When I heard that John Travolta, William H. Macy, Martin Lawrence, Tim Allen, and Ray Liota were all going to be in a movie together...I knew we were going to be in trouble. Thankfully "Wild Hogs," was a heck of a lot better then I thought it would be...but maybe that is because I had such low expectations at the start.

Four suburban men Doug (Tim Allen), Woody (John Travolta), Dudley (William H. Macy), and Bobby (Martin Lawrence) feel like they have hit a point in their lives where everything is the same. Nothing feels different for them, they follow their routines, and the place that they are at is where they will always be...and life isn't going the way they thought it would. Doug's son thinks he is boring...Woody's wife is leaving him...Dudley is having dating issues...and Bobby's wife wears the pants in the family. Despite their differences, they are good friends who enjoy riding their motorcycles together as the Wild Hogs. They decide they need some time away from it all, so they set out on a bike trip to the coast, with nothing but the open air, nature, and the road beneath them. As they journey across the country they find out that it isn't as they had expected. From bugs, to rain, to awful camp experiences...and an interesting state trooper...they soon stumble across a large biker gang lead by Jack (Ray Liota), who sees them as pretend bikers. Jack and his gang enjoy terrorizing the surrounding towns in New Mexico, so it is easy for them to pick on the Wild Hogs. But when the Hogs accidentally blow up their bar, the biker gang is out to teach them a lesson, and the four friends are in for one heck of a journey and everyone ends up at a small town that could use some saving!

The cast is huge to say the least. I've been dying for a good John Travolta film for awhile...William H. Macy and Ray Liota are different...they rock, Martin Lawrence has "Bad Boys," and well...Tim Allen has those Christmas movies. When all four get together, they thankfully do a fairly decent job of creating laughter at stuff that really shouldn't even be funny. They easily fit together as good friends, and I actually really enjoyed watching them together.

Yes, the plot is interesting...could it happen...no. It is way over-the-top, but it is intended that way. It is meant to create laughter, amusement, and is specifically made for all the men out there having some sort of a mid-life crisis...guys who dream of having a biker's life! There are definitely some laughs, and some stuff that is way overdone, but it is funny at times and is worth the watch.

The DVD

Video:

"Wild Hogs" gets a fantastic transfer here on Blu-Ray. The skin tones are wonderful and the colors look great...they pop and remain vibrant throughout. The detail in the outdoors is very nice..."Wild Hogs" obviously takes place mainly outside on the open road, so it is good that it looks gorgeous. Everything outside is done perfectly, and is absolutely beautiful. My only complaint is that there are at times that the contrast seems a bit high, but other then that this transfer is top notch and very easy on the eyes.

Sound:

Here we get a 5.1 Uncompressed track and a 5.1 Dolby Digital track. This track is near perfect...actually it is too close to perfect to even say near. The bikes rumble each time they rev up their engines and whiz by. The surrounds are filled with bikes, bugs, wind, and more bikes. The dialogue is strong and even, and never had any issues. I absolutely loved this track, and had a couple times where I actually went back to watch again just to hear the bikes roar past me again...made me wish I had a cool bike!

Extras:

Bikes, Brawls, and Burning Bars: The Making of Wild Hogs: Kind of a fun documentary with plenty of cast and crew interviews. It talks all about riding, experiences, shooting, locations...pretty generic, but it is put together well.

How to get your wife to let you buy a motorcycle: Just like it sounds, this is a feature explaining how to get your wife to let you buy a bike

Alternate Ending/Deleted Scenes: With commentary with Walt Becker and writer Brad Copeland. Pretty standard stuff...Becker and Copeland just chat about why these particular scenes were not included. You won't miss much if you skip over this one.

Outakes: nothing interesting to see here...there are maybe a couple with a chuckle.

Commentary with director Walt Becker and writer Brad Copeland: Becker and Copeland do a good job chatting about the film, although they pause for a good amount of time every now and again, but you can tell they had a good time on and off the set together. They really hit on the small details, which is fun, and Becker definitely loves bikes!

Final Thoughts:

"Wild Hogs" is not a tremendous movie, but it is fun to watch, and a good popcorn flick to kick back and relax to. The video and audio is great, and the extras are...well not so great but that should hold you back from a good one or two watches! I have to recommend this one because of the audio and video matched with an entertaining flick.