Buck Wild Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Buck Wild Blu-ray Movie Review

The spirit of the deer lives inside us all...even zombies.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 23, 2014

Imagine Red Dawn fused with The Walking Dead and Evil Dead and influenced by the good folks over at Broken Lizard. That should give a pretty solid mental image of Buck Wild, a surprisingly enjoyable little out-of-the-way and low-end entertainer that tackles the Zombie genre with a contagious enthusiasm that effectively masks all the film's shortcomings. It's a breath of fresh air not so much because it reinvents the wheel but because it has so much fun in that old tire as it rolls down a steep hill, bouncing off obstacles and throwing caution to the wind. It may not be destined to become a classic, but chances are genre fans looking for the perfect little slice of Zombie escapism will want to pitch tent for ninety minutes of undead mayhem, Texas style.

I guess we missed...

Clyde (Joe Stevens) runs a South Texas hunting ranch/retreat called "Buck Wild." He and his promiscuous daughter Candy (Meg Cionni) are hosting four out-of-towners -- Yankee Jerry (Jarrod Pistilli), the nerdy Tom (Dru Lockwood), lady's man Lance (Isaac Harrison), and the naive Craig (Matthew Albrecht) -- for a weekend getaway of huntin' and whateverin'. Clyde seems more than a little sickly, and Candy a little more than flirtatious. The weekend gets off to decent start with a good campfire but a revelation that might put Craig and Lance at odds. Quickly, however, things begin to turn south when locals begin to turn into flesh-hungry zombies. It'll take a whole lot skill and a little bit of luck -- or is it the other way around? -- to survive a Texas-sized zombie apocalypse.

Buck Wild merrily incorporates a mixture of cliché characterization, humor, and more than a sprinkling of over-the-top goofy action. Indeed, viewers won't find anything all that noteworthy or novel here, at least not when just looking at the broad strokes and ignoring the glue that holds it all together. The fun and feel of originality, then, come from the absence of a serious structure; Buck Wild feels like just a few people having a good time making a movie, and sometimes just a little creativity and know-how, mixed with an inextinguishable thirst to succeed, can mask and overcome a whole lot of pitfalls along the way. A lot of lower end filmmakers could take an example from Buck Wild and see that passion can often trump most any obstacle. No, passion won't suddenly turn a really crummy script into a classic, and no amount of passion will magically make dime store visuals look like Transformers, but passion does help fine tune a story, spread a budget a little bit further, and most importantly show audiences that some fun and frivolity are still viable alternatives to Oscar winning dramas and movies that cost more than the value of all the gold in Fort Knox (oh, wait...).

That passion also carries over into the performances. Buck Wild is packed with plenty of spirited efforts, much more so than most other lower budget movies that fail to understand the concept of "fun" and attempt to make something that shouldn't be so serious into a really dour, "why bother" sort of experience. The four primaries are excellent, each providing a good, dependable individual performance and certainly displaying a good bit of legitimate camaraderie along the way. Jarrod Pistilli shines brightest as a New Yorker slung down into Texas with a secret to hide and a surprising bit of know-how and daring to help battle zombies or whatever -- whoever -- might spring in to dampen the trip. Joe Stevens steals the show as Clyde, a stereotypical "redneck" character who seems influenced by the Owen character in Planes, Trains & Automobiles but with a darker, meaner, zombie twist. Technically, the film proves proficient. It looks good given its limited resources and plays up the humor and the story which helps to lessen the fact that, underneath, there's really not much to it beyond a bit of makeup and a splash of fake blood here and there.

Buck Wild Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Buck Wild's high definition presentation looks rather good for a lower budget picture, though it certainly can't compete with high-end film or digital productions from the major studios or even outfits like The Asylum. Still, the image offers a clean, healthy look, featuring acceptable detailing and sturdy colors. Facial and clothes textures are never so exacting as to replicate real life, but viewers will find that the transfer presents them with quality attention to detail thanks to Blu-ray's capable resolution. Colors aren't punchy and vibrant but there's a consistency and natural evenness to enjoy, whether blood red or green and brown camouflage. Skin tones are fair though perhaps a hint pale, while black levels are rather deep and never too far into crushing territory. The image sees no major, excessive flaws outside of a moderate bit of noise, particularly evident in lower light scenes. This is a workable transfer that serves the low budget material well enough.

Buck Wild Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Buck Wild's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack falls well short of the quality associated with higher-end productions but isn't awful for a low budget film. Millennium Entertainment's audio presentation handles the basics well enough, spitting out clean, accurate, center-focused dialogue with acceptable clarity. Music, likewise, plays with suitable vigor and presence. General exterior ambient effects are sufficiently filling, whether in an early scene featuring Clyde and Candy or a later scene featuring the guys around the campfire. Action sound effects are shortchanged, with gun shots ranging from "small" to "puny" and certainly failing to find the explosive, lifelike presence one might expect of a larger track. An explosion near film's end also greatly disappoints and barely registers beyond a cursory sound effect. Still, this budget soundtrack works well enough in context.

Buck Wild Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Aside from a trailer collage highlighting other Millennium Entertainment releases, Buck Wild contains only the following deleted scenes (HD, 3:12 total runtime): Good Boy, Sage Boss...Sage, and Tom Packs...Carefully.

Buck Wild Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

What Buck Wild lacks in budget and scope and even originality it more than makes up for in passion, pride in craft, and creativity. It's a bit slow out of the gate but the humor comes steadily and rarely misses a beat. It's comfortable within its means, very well acted, and capable of humorously integrating cliché rather than just leaning on it. In many ways, it's the perfect "imperfect" film. Millennium Entertainment's Blu-ray features solid video, passable audio, and a few deleted scenes. It's a bit overpriced out of the gate, but it definitely comes recommended as a purchase once (if) it drops into the sub-$10 range.