Jackass 3: Unrated – Blu-ray Review

The Film:

Writing a review for something like Jackass 3 (the dropped the 3D from the title, so I’ll rename it as Paramount has from now on) seems as critical as writing blurbs for Youtube videos, as perhaps in all of cinema, there’s nothing more critic proof than the Jackass franchise. Since its humble inception in 2000, the decade of Jackass (did I really just say that?) has proved to be a spring board of everything that is sort of wrong with the Internet today. Making something, anything and uploading it into the Web can make anyone a star, and any groin kick or slap to the back of the head can equal a little laughter and a slew of copy cats filling up bandwith on Youtube, making it even harder to search for what we really want on that site. Rude, mean-spirited, raunchy, gross, vile, stupid, and blah blah blah, for if anything, whatever the backlash of the Youtube culture, Jackass has proven to be culture defining.

As Tyler Durden once said: “We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives.” That assessment sums up the phenomenon of Jackass. So, with all this on the table the number one question still remains, is Jackass still funny? After ten years of this stuff, hell yeah. Let’s take it a step further. Did it need to be in 3D? Absolutely.

The pain, the suffering, the vomiting in 3D allows us to play into their gross charade. After Jackass 3, a film that nearly made me vomit three times and after the tooth being pulled out with a Lamborghini, I still physically hurt. But I want to shake Jeff Tremaine’s hand for crafting the best use of 3D yet. It literally groin kicks Avatar. The stuff is funny, perhaps always will be, as all it is was a gross-out version of the work of Charlie Chaplin, but the 3D makes the pain real, visualizing the hurt with some gorgeous slo-mo. The port-a-potty filled with various excrement that has Steve-O achieving is, well, possibly the grossest and coolest 3D gag ever in the history of 3D.

While the gags seem a little tired at first, Jackass 3 is a side-splitting hilarious coda to a generational gift from a few lovable idiots that balked at the notion that not everyone can keep their fifteen minutes of fame. As brilliant as that statement was from artist Andy Warhol, Jackass 3 slaps that assessment with a wet rubbery one, as they proved that penis jokes, vomiting, pranks, and pain, can be – when done idiotically right – high art.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Paramount issues us a decent HD source. The DTS track is room-rattling. Deep bass, surround activity, and loud music. Over-amped? Maybe, but who cares? It’s rocking. Now, the 1080p is at times really good, with nice colors and details, but sometimes they switch to different cameras that offer up  lower resolution, thus making the picture quality DVD-like. It’s okay, most won’t care, but just understand the source.

This disc has the Unrated Cut and the Theatrical 2D Cut, and even though there’s about 10 minutes difference, it’s marginal.

On Disc 2, we have the DVD version, but in 3D. Some fans wished Paramount issued a real 3D Blu-ray of the film to recapture its RealD 3D presentation from the theaters, but the studio offered that this anaglyph 3D is the best way to have everyone enjoy the film in 3D (here). Fine by me, because outside of getting use to those Red/Green glasses (the disc comes with two sets), the 3D is decent. Obviously, the better the TV the better the 3D resolution is. If you’ve seen the Blu-rays of Coraline or My Bloody Valentine this way, you know what to expect. The best bits are the staged ones, but overall, I’m pretty pleased with the old school 3D.

The Making of Jackass 3D: in HD, this half-an-hour look at the film covers all sorts of good info, if you’re a fan. The planning of the film, shooting in 3D, Steve-O and Knoxville’s life changes, and everything else a Jackass fan would like to see.

Sixteen minutes of Deleted Scenes that are either extended bits or new footage. Most are repeated, in the Outtakes, but these cover them in different angles and/or set-ups. Yes, they’re funny, but fans hoping for more, might be letdown.

A Trailer in HD, D-Box controls, and a Digital Copy round out the extras.

The Film: Rating:

The Blu-ray: Rating: