a daredevil,
but he’s just not very good at it. Don’t tell him that
because he laughs at the face of danger. What he lacks in
talent, he gains in courage. His main goal in life is to make
his deceased father proud of him through his stuntman ways,
and to earn the respect of his stepfather, Frank Powell (Ian McShane). The problem is that the only way to gain Frank’s
respect is to whoop him in a fight. . . something that Rod
has yet to accomplish. When Frank becomes ill and requires a
heart transplant, Rod steps up to the challenge of raising
the necessary money to save Frank. Rod’s motivation is not
necessarily love or caring, but the desire to have another
chance to beat the crap out of him and thus earn his respect.
Andy Samberg has stepped up to the challenge of the big
screen and I think he succeeded. This being his first
starring role and with the added pressure of being an SNL
alumnus, it is not a bad start. You can see his potential and
can only expect bigger and better things. I mean, sure, he’s
no Adam Sandler, but time will tell. I was a little
disappointed with Isla Fisher’s role in this movie as Denise,
Rod’s love interest. Although she was radiant as always, her
comedic abilities were underutilized. Ian McShane, on the
other hand, does a good job of pushing Rod into manhood as
his abusive stepfather. Keep an eye on Chester Tam as
Richardson, a Team Rod groupie who has a very small role but
oh so funny. All the characters in this movie are endearing
in their own unique way.
In these kind of movies, the plot is not as important as how
funny the plot is delivered. In this case, not only is the
plot delivery funny, the plot itself is off the beaten path.
The true success of a comedy lies heavily on its dialogue. In
this piece, the dialogue and its performers were made for
each other. Even the musical elements fell right in line with
the goal of the film.
Where does this comedy place in comparison to the recent
others you ask? Well, it falls after Chuck and Larry and
Knocked Up (only if you like this “stupid” humor kind of
movie, otherwise it might not even get placed). Not only is
this Andy’s first major work in theaters, it is also Director
Akiva Shaffer’s first time up and just like Andy, give Akiva
some credit for a job well done considering it’s his first
try. Granted, he’s also from the school of SNL so working
with this cast should have been a smooth transition for him.
I tell ya, these SNL folks, what a comedic monopoly.
Moive
Review By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
DVD
VIDEO:
Widescreen enhanced for 16:9 televisions.
AUDIO:
Dolby
Digital English 5.1 Surround, French 5.1 Surround and
Spanish 5.1 Surround
Subtitles - English Spanish
French
BONUS FEATURES:
Commentary by
Akiva Schaffer, Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone
Ancestors Protect Me: Behind the
Scenes of Hot Rod : an intervew and
discussion about what the movie is about.
How the movie was made, and the
relationship between actors and the
director. Also it shows how the stunts
were made. (8:00)
Deleted and Extended
Scenes with optional commentary by Akiva Schaffer, Andy
Samberg and Jorma Taccone: A total of 13 scenes that
did not make it to the big screen out of
the 13 although not necessary for the
story, I considered 3 could have done it
to the big screen “Opening Scenes,” “Rob
Meets Denise,” “Rod playing with toys,”
and Rod impresses kids.” the other ones
are well deleted
Outtakes Reel:
Almost 3 : 30 sec of outtakes and scenes that did not make
it to the movie.
Kevin’s Videos:
8 different videos from the movie made by
Rod’s brother, showing rod’s training and stunts. Almost
5:00 min
1. Stuntman Forever
2. Training Video #1: Shimmy Exercise
3. Training Video #2: Wall Exercise
4. Jetski: The Real Deal
5. Remembering Rod
6. Training Video #3: Dexterity Exercise
7. Training Video #4: Cone Slalom
8. Donut King!
Punch-Dance
Home video footage of orchestra
recording session: It shows the orchestra form the
movie recording some melodies from the movie(1:25)
HD DVD
VIDEO:
1080p High Definition
AUDIO:
English
5.1 Dolby True HD
English
5.1 Dolby Digital Plus
French 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus
Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus
Subtitles English/English SDH/French/Spanish/Portuguese
BONUS FEATURES:
Disappointed rating for the HD -DVD none
of the special features are presented in HD. Only the
Theatrical trailer is in HD
RATING BREAK DOWN:
|
WIDESCREEN |
HD -DVD |
FILM REVIEW |
 |
 |
VIDEO |
 |
 |
AUDIO |
 |
 |
BONUS
FEATURES |
 |
 |
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