Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Jackass 3.5 Blu-ray Movie Review

More of the same, which will be seen by most as either pure gold or pure $#!(.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 28, 2011

That looks like it hurts really bad.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Jackass 3.5 is an almost all-new movie in the famed (or infamous) series that highlights the ultimate combination of double-whammy stupidity: people doing harmful and ridiculous things to themselves on purpose. Countering that stupidity is the fact that the Jackass crew is rolling in the dough, raking in millions upon millions of dollars by putting up with slathering themselves in horse semen, electrocuting their testicles, or any number of gross and harmful -- sometimes separate, sometimes both at once -- activities that make them hurt and vomit and laugh and line their pockets. Hey, it's the ultimate in-praise-of-capitalism motion picture series; if they can do this for a living and put up with the pain and humiliation while at the same time sharing it with millions of fans who pay their bills, then more power to them. Still, Jackass in all its versions is one of the most divisive series out there; there's not much room for middle ground as most will either love the antics or be turned off by them. Whether one finds pain and humiliation funny or not will vary from viewer to viewer, and the beautiful thing about Jackass is that one need not really watch it to know how one will react to it. It's worth giving a try, but most will find any preconceived biases or notions of positive reaction to hold true with a watch. Pick any of them (why not Jackass 3.5, though); they're all pretty much the same, for better or for worse.

That's gonna leave a mark.

Jackass 3.5 is a compilation film of dangerous and grotesque stunts performed by the crazy brave all in the name of a laugh. In essence, it's the same sort of vignette structure that comprised Jackass 3, featuring a few extended sequences where a gag is played more than once on the same or different individuals, or in brief spurts for a figurative drive-by Jackassing (is that a new word?). The entire Jackass gang shows up, from Wee Man to Preston Lacy, and they gleefully humiliate themselves for eighty-some minutes of agony and laughter, the "victims" dropping "ows" and F-bombs and S-words, cursing the pain and admonishing their friends for doing things like, oh, allowing an Alligator Snapping Turtle to latch on to a bare buttocks. The fun doesn't end there, however; the gang dabbles in all sorts of painful, ridiculous, and gross-out stunts, where a fat man falls from a tree, lucky participants body surf on barrels, victims are zapped with a "ghetto defibrillator," and people are blasted by a mini-pirate cannon. They also engage in a game of human bowling with a devious twist, launch "cock rockets" towards "Uranus," send an occupied toilet-on-wheels down a steep ramp, attach electrical currents to testicles, lace male genitalia with catnip, participate in a high jump immediately after inserting an enema, and have fun with high-speed treadmills, to name only a few of the gang's highlights for this third-point-five effort.

What's really amazing about these jackasses is how they come out of these stunts relatively unharmed. Sure some need stitches, become covered in bruises and welts, suffer burn damage, and the like, but for the absolute insanity of the stunts -- and these seem absolutely real -- one can only wonder by what grace they're saved a truly debilitating injury, or worse. One must also wonder how they've come to find the balance necessary to risk their necks time and again in the name of "entertainment." To their credit, they keep on coming back, one movie after another, healed up and ready to go. Give them credit not only for their intestinal fortitude -- particularly when engaged in those stunts that they just know are going to be trouble -- but also for their smarts, for not only have they transformed their jackassery (another new word?) into full-time jobs that probably pay them more than most people earn, but they somehow keep the stunts coming, always brainstorming the next great gag, whether it's one of mechanical complexity or something as simple as kicking a leg from a chair. These guys may be the craziest entrepreneurs the world has ever seen, but credit them for knowing, finding, and milking their niche for all its worth. Love their stunts or find them repulsive, it's impossible not to admire these guys for what they've accomplished using their obvious God-given guts and ability to recover from various injuries with the attitude required to get back out there in front of the camera and do it all again. These guys are certainly the Evil Knievel of their time, except that Evil probably never allowed himself to unwittingly become slathered in horse semen for weeks on end.

Jackass 3.5 seems perhaps a bit more tame than Jackass 3, and it finds a little more raw humor than the last entry, of course subjectively speaking. It's still a relatively pointless affair and not in very good taste, but there's no doubt that the series's core audience will eat this up. The film occasionally takes a brief respite from the mayhem and features various Jackassers (third new word of the day!) discussing what life is really like on a Jackass set. It would be far more interesting to hear each of these core Jackass individuals sit down and give extended and brutally honest interviews about what life as a hardcore stuntman is really like. These guys certainly take things to the extreme, and it's clear that they share a unique camaraderie that's allowed them to form bonds of trust to the point that they realize that no matter how much pain they take or inflict on another, it's done with at least some compassion and concern for the well-being of their friends. There's clearly a chance of death involved in a few of these stunts -- risks of accidental broken necks and the like -- but of course they have yet to do anything truly insane, like run through a live minefield or into a barrage of gunfire, and Heaven help us if that's what it will take to entertain people in the future. As it is, Jackass 3.5 -- and all its predecessors and what will no doubt be its successors -- takes taste and danger to the absolute extremes of what today's viewers will accept as entertainment. It's been a long road since the pie in the face and the slip on the banana peel.

Jackass 3.5 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jackass 3.5 doesn't make a fool of Blu-ray, instead delivering a quality, but far from perfect, 1080p Blu-ray transfer. There are a few shots and scenes captured at an obviously inferior level of quality (shot on lower-grade mobile and low-light cameras, for instance) that introduce various challenges that range from jagged edges to sloppy noise when compared to the bulk of the far more crisp HD video imagery. However, the primary image is more often than not nice to look at, yielding a good bit of fine detailing in facial and clothing textures and offering perhaps the most raw definition in the more intricate city street-level shots as seen when a Jackass character dresses as a woman. Colors are steady, not overly vibrant and not exactly eye-catching, either, but appearing very neutral and appropriately bright when showcasing blue barrels, green grasses, and other more flashy objects. Bright outdoor scenes certainly fare the best in terms of both raw color reproduction and fine detailing. There's a hint of banding and blocking in several scenes, but not enough to induce panic. Jackass 3.5 certainly isn't the sort of movie that offers showcase eye candy sort of material; nevertheless, Paramount's transfer is admirably stable and true to the source elements.

Jackass 3.5 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jackass 3.5 arrives on Blu-ray with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack that does a fine job of capturing all the sonic signatures that accompany the various stunts throughout the film. This is a good and wide presentation that brings with it lots of energy, noted particularly during playback of various rock tunes that offer steadily slicing guitar riffs and a positive, heavy low end. The surrounds come alive to carry part of the music and various sound effects both naturally ambient and part of the stunts. Directional effects are handled precisely, particularly when the Jackasses launch rockets or in some way propel themselves around and across the screen, the track doing a good job of staying with them and replicating the associated sound effects naturally and with much clarity. Dialogue is centered in the middle and never becomes lost when it needs to be heard. As with the video, this sort of material doesn't demand the world's best soundtrack, but Paramount has given it a robust and more-than-satisfying presentation, anyway.

Jackass 3.5 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Jackass 3.5 features some all-new extras that were not included with Jackass 3, highlighted by a quality retrospective piece and a nice assortment of additional deleted footage.

• Jackass: The Beginning (1080p, 40:46): A lengthy retrospective piece (with some never-before-seen footage) that features Jackass veterans recounting the history of the franchise, beginning with Johnny Knoxville's pepper spray test in 1998 and moving on to look at the assembly of the main cast and the guys's transition to MTV which would ultimately lead them to the big screen. The piece also looks at controversies, run-ins with the police, real-life drama surrounding the show, some of the trademark stunts from over time, and more.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 16:37): Magnifying Glass, The Swan, Snapping Turtle on a Stick, Bad Dad, Fat F**k Cupcake, Party Boy (Elevator), The Rocky (Kerry Getz), Defibrillator Wake-Up, Walk the Plank, Rocket Ass, and The Donkey Ride.
• Outtakes (1080p, 19:50).
• Jackass European Tour (1080p, 6:27): A short look at the Jackass gang's adventures in Europe.

Jackass 3.5 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Love it or hate it; there's no middle ground, really, and Jackass 3.5 is pretty much like every other Jackass movie out there, so those who love the series should run out and pick this one up the minute it's released, and those who hate it should stay far, far away. For those curious about the series, Jackass 3.5 is as good as any of the films to watch. It's got some admittedly funny routines, but most of it is either gross to the point that it's painful or cringe-worthy in the sheer power of the hard hits and crashes and spills that batter and bruise the intrepid Jackasses. This one feels a little more tame than Jackass 3, but the films are effectively identical in terms of structure and content delivery. Paramount's Blu-ray release of Jackass 3.5 features a strong technical presentation and a few extras. Recommended to fans of the series.