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| Special Features: |
Audio Commentary by Director John Landis
Writers Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker and Producer Robert K. Weiss
On-Set Home Movies by the Zucker Brothers
Photo Gallery
Trailer
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| Video Format: |
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)
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| Languages: |
English (Dolby Digital 1.0)
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| Captions: |
none.
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| Casing: |
1-Disc Keep Case
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The classic 1977 Abrahams and Zucker Bros. comedy that basically created the spoof genre...
There are raunchy movies, and there are raunchy movies. And you know what I mean.
The kind of movie that's just so wrong you can't help but shamefully bust a gut with laughter.
Filmed in a sort of "Monty Python"-esque collection of seemingly random comedy skits, The Kentucky
Fried Movie (named after the theater in which the Zucker Bros.' early improv comedy act was born)
takes jabs at everything from Bruce Lee kung-fu flicks to the entire blaxploitation genre.
Like the animated South Park of today, The Kentucky Fried Move leaves no stone uncovered
by their sarcastic and sinfully malicious grasp. And like South Park, Abrahams and the Zuckers
somehow get away with it by simply offending everyone equally.
It's time for Big Jim Slade in The Wonderful World of Sex |
The movie is really broken into 21 distinct and hilarious skits, the funniest of which are
"The Wonderful World Of Sex", a spoof on sex help tapes, and "A Fistful Of Yen", a 30-minute spoof on
Bruce Lee's classic Enter the Dragon. The DVD is worth watching for "A Fistful Of Yen" alone.
I'm laughing just thinking back on that skit. It's a perfect parody of just how silly storylines for
martial arts pictures get. Keep an eye out too. There are short appearances by such notables as
Bill Bixby, Donald Sutherland, and George Lazenby (former Bond man) as a man drunk of his ass.
While the humor is extremely adolescent at times, it is a funny look at the foundations of what would
eventually become some of the greatest spoofs of all-time, Airplane and The Naked Gun series.
Anchor Bay Entertainment has put together a rather entertaining disc.
Though not loaded with features, the picture and audio quality are very commendable,
and the rowdy commentary track is absolutely hilarious. Also included are some home videos
shot on the set of the movie that prove just how goofy these filmmakers are.
Picture Quality: 8/10
What can you really expect for the picture and sound quality,
from a movie made in 1977 for $500,000? With that said, Anchor Bay has done a very
commendable job cleaning up the footage for DVD. It's not going to knock your socks off
in detail and color, but it's definitely a top notch job for what they were most likely working with.
The film comes in both full frame and wide screen, though I highly suggest you stick with the wide
screen anamorphic.
Sound Quality: 6/10
The film is encoded in Dolby Digital Mono, so again, don't expect much. Unfortunately,
I can't be as forgiving to Anchor Bay on the audio job, as certain scenes have a muffled,
hollow sound to them. Still, this isn't a film in great need of good audio, so there isn't much
you need to worry about.
Menu: 7/10
I love the song playing in the background of the menu, and for that, I give it a seven.
Otherwise, a pretty boring, simple menu.
Extra Features: 7/10
Amazingly for a film as old as this, Anchor Bay has assembled a reunion of sorts with its
commentary track with director John Landis, writers David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker
and producer Robert K. Weiss all contributing in a riotous bout that is nearly as funny as the film itself.
Also funny is a collection of on-the-set home videos shot by the Zuckers to send home to their parents and
grandparents as "proof that they were actually in Hollywood filming a movie". It offers a nice explanation for
such common Kentucky Fried Movie questions as: "who the hell would make a movie like this?"
The Final Word:
A fun disc that will most definitely get heavy usage from anyone who needs their fix of teary-eyed
laughter every now and again. Anchor Bay, "you have our gratitude".
Stephen Wong
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