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National Lampoon's Animal House - Double Secret Probation Full Screen Edition

National Lampoon's Animal House - Double Secret Probation Full Screen Edition

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $14.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Regarding the 5 minutes worth of previews
Review: I contacted Universal Studios via email telling them what I thought of them forcing purchasers of their DVD to endure over 5 minutes of previews and commercials before being able to watch the movie that they paid for, and this is the response that I received:
Here is how you bypass them.
Thank you for contacting us. You need to first eject the disc from your
player and reinsert it. Then press the "stop" button when the "Warning"
screen appears. Press "play" and it will take you directly to either the
main menu or to the start of the film.
We appreciate your patronage and hope you continue to enjoy this and other
Universal releases.
Sincerely,
Universal Studios Home Video
Code=AHFT

Hopefully in the future, if enough people let them know what they think, they'll design the DVD to allow for fastforwarding through the advertisements.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Don't Waste The Money!!!
Review: Be warned, you are paying all this money for a 10 min. "Where are they now?" clip and a music video... wow. The other stuff can be found on the collector's edition DVD (which has much better packaging).

I was looking for bonus footage and such, even an audio commentary. NOPE!!! Not here. This is a plain waste of money.

For a 25th anniversary, you would think they could have put a much better package together. *Every* movie, unless all the original reels are lost, has more footage than ever will be used/seen. It would have been nice for some outtakes, or deleted scenes. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Nill.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Infuriating Commercials at the Beginning
Review: Obviously the movie is good. But the unskippable infuriating forced watching of commericals as the DVD starts is horrible. I've never seen it so blatant before. At least they could do something like have it run only the first time. A ridculous horrible trend.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: 25 year edition, not that special.
Review: Everyone, whether you liked the movie or don't find mindless Lampoon humor all that funny, can agree that Animal House gave birth to the college & high school hi-jinx movie genre.

Putting my opening statement aside, the movie debuted in 1978, and now being 2003, this would make it the 25th Anniversary. Usually, when movies hit the fabled 10, 25, 50 year mark, the public thinks of these as classics and when released or re-leased we expect something special of our special editions.

Unfortunately, Animal House 'Double Secret Probation' does not deliver in my book. I'm not going to review the movie, by now everyone should know what it is and you can read other reviews if needed. However I will review the technical aspects of the movie as well as it's so called extra's.

The movie itself, though at times may seem dated in it political correctness or even sophomoric humor still can stand by itself. However, I think the flagship for National Lampoon would have deserved a clean re-mastering of teh pring and sound. This didn't seem to be the case. Overall coloring still seemed no better than my VHS copy as well as sound. Disappointing to say the least.

Then there is the infernal mandatory viewing of 5 minutes or so of various Universal previews you cannot skip. Annoying feature.

There are four extra's, but I only felt only one or two of them warrant any special attention:
1) Alumni update: Approx 15 minutes in length. Actors are in character all these year later in small 2-3 vignettes each explaining where they are today and what they have been doing. Some lines are funny, others are not, and sadly some important characters are absent from this update.
2) Shout music video: recent update by some rock group I've never heard of. Typical movie/music video crossover- band members in some empty warehouse playing a butcheredd version of a song interlaced with movie snippets. No biggie.
3) Animated trivia. Re-watch the movie with this feature turned on and gain some trivia..Kinda cool.
4) Making of. This 45 minute documentary describes how Animal House went from being idea to actual celluloid. Pretty interesting as this interview segment has many of the main characters, director, composer, screen writer, producers and more talk about the making of the movie along with on-set stories and behind the scenes footage. Very interesting and the only real extra on this DVD.

I would have loved to have seen a few bloopers, and screen tests, especially that of the late John Belushi, and maybe even the location and tour of the Delta house.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: You Know It Makes Me Want to Shout!
Review: What can you say about a film set at a college named after a pencil?

Animal House was the first and, to me, the best of the National Lampoon comedies. It was outragiously funny and even daring for its time (the Nixonian Watergate years). It also was the prototype of the many slapstick college/youth films that followed and tried to make the same mark, but John Landis and his merry men had already spray-painted the wall. It also made its young cast of unknowns into famous names: John Belushi (still missed), Tim Matheson, Peter Reigert, Karen Allen, Kevin Bacon, et all.

My grown kids can't get over how this movie can turn their sober middle-aged parents into carbon copies of them, or why the words "food fight", "double secret probation", "road trip" and "Toga! Toga!" make us smile and giggle at each other. They're at that age when they can't imagine their parents having been their age. However, they recently watched the film on DVD with us, and I think they understand a little better now. ("Hey, that's Keifer Sutherland's dad. Cool!") Its early 60's setting was our youth, right on the cusp of the youth explosion, the Beatles, civil rights and peace marches, and Vietnam. Every generation is entitled to enjoy its youth, each in its own way, until maturity intrudes.

The new two-disc anniverary release has features that are worth the money for AH fans. The image clarity and sound definition are improved over the original DVD; the new "mockumentary" about the current lives of the Faberians is an improv hoot---they obviously had a good time making it; the anecdotal pop-ups that can be made to appear throughout the film are both funny and informational; and the newly expanded documentary about the making of the film gives a greater appreciation of the hurdles the filmmakers had to clear to get it made.

So get with your frat brothers and sorority sisters, dress in your finest bedsheets, pop some brewskis (and keep some green jello handy), and take a road trip with Bluto, Hoover, Otter, Boone, Pinto, Flounder, D-Day and the rest of the Deltans to Animal House. Otherwise, Dean Wormer will put us all on Double Secret Probation!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perhaps one of the best comedies on film ever
Review: I saw the movie when it first came out and howled. Even the names and characters have an impact years later. I got the 20 year anniversary VHS, and now this DVD. The DVD shows that the movie has lost nothing over the years, and is still a pleasure to watch. John Belushi, in his first role is magnificent, and his loss to comedy is a great loss. The copy is crisp and the high brow music perfect. While some of the special material is a repeat of what was on the 20th anniversary tape, there is a new and hilarious update of 'where are they now'. This DVD deserves to be in any persons collection of comedy movies. I only wish there were more special features on this DVD.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Why not add something new?
Review: I've always felt that ANIMAL HOUSE was one of the funniest comedies ever filmed, and I rejoice in the widescreen format, improved mastering and the Dolby audio... but I only gave this lousy re-release two stars.

Why? Well, I hope someone at Universal is reading these reviews: DUMP THE MANDATORY PREVIEWS! And what about better content? The featurettes seem hastily-made and almost amateurish. I wanted to see deleted scenes, like the legendary Stork and his slide rules -- I wanted outtakes, or more footage taken while the film was being produced.

If you already own the original release (like I do), then don't bother with this unless you have to have the widescreen format or the Dolby audio.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Mandatory advertisements are RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: I love Animal House and bought this DVD so I could watch Animal House. I did not buy 4 minutes of mandatory advertisements every time I put the disc in. There is no way to skip past them. TO UNIVERSAL: do you think that by making me watch this every time I will be more likely to buy your movies?? Never again will I purchase a DVD from Universal without first finding out if it has advertisements.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: See yourself and your friends on dvd ...
Review: This excellent movie is so real to life (in an exaggerated way) that you can see someone you recognize (even if the face is different). Even if you never went to college, you will see your friends from high school portrayed in this film.

You need to get this movie, if only to refresh your memories of school!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: nice quality
Review: I saw the ads at the beginning, and just fast forwarded through them. Guess my XBox didn't care. :)

But it's nice to have a really good quality version of the film. I just wish it was wide screen.


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