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Scary Movie 3
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment // PG-13 // May 11, 2004
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
THE MOVIE
Perhaps no words I can write in this review will be able to convey how disappointing and how completely unfunny Scary Movie 3 is. Here's a film that got a huge opening weekend at the box office (enough to warrant a…gulp…Scary Movie 4), but which I didn't get the chance to see in the theater and was actually looking forward to on DVD because of the creators behind it. The Wayan brothers (who worked on the first two pictures) had been dumped in favor of Naked Gun and Hot Shots creators David Zucker (who directs) and Pat Proft (who co-wrote the script). So while the attempts at humor aren't as raunchy as they were in the first two movies (Scary Movie 3 is rated PG-13, compared with the R ratings of the first two installments), there's nothing here that comes even close to matching the humor of some of Zucker and Proft's earlier work. I think I laughed two or three times during the entire movie…and not particularly hard.
The film basically takes aim at two recent horror flicks - The Ring and Signs, although there are numerous attempts to reference other films, including The Sixth Sense, The Matrix trilogy, and – of all things - 8 Mile. The only returning characters here are Anna Ferris as Cindy Campbell and Regina Hall as Brenda Meeks, although their characters in this film seem far removed from the previous two. Charlie Sheen, who is usually good in these types of films, gets the Mel Gibson role from Signs, but the only truly funny spoof of the film is when he flashes back to his wife's death and we get a cameo from Charlie's real-life spouse, Denise Richards.
A character who does provide a few chuckles along the way is The President of the United States, who is played by Leslie Nielsen. Unfortunately, he doesn't show up until almost the one-hour mark of this 90-minute movie – so it's a pretty long wait before we get to see his character.
Overall, Scary Movie 3 is just a tad better than Scary Movie 2 (which was equally horrible), but ultimately not worth your time.
THE DVD
Video:
Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic, the picture looks quite good, and there weren't any noticeable problems with the picture. Color tones seemed well balanced, and the overall look was very sharp. A nice job here by Disney/Buena Vista.
Audio:
The audio is presented in 5.1 Dolby, and although it isn't an extremely aggressive track, it sounds very good – with no noticeable distractions. Viewers will also be given the option of listening to the film in French, or viewing it with English or Spanish subtitles.
Extras:
A nice job has been done on the extras section as well, providing viewers with plenty of additional material to view.
For starters, there's 10 Deleted Scenes from the movie (with optional commentary), including a 15-minute alternate ending that wasn't used in the movie – and actually contains some cool special effects and a few funny moments.
Another cool feature is the feature-length Commentary Track by David Zucker, Pat Proft, producer Robert K. Weiss, and co-writer Craig Mazin. These guys are pretty funny as a group…and I dare say that listening to the commentary track is more enjoyable than listening to the actual movie. The guys aren't afraid to poke fun at themselves and admit where they really screwed up…always a welcome attitude on a commentary track – especially since 99% of them always seem so self-congratulating.
There are two behind the scenes featurettes on this DVD. First, there's the 23-minute Making of Scary Movie 3, which includes lots of on-the-set footage and interviews with almost everyone involved in the film. Next, there's the shorter 5-minute Making Scary Movie 3…FOR REAL, which provides some additional interview and behind-the-scenes footage.
Additional features include 4-minutes worth of Outtakes & Bloopers; and an additional featurette entitled Hulk vs. Aliens – Behind the Scenes of the Alternate Ending, which is a look at how they made the ending that was discarded from the final movie, but which you can see in its entirety in the Deleted Scenes section.
There's also a few Sneak Peaks of the three Osbournes DVD releases and a promo video for Dimension Home Video, which fortunately aren't front-loaded onto the disc and can be accessed from the Main Menu.
THE BOTTOM LINE
If this title were bare-bones, I'd definitely tell you to "skip it", but the extras here are nice enough to warrant a rental – if only to listen to the commentary track and to get a look at the "Hulk vs. Aliens" ending that was cut from the final film.
But as far as the movie itself goes, Scary Movie 3 isn't much to get excited about – the laughs are few and far between, and it doesn't live up to the kind of work we've come to expect from the minds of Zucker and Proft.
 |
The film basically takes aim at two recent horror flicks - The Ring and Signs, although there are numerous attempts to reference other films, including The Sixth Sense, The Matrix trilogy, and – of all things - 8 Mile. The only returning characters here are Anna Ferris as Cindy Campbell and Regina Hall as Brenda Meeks, although their characters in this film seem far removed from the previous two. Charlie Sheen, who is usually good in these types of films, gets the Mel Gibson role from Signs, but the only truly funny spoof of the film is when he flashes back to his wife's death and we get a cameo from Charlie's real-life spouse, Denise Richards.
 |
Overall, Scary Movie 3 is just a tad better than Scary Movie 2 (which was equally horrible), but ultimately not worth your time.
THE DVD
Video:
Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic, the picture looks quite good, and there weren't any noticeable problems with the picture. Color tones seemed well balanced, and the overall look was very sharp. A nice job here by Disney/Buena Vista.
Audio:
The audio is presented in 5.1 Dolby, and although it isn't an extremely aggressive track, it sounds very good – with no noticeable distractions. Viewers will also be given the option of listening to the film in French, or viewing it with English or Spanish subtitles.
Extras:
A nice job has been done on the extras section as well, providing viewers with plenty of additional material to view.
 |
Another cool feature is the feature-length Commentary Track by David Zucker, Pat Proft, producer Robert K. Weiss, and co-writer Craig Mazin. These guys are pretty funny as a group…and I dare say that listening to the commentary track is more enjoyable than listening to the actual movie. The guys aren't afraid to poke fun at themselves and admit where they really screwed up…always a welcome attitude on a commentary track – especially since 99% of them always seem so self-congratulating.
There are two behind the scenes featurettes on this DVD. First, there's the 23-minute Making of Scary Movie 3, which includes lots of on-the-set footage and interviews with almost everyone involved in the film. Next, there's the shorter 5-minute Making Scary Movie 3…FOR REAL, which provides some additional interview and behind-the-scenes footage.
Additional features include 4-minutes worth of Outtakes & Bloopers; and an additional featurette entitled Hulk vs. Aliens – Behind the Scenes of the Alternate Ending, which is a look at how they made the ending that was discarded from the final movie, but which you can see in its entirety in the Deleted Scenes section.
There's also a few Sneak Peaks of the three Osbournes DVD releases and a promo video for Dimension Home Video, which fortunately aren't front-loaded onto the disc and can be accessed from the Main Menu.
THE BOTTOM LINE
If this title were bare-bones, I'd definitely tell you to "skip it", but the extras here are nice enough to warrant a rental – if only to listen to the commentary track and to get a look at the "Hulk vs. Aliens" ending that was cut from the final film.
But as far as the movie itself goes, Scary Movie 3 isn't much to get excited about – the laughs are few and far between, and it doesn't live up to the kind of work we've come to expect from the minds of Zucker and Proft.
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