wild hogs

THE FLICK: In 1969 Easy Rider put the hopes and dreams of an entire generation on the back of a Harley and rode off to find America. Almost 40 years later, Wild Hogs is as far as they got. Pretty depressing, isn’t it? It’s also more than a little unfair to judge a shallow, inconsequential studio comedy against the full force of a counter-culture heavyweight, but the correlation is there to be made as a foursome of over-the-hill baby boomers rev up their courage for a road trip to the West Coast in hope of recapturing their youth. Starring some big name talent (John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy) stuck in the sort of safe, predictable scenario that doesn’t require any real acting, just periodic overreacting to groin hits, gay jokes and some awful stunt fighting, Wild Hogs was a success in theaters despite being an almost constant embarrassment to watch. The biggest laughs in the film come during the closing credits during an Extreme Home Makeover spoof as guest bad-guy Ray Liotta and his gang blubber over their renovated biker bar. The majority of the film, however, is a humorless string of baby-boomer mile-markers manufactured to push the right buttons with its target audience. After running afoul of a gang of “real” bikers (led by the aforementioned Liotta, with crazy laugh in full working order), the Wild Hogs hide out in a tiny New Mexico town where they are hailed as heroes for insulting a couple of rogue members. But when the enemy arrives in full force, the guys are forced to stand up and fight for their dignity and the safety of the town that has embraced them. Marisa Tomei looks lovely as the local waitress, but her role perfectly encapsulates the film’s low aspirations. Like its evil bikers, the Del Fuegos, Wild Hogs just wants to roll into town, do some damage and move on, barely slowing down to wrap up the characters’ opening credit backstories. All of which could be forgiven if the film made good on its comedic intentions. But by the time Peter Fonda shows up in his best approximation of Captain America, any self-respecting baby-boomer with an ounce of integrity will have left the building. THE FEATURES: The Blu-ray version of Wild Hogs includes a couple of hi-def exclusive extras, one being the feature audio commentary with director Walt Beck and writer Brad Copeland. The other is a “movie showcase” feature that groups select scenes that highlight the best looking and sounding segments from the film (mostly scenery shots). The other extras are identical to the standard def release, but they do get a hi-def upgrade and look very nice in 1080p. Bikes, Brawls & Burning Bars: The Making of Wild Hogs is a 15-minute featurette that touches all the bases, including cast and filmmakers interviews. Not very deep, but neither is the movie. How To Get Your Wife To Let You Buy A Motorcycle provides about 2-minutes of advice from the film’s stunt coordinator to help you do just that – mostly safety facts and figures. The Alternate Ending brings back ? (Scrubs) offensively gay motorcycle cop character for one last gag – actually, more expected and appropriate than ending used. A smattering of Outtakes complete the package of extras. Visually, the Blu-ray version has a big leg up over its standard def counterpart, with the aforementioned scenery montages looking as good as Discovery HD channel stuff. The rest of the film is shot like your usual comedy with much more moderate improvement.