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TV show review: CONTINUUM season 4
PHOTOGRAPHY

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD
Movie review by David Blackwell 

DETAILS: 113 minutes, deleted scenes, four audio commentaries, 12 still galleries, bloopers
VIDEO: 1.85:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)
AUDIO: English 5.1, French 5.1, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Surround, English 2.0 DVS
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

STUDIO: Universal Pictures/Marc Platt Productions/ Big Talk Productions/ Closed On Mondays Entertainment/ Scott Pilgrim Productions
Theatrical RELEASE DATE:  8-13-2010
DVD RELEASE DATE:  11-9-2010

ANALYSIS:  Pat Benatar said love is a battlefield. In SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD, love is a battle as Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) must defeat the seven super powered evil exes of his new girlfriend Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) to be with her. Meanwhile, Scott deals with breaking up with his 17 year old girlfriend Knives Chau (played to perfection by Ellen Wong) and playing with his band, Sex Bob-Omb, who are entering the battle of the bands to get a record label contract (which is less of a big dream these days given internet distribution and iTunes).

The film is a love story done as a video game with levels and evil foes to vanquish. Director Edgar Wright continues to impress with this kinetic mix of humor, action, and romance. Every character in this film is fun to watch from Scott’s gay roommate to Scott’s ex-girlfriend (who has her own band) to his sister. I can’t forget the woman who says the F bomb that it gets bleeped and blacked out every time she says the F word. Brandon Routh is amusingly arrogant as Ramona’s ex-boyfriend who is an evil vegan band member of Scott’s ex’s group.   SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD is a movie that I dug from the first frame to the last frame.  The only thing missing is a cameo or part for Simon Pegg.  Its hyper reality video game world is a fun one to visit and watch.   It might just end up as a cult film that the mass public might not be able to absorb and yet I really loved this one.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Four audio commentaries for the film- the crew commentaries are worth listening to more like the one with Director Edgar Wright, Co-Writer Michael Bacall, and Graphic novel creator Bryan Lee O'Malley as they discuss the changes between the graphic novel and the film and where they are the same.
Edgar Wright also does an audio commentary with Director of Photography Bill Pope.
Two cast commentaries- one features Michael Cera, Jason Schwartzman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong, & Brandon Routh.  The second cast track has Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Kieran Culkin, Mark Webber.
Also an optional trivia track is included which could be played while you watch the film.  The first cast audio commentary is the only one with optional English subs while I wish the crew commentaries had an English subtitle option.

Director/ Co-Writer Edgar Wright provides optional audio commentary for 21 deleted scenes (about 27 minutes in all) including the original ending of the film.  The deleted scenes are fun to watch and some are extended scenes.   Edgar cut some scenes for pacing while test audience reaction caused the ending to change (I like the original ending too and the theatrical ending does hew close to the graphic novel series ending).   The blooper reel is entertaining and shows it took 33 takes for Michael Cera to throw a box into the trash can  Rounding out the DVD extras are 12 still galleries (Production Photos, Storyboards, Theatrical Posters, Fictional Posters from the film, Bryan's Flip Charts, Graphic Novel Comparison gallery, the original Big Boss battle with Mecha-Gideon, and other galleries).

The Blu-ray includes a Making-Of documentary, alternate takes, and more.

FINAL ANALYSIS:   I love SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD and it is one of my favorite films of 2010.  The DVD has good extras, but the Blu-ray does win out with more extras if you're looking for the most extras on the film.   Don't miss out on this cult gem.

this DVD review is (c)11-12-2010 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com