Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

Half Baked Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 7, 2021

Tamra Davis' "Half Baked" (1998) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include archival audio commentary recorded by the director; deleted scenes; alternate ending; vintage trailer; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

All funny films about potheads eventually face the same problem, which is a comparison with one of the classic Cheech and Chong films. It is an unavoidable problem because Cheech and Chong did it all, from the outrageously funny to the stunningly idiotic, and established the ultimate cinematic pothead characters. If you are shooting a funny film about potheads, you don’t have to copy Cheech and Chong to have your characters look like them. It will happen naturally because a moment will come when they will have to do something that Cheech and Chong have already done before, and once it is done, someone will make the obvious connection. This is the precise reason why the similarities in Tamra Davis’ Half Baked are practically everywhere. Yes, its four potheads come from a different decade, but they sum up life and its purpose in exactly the same way Cheech and Chong did -- live to get high, get high to live. Naturally, everything they do is influenced by this simple and (apparently) crystal-clear philosophy of existence.

But when one of them, Kenny (Harland Williams), accidentally kills a diabetic police horse with a massive load of junk food and gets thrown behind bars, the rest are forced to alter their daily habits and raise one million dollars to bail him out. Shortly after, the sharpest one, a bubbly janitor named Thurgood (Dave Chappelle), begins stealing pot from the pharmaceutical lab where he is employed, and brings it home where Brian (Jim Breuer) and Scarface (Guillermo Diaz) prepare it for sale on the streets of New York. However, while dealing as quickly as they can to get Kenny out of prison before he is forced to ‘make love’ to a nasty bully, a notorious drug tsar (Clarence Williams III) becomes upset with the new competition and demands that he is paid his share of the group’s business transactions.

Chappelle co-wrote the screenplay for Half Baked with Neal Brennan, but has gone on record admitting that he isn’t fond of the end product because it is too simplistic. Well, this is essentially the main issue with this film -- it is a hodgepodge of cliched and uneven episodes most of which are instantly forgettable. Chappelle apparently worked on a much more diverse screenplay -- which most likely means that it featured a lot more colorful and therefore unsafe for mass consumption material -- but before production started most of his contributions were edited out. So, if Chappelle is to be trusted, in its current form Half Baked is something of an unfortunate compromise.

The funniest material emerges from short sequences where the potheads drift away from reality and their minds begin playing tricks on them. But even there it is often quite easy to tell that something crucial is missing. It is not something particular either. Sometimes the dialog simply isn’t as exciting as it ought to be. Quite often it is clear that more is needed to maintain a sense of continuity. Despite the R rating, a lot of the material feels disappointingly safe as well.

The acting is a mixed bag. For example, Breuer tries so hard to appear stoned out of his mind that his character looks completely fake. On the other hand, Williams can be pretty funny but it looks like someone intentionally limited his time in front of the camera. When he is loose Chappelle can be entertaining as well, but his romantic relationship with Rachel True is completely mismanaged. Diaz is essentially going with the flow and like Breuer is awfully difficult to take seriously as a genuine pothead.

Snoop Dog, Willie Nelson, and Tommy Chong have small cameos that are seriously unimpressive. It feels like they were all brought in only to make the film appear a lot more ambitious.

Half Baked Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 10870p transfer, Half Baked arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from an old and rather weak master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. Indeed, a few close-ups can look decent, but there is plenty of flatness and finer nuances are usually lost. In darker areas, there is moderate to significant crushing as well, which further compromises the native depth of the visuals. If you view your films on a larger screen, you will likely find the inconsistent delineation annoying. Colors are stable. However, the primaries and the supporting nuances can be healthier and better balanced. Image stability is good. There are no large debris, cuts, warped or torn frames, but some stains and dark marks can be spotted. So, Half Baked can and should look fresher and much more convincing organic appearance on Blu-ray. My score is 2.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Half Baked Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed the entire film with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. I thought that it was good. It is stable and with fine range of nuanced dynamics. It is free of balance issues as well. Can it be better? I think that it can, but not by much. The mid/upper registers can see some minor improvements that could open up the audio slightly. But as it is the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is very solid.

Half Baked Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for Half Baked. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Commentary - this archival audio commentary was recorded by director Tamra Davis. It initially appeared on the Fully Baked DVD edition of Half Baked.

• 8 Outrageous Deleted Scenes - in English, not subtitled. (11 min).

• Alternate Ending - in English, not subtitled. (6 min).

• Five Minutes with the Guy on the Couch - (6 min).

• Different Types of Smokers - a couple of hilarious animated sequences. (3 min).

• Granny's Guide to Bakin' - another hilarious sequence. In English, not subtitled. (7 min).

Half Baked Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If Dave Chappelle had complete creative control over Half Baked most likely the end product would have been vastly superior. However, in its current form this film feels, well, undercooked. It's got a couple of hilarious moments, but the rest is simply a hodgepodge of cliched material that quickly becomes quite annoying. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an older and rather weak master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. If you need it in your collection, consider picking it up only when it is on sale and heavily discounted.