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Reno 911: Miami - More Busted Than Ever Edition
Fox // Unrated // September 23, 2008
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Reno 911! has done incredibly well for Comedy Central, and why not? Parody the show COPS with an incompetent police force, and the possibilities are endless. In fact, we're still waiting to see when all the 'endless' possibilities are going to grow tired, as the show was popular enough to get a feature film. Because the show closely followed the format for COPS, each episode was mostly comprised of short comedy skits that were hilarious takes on routine police calls. A big red flag goes up for me when there's news of a skit show getting transformed into a film. Reno 911!: Miami actually worked quite well though. It knew exactly what its limits were, and never tried to push for a dragged out marathon of stale giggles.
Lt. Dangle gets an invitation for his squad to attend a convention in Miami, so he takes his rent-a-cop quality crew for some much needed R and R. Due to a slip-up in confirming their authorization to enter the convention, they're inadvertently hurled into the role of being Miami's guardians. The entire Miami police force that's over two thousand strong ends up quarantined due to a chemical attack. As the only police officers left on the streets of Miami, the Reno team is all that's left to defend the city from criminals... gulp.
Their adventure in Miami starts with the same kind of routine we'd expect to see from the show. We follow different officers on various calls, and hilarity ensues. A story eventually breaks out when they accidentally bumble their way into the midst of a conspiracy which involves the acting mayor of Miami. If trying to keep the streets of Miami safe wasn't questionable enough for Lt. Dangle and his crew, now Nevada's least reliable force has to try and recover an antidote for all of Miami PD.
This movie incorporated a minimalistic plot in order to keep things moving so the film wasn't entirely gratuitous, yet still knew enough to keep it short and simple, with the end credits rolling at about seventy four minutes. The total runtime is eighty three minutes, if you hang around during the credits to see the additional footage.
I think a lot of movie companies are too afraid to market something that's less than an hour and a half now-a-days, because there's certainly a lot of bloated crap in Hollywood. So I have a lot of respect for any film that knows it won't work unless it's in and out. No fuss, no muss, and the viewers are given the exact dose they need to have a good time. The comedy changes up a bit as well in order to keep things moving. Between comical cameos, regular Reno 911! police call gags, gross-out humor, and some movie magic parody, there's a lot of different jokes for fans of the show to appreciate.
Despite its wide variety of comical styling, it's hard to imagine this is going to be everyone's cup of tea. If you're really curious to know if you'll like this film or not, you're just going to have to ask yourself how you feel about the show. If you liked what the television show had to offer, then you're most likely going to get a real kick out of Reno 911!: Miami. If the show seemed dull, boring, and the comedy wasn't your taste, then it's probably best to avoid this one. All in all, I'd have to say this was a damn fine effort to bring the source material to the big screen.
This movie was meant to keep the original look of the show intact, as if it were shot on a digital camcorder. The unrated cut of the film was already released to DVD, and it looked pretty good. It's of no surprise that the More Busted THAN EVER! edition looks the same. There's no noticeable edge enhancement to complain of, blocking never seems to be an issue, and grain is non-existent. Skin tones are natural, blacks are deep and provide for some very nice contrast against the Miami scenery, and this also helps bring out the color in Miami quite a bit as well. All around, this is a really nice transfer.
A lot of this film is about dialogue or action that happens in front of the camera, so there's nothing really crazy that's going to give your surround system a workout. However, I don't think anyone watching this movie expected a crazy whirlwind of sound from the Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Certain scenes use the surrounds for some natural sounding background sound, but the 5.1 really kicks in with some power with the music that played occasionally throughout the film. It's not an impressive track because of its intentional under usage of surround effects, but it accurately represents the experience the film was meant to provide.
There are some changes to the special features this time around. Some things were swapped out to make room for some other features. This is supposed to make you feel better about buying a different copy of a film you probably already own if you're a fan of the show.
First up is a commentary with Director and writer Robert Ben Garant, and writers Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silver. It's an entertaining commentary that gives you a lot of good information while letting the good times roll. It's always refreshing to hear people having fun while giving the viewer some valuable information. I can't tell you how many times commentaries bore the living daylights out of me. However, the in character commentaries that were included on the prior release are no longer here.
There is a lost version of the movie making its debut on this release, and it times in at around sixty nine minutes with the end credits. I would love to be able to ask somebody if a sixty nine minute film was intentional or not, because for the Reno crew, I'm not so sure it's a coincidence. As for the lost version of the film itself, it's not much more than extended scenes from what we've already scene, sliced together with deleted scenes from the film. There's an introduction available by Dangle, Wiegel, and Junior, and they tell you that you're watching an honest to God lost film. They poke fun that usually this kind of marketing is a big scam. Of course this is a big scam as well... at least I hope it is. It's genuinely entertaining if you just want some laughs based on short skits, but there's a lot that's missing here. Forget about plot, forget about flow or connectivity. It's worth noting that this is really more of a special way of putting together unused footage, so this 'film' doesn't have alternate language tracks or subtitles.
The blooper reels provided are pretty entertaining. It's always hilarious to see actors who make it a point to hardly ever break character when a camera is rolling for the sake of their reality role, but we get to see that happen here. During some of the bloopers, the actors and actresses even try and play off some of the mistakes to keep the scene going. In one instance, Clementine is at a tattoo parlor asking some questions about a picture she got branded on her chest. One of the actors in the tattoo parlor call out that she has a slight uh, wardrobe malfunction, and she rolls with it! That's what it's all about!
There are some extended scenes provided, and much like the extended scenes provided on the Reno 911! season sets, they're not bad. It's just obvious that a lot of these scenes end up getting trimmed for better effect in the film, instead of letting a certain segment go on and on.
I like how the special features are staying true to the show's formula, so it's great to see a few public service announcements on this disc. They cover Talking During the Movie, Cell Phone Etiquette, and an ad to Join the Reno Sheriff's Department. I've always toyed with the idea of throwing different clips together from various sources on a DVD that have these sort of announcements. I have a nice home theater system, but I don't have an actual home theater. Someday, that's going to happen. And when it does? I'm going to take the first two public service announcements, mesh them together with that awesome animated 'let's all go to the movies' intro from the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie, and I'm going to make people watch my 'try to be polite during the movie' disc! I know, I'm a sad, sad man. But these announcements are enjoyable, that's all I'm trying to say.
There's also the theatrical trailer available on the first disc.
This two disc set actually comes in a slim case that's housed in a cardboard slipcover. It's nice if you're looking to save space, but I have to say, the bottom was cracked just from shipping. Perhaps I'm old fashioned, but I also prefer my DVD's to be in normal sized keep cases. It just looks more professional, and more in line with the rest of my collection.
The only reason why a second disc is included is for the digital copy. If the digital copy thing is something you enjoy, then you'll be happy about that. However, I never understood why a whole disc has to be devoted to a digital copy of the film. Just provide an insert that lets us go online to download the disc, and be done with it.
When all is said and done, the extras are what this new edition of Reno 911!: Miami is all about. A lot of stuff is missing from the first release, and the new stuff is probably only going to entice completists.
I'll go ahead and recommend this DVD for fans of the series. The prior release may not have had some of the goodies this release offers, but they were fine in their own right and just as entertaining.
-About the Author- Michael Zupan is primarily a film guy, but has a variety of places where you can enjoy his work otherwise. Check Bytesizeimpressions.com for video game op-ed pieces and podcasts, and be sure to check out the sister site, Byte-Size Cinema, linked up top. This writer also contributes significantly to in-print magazines such as Minecraft Explorer and Fortnite Explorer!
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