The Movie:

The forty-five minute long Steve-O: The Early Years is an interesting look at the pre-Jackass antics of the world's most beloved former clown and champion vomit machine. Before he went on to work with Knoxville and company and long before he'd co-star with Chris 'Party Boy' Pontius in the sorely underrated Wild Boys Steve-O was a snotty teenager who enjoyed jumping off of things, playing with fire, and drinking a lot. This is basically a whole lot of that, but it isn't without merit.

Steve-O presents the footage, each clip is introduced and set up nicely so that it makes sense and that it is presented in what we can assume is chronological order. Along the way we learn some interesting things about him such as how he's held three different passports from three different countries and how he never really considered himself to be a true skateboarder but tried to get along in that regard anyway.

There's some interesting footage of Steve-O goofing off with his friends and screwing up a stunt now and again (at one point he basically sets his face on fire!) and some nifty clips from the time that he spent at Ringling Brothers/Barnum & Bailey clown school where he learned things like stilt walking and juggling and other essential life skills.

If Steve-O and his old video collection weren't enough, we also get to meet his father and his sister, both of whom sit down with Steve-O in front of the camera and reminisce together. He and his sister show off some rare and personal photographs from the family album while his father talks about what he was like as a kid and a teenager. Most of the stories are as outlandish and ridiculous as you would expect but it's interesting to hear them from those who were there.

At forty-five minutes in length, this isn't a particularly long feature though it goes by before the novelty manages to wear off. Some of the clips in here are pretty funny and it is interesting, particularly if you're a fan of Steve-O or his projects, to see where he got his start and what the genesis of his career was like. This will probably only really appeal to the established fans of the man, as those who are new to his 'art' will be better served with some of the more accessible material that's out there, but the devoted will dig what this release brings to the table.

The Video:

Steve-O: The Early Years is cobbled together from a bunch of different sources, most of which are old VHS tapes and some of those tapes stretch back almost twenty-years by this point. A lot of this is completely amateur footage and as such, it doesn't always look so great. Expect tape rolls and faded colors and the softness associated with old VHS tapes throughout. The newly shot interview bits with Steve-O, his father and his sister were shot using a better camera and while they are still a little dark, they are in much better shape than the older clips. Regardless, this material is what it is and you're not going to be after this release for the video quality anyway.

The Audio:

The English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track is on par with the video in terms of quality. It fluctuates depending on the source and some of the archival clips have some nasty background hiss. The newly recorded interviews all sounds fine, however and the levels are well balanced. For the most part, everything is perfectly audible even if this is far from an exemplary sound mix.

The Extras:

This DVD actually comes with quite a bit of extra footage which goes a long way towards making up for the brief running time of the feature. I Hate Rain (19:55) is a clip of Steve-O doing some fairly lame skateboarding stunts that finishes up with some footage of a very young Steve-O and some friends singing for us. All The Stunts (29:41) is a collection of bonus stunts compiled from various sources from over the years. It's presented here in very raw form without any music but there is some good stuff in here including some bonus poop action and lots of clips of Steve-O jumping off of things, walking on stilts, and chugging cans of Budweiser. Early Skating (4:55) is simply a collection of Steve-O showing us how rad he 'used to be on a skateboard' while Puke-O (9:11) is just under ten minutes of Steve-O throwing up while trashed. He introduces each bonus clips to lend some context to the material.

Rounding out the extras are music videos for 'I've Been Gone A Long Time' by As I Lay Dying, 'Forever' by Throwdown, some animated menus and chapter selection.

Overall:

Steve-O comlpetists and Jackass fanatics will certainly want to check this one out for the rare footage and interviews with Steve-O's family, but unless you fall into that group this isn't really an essential purchase and this material, while interesting, isn't on par with some of his later antics. Consider Steve-O: The Early Years a worthy rental.

Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.