On HD-DVD: Hot Rod

Directed By Akiva Shaffer

Starring Andy Samberg, Isla Fisher

Hot Rod was initially set to be a Will Farrell film but he dropped out.  He may do goofy films, but maybe he really knows what he's doing because as funny as he is I don't know if he could have rescued this film.

The Movie

Nearly every halfway popular SNL comedian has tried to make the move from the show to film and more often than not the films are a flop.  There are exceptions, most of Will Farrell's films have been worth a watch and he and Jimmy Falon started with A Night at the Roxbury, a film I actually enjoy.  Andy Samberg is the comedian of the moment from SNL so when when Farrell backed out of Hot Rod Samberg was brought on board.

Like so many of these SNL films Hot Rod feels like a series of sketches tied together more than a film with a real story and unfortunately for Samberg the sketches often feel custom made for Will Farrell.  Now, not to say that Samberg isn't funny because there are some funny moments, he really gives it the old college try.

Samberg plays Rod Kimble a wannabe stuntman who wants to follow in the footsteps of his deceased father who was set to become the next Evel Kneivel prior to his death.  The only problem is that Rod ahs never landed a jump without crashing much to the enjoyment of his stepfather.

The story centers around Rod setting up a big jump to earn enough money for a life saving operation for his stepfather in order to be able to pull the plug himself.  The stunt he comes up with is to jump 15 school buses.  Outside of the Will Farrell skits also riffs on 80's teen movies making the whole affair feel a bit out of time which wouldn't be a bad thing if the film worked on other levels.

As I said there are a few funny moments but unfortunately this movie just doesn't work.  The only thing it does is show the potential of Samberg to be great in a better film.

2/10

The Video

The widescreen 1080p presentation accurately represents the way the source actually looked in theaters.  I say this because the film is so low budget that the high def presentation seems almost like overkill.  Flesh tones look fine and colors overall look as they were intended to look.  The film is flatly shot and a little washed out and that's the way it was produced not due to the transfer.  There is just a bit of grain throughout and detail feels just a little low.

6/10

The Audio

Surprisingly this film actually gets the full Dolby 5.1 TrueHD audio presentation.  Even though the film is low budget it actually gets some really nice audio moments throughout with the best moments coming from stunts.  Overall the film is pretty immersive because the more subtle ambient sounds are also well done.  The dialogue, score, and sound effects are well mixed and crisp.  With all of that said I have to ask, where's the bass?  My subwoofer barely got any lvoe in this film.  Also, there's some really odd moments of too obvious ADR.

6.5/10

Packaging and Bonus Features

The single disc release comes in a standard HD-DVD amaray case with the same art from the DVD and the poster.  The art makes the film feel even more retro than it actually is.

First up for extras is the audio commentary with the director, Andy Samberg, and co-star Jorma Taccone.  These guys all seem to like each other and they joke and have a good time in the commentary but they don't really share in details about the production other than the typical anecdotes.

There's one very brief featurette covering the making of the film.  It's very standard with cast and crew interviews.  The whole thing feels like it was created by marketing people for sound bites rather than real making of information.

There's around 15 minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary from the director, Samberg, and Taccone.  None of these scenes are really interesting and the decision to cut them was a good one.  There's a brief outtake reel that's not as funny as you'd expect, and finally some behind the scenes videos recorded by Taccone.

Overall what we ahve hear is a weka selection of extras but doing any more for this film would seem like overkill I guess.

5/10

Overall (Not an Average) 4/10

The Movie 2/10

The Video 6/10

The Audio 6.5/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 5/10

Overall (Not an Average) 4/10

-Stephen Lackey