Towards the end of 1999, a low-budget film from a pair of first-time directors relaunched a genre long thought dead – the teen sex comedy. That little film was Paul and Chris Weitz's American Pie - a movie that went on to gross over US$100 million worldwide and spawn an explosion of droll copycats. This was a film that combined sweet moments of genuine insight into the teenage condition (what sappier reviewers might call heart), with raunchy, gross-out comedy. Based on an all-too-familiar premise: a group of naïve high school guys pledge to lose their collective virginity by the night of their senior prom, many were quick to write it off as a new Porky’s. However, to many others the film was much more, for in American Pie, writer Adam Herz was able to strike the perfect and complimentary balance between heart (gag) and the teenage fear of embarrassment. The result was a film that didn’t feel too wet, but whose gross-out gags were lent a modicum of honesty and even believability. Ever had that dream where you turn up to school in your underwear...?

With the huge success of the original film a sequel was inevitable, and two years later the second film in the franchise, American Pie 2, was released. Penned by the same writer (Herz), the sequel lacked the sense of sexual innocence that had so successfully fuelled the first film (the protagonists, of course, had lost said innocence at the end of American Pie), but the film succeeded all the same; trading on the characters established in the first instalment and distracting a willing audience with a new set of bawdy predicaments. Despite being a blatant rehash of the original film, plot, gags and all, punters consumed it with gusto, weak as they were after a constant bombardment of lesser ripoffs (Tomcats anyone?).

With the first film supplying the franchise with its heart and soul, and the second packing on the laughs like there’s no tomorrow, the two films complement each other very nicely indeed; especially when viewed as a single entity. And now with Columbia’s release of The Ultimate Collector’s Pack, we are provided with the perfect opportunity to enjoy these two films as a riotous double feature.

Straight off the blocks Columbia is going to have all you fans out there lining up to purchase The Ultimate Collector’s Pack, and the reason for this is very simple. Not only does it contain the newly released unrated-version of American Pie 2, it also contains the previously unreleased unrated-version of the original American Pie - a disc that is currently only available with this set!

It should be noted that whilst Steve’s review (above) is for the initial release of American Pie, the unrated version contains several welcome additions that take the running time from a paltry 91 minutes to an astounding... 96 minutes! The most notable of these additions are:

• There’s a slightly different version of Jim humping the pie. Whilst the theatrical release included Jim's father catching him standing with the pie at the kitchen counter, the unrated version shows Jim laying on top of the pie and going at it full steam.

• The shot of Kevin’s tainted cup of beer is also enhanced. In the unrated version, the semen can be clearly seen in the cup. In the rated version, the cup is slightly tinted yellow to make the semen less visible.

• The unrated version contains more graphic pages from The Sex Bible, and more moaning from Vicky when Kevin puts it to good use.

• The unrated version contains approximately five more seconds of Nadia pleasuring herself on Jim's bed during the Internet sex scene.

As if the unrated version of American Pie wasn’t enough, Columbia has also added to the already impressive set of extras that were compiled for the original release, digging up the following additional features:

• From the Set: Photographic Montage with Interview: (7mins 10secs, full-frame). An audio interview given by Paul and Chris Weitz is laid over a set of production stills from the film. The brothers discuss the story, the characters and the cast. Interesting and entertaining stuff.

• American Pie 2 Sneak Preview: (4 mins 58secs, full-frame). Spoilers ahoy! A short featurette that gives a quick but revealing intro to the second film. Made up of footage from on-set, snippets from the film and interviews with the major cast members, it manages to quickly give away every single major plot point and gag – beware.

• So-called ‘Live’ Performance by Tonic: The band perform their song You Wanted More, intercut with clips from the film. This is a film-clip, not a live performance.

• Deleted Scenes: Straight out of the telecine machine, ten deleted scenes are presented in all. Whilst containing the odd funny titbit, it's no surprise that the majority of this stuff was ultimately discarded.

• Theatrical Trailer: for American Pie 2 - a bit useless given the disc’s exclusive inclusion in this combined release!

• Poster Concepts: 90 (yes that’s right, 90) poster concepts for the film compiled into a seven and a half minute montage.

So there you have it. If you don’t currently own the original release of American Pie, do you really need any more reasons to go out and snag yourself a copy of what is unquestionably the best of all recent teen-film franchises? I didn’t think so. For you unlucky sods that already own a copy of American Pie (I for one), the choice is a tad more difficult. The version of American Pie included here certainly goes above and beyond the old release, and it’s certainly a cheap way to purchase the unrated-version (if that’s your fancy), but it does represent a substantial capital outlay for what is effectively only five minutes of extra film. Well, good luck deciding! Whether you take the plunge or not, this release is definitely highly recommended. Enjoy yourself and, you know, be careful out there!