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Slapped with an NC-17 rating for no explicitly good reason - I guess naked ladies alone are okay in R-rated movies, but naked ladies and the Book of Mormon in a scene together makes censors trigger-happy - Orgazmo has never really been in dire need of having a director's cut on DVD. But the fact that we get a slightly more bulbous version of the picture here should please Parker/Stone-files.
The first live-action film by the South Park pair since their animated series became basic-cable's number one hot ticket, Orgazmo is more notorious in concept than it is in execution. Like Parker's Cannibal: The Musical, Orgazmo is a film about planting seeds of potential. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is one of the better films made in the last ten years - and far and away Parker's best work - so even though Orgazmo doesn't hold a candle to it, this film nevertheless showcases his undeniable potential.
The storyline itself is enough to merit a viewing: Mormon boy tries spreading his love for Jesus at a porn maven's house only to find himself drawn into the porno world as a libido-heavy crime-fighter who eventually takes his special skills out of the spermatorium and into the real world. Sold! And Parker makes a perfect aw-shucks Mormon. As straight man to the never-ending cast of freaks that populate the film, he provides an excellent anchor to the thing.
But as an NC-17 movie - no limits whatsoever - Orgazmo pulls way more punches than it should. We get some ass shots and a few boobs here and there, but if the South Park guys have a chance to incorporate as much of their dirty minds as possible into this picture, why hold back? Why not show some pornography? Why not make the dirtiest, filthiest jokes possible? Sure, attaching dildos to hats is funny, but without the big-brother control of the MPAA, this should have been more provocative.
The film has more than its fair share of moments and for a goofy sex picture, you could do worse. I mean, seriously . . . When somebody attaches a dildo to a dog's head and calls it "Choda Dog," that's classic. Right?
The Video: How Does The Disc Look?
Orgazmo's 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer looks fine, if not spectacular. Line quality it good, as is color contrast, and while there's not a whole lot of detail in darker scenes, black levels are nevertheless fairly consistent. There's not much of a wide visual palette here - the spectrum of color and shade in the original visual concept for the film is pretty standard - but for what it is, this transfer of Orgazmo looks fine.
The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?
Presented in Dolby Surround 2.0, even if Orgazmo doesn't impress, it gets the job done. Dialogue sounds okay, and music is incorporated into the mix fairly nicely (the only serious problem I had was with the mix levels of the third audio commentary, but we'll get to that later). There's not a lot of separation exploitation, but there shouldn't be for a low-grade movie like this one. You won't be wowed, but you won't be disappointed, either.
Also included here are English and French subtitles and English closed captions.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
There are two versions of the film on this disc: The NC-17 version and an unrated edition. There are two extra minutes incorporated into the unrated version, but none of it is all that steamy or outrageous. A bit more T&A, I suppose.
We also get three screen-specific audio commentaries, and some of them are pretty damn funny. First up is the Drunken Commentary with Trey Parker, Matt Stone, producer Jason McHugh, and a room full of other crewmembers and friends. They supposedly play a drinking game all through this track - any time someone in the film says "Jesus," "Heavenly Father," or "Orgazmo," everybody drinks. Good times. Jason McHugh also pops up on the cast commentary along with David Dunn, Robyn Lynne, and another gaggle of onscreen folks from the film. These guys don't sound quite as drunk as the first commentary track, but they probably still shouldn't have operated any heavy machinery or gone swimming any time soon after recording this recording session. The wild commentary is a mixed bag. We get thoughts from the South Park writing staff as well as "Weird Al" Yankovic and Kevin Smith (some other big-namers show up here, too - I'll save some surprises for you), but the quality of recording is quite low. During the first few minutes of the film, actually, it's hard to make out anything anyone is saying. Interesting, but not overwhelming.
Also on Disc One are previews for Half-Baked: Fully Baked Edition DVD, Seed of Chucky on DVD, Assault on Precinct 13's DVD edition (the new one), and Unleashed.
On the second side of the disc, we get thirty minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary from the drunken crewmembers (though most of the commentary is just the group laughing hysterically at the scenes). And another note: these are full-boar commentaries - no verbal punches pulled - but certain names have been bleeped for a minimal stab at legal conscience.
The Book of Orgazmo is a 40-minute featurette chronicling the development and collaboration involved with this group's early works leading up to Orgazmo - including college films and the infamously enjoyable Cannibal: The Musical. Then we have a hilarious 33-minute interview with Trey done via satellite in 1998. Most of the screen time here is spent dealing with crappy audio issues - awesome.
There are two trailers for the film - one from the studio and the original 16mm teaser. The latter is excellent, though for legal reasons, "This is a parody!" is written in big block letters across the whole thing. We also get eight minutes of EPK interviews and 18 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage. And those thirsty for even more footage from the film will flip for the 40 minutes of outtakes here - it's almost too much. Rounding out the edition is a still gallery.
Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?
There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.
Easter Eggs
There are several eggs on this disc. You'll find Matt Stone telling us how cheesy we are for spending time looking for Easter Eggs (0:10) on Disc One. There's a deleted scene with Trey Parker reacting positively to some porn stars (0:10) on Disc One. And there's a deleted scene with Ron Jeremy and Trey Parker at the pool (0:30) on Disc Two. I could tell you how to find them, but Matt wouldn't approve. Are there more? Only Orgazmo knows for sure.
Final Thoughts
For what it is, Orgazmo isn't all that bad. And this edition is great - transfers are pretty good and there are a ton of extras to speak of. For $19.99, it's a great deal. Recommended.
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