Unfortunately given the nearly 30 years since the film came out the makers of the DVD haven’t found all that much new material to give to the viewer. A good chunk of the features don’t actually involve the real Cheech and Chong, a fact that will come as a disappointment to true fans.
For instance, the feature “Earache My Eye” is a Monty Pythonesque animated music video that involves cutouts of Cheech and Chong performing the famous song from the movie. The animation is kind of crude and after the first minute or so gets extremely hard to watch. The makers should be applauded for their effort but on a special edition DVD you would think that there would be some higher quality material.
Another fan made feature that deserves mentioning is the “Man Song” option. The “Man Song” is essentially spliced up version of the film from beginning to end highlighting every type either Cheech or Chong says the word “man”. Kind of like when South Park got attention for using the F-word an extreme number of times the word “man” pops up so much that watching the “Man Song” feels like an only slightly shorter version of the movie.
True fans will find the commentary the most interesting feature by far. Done by Cheech Marin and director Lou Adler the commentary provides the viewer with the most bang for their buck. If you’re like me who has the movie memorized getting a fresh perspective makes rewatching it even more enjoyable.
I could not help but feel a little cheated with this edition of the movie. Cheech and Chong were known as the pranksters’ of their day, you would think their movie would reflect that image. The old Cheech and Chong would find some way to interact with the viewer through the DVD making this edition a unique experience. Instead I got the impression that they either were not invited to participate or sat on the sidelines while the studio tailor made it.
Overall, this is a movie that should be in your “guilty pleasures” DVD collection. This new edition is disappointing but has a few nuggets worth checking out and picking up only if you don’t have it already. So call up some friends, pass the bong and sit back and laugh.
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