Buena Vista Home Entertainment | 2009 | List price: $89.99 | Get it for less at Amazon

With his directorial debut with CLERKS in 1994, Kevin Smith helped define the independent film genre and introduced fans to his trademark rapid fire dialogue with its numerous pop culture references and his small ensemble casts that serve to define his View Askew universe. What was unique and refreshing about CLERKS was not only the humor of a distinctive and new creative voice, but also its stark realism. Shot in black and white on a shoestring budget of just over $27,000, CLERKS went on to become a critical hit and ended up grossing over three million dollars in the US. Now, for the fifteenth anniversary of the film, Miramax has released a special edition blu-ray of the film and is including it along with Smith’s third film, CHASING AMY from 1997 and his fifth film, 2001’s JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK in the “Kevin Smith 3-Movie Collection” blu-ray box set . To many though, the thought of issuing Smith’s films on blu-ray seems counterintuitive at best, for the films were never about presenting a stunning high definition picture and soundtrack, but instead have always seemingly operated outside of the Hollywood big movie norm.

Will seeing CLERKS now on a 1080p screen give a viewer something that was missed from previous releases of the film? Absolutely not. The fact is though, having the films on blu-ray now will allow those who love Smith’s movie to begin building their HD collection, and on two of the discs in the box set, there are new bonus features that were not included on their respective DVD releases. The bonus features for each movie, and their running times include:

CLERKS: 15TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Miramax Films | 1994 | Rated R | 92 minutes

• “Oh What a Lovely Tea Party: The Making of JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK” (1:30:00) This exceptionally long documentary was filmed by Smith’s wife and gives a behind the scenes look as they film the Jay and Silent Bob film. Why this is included on the CLERKS blu-ray and not the JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK blu-ray though is a complete mystery.
• CLERKS lost scene (10:00) An animated short
• “The Flying Car” (8:00) A short film from “The Tonight Show”
• MTV spots with Jay and Silent Bob
• Theatrical Trailer (2:00)
• Soul Asylum “Can’t Even Tell” music video (5:00)
• CLERKS restoration
• Original auditions (14:33)
• “Snowball Effect” (1:30:00) A comprehensive documentary on the filming of CLERKS and its lasting influence
• “Mae Day: The Crumbling of a Documentary” (11:00) Smith’s first film school project
• Outtakes from “Snowball Effect”
• 10th Anniversary Q&A (42:00)
• “First Cut” of film as well as “Theatrical Version”
• Audio Commentary-”Theatrical Version”: Classic commentary circa 1995
• Audio Commentary-”Theatrical Version”: Enhanced playback track with synchronized trivia and cast and crew quotes
• Audio Commentary-”First Cut”

Movie Rating:

Blu-ray bonus features: EXTENSIVE

CHASING AMY

Miramax Films | 1997 | Rated R | 113 minutes

• “Tracing Amy: The CHASING AMY DOCUMENTARY” (1:21:07)
• “Was it Something I Said? A Conversation with Kevin and Joey” (18:05) While this is touted as being one of the new features for blu-ray, the material Smith and Adams talk about is pretty much identical to that which is found in the “Tracing Amy” documentary
• 10 Years Later Q&A (27:45)
• Audio Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Outtakes
• Theatrical trailer

Movie Rating:

Blu-ray bonus features: AVERAGE

JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK

Dimension Films | 2001 | Rated R | 104 minutes

• Audio Commentary

Movie Rating:

Blu-ray bonus features: LACKING

While JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK certainly is not on the same caliber as CLERKS or CHASING AMY, and although the blu-ray completely lacks any bonus features, including it in the box set proves to be a good value for those who may not have any Kevin Smith films in their collection yet, and in the end will help save the consumer money over buying each film separately.

To order the box set directly from Amazon, CLICK HERE.

To order CLERKS individually from Amazon, CLICK HERE.

To order CHASING AMY individually from Amazon, CLICK HERE.

To order JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK individually from Amazon, CLICK HERE.

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