The Collection
Universal has released a slipcased, two-disc "special edition" set of Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison, marking the first time the golf comedy is released in its original aspect ratio. But for some reason, it's also available in a full-screen edition, negating its main reason for existence. This set seems to reveal a lot about how the features for DVDs are decided upon, but that's something to discuss in the extras section. According to Universal, neither disc is available outside of this set, but we'll have to see if it stays that way. This review was written viewing the widescreen set, which comes in two separate keepcases, with a cardboard slipcase with two, count them, two velcro'd flaps, one for each movie. Each keepcase includes a rather pointless insert with photos and a handful of lines from the movie, but no chapter stops.

The Movies

Billy Madison
Sandler's first starring role saw the actor at his Sandler-est, an innocently destructive man-child, fueled by desire and alcohol. As a result, it established him as the clown prince of comedy, an actor capable of being sweet one moment, only to become demonic shortly thereafter.

A high-concept movie, Billy Madison, isn't exactly cinema verite, maintaining only a slight connection to reality. Billy (Sandler) is the heir to his father's hotel business, but he's only interested in laying in the sun and drinking. Then, one of his father's employees, Eric (The West Wing's Bradley Whitford), makes a play for the company, trying to push Billy out, a move his disappointed father agrees with. That awakens Billy's sense of entitlement, and to prove he's worthy of taking over, he's willing to repeat first through 12th grade, showing he's not a complete idiot.

This intellectual quest is the skeleton of a manic film that includes a clown with a cracked skull, a school administrator with a secret, a human-sized penguin and a ridiculous musical number. And, of course, there's the girl Sandler must win over, the beautiful third-grade teacher, Miss Veronica Vaughn, played by Bridgette Wilson (House on Haunted Hill.) If that doesn't work though, there's always Juanita, the horny chambermaid. It's just that kind of movie.

Written by Sandler with his frequent collaborator Tim Herlihy, the script plays to Sandler's strengths, presenting the madman that earned Sandler so many fans on "Saturday Night Live." Whether speaking gibberish or nailing kids with dodgeballs, Sandler is simply fun to watch. Because he's played a succession of morons, many dismiss his abilities, but he's actually quite a good actor. No, he's not going to win an Oscar any time soon, but he is good enough to make you care about his character.

Though there are tons of kids in this film, it's definitely not a kids movie, with themes that would be hard to explain to most children. This is a bizarre experience without much in terms of coherency, but plenty of laughs. Sandler's performance in the role of an unleashed ego is as perfect as one could ask for in a madcap comedy, while cameos by Chris Farley and Steve Buscemi are punctuations that draw great, twisted laughs. If you enjoyed the fractured reality of director Tamra Davis' Half-Baked, this should appeal to you.

Happy Gilmore
While Billy Madison is Sandler being fun and goofy, Happy Gilmour shows the angry side of his acting spectrum. (The Waterboy incorporated both sides, while Punch-Drunk Love took his anger to new levels.) A hockey-loving maniac whose only goal in life is to make the local team, Happy (Sandler) isn't. His girl has left him, he's been cut (again) and the grandmother who raised him is about to lose her house due to unpaid taxes. Whereas Billy was fueled by booze, Happy's engine runs on rage, which he has plenty of.

When he accidentally discovers his ability to drive a golf ball longer than anyone, he figures out how to help save his grandmother's house. Playing golf will enable him to earn the money he needs, but he'll have to a) learn how to play, and b) forget about his hockey dream. To help him do that, he'll need to listen to Chubbs (Carl Weathers), a tour pro whose career ended thanks to an unfortunate accident.

As is the case with most Sandler films, there's a girl to win; this time it's tour publicist Virginia Venit (the adorable Julie Bowen, "Ed"), who sees Happy as golf's breakthrough personality. There's also an archenemy, egomaniacal golf champion Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald, Requiem for a Dream), who is everything you want in a comedic movie villain: vain, over-the-top and funny. Throw in some top-notch cameos by Lee Travino, Robert Smigel, Bob Barker, Richard Kiel, Kevin Nealon and Joe Flaherty, as well as a darkly comic turn by Ben Stiller, and the cast is just excellent.

Much like Billy Madison, there's a surreal feel to much of the movie, including the now legendary fistfight with Bob Barker, as well as Happy's homeless caddy, Otto (Allen Covert). But with a sports film's undertones, this is a bit more like your traditional movie, but with enough of Sandler's trademark oddities to appeal to his fanbase. Compared to Billy Madison, this is a more complete film, and of the two, it's the more enjoyable in terms of plot. Billy has more "What the..." laughs, but Happy Gilmore is the better overall experience.

The DVDs
Billy Madison
On one DVD, you get a widescreen presentation, with a small selection of special features. The main menu is animated, using workprint footage from the film, which is dull and scratched. I'd have to assume higher-quality footage wasn't used to save disc-space. Options include scene selections and language and subtitles, which are on static menus. Subtitles are available in English, Spanish and French, while the soundtrack comes in English 5.1, English DTS, Spanish 2.0 and French 2.0.

Happy Gilmore
This disc features an animated main menu with footage from the film, which gives you access to scene selections, bonus features and language options, which are listed on static pages. Subtitles are available in English, Spanish and French, while the soundtrack comes in English 5.1, English DTS, Spanish 2.0 and French 2.0. The English subtitles, which are also on the Billy Madison disc, are some of the best designed I've seen, placing the text on the side of the screen where their speaker is located.

The Quality
Billy Madison
On the previous DVD, this film had an outstanding transfer, and this disc is no different. I couldn't tell any obvious differences between the two, but if my theory on this set's budget (see "The Extras") is correct, this is probably just a port-over. If so, that's fine. This anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) video is crystal clear and crisp, with beautiful color. Scenes such as Miss Lippy's class and Billy's backyard parties have plenty of color and detail and this transfer makes it look good. The audio, whether in Dolby Surround or DTS, is good but nothing great, without much to present in a dialogue-driven comedy. There's some light atmospheric surrounds and a rocking soundtrack, but nothing that will impress audiophiles.

Happy Gilmore
As disappointing as the original full-screen release was, the image quality was quite good for what it was. But now, with the proper aspect ratio (1.85:1), this movie hums, with a colorful and crisp look that captures this outdoor film well. Take a look at the close-ups of the ball for the best examples of detail and color, as the green grass is extremely vivid. The level of quality has increased ever-so-slightly, but in combination with the change to widescreen, it's like night and day in comparison to the first release. The audio, like that of Billy Madison, isn't exactly taxing to your receiver, but it does feature some nice surround effects during Happy's long drives and musical moments.

The Extras
Billy Madison
A commentary by director Tamra Davis is the big extra here, thought it's not one of the best tracks ever made. In fact, if she called one more part of the movie "insane," I might have shut it off. Besides what seems like an undeniable love for Sandler, she possesses a sense of amazement about comedy and comics' ability to be funny, which makes it amazing that she's directed three excellent comedies. There are plenty of lengthy pauses, and, despite stating that the technical aspects of filming is her favorite part of movies, she doesn't really talk much about them. There are some interesting tidbits, including how she got the job and her love of child abuse (you have to hear her talk about it to understand), but it's not the most involving commentary.

A package of deleted scenes includes several scenes not used in the movie, but seen on television broadcasts, including the well-known kickball scene. Among the more interesting moments are the additional Juanita scenes, which show more of her pursuit of Billy, and alternate (and awkward) verses to the big musical number, one of which includes a bit of Wilson's backside for the aficionados out there. These can be watched all at once, or in small bites based on what scene they are from. A reel of outtakes are also included, which are mildly amusing. Considering this was Sandler's first starring role, screw-ups like these were waiting to happen.

Happy Gilmore
Sadly, the real extra for any owner of the original disc is the widescreen transfer, but there are a few additional bonus features. A selection of deleted scenes, broken down by where in the film they were cut from. Many are alternate or extended takes from what made it into the film, but some are parts of subplots that were dropped, including more character development about Happy's caddy, Otto. These scenes, presented in letterboxed workprint quality, can be watched in themed groups or in one large batch. There's also an outtake reel, which was a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps it's just funnier when a serious scene gets interrupted by a screw-up, but these bloopers didn't really make me laugh.

Looking at the features, it seems there was a tightly-watched budget on this set. Since Happy Gilmore got a new widescreen transfer, it didn't get a commentary, while Billy Madison's money went toward a commentary, since it already had a great transfer. That's pretty bad, since a quality transfer shouldn't me considered a luxury. If a studio wants to call a disc a special edition, it should actually put some effort into it. A few outtakes and deleted scenes isn't special. Maybe they could have called it a Better Edition.

The Bottom Line
Though it's great to have Happy Gilmore in anamorphic widescreen for the first time, it's hard to not feel that this set could have been much better. It's been nearly 10 years since Billy Madison was released, so there's been some time to work on these discs. The fact that Sandler isn't involved in any way smacks of a cost-cutting move, as he's done commentaries for DVDs before. But with those production savings, the discs should sell at a price that will break down to less than 10 bucks a disc, so the added features and widescreen presentation make this worth the upgrade for any Sandler fan. If you don't already own the movies, consider yourself lucky, as you're getting a pretty good deal.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.