The Billy Madison/Happy Gilmore Collection (Widescreen Special Edition)

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Summary: FINALLY A WIDESCREEN DVD OF HAPPY GILMORE!
Review: After years of waiting Universal finally is releasing Happy Gilmore on a widescreen DVD. I am so happy that I held out and didn't buy the piss poor Full Screen Edition of the DVD they put out for years. If that isn't enough their is also Billy Madison which is a hillarious Sandler film. Personally though I think Happy Gilmore is Sandler at his funniest, the comedic scenes between him and Bob Barker are so funny it makes you want to cry! Now it is time for me to order these 2 DVD's and take them home!

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Summary: Sandler's Dandy Duo Perfect For Xmas Gift Giving...
Review: At long last, a Widescreen of Happy Gilmore!!! Miracles do happen. 'Happy' is Sandler's funniest movie. New deleted scenes only add to the funnybone. 'Billy' is a stitch as well. It also has deleted scenes. I owned both of these seperately, but the twin pack is a must for any comedy or Sandler fan. His early work is his funniest, especially "Happy Gilmore." Trade in your old ones and bring home this twin pack. It is worth every dime!

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Summary: Two of the best Sandler movies even though they all are good
Review: I cant wait to get the special editions of happy gilmore and billy madison. Julie Bowen and Bridgette Wilson are hot.

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Summary: Great movies, but screwed-up transfers
Review: I was so excited when I heard about the Billy Madison/Happy Gilmore box set several months ago. I was hoping Universal would FINALLY be giving us the definitive versions of both flicks. The results are a mixed bag.

The colors look great and the sound mixes are much improved, but both transfers are wrongly framed. They appear to have been zoomed in and cropped. If you've seen the original Billy Madison DVD and compare the two, you'll see lots of visual information cropped off the top and bottom of the picture. It looks awful and is really distracting. We're talking cutting off the heads of characters and scenery.

The discs have some really grainy deleted scenes, most of which are second takes and jokes that didn't work. Why did Universal screw with these flicks??

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Summary: O'Doyle rules!
Review: In addition to the randowm kickball scene that 'Uber' references, I'm hoping Happy Gilmore has the scene where the nursing home orderly (played by Ben Stiller) gets tossed out of a 2nd floor window by Happy (as seen in the TV edit).

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Summary: One Good, One Bad...
Review: In some respects, Adam Sandler has come a long way since Billy Madison, his first starring role after four years on Saturday Night Live. Recently, he has starred in Paul Thomas Anderson's Technicolor romantic comedy, Punch-Drunk Love and James L. Brook's comic drama, Spanglish. Happy Gilmore helped establish a strong fan base and demonstrated his bankability. He has never looked back since, cranking out one box office hit after another. Universal has gone back to the well and re-packaged his first two solo efforts in one set with re-mastered transfers and bonus material that fans will enjoy.

On the Billy Madison DVD there are six deleted scenes totaling 33 minutes. There are lots of small bits and pieces that were rightfully trimmed (including one where Billy does nothing but scratch his ass).

There are three minutes of outtakes. Nothing terribly exciting or all that funny.

Also included are production notes.

Finally, there is an audio commentary by the film's director, Tamra Davis. This is a pretty boring, uninvolving track as Davis points out a scene that she didn't direct and she knows this because she would never have picked the sweater that Sandler wears in the scene. Yawn.

Sadly, the stronger of the two movies, Happy Gilmore, doesn't have as many extras. There are six deleted scenes that run 20 minutes, including the introduction of Happy's golf clubs and more footage of his golfing misadventures.

There is also a five minute reel of outtakes which is a pretty funny collection of blown lines and goofs.

Finally, there are production notes.

The Billy Madison/Happy Gilmore Collection shows the beginnings of Adam Sandler's evolution as a box office heavyweight with his own particular brand of comedy. It is nice to finally have these films in their original aspect ratio and with a smattering of extras. Fans of both films will no doubt enjoy everything they have to offer.

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Summary: Where It All Began
Review: It is hard to believe that after Memorial Day that Sandler will have made 12 movies since these. Both of these movies are worth repeated watches; however, don't be fooled by the "new bonus features". The deleted scenes are far less produced that the final film, and the dialogue is almost impossible to hear in some scenes. The bloopers are not that funny either. That being said, these are still two fine movies. The main draw to me for the combo set was that I could get the widescreen version which I had previously been unable to find. If this is not important to you, you will probably be better off trying to find them separately. Finally, each movie on its own is worth 4 stars, but I knocked down my rating because of what I have mentioned above.

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Summary: What were the editorial writers thinking?
Review: ok, here's the scoop. If you like any comedy movies, then these are for you. Happy gilmore has some of the better comedy that isn't trying to stay clean that i've seen in a long time. It is one of the reasons that a golf movie is actually funny. And Billy Madison? an adult with a maturity of a 6 yr. old? how is this not funny? you know what those editorials need? a little of that annoying man.

"You suck! You Jackass!"

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Summary: If Sandler were Spielberg, these would be "Duel" and "Jaws"
Review: Seriously, these are the early classics, untainted by the urge to shamelessly crowdplease.

This was Sandler back before he became an industry, back when he wasn't afraid to cut loose and get a little bizarre, before the dreck of "Little Nicky," "Mr. Deeds" and what I consider one of the worst movies ever made, "Eight Crazy Nights."

It's fitting that these two comedies (his best) are paired together. There's a strain of out-and-out weirdness that runs through both of them that makes me love them and just laugh myself sick.

No, the plot of "Billy Madison" isn't exactly original but there are bits of "what the hell?" moments here and there that make up for it. The Invisible Penguin, Drunk Chicks magazine, Steve Buscemi's sniper, "O'Doyle rules," the undead clown, "Speak for yourself moron," Bradley Whitford's disastrous home-ec projet and lines like "Who would you rather bone? Meg Ryan or Jack Nicholson" and "If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis."

"Happy Gilmore" lays down the formula that Sandler would eventually repeat into homogenization, but it's got some great gags in it, too: Smeigel's apologetic tax man, "Endless Love" lip-synched by a zamboni operator, Ben Stiller's psycho rest home thug ("You can trouble me for a warm glass of shut the hell up!"), the Happy Place and the Not-So-Happy Place and especially a great turn by Christopher MacDonald as Shooter McGavin who knew how to spin a line like "Well, good for Happy Gil-moh my God!" He's one of the classic slob comedy heavies. A funnier golf comedy than "Caddyshack" ? As a white guy who remains a disciple of Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, Ted Knight and Rodney Dangerfield I still must respectfully say, "Yes."

Don't underrate these comedies because they're loose and crude and bizarre as hell. Enjoy them because they're loose and crude and bizarre as hell.

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Summary: Awesome Flicks! Buy Them!
Review: These are quite possibly the two greatest Adam Sandler movies ever released. His new movies of of no comparison to the great comical humor of both Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison. Now, I haven't seen the deleted scenes supposed to be placed only in this set for these two movies, but they should be great. If Billy Madison has the "kickball scene" found only on the TV edit of Billy Madison you are already getting your money's worth. My advice - buy them (you WILL NOT regret it).