Year One Makes a Mess of the Past on Blu-Ray

Jack Black and Michael Cera Just Go With It in Film by Harold Ramis

Oct 8, 2009

History teachers and Bible scholars alike can now tear their hair out in the privacy of their own living rooms with the release of Year One on blu-ray and dvd.

What they need to first take into account is the same lesson that every child learns to accept after they see their first horror film: it's only a movie. Think of it as a modern attempt at Monty Python's Life of Brian,even if it is no where near as sure of itself.

It's a movie that starts off in a hunter/gatherer civilization where Jack Black (hunter) and Michael Cera (gatherer) are at the bottom of their respective social totem poles. Their characters, Zed and Oh, are the weakest and most unskilled of their pre-historical peer group, which doesn't help them a bit with the ladies.

Tired of his lot in life, Zed goes and eats from the straight out of Genesis 'Forbidden Tree of Knowledge' (replete with glowing apples, which so happens is right down the hill from their hunting grounds). This leads to his tribe believing him cursed, which leads to his banishment from the tribe, which somehow leads to his burning down Oh's hut, which leads to something resembling a plot. Just not by much.

What Kind of Party Could You Have Without Guests

So off Zed and Oh go, spending the remainder of the film's hour and forty minute run time casually bumping into biblical figures, eschewing both historical relevance and chronological time in the process. These were cave men who, when we met them, were talking about hitting girls in the head with clubs, now their soaking up the majority of the Old Testament, and by the end, in a Sodom and Gomorrah that more resembles HBO's production of RomeIt even comes with its own British accented centurion, played by Vinnie Jones (Snatch, Mean Machine).

But alas, it's a comedy still. Anyone wanting a by-the-numbers account of any of the many periods in this filmic timeline would be better off watching the History channel.

It's cameos like Jones, though, that salvage Ramis' film. Zed and Oh are very one note characters, even though Jack Black gives his hyperactive all in yet another turn as himself, and the constant barrage of guest appearances definitely spice up the surroundings. David Cross and Paul Rudd pop in as Cain and Abel, SNL's Bill Hader is almost unrecognizable as the village shaman, the other half of Tenacious D, Kyle Gass, drops by as a eunuch, Hank Azaria as Abraham is set to kill his son, Isaac, played by McLovin himself, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Harold Ramis himself even shows up, looking very un-Egon. The show stealer award has to go to Oliver Platt. His pelted chest drag-priest rendition is one for the books.

B.C. Blu-Ray Bonuses

On a visual level, the disc does everything that has become expected of the format. The picture is beautiful, if a little drab due to the earthy and dusty palette. This isn't exactly a showstopper, but it does the job.

Rounding out it's bonus features are a commentary with Ramis, Cera, and Black along with a gaggle of deleted scenes, gag reels, behind the scenes documentaries, fake commercials, an alternate ending, trailers for other features, a "MovieIQ" feature that, using BDLIVE, gives up to the minute cast and crew info, and it's most unique feature, the "Year One Cutting Room" that allows fans to re-edit parts of the movie, add music, etc. and share it with others over the internet.

All in all, a generous package for a movie that could have had a lot going for it. There will be better comedies out there this year, but if you're a fan of any of its participants, there will surely be a lot worse ones that you could waste your time on as well.

The copyright of the article Year One Makes a Mess of the Past on Blu-Ray in Comic Films is owned by Sean Costa. Permission to republish Year One Makes a Mess of the Past on Blu-Ray in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.