Road Trip 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Road Trip 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 28, 2025

Todd Phillips' "Road Trip" (2000) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by critic Joe Ramoni; archival featurette; deleted scenes; vintage trailers; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtiltes for the main feature. Region-Free.

"I only said we'd make it across. I never said anything about the wheels staying on."

Remove DJ Qualls from Road Trip and you are instantly looking at one very mediocre, easily forgettable film. This is how impactful Qualls’ presence is, which is strange because there is quite a bit of material without him. It is even stranger that no one could recognize the obvious. Had someone done so, Qualls would have dominated Road Trip, or at the very least picked up Tom Green’s time in front of the camera. In the 1990s, Green developed a reputation that attracted a specific audience, so it is not difficult to understand why someone might have thought he could be a good addition to Road Trip. But Green is a bad distraction, dragging Road Trip to a place where all mediocre contemporary teen comedies inevitably end.

Fortunately, Todd Phillips does a lot of good balancing work to ensure that Road Trip does not evolve into one such mediocre contemporary teen comedy. Certain small parts of it do have a heavy MTV-esque flavor that is not suitable for it, but Phillips does not allow it to spread out. There is more material in Road Trip that is thematically and spiritually very similar to the material that a few decades earlier Curtis Hanson and Tamar Simon Hoffs shot for Losin' It and The Allnighter, respectively. It is the quality material that produces all the good laughs.

The narrative is broken into multiple flashbacks, recreating a story about four college friends who, with just a few days left before a crucial exam, embark on a trip from the fictional Ithaca University in New York to the fictional University of Austin in Texas. The trip is an urgent rescue mission. After taping a night of sexual fireworks with Beth (Amy Smart), a very attractive blonde, Josh (Breckin Meyer), having recorded another tape about college life, realizes that the wrong tape is heading toward his girlfriend, Tiffany (Rachel Blanchard), who is on the other side of the country. To save his relationship with Tiffany, who is mourning the loss of a family member, Josh and his friends E.L. (Seann William Scott), Rubin (Paulo Coztanzo), and Kyle (Qualls) jump into the latter’s clunker and hit the road to intercept the tape. However, it is not long before the clunker is sacrificed and the friends are forced to begin improvising.

Green plays an almost unbearable orientation leader at Ithaca University who begins describing the trip to a small group of visitors, virtually all of whom think that he is hopelessly boring and a genuine idiot. When the story unexpectedly becomes a hit, the orientation leader also begins improvising. In the final act, having changed everyone’s opinion of him, he attempts to make love to an overheated ‘mother’ right on the lawn before one of the many beautiful campus buildings.

The secret behind the effective balancing work mentioned earlier is easy to figure out. Phillips ensures that the crude remains a light ornamentation. In virtually contemporary teen comedies, the crude is supersized and sold to the audience as humor. It is a bad trick, and gets worse if the actors performing it are all like Green.

There are several wonderful cameos. Mia Amber Davis steals Qualls’ heart after she nearly crushes him in a classic virginity-ending love scene. A predictably great Fred Ward plays Qualls’ unhinged father and, at the wrong time, pulls out a gun to restore order during a conflict that does not require one. Marla Sucharetza is a hilarious nurse in a sperm bank who lends a helping hand to an annoying donor.

Road Trip 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber's release of Road Trip is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

The combo pack release presents a new 4K makeover of the Theatrical Cut of the film on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray. The Unrated Version is not redone in 4K and is included only on the Blu-ray.

Please note that some of the screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc, including the actual color values of this content.

Screencaptures #1-21 are from the Theatrical Cut included on the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #24-31 are from the Unrated Version included on the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #33-40 are from the Theatrical Cut included on the 4K Blu-ray.

In native 4K, the Theatrical Cut can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view it with HDR. Later, I spent time with its 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray.

The new 4K makeover of the Theatrical Cut does not impress. While it does have a slightly healthier appearance than the Unrated Version, which has a dated, processed appearance revealing various anomalies, it is surprisingly inconsistent. For example, in many areas, delineation is underwhelming, and different fine nuances appear flattened and even smeary. I do not wish to speculate what is causing this, but it is something that is practically impossible to miss. It is even more obvious and distracting on the 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray, where the flattening appears to be accompanied by sharpening, creating anomalies that are associated with edge-enhancement. You can see examples here and here. In native 4K, the HDR grade helps some of the darker visuals appear more natural, but it tends to exacerbate the flattening as well. For this reason, when nuanced shadows appear, backgrounds can look quite unconvincing. Furthermore, the new 4K makeover allows variations of light teal to impact select whites. I found this development quite distracting because it even affects the dynamic range of the visuals. When the tealing is prominent, it essentially looks like there is a conversion error in progress. You can see an example of this anomaly if you compare this screencapture from the new 4K makeover and this screencapture from the old presentation of the Unrated Version. Practically identical anomalies were present on the recent 4K makeovers of The Hitcher and Nobody's Fool. Image stability is outstanding. All in all, I think that the Theatrical Cut (and the Unrated Version) can look substantially better on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray.

Road Trip 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this 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 the 5.1 track was outstanding. It is very potent and produces wonderful dynamic contrasts. Because the film does not have any large-scale action material, all of these dynamic contrasts, as well as the various subtle nuances that appear with or around them, are never emphasized for maximum effect. In other words, they are not going to test the muscles of your audio system. All exchanges are clear and very easy to follow.

Road Trip 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - in this exclusive new audio commentary, critic Joe Ramoni states that he considers Road Trip one of the quintessential 2000s comedies and rightfully recognizes its relationship to American Pie. Ramoni also shares plenty of interesting information about the film's conception and production, as well as what he considers to be its strengths.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - in this exclusive new audio commentary, critic Joe Ramoni states that he considers Road Trip one of the quintessential 2000s comedies and rightfully recognizes its relationship to American Pie. Ramoni also shares plenty of interesting information about the film's conception and production, as well as what he considers to be its strengths.

• Ever Been on a Road Trip - this short archival program features raw footage from the shooting of Road Trip and clips from interviews with director Todd Phillips, executive producer Ivan Reitman, and cast members. In English, not subtitled. (5 min).

• Music Video - presented here is an original video for Eels' Mr.E's Beautiful Blues, which is heard in Road Trip. (4 min).

• Deleted Scenes - presented here are several deleted scenes. In English, not subtitled. (11 min).

• Trailer One - presented here is an original theatrical trailer for Road Trip. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Trailer Two - presented here is an original red band trailer for Road Trip. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

Road Trip 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

DJ Qualls transforms Road Trip into a gem that deserves to be placed next to American Pie. There is more to like with his costars, especially in the second half, after the wild improvisations begin, but his charisma and performance singlehandedly elevate Road Trip to a different level. Kino Lorber's combo pack introduces a new 4K makeover of the Theatrical Cut of the film on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray. Unfortunately, I found it pretty underwhelming. If you decide to pick up the combo pack for your release, do so when it goes on sale.