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Half Baked: Fully Baked Edition
Universal // R // February 15, 2005
List Price: $19.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
(movie review written....well, it's foggy...maybe like, 3-4 years ago?)
More entertaining than it has any right to be, "Half Baked" is a suprisingly hilarious stoner comedy that's helped along by some funny situations and performances from its cast. The plot is essentially non-existent; a group of friends - led by Thurgood (Dave Chappelle) and including Scarface (Guillermo Diaz), Brian (Jim Breuer), and Kenny (Harland Williams) who sit around and smoke all day. Kenny gets into major trouble, however, when he feeds a massive helping of snack foods to a diabetic police horse. The horse proceeds to drop dead in the middle of the street and Kenny finds himself in jail.
The other three need to find a way to raise bail for Kenny - and a plan arises when Thurgood finds that the medical company where he's a janitor is testing marijuana. Selling it on the street, he eventually gets too far in the way of the local drug lord, who becomes more than a little angry that his territory is being invaded. Meanwhile, Thurgood meets a girlfriend in the appropiately named Mary Jane(Rachel True).
The film's laughs come from the fact that, besides a few creative sequences, the film is so silly and so deeply immature that I just can't help but laugh at many of the film's sequences, including an extremely funny parody of "Jerry Maguire". Performances are fine as well, especially Chapelle, who is hilarious. It's stupid, but it definitely doesn't take itself seriously.
The DVD
VIDEO: This is a remarkably good transfer from Universal, and although there are some flaws, the majority of the picture is consistently excellent. Sharpness is first-rate throughout, and clarity is top-notch as well. The end result is a picture that is well-defined and perfectly smooth throughout. Colors are appropriately groovy, with well-saturated and bright colors looking eye-popping at times. Flesh tones are accurate, and black level is solid as well. The picture stumbles a few times with some very minor pixelation, but other than that, I've got no complaints with Universal's treatment of "Half Baked". The presentation appears to be the same as the original release, which is fine - if it's not broke, don't fix it.
SOUND: The one fine element of the audio for "Half Baked" is the rap and r&b music, which sounds wonderfully deep and bassy, with a nice thumping beat that fills the room very well. Other than that, this remains pretty conventional in nature, with some fun, subtle use of the surrounds on occasion. There's not much else to it, nor did I expect too much from a comedy like this. Dialogue is clear and natural, as well. There are Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 soundtracks this time around, but the DTS doesn't offer much improvement over its Dolby Digital counterpart.
EXTRAS: Director Tamara Davis offers a fairly average audio commentary for the picture. She seems to rememeber some things about the movie and doesn't remember (jokingly? I couldn't tell, given the rather low-key way she delivered the chat) whether there was any real smoking on-set or how many curses were in the film. Next are 10 deleted scenes and a longer alternate ending that I liked much better than the actual ending, because it kept with the rest of the movie better versus the sort of "message" ending included in the movie. There's also three featurettes: "Five Minutes With 'The Guy on the Couch'", "Different Types of Smokers" and "Granny's Guide to Bakin'".
Final Thoughts: "Half Baked" is a very funny stoner comedy, with a lot of laughs and a few solid performances. The new "Fully Baked" edition provides a similar DTS soundtrack and a few more supplements. While I don't think what's here is enough to recommend an upgrade for those who own the prior edition, those who haven't seen the movie and are in the mood for a ridiculous comedy should certainly give it a try.
(movie review written....well, it's foggy...maybe like, 3-4 years ago?)
More entertaining than it has any right to be, "Half Baked" is a suprisingly hilarious stoner comedy that's helped along by some funny situations and performances from its cast. The plot is essentially non-existent; a group of friends - led by Thurgood (Dave Chappelle) and including Scarface (Guillermo Diaz), Brian (Jim Breuer), and Kenny (Harland Williams) who sit around and smoke all day. Kenny gets into major trouble, however, when he feeds a massive helping of snack foods to a diabetic police horse. The horse proceeds to drop dead in the middle of the street and Kenny finds himself in jail.
The other three need to find a way to raise bail for Kenny - and a plan arises when Thurgood finds that the medical company where he's a janitor is testing marijuana. Selling it on the street, he eventually gets too far in the way of the local drug lord, who becomes more than a little angry that his territory is being invaded. Meanwhile, Thurgood meets a girlfriend in the appropiately named Mary Jane(Rachel True).
The film's laughs come from the fact that, besides a few creative sequences, the film is so silly and so deeply immature that I just can't help but laugh at many of the film's sequences, including an extremely funny parody of "Jerry Maguire". Performances are fine as well, especially Chapelle, who is hilarious. It's stupid, but it definitely doesn't take itself seriously.
The DVD
VIDEO: This is a remarkably good transfer from Universal, and although there are some flaws, the majority of the picture is consistently excellent. Sharpness is first-rate throughout, and clarity is top-notch as well. The end result is a picture that is well-defined and perfectly smooth throughout. Colors are appropriately groovy, with well-saturated and bright colors looking eye-popping at times. Flesh tones are accurate, and black level is solid as well. The picture stumbles a few times with some very minor pixelation, but other than that, I've got no complaints with Universal's treatment of "Half Baked". The presentation appears to be the same as the original release, which is fine - if it's not broke, don't fix it.
SOUND: The one fine element of the audio for "Half Baked" is the rap and r&b music, which sounds wonderfully deep and bassy, with a nice thumping beat that fills the room very well. Other than that, this remains pretty conventional in nature, with some fun, subtle use of the surrounds on occasion. There's not much else to it, nor did I expect too much from a comedy like this. Dialogue is clear and natural, as well. There are Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 soundtracks this time around, but the DTS doesn't offer much improvement over its Dolby Digital counterpart.
EXTRAS: Director Tamara Davis offers a fairly average audio commentary for the picture. She seems to rememeber some things about the movie and doesn't remember (jokingly? I couldn't tell, given the rather low-key way she delivered the chat) whether there was any real smoking on-set or how many curses were in the film. Next are 10 deleted scenes and a longer alternate ending that I liked much better than the actual ending, because it kept with the rest of the movie better versus the sort of "message" ending included in the movie. There's also three featurettes: "Five Minutes With 'The Guy on the Couch'", "Different Types of Smokers" and "Granny's Guide to Bakin'".
Final Thoughts: "Half Baked" is a very funny stoner comedy, with a lot of laughs and a few solid performances. The new "Fully Baked" edition provides a similar DTS soundtrack and a few more supplements. While I don't think what's here is enough to recommend an upgrade for those who own the prior edition, those who haven't seen the movie and are in the mood for a ridiculous comedy should certainly give it a try.
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