Disney / Buena Vista | 1994 | 92 mins. | Rated R
The epitome of the truly independent film, shot in black and white, Clerks was made on a budget of less than $28,000. Writer/director Kevin Smith maxed out several credit cards with $2000 limits, sold a large portion of his extensive comic book collection, dipped into money that had been set aside for his college education, and spent insurance money awarded for a car he and Jason Mewes lost in a flood. Short on money several of the actors hired were forced to play multiple roles; others were simply friends and family of Smith’s. The result was a film with an undeniable sense of realism, met with both critical and audience praise upon the film’s release in 1994.
Clerks follows a day in the life of Dante Hicks (Brian O’Halloran), Quick Stop convenience store clerk. Though it’s a dead end job, Dante is a responsible kind of guy who works when needed.Called into work on his day off after another employee calls in sick; he has to work the entire day; from open to close. (“I’m not even supposed to be here today!” becomes his mantra after each mishap.) Dante doesn’t really care much for the customers he serves, but he manages to maintain an aloof, albeit occasionally unprofessional attitude. Dante’s best friend Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) is his polar opposite. A clerk at the tiny video store next store, but manages to spend most of his time at the Quick Stop. A slacker, and total cynic, Randal is unapologetic about his dislike for people. Both men are in their early twenties, and struggling to find a place in the world.
In the course of their day, the guys meet a variety of strange yet perfectly routine customers and passersby who make up the substance of the picture. Outside the two stores, Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith) take up residence each morning. Jay is a drug dealer who can’t be still, can’t be quiet, and endlessly spews out a stream of profanities. His partner in crime, Silent Bob, hardly moves, hardly speaks, and maintains a cool veneer at all times.
Yeah, there’s not much to the story. It’s pretty much about how these two guys react to the random people that come into the Quick Stop. However, each of them is likely someone we’ve met in our lives; we can relate. This is obviously not an action film; here, dialogue truly is king. Much of the film consists of conversations between Dante, Randal and the revolving cast of customers. Dante’s two girlfriends, stop by, his present girlfriend and his ex-girlfriend. They talk, they fight, and they make constant references to sex. Just to make things even more realistic, Dante and Randal discuss the merits of Return of the Jedi and Empire Strikes Back.
Some may find Clerks sorely lacking in the technical area for obvious reasons, but if you remember that the film was made for less than $30,000, the film still stands as a remarkable achievement. Bold and thought provoking, with a real world edge, Clerks serves as a reminder of the kind of films that can be produced without the Hollywood machine.
Kevin Smith says on one of the Blu-ray exclusives that the idea of putting Clerks in hi-def seemed “repugnant” to him. I have to admit, I wondered if such a low budget film would truly benefit from the Blu-ray transfer, and just a few minutes in the answer was a yes.
Gone are the DVD’s compression artifacts, smeared details, and digital anomalies. While Disney’s 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer is minimal at best, and there is an undeniable softness to the proceedings, Clerks looks better than it ever has. Black levels are deep, gradients are smooth, mid-range grays are faithfully preserved, and whites are crisp and clean. Noise continually invades the proceedings and contrast is all over the place, but any shortcomings should be attributed to Smith and the film’s minuscule budget, not Disney’s technical transfer. Admittedly though, this is one of those titles that some might not feel the need to upgrade to Blu-ray.
The same could be said when evaluating Disney’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. Dialogue is problematic throughout, normalization is non-existent, and clarity is inconsistent. However, anything else would take away from the film’s aesthetic. To the track’s credit, Smith’s endless diatribes and rants are suitably intelligible, and rear speaker activity is surprisingly involving (especially when it comes to the soundtrack’s rock, punk, and metal songs). The soundfield is relatively immersive — so long as you’re prepared for the quaint, homegrown soundfield you’re immersing yourself into — and directionality, while hemmed in, is decent. Nothing special.
All of the special features from the tenth anniversary edition DVD have been ported over, with a Blu-ray exclusive.
• Theatrical Version and First Cut: Both the 92-minute theatrical cut and 104-minute “First Cut” are included on the disc. The First Cut is drastically different from the version that made its way to theaters.
• Theatrical Cut Audio Commentary: Recorded from the set of Mallrats, this classic laserdisc commentary finds writer/director Kevin Smith, actor/amateur animator Walt Flanagan, editor/producer Scott Mosier, lead actor Brian O’Halloran, drunken sidekick Jason Mewes, actor/cameraman/grip Vincent Pereira, and Film Threat’s Malcolm Ingram plowing through Clerks. It’s a surprisingly low-key commentary — probably because Mewes is passed out on the floor and Smith was still in his Hollywood infancy — but an informative one. The group discusses the film’s script, music, editing, shoot, and reception, as well as Smith’s writing and filmmaking style. While Smith dominates the conversation, his fellow commentators are given plenty of opportunities to interject their own thoughts and observations.
• Theatrical Cut Enhanced Trivia Track: While a standard trivia track for all intents and purposes, this feature offers factoids from a variety of categories, includes on-screen counters that track various “Clerks Quirks” (an F-bomb counter is the most pervasive), provides definitions for obscure words and chapter titles, points out connections to other View Askew films, and even manages to earn a few fleeting laughs.
• First Cut Picture-in-Picture Commentary (SD, 104 minutes): Lifted directly from the 2004 DVD, this Picture-in-Picture commentary is presented entirely in standard definition.
• First Cut Director’s Intro (SD, 9 minutes): More a conversation between Smith and Mosier than a traditional introduction, this candid opener is worth watching. While the pair do little more than chuckle their way through a series of personal anecdotes, diehards will eat it up.
• The Making of Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back (SD, 91 minutes Smith explains in a brief introduction, he begged the studio to let him put something new on the disc; something that hadn’t been released elsewhere; something that would reward those purchasing Clerks yet again. And since he had already exhausted Clerks’ supplemental reservoir, this was the next best thing. Made by Malcolm Ingram and Smith’s wife, Jennifer Schwalbach, the documentary is a breezy, funny, fly-on-the-wall glimpse into the making of Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. Split into fifteen chapters, the film explores the characters, story, simian shenanigans, stunts, cameos, set design, and other aspects of the production. It’s both entertaining and revealing.
• Snowball Effect (SD, 91 minutes): This digs into the early career of Kevin Smith, the genesis of Clerks, his self-financed production, his hatred of improv, the cast he assembled for his film, the personal experiences Smith drew on when writing his script, and more.
• Snowball Effect Outtakes (SD, 40 minutes): Thirteen segments that, for whatever reason, didn’t make it into the final cut of Snowball Effect.
• 10th Anniversary Q&A (SD, 42 minutes): A 10th Anniversary retrospective with the cast and crew of Clerks.
• Clerks Lost Scene – Animated Short (HD, 10 minutes): Produced for Clerks’ 10th anniversary DVD, this animated sequence involves a funeral scene Smith wrote in his original script but never shot. A clever option is also available that inserts the animated short, via seamless branching, into the theatrical cut of the film (at the 53:02 mark). The only downside? The scene is presented in color rather than black and white.
• The Flying Car (SD, 8 minutes): A $14,000 short film made for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2001 that features a lengthy conversation between Clerks mainstays, Dante and Randal.
• Clerks Restoration (SD, 13 minutes): Join Smith, Mosier, and cinematographer David Klein for three brief overviews of the process behind the film’s restoration for the 10th Anniversary DVD.
• Original Auditions (SD, 15 minutes): Audition tapes from Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, and Ernest O’Donnell.
• Mae Day: The Crumbling of a Documentary (SD, 12 minutes): The very first View Askew production, made by Smith and Mosier while attending film school.
• MTV Spots with Jay & Silent Bob (SD, 18 minutes): Eight television spots are available with an introduction from Smith and Mosier.
• Music Video (SD, 6 minutes): Soul Asylum’s “Can’t Even Tell.”
• Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2 minutes)
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