There's no denying that "Animal House" is the seminal college flick. Since its release, the movie's no-name cast and outlandish brand of comedy set the precedent for every film marketed to the 18 to 24-year-old demographic.
"National Lampoons Animal House: Double Secret Probation Edition," celebrating the film's 25th anniversary, seeks to introduce a new generation of mischievous college-aged youth to its screwball look at 1960s collegiate life.
For an "anniversary edition," the bonus features on the new "Animal House" DVD are as barely-there as a pair of khaki sorority shorts.
"Where Are They Now?" a "mockumentary" featuring the entire original cast (sans the late John Belushi, of course) brings the lives of the Animal House residents and their adversaries up to date. The 10 or so stars of "Animal House" basically reprise their roles from the film for what is apparently supposed to be a funny, high school reunion-style look back on the past quarter-century.
"The Yearbook: An Animal House Reunion" is actually a solid featurette. The 25-minute behind-the-scenes documentary covers just about every aspect of the film, from its earliest scriptwriting stages with Harold Ramis and Douglass Kenney, through its shocking box-office success. And though with some behind-the-scenes documentaries you get four or five of the most important players giving their two-cents, "The Yearbook" has commentary from closer to 20- plus participants in the "Animal House" success story.
The "Animal House" DVD also offers you the option of watching the film with Universal's insightful anecdotes flashing across the bottom of the screen. These anecdotes offer interesting, if somewhat superfluous, tidbits of information about the film and have quickly become a mainstay on "deluxe" DVD editions from Universal Pictures.
Fans of "Animal House" will certainly enjoy this new, digitally remastered (with better-than-original picture quality) version of the film. And, like I said, there's no denying that this film was risk-taking and groundbreaking, and that hugely successful stars were born when the movie became a box-office smash.
Personally, I would rather watch a blatantly ripped-off "Animal House"-inspired classic I can better identify with - such as "PCU."
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