DVD Reviews

American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile

American Pie has officially become the new National Lampoon’s in my mind… and National Lampoon’s is still going!!!  Maybe it’s just me but the string that attaches these American Pie movies together is getting shorter and shorter.  In this one we have a few brief (and not very funny) scenes with Jim’s Dad played again by Eugene Levy and another couple of Stifler relations as characters.  I’m sure the next one will have a Stifler female as the main or something (cause that would be the logical road) but I do believe there were other characters in the original American Pie trilogy that they could take from as it doesn’t always have to be a Stifler. 

Ready to run wild with hundreds of naked coeds in one of the craziest college traditions ever? Then you’ll love the all-new, hilarious slice of American Pie, served up Stifler-style in American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile! When Erik Stifler realizes that he’s the only Stifler family member who might graduate high school a virgin, he decides to live up to his legacy. After some well-meaning advice from Jim’s dad, Erik’s ready to take his chances at the annual and infamous Naked Mile race, where his devoted buds and some uninhibited sorority girls will create the most outrageous weekend ever.  Filled with smokin’ hot girls and the insane Stifler antics you know and love, this slice of American Pie delivers shocking and heartwarming fun all the way to the finish line!

Just like in the previous direct-to-video American Pie release (Band Camp), the video on this release is adequate and delivers exactly what it needs to.  This isn’t some cinematic beauty, it’s a movie full of nudity and semen jokes.  You’ll be happy to know that all the boobs and butts are clear, very crisp and the flesh tones are bang on.  There is little to no grain and I couldn’t manage to find any print damage.  Black levels are also decent and detailed. And incase you really wanted to know, the aspect ratio for the movie is 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. 

The audio is on par with the video.  You get your choices of English, French or Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1.  I only listened to the English track but I read somewhere that listening to the French track with English subtitles might be interesting.  But back on track here… the audio is decent.  The dialogue is always clean and clear.   There is use of the surrounds but the mix if mostly front centric.  Bass response is alright but this isn’t quite an action packed film so most of the bass comes from music in the film.

Extras are a mixed bag. 

First up is “The Yoga Guide to Getting Girls” which attempts to explain how going to Yoga can land you chicks as long as you follow the rules.  Same silly American Pie humour in this one but it is hosted by my favourite beauty of the film Jessy Schram who played the role of Tracy. Next is “The Bare Essentials” which consists of a lot of shots of guys asses as some cast members are filmed getting their butts waxed. The next extra is approximately 6 minutes of deleted/extended scenes.  Nothing special here. “Outtakes” is exactly what it sounds like and runs about 2.5 minutes.  Some of them are quite funny and I always enjoy a good gag reel.  “Little People, Big Stunts” consists mainly of interviews with the little people in the cast.  And by little people I’m referring to the “midgets” as some inconsiderate people might refer to them.  It’s actually pretty long and!  is a nice look at their contribution to the film. "Life on The Naked Mile" contains a lot of behind the scenes stuff and runs over 16 minutes long.  There's interviews with pretty much everyone in the movie it seems.  Truth be told, I don't think I've ever seen a featurette with as much behind the scenes footage. There's also a full length commentary by Joe Nussbaum, Erik Lindsay, Steve Tally, Jake Siegel, John White and Ross Thomas.  Much of the stuff they talk about in the commentary is covered in other extras but it is nice to see some screen specific comments rather then just the general comments from most the other extras. The last extra consists of a commercial for Saturday Night Live Season 1 on DVD, the office television show, an ad for HD DVD, a trailer for Hot Fuzz (which actually looks really good) and Balls of Fury (which looks better then it probably is).

The Naked Mile is far from being the best American Pie film.  In fact, you might say, it’s the worst.  Short of some good nudity, the film is lacking.  It could have really benefited from a better story, slightly more convincing dialogue, and better delivery of the jokes for starters.  At times I felt the movie was simply trying to get from joke to joke only to have the joke not work cause the audience knew the punch line before the joke was ever told.  Fans of the series will probably want to pick this one up from the discount bin but everyone else should consider it a rental at best… though I’m sure there’s some people out there that will consider this the best movie with boobs ever made.

Review By Robert Harding