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School of Rock (Widescreen Edition)
Paramount // PG-13 // March 2, 2004
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
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Audio: The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, encoded at a bitrate of 448Kbps, doesn't really raise the goblet of rock, mostly sounding like a typical comedy. The bulk of the action is anchored front and center, where the movie's dialogue comes through cleanly and clearly. Not surprising considering that this is a movie with the word "rock" in the title, things open up more when the music kicks in, particularly during the band's performances. The soundtrack is great -- Black contributed to the writing of most of the original songs, which include some musical accompaniment by the indie rockers of the Mooney Suzuki. Among the other bands represented on the soundtrack, both in original recordings and in covers, are AC/DC, Black Sabbath, The Clash, Cream, David Bowie, Deep Purple, The Doors, KISS, Led Zeppelin, The Ramones, The Stooges, The Velvet Underground, and The Who. Hmmm...fumbling for a lame concert analogy...The School of Rock's six-channel audio isn't a high-voltage rock show, but it's a decent performance without any notable flaws and is probably very representative of the way the movie sounded theatrically.
Other audio options include a stereo surround mix, a Dolby Digital 5.1 French dub, closed captions, and subtitles in French and Spanish.
Supplements: Apparently the producers behind this DVD studied up on extras -- not only are quite a few packed onto this DVD, but for the most part, they're much better than average. First up is a pair of audio commentaries, beginning with a pairing of Jack Black and director Richard Linklater. Though not deeply technical by any stretch, Black and Linklater keep the banter going for nearly two hours, heavy on comments about characters and the actors who played 'em, how various drafts of the script differed from what eventually wound up splashed across 2,951 screens nationwide, and assorted tales o' production. Some specific notes I scribbled down include what may or may not technically be a cameo by Linklater, Black receiving an on-set Splinter Cell tutorial from one of his co-stars, the theory that it's impossible to rock in front of your parents, a subtle Volvo jab, the bowling ball-ish distribution of Black's weight, a different approach for the ending, and the difficulty in finding some excuse for Dewey to leap in as a sub. They make a lot of references to deleted scenes and shortened sequences, actually, but unfortunately, none of these are provided on the DVD outside of brief glimpses in other extras. Linklater does admit near the end of the commentary that he's not big on outtakes, but they still would have been nice to see in some form. The second commentary is a "Kids' Kommentary", and even though few people on this planet are as smitten with alliteration as I am, a line has to be drawn somewhere. It's cute but kind of repetitive, as a small army of children point out their favorite bits and alternate between praising and mocking various members of the cast. Probably more fun to record than to listen to, this track still has enough funny moments for it to be worth playing in the background.
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The second page of extras begins with a music video (3:39) that reunites Black with a smattering of his prepubescent co-stars, intercut between a bunch of clips from the movie. "Kids' Video Diary: Toronto Film Festival" (8:14) follows Black's bandmates as they prepare for the movie's premiere, wolfing down breakfast, studying with a tutor, fielding questions at a press conference, and schmoozing at an afterparty. Also included is an installment in MTV's Diary series (16:32), featuring a day in the life of Jack Black as he rehearses for School of Rock and jams with Tenacious D bandmade Kyle Gass. The episode, helmed by Liam Lynch (of Sifl and Olly fame, also having directed a bunch of Tenacious D stuff), has Black rushing through an intricate morning routine when he's late for a rehearsal, sucking the barbeque sauce off a cheeseburger, relentlessly clawing at a bug, and detailing his One of Every Animal Diet with a McSurf and Turf Deluxe. "There's nothing you can really do to prepare to rock. Y'know, do you prepare to eat a delicious meal? No. Are you hungry? Then you're gonna eat it...and I'm hungry for rock."
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Conclusion: One of the better comedies I've seen of 2003, School of Rock would've deserved a recommendation even if it had been dumped on DVD with no extras whatsoever. Not only are there a bunch of extras, they're actually worth checking out, bucking the trend of quantity over quality that's been littering DVDs over the past couple of years. I would never consider ending a review on a note like "This DVD rocks!", but the fact that I briefly considered it should offer some indication as to how highly recommended School of Rock is. Just make sure to keep an eye out for the "Widescreen Collection" banner at the top to avoid picking up the wrong disc.
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