review: STRANGE WILDERNESS

Paramount  //  Buy from Amazon.com Animal enthusiast Peter Gaulke (Steve Zahn) and his sidekick Fred Wolf (Allen Covert) host an ailing wildlife TV show "Strange Wilderness," which is in a steep ratings decline. Desperate to save the show, Peter hatches a Hail Mary scheme to find the one animal that could truly turn the show around and change the nature-show landscape forever - Bigfoot. I'm a huge fan of Happy Madison films - in addition to all of Adam Sandler's flicks (about half of which are hilarious and half of which are ho-hum), they also put out the phenomenally funny (and criminally underappreciated) "Grandma's Boy." That film, in my opinion, might be one of the Top 10 funniest films of all time. The same cast of characcters (no Adam Sandler, but all of his buddies that appear in his films) bandied together once more to make "Strange Wilderness" which is a damn funny movie in its own right. Introducing some new "regular" actors (i.e. Steve Zahn & Jonah Hill, plus cameos by Ernest Borgnine and Robert Patrick), this is a lunatic film that isn't quite as gonzo as "Grandma's Boy" but has scenes - such as the turkey and the seal costume - that will have you guffawing right out of your seat (well, at least I did.) Truthfully, I wish it had been more of the Adam Sandler crew and less of the "regular" actors, but this is still a very, very funny film that will definitely not appeal to those who like high-brow humor... Again, watch the turkey scene to see what I mean. Classic. Video Given a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, the video quality of this DVD is fantastic, with nice coloring and razor-sharp edges throughout. Very nice job. Audio A good, solid Dolby 5.1 surround mix delivers the ear candy in fine form - it's a comedy, so it's nearly all dialogue, but it's always clean & crisp, so can't complain. Extras "Cooker's Song" featurette "The Turkey" featurette "What Do We Do?" featurette Reel Comedy: Strange Wilderness deleted scenes Closing Thoughts Wild, crazy fun + decent extras = fantastic viewing if you're in the mood for some good, crass humor