In a perfect world, filmmakers would always pick stuff up from the cutting room floor and include them on their DVDs.

It’s sometimes hard to realize that the film you’ve watched for so many years was actually close to an hour longer in its originally intended form. In fact, almost ALL films have at least a few trimmed or deleted scenes before they hit your local cineplex. Because of Smith’s gift of writing witty, intelligent, and often verbose characters, his films have always needed bits and pieces trimmed away to find that magical final running time. Mallrats was no exception.

This DVD presents close to ONE HOUR of deleted material, introduced by Kevin Smith & Vincent Pereira (VA Historian and co-producer of this disc), including the often talked about (yet rarely seen) opening sequence of the film, which establishes T.S, Brandi, & Mr. Svenning’s characters with a plotline that becomes known as “the assassination attempt”. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw that digital counter pop up in the upper right corner of the TV screen as I realized that I was finally going to see this fabled lost footage.

Here’s an example (one of many) of just HOW thorough this disc is: An original, UNFILMED opening is first presented to the viewer on the screen, page by page, in script format! A very slick idea. Then, it’s back to the video — Vincent Pereira insisted that this opening sequence run in its entirety, without interruption, and lasts about 25 minutes (including a few familar scenes that DID make the cut in their original forms, such as Brodie’s first scene). This is probably the crown jewel of the disc, and features not only the aforementioned sequence, but a hilarious followup incident at the Svenning residence where Brodie first reveals his aspirations to be a television star.

Following this large chunk of video, the nifty thing is that the guys THEN take us into the other sequences in the film that were modified due to the cutting of this opening — Which turns out to be quite a bit! We were surprised to see that a TON of looping was done to remove actors and actresses that referenced the “assassination” subplot, since a lot of it was done so well that it was hardly even noticeable.

Other than the new opening and related cuts, also included are some extended versions of other scenes that just didn’t make the cut, as well as 2 OTHER alternate openings to the film, featuring some nifty voiceovers by Lee as Brodie. I’d never heard these existed before, so it was a welcome surprise for sure.

If there’s just one complaint I could find about this whole disc (and it’s really just a nitpick), it’s that the extra scenes section didn’t have chapter stops within itself for future jumping around. That would have been just a slight bit more convenient. Also, some running commentary under the deleted material, still a rarity in DVD production, would have been kind of neat to hear, even if it was just a subset of the folks from the full track (see below).

In a perfect world, DVD commentary tracks would all be as interesting, entertaining, and funny as this.

The View Askew gang are no strangers to commentary tracks, and they know how it’s done: Tell jokes, play off of each other, socialize…Oh, and maybe throw in a few interesting film facts as well. All 3 View Askew films have had commentary tracks recorded for them. Clerks’ track has been available on laser for quite some time now (and has also just been released on the DVD counterpart of the laser), and Chasing Amy’s Criterion laserdisc also found the gang recording a gab session. These two aforementioned tracks were highly entertaining, providing new laughs mixed with just the right dosage of inside film information to keep it on target.

The Mallrats DVD commentary features actors Smith (Silent Bob), Jason Mewes (Jay), Jason Lee (Brodie), Ben Affleck (Shannon) along with producer Scott Mosier and Pereira. I won’t spoil the fun by going into any extreme details about the track, but WILL say that I guarantee you’ll be in stitches. A few ongoing gags featuring the comments Kev makes about spotting Askew regular Walt Flanagan, as well as a side comment made on a group of extras that were self-dubbed “Team Lafours”. Of all the commentary tracks I’ve listened to over the years, the only ones that actually had me feeling like I was sitting there in a room with the gang, experiencing the film along with them (which really is the whole point of a commentary track, in my opinion), were with Clerks, Amy, and now, Mallrats. Sometimes I’d wished I was there to even throw in my 2 cents.

When a production featurette starts out with a disclaimer, stating that the studio doesn’t necessarily share their thoughts with those involved, you know you’re in for an honest look at things. There have been some fantastic featurettes on Universal’s DVDs in the past, and this is probably the best. Why? Instead of just seeing a bunch of people sitting around talking about how fun the flick was, or how great it was to work with so-and-so, or even Smith, Mosier, Affleck, & Lee all take turns discussing their feelings on the film, why they believe it tanked at the box office, some of the shortcomings during production, and lots more. It’s a fascinating, honest, and very educational look at some of the politics that go into making a studio flick, something Kevin & crew hadn’t experienced in the past.

I had the pleasure of chatting with the producer of this wonderful disc, JM Kenny, who not only saw to it that we got this preview (thanks!) but was also kind enough to share with me some insight on what a wonderful project this was to work on, given the fact that Kevin was so enthusiastic about it, and also that Vincent was there the whole way through to help out with suggestions or answers to questions. This guy is the kind of producer we LOVE to see working in the DVD industry; Someone who loves the format, really gets into the work, and thus goes out of the way to ensure that every release is going to be something special. Studios can learn a thing or two from this guy. Watch out for his future projects from Universal, you’re certainly going to get your money’s worth.

In summary on all the extras, as you can see by the huge block of text above, my head’s swimming with an amazing amount of cool stuff I’m dying to share. However, I think it best that you get the disc and experience it for yourself, since no review can really do justice to the incredibly organized amount of bonus material that’s been packed on here.

I couldn’t be more thrilled that one of, if not THE, best DVD available on the market is a View Askew film. I hope that every single movie studio out there stands up and takes note - Mallrats is the way a Special Edition DVD is done. This may in fact be one of the first DVDs that sells actual players, since I can’t see a View Askew fan resisting the urge to own this disc and all the extras that come with it, even if it means dropping a few hundred to bring home a player in the process. It’s obvious that the folks at View Askew & Universal are proud of this disc, and they’ve got every right.

In a perfect world, EVERY DVD would get the “Mallrats” treatment. We’re not there yet, but if this is the shape of things to come, I’m proud to say that DVD truly is THE format of today as well as the future.

** Special thanks to producer JM Kenny & Universal for generously providing News Askew with an advanced preview copy of Mallrats! You folks are alright in our books.