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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 1.85:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  • Dual Layer (RSDL 1:06)
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • English: DTS 5.1 Surround
  Subtitles
    English
  Extras
  • Deleted scenes
  • Theatrical trailer
  • 4 Audio commentary
  • Cast/crew biographies
  • Production notes
  • Music video - Be Like That - 3 Doors Down
  • DVD-ROM features
  • Awards/Nominations - The Baking of American Pie 2
  • Outtakes
  • Film highlights

American Pie 2: CE

Universal/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment . R4 . COLOR . 106 mins . MA15+ . PAL

  Feature
Contract

It’s been a year since the gang from Great Falls Michigan graduated from high school. Now with their first year of college under their belts, Jim (Jason Biggs), Oz (Chris Klein), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) and Paul (Eddie Kaye Thomas) are a little more experienced, yet still no more wise in the ways of the heart or, um, other organs. Reunited for their summer vacation, they decide to make this the best summer ever; heading out to the lake to rent a house on the beach, catch up on old times, and hold court with a month-long party and bonk-fest.

Having now conveniently relocated our hapless males under the one roof, the obligatory and much anticipated embarrassing sexual encounters ensue. Of course much hilarity is generated by all, not least by the guy everybody loves to hate - the Stiffmeister (Sean William Scott) who the guys have begrudgingly invited along to make up the rent. However, having successfully lost their virginity on prom night some 12 months previous, matters of the heart have become a little more complicated (or dare I say a little less one-eyed) since we last saw our heroes. Oz continues his monogamist relationship with girlfriend Heather (Mena Suvari), and looks to be happily set for life. Kevin, having had little exposure to the fairer sex during his time away (or maybe because of it), is pining for his old girlfriend Vicky (Tara Reid). Likewise, Paul is obsessed with his all too fleeting liaison with Stiffler’s mother. Jim, meanwhile, is put in a flap when he learns that Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth), the Czech exchange student and source of his high school infamy, is back in the country and desperate to see him before the summer’s end.

"I can taste the bubbles!"

And so it is that, with the others mired in either bliss or obsession, the central plot lines for American Pie 2 centre on the adventures of Jim and Stiffler - two young men at opposite ends of the sexual predatorial spectrum. With only weeks before Nadia arrives on his doorstep, Jim frantically searches for a way to improve his sexual performance; his search leading him back to band geek Michelle (Alyson Hannigan). Stiffler, on the other hand, is up to his old tricks and despite an ‘A’ for effort, is still plagued by unfortunate sexual mishaps.

There’s no doubt that if you enjoyed American Pie then you’ll also get a kick out of this sequel. Of course it’s a little on the light side compared to the original (it is a sequel after all) but there’s just as many solid gross-out laughs to be had in this installment. Writer Adam Herz does seem to have done a fair bit of cutting and pasting from the original – the bodily fluids gag, the experimental sex gag, the media broadcast gag and the raunchy band camp gag are all here again in slightly modified forms. But the fact that American Pie 2 so closely mirrors the original doesn't seem to matter all that much. In some unexplicable way, it's almost a welcome relief, especially given the appalling films that came in the wake of the original.

My god. A mirror-image, cookie-cutter sequel that actually seems fresh?? Boy does Hollywood need an enema...

  Video
Contract

If there’s one thing you can expect from a modern teen comedy, it’s brightly-lit scenes filled with perky breasts and brilliant colours. When you add to this mix a near-perfect film-to-video conversion and an impressive MPEG transfer, the scene is set for a beautiful DVD image. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is just what Universal delivers – perky breasts and all. Suffice to say that, presented at the widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on a dual-layer disc, American Pie 2's anamorphic image looks absolutely stunning.

As noted, colours are vivid (and breasts are perky). Black level is perfect, and what little shadow can be seen displays a great depth of detail. Indeed, the image is so beautifully sharp that the detail on show in all scenes is fantastic. Surprisingly, the sharpness of the image has not introduced much in the way of aliasing, with no instances evident on the first watching and only one or two slight instances evident on the second.

With no MPEG artefacts of any kind, what flaws the image does display come directly from the source material. These flaws, again only apparent on the second viewing, are limited to a little film grain in the background of some scenes and one or two specks here and there. Indeed, these are so minor I feel loathe to even mention them here. About the only negative worthy of mention is the reasonably clunky layer change that arrives around the one hour mark and is annoyingly plonked mid-scene.

  Audio
Contract

You've really got to wonder what goes through the minds of DVD producers when a DTS soundtrack is provided for a film like American Pie 2 (and Rush Hour 2 for that matter) when so many kick-arse, effects-laden films miss out. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining - there are too few DTS discs released in region 4 as it is - but it does make you wonder about priorities.

Yes, that’s right. For American Pie 2 we are provided with both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 English soundtracks. The difference? Well, when it comes down to it there isn’t much at all. Like its predecessor, American Pie 2 is a wordy comedy with a minimum of surround usage and channel separation. The majority of the sound is firmly situated at the front of the soundstage and there it stays. The surrounds are used on occasion to deliver ambient sound – such as noisy parties – and also to carry a portion of the score, but there are definitely no cool directional effects and channel separation is low. The subwoofer is only called upon to add body to the jumpy SoCal punk-based score (featuring the likes of Blink 182, The Offspring, and Green Day). There’s no doubt that, whilst the DTS track certainly provides these tunes with better fidelity, there’s where the improvement ends. All in all a welcome addition, but a genuine waste of the technology in this reviewer's opinion.

Most importantly, the dialogue for both soundtracks is clear and distinct throughout, and never has to compete with the pumping score. All in all American Pie 2 is an audio experience in keeping with its genre, and its genre only.

  Extras
Contract

Furnished with nicely animated anamorphic menus, Universal’s release of American Pie 2 is a true Collector’s Edition; sporting a comprehensive set of extras that goes above and beyond the impressive collection provided with the release of American Pie:

  • Commentary – Director J.B. Rogers: Not a commentary that will help or even inspire would-be film-makers, Rogers speaks sporadically about what is on screen and basically nothing else. He gives us some information on where scenes were shot, what’s location, what’s studio and how it was to work with the actors. He does point out what is new in the unrated version, but although he gets a little better as he warms to the task, he’s never interesting or technical enough for me to consider a second listen.

  • Commentary – Writer Adam Herz: Much more interesting that Rogers, Herz goes into details about his motivation for doing the sequel, why and how he wrote specific scenes, and his own experiences that have gone into the film. Although again a little sporadic, Herz gives some pointers on writing for the screen, and even reveals that he’s fully aware that the structure and gags from the first film are mirrored here - and he don’t care baby!

  • Commentary – Cast members Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari and Thomas Ian Nicholas: These guys are just basically having a great time, laughing at the film, themselves, the other actors and anything else they can think of. Biggs is basically the ringleader (he has the greater screen time) but they all give the film a good ribbing, talking almost continuously throughout. Containing some genuinely funny moments, this is the best of the commentaries by far.

  • Commentary – Cast member Eddie Kaye Thomas: A little sporadic (especially light in the scenes that he’s not in), Thomas is interesting nonetheless - displaying the charisma and charm that he brings to the screen. Providing many interesting anecdotes, this commentary only lacks some compadres for Thomas to bounce his memories off.

  • Featurette – The Baking of American Pie 2: (24 mins, full-frame, sharp and clean). This nicely presented, behind-the-scenes look into the production provides on-set interviews with all the major cast and crew, discussing the new story, why they returned for the new project, and the atmosphere on the set. There's also footage of the stars goofing around during takes, and the whole thing's all inter-cut with clips from the final film. Quite entertaining.

  • Outtakes: (5mins 27secs, non-anamorphic widescreen full-frame). A gag reel with loads of giggle-fests, impromptu swearing, missed lines and practical jokes. Some real gems are hidden in here.

  • Deleted Scenes: (10min 46secs) Straight out of the telecine machine, seven 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. Of minimal re-watch potential.

  • Music Video: Be Like That by Three Doors Down. Radio friendly company-rockers give us the formula wet-rock-ballad treatment. Urghh.

  • Your Favourite Piece of Pie: A veritable gross-out gallery providing links to ten of the most popular scenes from both American Pie 2 and the original American Pie, including the Internet Scene, The Pie Scene and The Tainted Beer. There’s five scenes apiece for your viewing pleasure. Note that the American Pie scenes are not those from the ‘unrated’ release.

  • Classic Quotes: 15 of the most classic lines from American Pie 2. Each snippet basically represents the punch-line of some scene or other and each lasts for a minute on average. I’ll stick with the Favourite Pieces of Pie myself.

  • Music Highlights: provides links to each of the kick ass rock tracks as they appear in the film. Unfortunately, these are not provided as an isolated music score so some are actually quite hard to hear.

  • Theatrical Trailer: Better than your ordinary trailer, this one has a tongue-in-cheek documentary style introduction by Jason Biggs.

  • Production Notes: Ten pages detailing how those behind the sequel made a pact to ‘do justice’ to the original, or not do it at all. Did they succeed?

  • Cast and Filmmakers: Short career bios of the major cast and crew. Most of these guys and gals don't even have a second page in their filmographies!

  • Easter egg: Pop by our Easter egg department to discover how to access a hidden bonus clip...

  • DVD-ROM Content: for those with a PC, a slick DVD-ROM interface (featuring Jim’s dad chiming in at regular intervals with sage pieces of fatherly advice) provides access to many other features:
    • access to the cast and filmmaker bios.
    • the cool Stiffler’s Mixer application which allows you to mix up a collection of instrument tracks, and quotes from the film into a tune of sorts.
    • access to the production notes for the film
    • access to other Universal online features a DVD newsletter.

  Overall  
Contract

All in all, American Pie 2 is an entertaining sequel to a genre-defining original; taking the elements that made the first film so great and serving up a generous second helping. With plenty of gross-out laughs on offer and beautifully presented locally by Columbia, this feature-packed disc is one that any fan of the genre is going to want to own.


  • LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=1442
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      And I quote...
    "A cookie-cutter sequel that actually seems fresh? Boy does Hollywood need an enema... "
    - Gavin Turner
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Toshiba SD-2108
    • TV:
          Panasonic TC-68P90A TAU (80cm)
    • Receiver:
          Yamaha RX-V795
    • Amplifier:
          Yamaha RX-V795
    • Speakers:
          B&W 602
    • Centre Speaker:
          B&W CC6 S2
    • Surrounds:
          JM Lab Cobalt SR20
    • Subwoofer:
          B&W ASW-500
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard Optical
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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