Clerks (1999)

DVD

Everyone has there own story of how they came to see Clerks for the first time. For me this was the second Kevin Smith film I actually saw. The first was a 9:30pm showing of Mallrats at the six theater multi-plex down the street from my house. From the moment the lights went down I was a Kevin Smith fan. What can I say, I am easily amused. When I finally did see Clerks the next day on a laser disc (It like a DVD only bigger)I managed to track down I was even more enthralled.

For those of you not familiar with the movie I'll rundown how the basic plot shakes out. Dante Hicks works and a convient store called the Quick Stop. At the beginning of the tale he lies asleep under some dirty clothes piled on the floor. He get a wake up call to come in on his day off to cover for someone who's sick. That's pretty much it. The rest of the movie is us following what happens to him on this remarkable day that in his own famous word, "I'm not even supposed to be here." There is rooftop hockey, Jay and Silent bob, necrophilia, crashing a funeral, porn, lasagna, and even a salsa shark. Sounds like a good time to me!

Clerks was Kevin Smith's first, and only truly independent, film. He made it on a shoestring budget of around 30,000 dollars. Of course the film you'll actually see on the disk has had a bit more spent on it in post production after Miramax bought it. Clerks is presented on this special edition disk in 1.85:1 widescreen ration. The picture is nice and crisp. Oh did I mention it was in black and white? Well it is and is looks great on this DVD. As per usual with DVD's these days the sound setup is Dolby surround and well worth it.

And now, since this is a collectors series disc, lets talk about the...

For a self financed little independent film this sucker is loaded with features.

Commentary
These types of things are becoming more and more common on DVDs now. But the truth is I can't remember it being this widespread until Kevin Smith started doing it on all his DVDs. As is usual with a ViewAskew disc Kevin has assembled a multitude of cast and crew members to kick back and talk about his movie. This one has Kevin himself, Uber producer Scott Moiser, Brian O'Halloran, Jay Mewes, and a couple more. Very funny banter, and very insightful talk about making a low budget movie reside on this commentary track. Worth the price of the disc alone.

Deleted Scenes
See a few scenes that were cut out of the film. Nothing to special here, but fun to watch none the less. The best part are the introductions to each scene by Kevin Smith himself.

Trailers and Video
Miramax went ahead and included all the theatrical trailers that were produced. They also included the famous Soul Asylum music video that features not only the quick stop but also Jay and Silent Bob!

Alternate Ending
This is the so called money shot for this particular DVD. When it was first written the ending was much different and much darker than in the theatrical release. It also give a very strong sense of irony to that quote I mentioned in the section above. You don't want to miss this.

My final word for both this film and the presentation of it on this DVD is.....excellent. Do not hesitate to add this one to your collection at your earliest convenience.