Television series turned reboot flick has not always been a huge success. In fact, they're mostly fucking SS Minnow flops that go down faster than a crack whore giving a blowjob. There's something about the relationship with people and the characters they see every week. Aside from the Star Trek saga (nine out of ten times a bonafide hit) and *cringe* Sex in the City, there hasn't been much glass shattering blockbuster hits from this genre. Hell, even Dukes of Hazzard and Starsky & Hutch flopped at the theaters but blew up on DVD, and I fucking loved them both. The stories were great, the acting was well done, but it just wasn't enough to bring the people into the box office.
The reason I bring this up is because of the next DVD review on TOV's plate, "Get Smart", is a 2-Disc DVD special loaded with features and commentary. The majority of us (26 and up) growing up, in one way or another, saw Get Smart on TV with Agent 86 and Agent 99 stopping agents of CHAOS and saving the world yet again. This time around, we see a sort of James Bondesque reboot, with a twist that seems more like an action flick with a hint of comedy, than a comedy with a hint of action. Helmed by Steven Carell as Maxwell Smart, and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99, we get to see the agents of CONTROL once again in action as they stop CHAOS from their attempts at world domination.
There's not much I can say about what I liked about the movie. I honestly had mixed emotions before I saw the film. Did I want Carell and Hathaway to play 86 and 99 in original form? Or, was I hoping for a fresh new look? I read the spoilers, I saw the trailers, and somehow, nothing really moved me. Then I saw it in theaters and I thought Carell and Hathaway were phenomenal. Steve Carell took the role as his own, and fucking dominated. He kept true to form as Classic Carell, and here's the twist, with subtle inclusions of the old Get Smart as a sign of respect to the late Don Adams. Unless you've seen the shows, you won't know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the "Missed it, by that much", the classic red convertible, the infamous Shoe phone, the long walk down the hall, while the 10 million security doors close behind him, I'm talking about the phone booth used as the drop to get access to CONTROL, all the original shit that made Maxwell Smart, well, Maxwell Smart.
We saw the 2-Disc Widescreen Special Edition which came with loads of goodies including about 20 minutes of alternate scenes, which is included in a second version of the movie called "Comedy Optimization Mode". Disc 2 holds a shitload of comedic outtakes and commentaries from Carell, Hathaway, and Director Peter Segal. Here's a cool kicker, you can download a digital copy of "Get Smart" via the second disc with a product key code that's included.
The Story
The story of "Get Smart" chronicles the rise of Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell), a CONTROL analyst whose only dream in life is to become a field agent, just like his hero mentor, Agent 23 (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson). After CONTROL central command had been infiltrated and destroyed, the identities of its field agents compromised, the chief (Alan Arkin) grants Max's lifetime wish of becoming a field agent - Agent 86. And he is partnered with the only other agent who's identity was not compromised, Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway).
Agent's 86 & 99 are now on a mission to stop the evil forces of CHAOS, a radical Russian organization bent on world conquest, and their attempts to assassinate the President of the United States. It's up to Max and 99 to stop Siegfried (Terrence Stamp) and CHAOS from their assassination plot and save the world.
The Good
Since this is a review of the DVD, I'm going to keep to just what I liked about the DVD itself, and not the film. What I liked was the bonus features the movie came with; On Disc 1, you have the movie in its original theatrical format, as well as the option of viewing the movie in "Comedy Optimization Mode". Basically, it's 20 extra minutes of outtakes and jokes that are included and set up for your viewing enjoyment. Each time the phone booth appears, click "Enter" on your remote, and you get to see numerous outtakes and alternate scenes. In some cases, they were pants peeing hilarious. In others, well, it was eh! What I also liked about the movie was that it came in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. And the sound was crisp and clear, with no reverb or clutter.
The Bad
Watching the "Smart Takes" on disc 1, though funny, really was getting a bit annoying. As much as I wanted to see the outtakes and alternates, I kept fucking forgetting that I had to wait for the phone booth to show up. And when I remembered, it was too late, and I had to rewind to replay. No DVD game as on the Blu-Ray edition.
Some of the commentaries on disc 2 I found to be a little dry; "Max in Moscow" really served no purpose. What the fuck do I need a tour of Russia for? Not like I'm hopping on a plane the next day. "Language Lessons"? Basically, it's watching Carell mutilate various languages. It was pretty funny at first, but after 3 minutes, I wanted to take my remote and smash it against my head.
This should be in "The Good" section, but whatever. I liked "The Right Agent for the Right Job" which showed the training sequences. The "Gag Reel" showed the outtakes and bloopers. You'll see some of this in the "Smart Takes" from the first disc which I found to be repetitive. I also liked the sneak peek for "Bruce & Lloyd: Out of Control". Looks like a great geek comedy which focuses on the gadget creators from CONTROL. Basically, two tech geeks who go on a mission to retrieve an invisible cloth they designed that was stolen. Definitely a geek comedy that looks pretty hilarious.
The Ugly
Besides watching The Rock in his greatest challenge... kissing a man, really there was nothing ugly about the movie or the extras.
Overall, I'm giving "Get Smart" 3.5 out of 5. This has been Krush tested, TOV approved.