Clerks: Collector's Series
review by Wes D.
Rated R
Running Time: 92 Minutes
Starring Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Andrson
Studio: Disney
Written and Directed by Kevin Smith
Retail Price: $39.99
Features: Theatrical Trailer, Deleted Scenes,
Altnernate Ending, Soul Asylum Music Video, Commentary with
Kevin Smith, Cast and Crew
Specs: 1.85:1 Non-Anamorphic Widescreen, Dolby
English Surround, Chapter Search
Let's talk about Kevin Smith. Most people either love him
or hate him. Please count me with the former so if you're
not into Kevin Smith movies, then I suggest you leave right
now because this review is going to be glowing.
Clerks was Smith's directorial debut, and this is quite
obvious from the fact that it is black and white, grainy as
hell, and has the production value of a rusted out Pinto.
This matters NOT ONE IOTA though because for as shitty
looking as this movie is (sorry Kev), the true glory that is
Clerks is found in the script, the story, and the laugh out
loud until you piss yourself jokes that run a mile a minute.
If you haven't seen this yet, I'll run down the story for
you. Two guys work in a adjacent stores, one in a convenient
store and the other in a video store. Shit happens to them.
They talk about it. Hilarity ensues. It would do me no good
to try to explain the plot of this flick for you because
there truly is none. It simply the story of two guys trying
to make it through their work days without throttling any of
the customers. And while the language in this flick will
make your mother blush, I can't recommend it enough for
those who enjoy a little blue humor in their lives.
What do you want guys? It's black and white. It's grainy
as hell. But it's supposed to be. Smith made the thing for
about $30,000 and it shows.a lot. I'm telling you it doesn't
matter at all and you need to take my word on this Oh yeah,
and it's widescreen.
Again, same thing as the video. There is nothing special
about the audio. They say it's Dolby Surround, but it wasn't
recorded on anything real high end I don't think. You can
clearly hear all of the dialog and that's all that's really
important here.
Well Mr. Smith graced us with trailers, deleted scenes,
an alternate ending, a Soul Asylum music video, and an
EXCELLENT commentary track. The commentary is both funny and
very informative. He points out a lot of the hidden things
in the movie like where they cut corners and who played
multiple roles, etc. After you're done watching this movie,
be sure to give it a spin with the commentary turned on..you
won't be disappointed. The deleted scenes reveal a lot about
just how much Kevin likes his dialog. But after seeing them,
I see why they were removed. The real shocker is the
alternate ending, it completely changes the feel of the
flick. (Editor's Note: The features here are a port
from the laserdisc).
I'm going to put it to you this way. This movie has what
I call IRV. IRV is Infinite Replay Value. I will watch this
movie 10 times this year at least and I won't get sick of
it. From time to time you will see me give movies an IRV
rating, this is the highest I can recommend something to
you, the viewer.
While the video and sound are mediocre at best, this is
simply one of the best movies of the 1990's and for me,
represents what independentfilmmaking is all about. Now go
buy it.
Snootch to the nootch!
 (5/5, NOT included in
final score)
 (3/5)
(3/5)
 (4/5)
(5/5,
NOT an average)
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