It has been 10 years since budding director Kevin Smith graced the world with
his 93-minute black & white masterpiece, Clerks. Getting
noticed at the Independent Feature Film Market (IFFM), exploding at Sundance,
and winning Cannes, the film went on to gross over $3 million, while being released
on only 50 screens across the country… not bad at all for a film financed
largely by credit cards, comic books, insurance checks, friends, family, and
the paychecks from the convenience store that was the inspiration and setting
for the film. But it wasn’t until the film came out on video that it started
to become what it is – a cult classic! Now 10 years later, to celebrate
the anniversary of it’s release, Kevin Smith and friends put together
this 3-disc collector’s edition of the film that put them, their neighborhood,
and a little place called the Quick Stop on the map.
The plot is simple and sweet: Dante Hicks gets called into work at the convenience
store on his day off. What starts out as helping his boss in a time of need,
quickly turns into being screwed into working a full open-to-close shift. Throughout
the day we get a sampling of a day in the life of two clerks - all the normal
stuff that would supposedly happen to this average convenience store employee
and his counterpart, Randal, who runs the neighboring video store. Typical situations
that ensue are: encounters with the local riff raff & drug dealers who do
business right in front of the store; learning your girlfriend is a bit slutty;
having thought-provoking intellectual conversations about the politics of Star
Wars and the underpaid nudie-booth moppers; destroying an ex-girlfriend’s
wake; playing hockey on the roof; and watching another ex-girlfriend go catatonic
accidentally having sex with a dead guy. While some situations may seem far-fetched
and improbable, all are hilarious!
If you’ve seen Clerks, you know what I am talking about…
and chances are you either love it or hate it. If you love it, as I do, please
do yourself a favor and BUY THIS DVD! I will tell you right now I give this
collection a solid A in every aspect, from the digital HiDef film transfer and
5.1 remixing, down to every little extra included, including the booklet (which
is full of photocopied relics and a note from Smith declaring “Clerks
2 ‘05”!). I may be biased because this IS one of my favorite
movies, but I am confident that no one could be left disappointed after soaking
in all that is presented here. To make my case even stronger, here is a listing
of what is on each disc. I will try not to spoil too much…
DISC 1: THEATRICAL FEATURE
Disc 1 contains the theatrical release of the film. The film, originally shot
on 16mm Kodak Plus-X film, has been cleaned up and digitally remastered into
HiDef. The audio has been fully restored in original mono, and remixed in Dolby
Digital 5.1. Special features include:
• Audio Commentary with Kevin Smith (writer/director/star), Scott Mosier
(producer), and stars Walter Flanagan, Brian O'Halloran, Jason Mewes, and Vincent
Pereira. This is the original commentary recorded on location in Minnesota on
the set of Mallrats in 1995 for the laser disc release; it later appeared on
the initial DVD release.
• The “Enhanced Playback Track” is a text trivia track that
plays along with the movie
• ”Clerks: The Lost Scene" is a 7-minute animated version of
a scene that was in the original script, but never filmed for the movie. Animated
in the same style as the Clerks cartoon, and with the regular cast doing voices,
this was particularly neat to see.
• All 8 MTV-produced Jay and Silent Bob shorts that appeared during commercial
breaks and in between videos on MTV during the 90s.
• "The Flying Car" short, starring Dante and Randal, which was
originally produced for and featured on The Tonight Show.
• The original Miramax theatrical trailer
• The "I Can't Even Tell" music video by Soul Asylum, which
features the cast in a re-enactment of the rooftop hockey scene.
• A 3-part look at the cleaning and restoration of Clerks, aptly called
“Clerks. Restoration”
• The original Jeff Anderson, Brian O'Halloran, Marilyn Ghigliotti and
Ernie O'Donnell audition tapes
All extras on all 3 discs have short, NEW intros recorded for this set by Kevin
Smith and Scott Mosier, Kevin’s best friend and right hand man for all
of his films. Disc 1 also contains DVD-ROM features, which my current set-up
prevented me from reviewing. They are:
• An Enhanced Playback Track
• A copy of the original 168-page first draft of the screenplay
DISC 2: IFFM FIRST CUT
Disc 2 contains the original and unrated 103-minute first cut of Clerks
that was shown at the IFFM presented in its rough, uncleaned, untouched gritty
and grainy glory. It was slightly edited before Sundance, and then cleaned up
and edited again when Miramax purchased the film, but this here is what actually
started it all! THIS IS ESSENTIAL FOR FANS TO SEE, and a MUST HAVE for collectors!
Accompanying this version of the film is an ALL-NEW commentary track with Kevin
Smith, Scott Mosier, Jeff Anderson, Brian O'Halloran and Jason Mewes. The best
part about this commentary is that it is audio AND visual, so you can either
listen to it with the film, or watch it as you hear the film play in the background…
or – better yet – flip back and forth between the two using the
rarely utilized angle-feature. The whole disc is a real treat, and this alone
was worth the purchase.
DISC 3: BONUS FEATURES
The main feature on disc 3 is the “Snowball Effect: The Story of Clerks,”
which is a new 95-minute documentary that interviews just about everybody who
was involved in any way with the creation of Clerks. It takes you through all
the aspects of making the film that a normal documentary does, but also gives
you the ‘Behind The Music’/‘A&E Biography’-style
hometown beginnings. It’s very thorough and extremely comprehensive, and
I can only say I wish all my favorite movies had a documentary like this to
accompany them. The other bonus materials on disc 3 are:
• "Mae Day: The Crumbling of a Documentary" is Kevin and Scott's
Vancouver Film School documentary short; it’s about 10 minutes long and
was shot about a year before Clerks.
• The “10th Anniversary Q&A” runs just over 40 minutes
and features Kevin, Scott and the main cast and crew in a live audience Q&A.
A good one-time watching.
• There are 13 outtakes from “Snowball Effect” featured here.
They run about 40 minutes and add a bit to the content, but it is easy to see
why most were cut…
• The “Still Photo Gallery” contains about 50 images including
publicity shots and behind-the-scenes production photos.
• “Kevin Smith Journals” is in 2 parts: Kevin’s Pre-Clerks
Journal and Kevin’s Sundace Journal. Both are fun 15-minute one-time text
reads, though probably more appreciated by the diehard fan.
• There are 8 “Articles and Reviews” featured here, all from
1992-1994. They encompass reviews and notes from film festivals and excerpts
from the Peter Broderick articles that helped Kevin create Clerks. Again, another
quick and fun 30-minute one-time text read that adds to the overall collection
of stuff presented in this set.
10 years after it’s initial release, Clerks is once
again released to the public, this time in a modern format – a 3-disc
10th Anniversary Collector’s Edition DVD. This package is nothing short
of GREAT, and is a perfect addition to any collection – whether a diehard,
or you just ‘liked’ the movie. Between having the original feature
in a remastered digital format, and all the extras and goodies inside, this
is the essential Clerks volume for anyone!
DVD Film Score: A
DVD Special Features Score: A
DVD Overall Score: A
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