The Plot:
Porky's (1981)
The boys of Angel Beach High School are obsessed with one thing - SEX. When previous attempts at procuring same come up short, they head out into the Florida Everglades to visit Porky's a notorious bar/strip club/brothel. After being taunted and trashed, the guys are sent home with their tales between their legs. So naturally, they decide to get even. In between, members of the school's athletic program try to get a handle on all the horniness (both personally and professionally) running rampant throughout the campus while issues of race and religion come to the fore as a Jewish student faces the focused wrath of the boy's bigoted buddy.

Porky's II: The Next Day (1982)
Angel Beach High School becomes the center of considered controversy when it's announced that their annual Shakespeare Festival will feature a Native American transfer student as Romeo - alongside a Caucasian Juliet, no less. And if that wasn't enough to raise local eyebrows, girl's PE instructor Ms. Balbricker wants the entire production shutdown for being smutty, immoral and socially unacceptable. She calls in local preacher Rev. Bubba Flavel to help her boycott the entire showcase. They find uneasy allies in the KKK, who aren't about to tolerate the mixing or races onstage - or anywhere.

Porky's Revenge (1985)
Back in business after the Angel Beach boys destroyed his original club, flesh peddler Porky is out to blackmail the guys and their basketball team. Using his 'close connection' to the school's coach, Porky gets the less than willing instructor to throw the big championship game. Why? Because the bulky bad man has a substantial bet on the other team. Naturally, when our still hopelessly horny heroes get wind of this, they decide to give the villain another dose of his own medicine. But this time, Porky is prepared, and our hilariously hopped up teens may have finally met their match.

The DVD:
As discussed before, part of the problem with the late Bob Clark's cinematic legacy is how outrageously schizophrenic it is. Take, for example, the path leading up to Porky's. In order to arrive at what many see as a seminal sex comedy, our genre-jumping filmmaker helmed some horror classics (Deathdream, Black Christmas), a maudlin Broadway tearjerker (Tribute) and - believe it or not - a very well received Sherlock Holmes period piece (Murder By Decree). So imagine the studio head who had to listen to this cinematic jack of all trades pitch a perverse period piece about a bunch of hormonally hapless teens trying voraciously to get their ready steady rocks off. No matter the flashes of Happy Days nostalgia or bottom line cheapness, this would be a hard sell in the still prudish early '80s. That he managed to make the movie (after being literally shut down once) is the stuff of motion picture myth. And as one of several tentpoles in the filmmaker's amazing career, it remains his most contentious title. To see why, it's best to look at all three films in the Porky's The Ultimate Collection individually, focusing on the issues raised and resolved in each. Let's being with:

Porky's (Score: ***)
Clark has made it very clear over the years that Porky's is two acts of realistic reminiscences about his teenage years in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, buffeted by a bit of last act mainstream motion picture action vigilantism. It was a film he wanted to make ever since he got behind a camera, and it's not hard to see why it was such a hard sell. Even today, he'd have a real problem mounting such a production. In the '80s, sex was still about as taboo a subject as one could consider. Dr. Ruth and her goofball enlightenment approach were still a few years off, and no one thought about depicting genitalia (or jokes about same) in public. But Clark flaunted said convention, coming up with a brilliant demographic gimmick that drove eager adolescent audiences insane. In '81, it was skin that clogged the coffers - and caused all the concern. In 2007, the issue wouldn't be the risqué aspects - it would be the racism. This is a surprisingly strong movie when it comes to bigotry. Indeed, said issue is a far more prevalent plot point than Porky's hickville strip club and the final sequence of schoolboy vengeance. No, the intolerance cuts through the outlandish humor and lewd-icrousness to make the film far more poignant than it should be. Back before loose cannon libidos were cool, Porky's pushed the envelope on human horniness. When viewed through eyes that have experienced American Pie and all that came before, it's the ethnic slurs and good old boy gratuity that fascinates.

Porky's II: The Next Day (Score **1/2)
Bypassing the payback plot element that drove the original Porky's, this sequel in sentiment only focuses instead on the prevalent racism that the first film explored. This time, however, Clark avoids the subtle and slams home his points with a bunch of big budget ball peen hammers. Riffing on real horrors (the South's soiled legacy of supporting the KKK) and elements allegorical (the Rev. Flavel character is clearly meant as a swipe toward the Moral Majority's Jerry Fawell), Clark's take on the time is surprisingly aggressive. He doesn't shy away from non-PC pronouncements and uses the audience's identification with the main characters to cart him over the more offensive bits. In the end, it makes for a scattered and rather unbalanced narrative. On the one hand, we still snicker at all the tawdry T&A, including the ongoing moralistic quest of beefy battleaxe Beulah Balbricker. But then the main censorship storyline takes over, and we miss the miscreant behavior. Leave it to Clark to take the one facet that seems weirdly out of place in the original Porky's (discrimination) and amplify it. In some ways, Porky's II: The Next Day is a better film than the first, but it comes at the detriment of the previous productions 'memory lane' qualities.

Porky's Revenge (Score: *1/2)
You can tell the quality of this questionable quagmire by the names buzzing behind the scenes. Clark is gone, no longer interested in milking his boob and bush cash cow. In his place is TV director Jame Komack (Get Smart, The Courtship of Eddie's Father) helming his one and only feature film. It's not hard to see why. Using a script by someone called Ziggy Steinberg (whose previous claim to fame was creating a TV movie sequel to Steve Martin's The Jerk) and focusing almost exclusively on the fixed basketball game/gambling storyline, everything that made the first two films excessively popular (read frequent female nudity) is all but missing here. Even the cast looks old, no longer capable of passing for high school students. Perhaps the biggest mistake this uniformly abysmal movie makes is turning Porky into a kind of veiled villain/antagonist. In the original film, he was a bloated bumpkin that put some smart-ass teens in their place. During the final shot, he showed a small amount of sense by having his braindead sheriff brother back off. Here he's like a suet Simon Legree, twisting his jowls in jaundiced delight as the rest of the cast sits around, looking bored. With a final second 'shocker' that's more miserable than memorable, what we end up with is a sad send-off to a onetime viable entertainment enterprise.

Though many still hold the first film in high regard, it is obvious that Porky's could only be a product of its time. The innocence illustrated by Clark's 'realistic' look at sex and coming of age in late '50s Florida could only exist in an erotic environment of old wives tales, misinformation, and ridiculous social structures. Would audiences today really respond the same way to the infamous girls shower sequence, Lassie sex scene, or deep woods prostitute shack gag? Could they tolerate a character who consistently used the N-word and defended it by pointing out that the Sunshine State was part of the Confederacy? Could a joke really be based in the mispronunciation of an abhorrent ethnic slur regarding anyone Jewish? In fact, while it's clear that Porky's laid the foundation for all such farces, providing the boys vs. girls basics while stirring the pot of perversion and playfulness, it also set up some strict cinematic limits. Clarke makes it very clear in his commentary track for the original movie that we wouldn't have American Pie and its ilk without his warm walk down randy recriminations past. Whether that's a good thing or not is another issue all together. All that remains today is this tepid trilogy. The original definitely retains its sense of adventure. The rest feel like add-ons to an already aging ideal.

The Video:
Fox figures that there are two ways to present these previously released on DVD motion pictures. (Porky's itself has been part of at least five previous digital presentations). The main selling point remains a wealth of added content. But another would be a recently remastered image. Sadly, this is not what we receive here. Porky's 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is pretty much the same that's already available elsewhere. If there is any appreciable difference between this and other releases, this critic couldn't see it. The print is soft, with faded colors probably meant to suggest a long lost bygone era. But the details are also fuzzy, especially in the one or two sequences of full frontal nudity. As for the other offerings, both Porky's II: The Next Day and Porky's Revenge look decidedly dated. As this is Revenge's first time on the new medium, you'd expect something better than a lax 16x9 presentation. Unfortunately, the same can be said for The Next Day's uninspired anamorphic offering.

The Audio:
Flat and tinny, lifeless and unexceptional, the aural aspects of all three releases leave a lot to be desired. Porky's is pure old fashioned two channel stereo, its lack of bass and mid-range a real sonic shame. Porky's II tries to sell us on a "surround" sound ideal, but there is nothing directional or spatial present. Revenge doesn't even bother, sticking with the standard two speaker set up. While the dialogue is easily discernible, and the soundtracks overloaded with retro-rock gems, all three DVDs suffer from a subpar sonic situation.

The Extras:
Anyone hoping that this box set would contain a bevy of bonus features will be very disappointed. Indeed, the simultaneously released single disc version of Porky's contains the exact same added content as provided here. And don't even bother looking in Porky's II or Porky's Revenge's direction. They both represent the very definition of bare bones. As to the first film, Clark sat down (prior to his recent passing) to reminisce both on and off camera about this, his favorite film, and his full length audio commentary and onscreen interview featurette are indeed the best extras offered. Though they are highly repetitive (in fact, the Q&A often feels like a synopsis of the alternative narrative), we get some interesting information. Clark complains that Porky's killed the careers of his cast, and hints that several name actors (including Dennis Quaid) decided against doing the film over that very concern. He hints at deleted scenes (including one involving Ms. Ballbricker and the infamous shower penis) and discusses the truth behind the various plot points (and no, Pee Wee wasn't a cinematic stand-in for the filmmaker). As always, there is deliberate dead air, but there's still enough insight here to make a visit to the extras menu worthwhile.

What's NOT worth your time is a pointless 13 minute documentary entitled Porky's - A Comedy Classic. Featuring two unexceptionally unfunny comics and long sequences of scenes from the film, this is basically like listening to a couple of Z-list talents as they try to riff on a well known cinematic treasure. Think I Love the '80s without a bit of wit or perspective and you've got the idea. The rest of the added elements include feature trailers for all three films, a series of TV spots, and an interesting sales pitch focusing on - of all things - a Porky's video game. It's funny, if also slightly sad. Perhaps the biggest gap in all this pontification and praise is any word from the original cast and crew. Perhaps they are still hurt over the way Hollywood typecast them after the movie became a hit. Maybe they wanted some supplemental incentive (read: green stuff) to participate. Or it could be that they are over the entire Porky's experience and don't have much to add to the already overflowing critical observations. Whatever the case, their absence makes this a less than definitive DVD presentation.

Final Thoughts:
The bottom line with a box set like this comes down to one word - desirability. If all you want is a fully loaded Porky's package and could really care less about the other two films, then skip this slim case boxset and go for the solo DVD. If, on the other hand, you're a completist, and must own everything involving Pee Wee, Meat and the rest of the Angel Beach alumni, then Porky's The Ultimate Collection will be something you consider as a must own. Splitting the difference down the middle, this critic will concede the unusual draw of the material and offered up a rating of Recommended. Some will sniff at such a low (high?) score, but that's probably because they are basing their belief on memory, not a recent revisit of the films. After sitting through almost six hours of Bob Clark (and Clark by-product) at its most talented and tasteless, endearing and aggravating, it's hard for wistfulness to trump truth. The fact is that Porky's remains a landmark of a certain scatological kind. The rest of its legacy is awash in half-baked ideas and almost unwatchable awfulness.

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