Pineapple Express 2-Disc Unrated DVD Review

By Prairie Miller

What do you get when you remove most of that really wicked and wild conversation from a Judd Apatow movie? Well, possibly Pineapple Express. This bland, bargain basement cartoonish misadventure about two bungling Keystone kinda dopers on the run from even dumb and dumber drug dealers, basically lacks the natural high of gabby gross-out classics like Superbad that preceded it.

Several ill-advised choices may be to blame. First, the decision to go with action over talk never quite takes off when you've got a bunch of dope-dazed clumsy escape artists doing a lot less fleeing and dodging than just plain stumbling around. Then there's the far from zany director, though not necessarily his fault. David Gordon Green has a flair for shaping serious little offbeat indie gems like George Washington and Snow Angels, but funny is a whole different level of sensibility.

Pineapple Express screenwriters Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who previously pooled their perverse creative DNA for Superbad and Da Ali G Show, just can't seem to get that same inspired collaborative energy flowing this time around. Rogen is Dale Denton, a jaded process server and master of process server disguises, who's involved with a high schooler (Amber Heard) in a borderline statutory romance, while in a more obsessive pursuit of the ultimate high.

Denton believes he's found his proverbial dream bag of weed when goofy local pot peddler Saul (James Franco) offers him a bid on his unique exclusive quality stash of Pineapple Express. And he's got a futuristic designer reefer to go with it, a kind of multi-pronged contraption in case your face happens to have a few extra set of lips.

But don't be misled by the inebriating title of this cat and mouse caper, there's a lot less time available to get high than just laying low, as the chemically disoriented pair elude hitmen and crooked cops alike after witnessing a marijuana murder in progress. Which sets off Rosie Perez into her own particular high here, as a homicidal cop gone wild ballsy babe in blue who can't seem to get enough of taking it like a man, in the act of giving and receiving pretty painful looking bodily harm.

And while there may be a cautionary message of sorts lurking about, that pot can be dangerous to your health, it's got more to do with the malevolent smalltime drug lords into doing highly inventive physical injury to their own customers, than any side effects associated with the controlled substance in question. Pineapple Express, a mixed bag of assorted fruits and nuts, with loons on the lam waiting to inhale.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Rated R
2 1/2 stars

DVD Features:

The special unrated Blu-ray and 2-Disc unrated DVD include both theatrical and extended film versions, with scenes not shown in theaters. Additional bonus features on these editions include deleted scenes, fifteen behind-the-scenes featurettes and a bonus Digital Copy of the movie for playback on PC, PSP and iTunes.

Exclusive to the Blu-ray Disc is the special Ride the Express Game. Play as Dale or Saul, and scale the ladders and levels to retrieve your personal property! Avoid Ted and the killer pineapples as you try to score as many points as you can.

Sony Pictures Blu-ray Club members can register their Blu-ray Discs via BD-Live to earn points toward Sony products. For more information, visit www.sonyrewards.com/bluray.

Unrated Blu-ray and 2-Disc Unrated DVD Special Features: Digital Copy of the Film for PC, PSP™ and iTunes; Both Theatrical and Extended Film Versions; Deleted Scenes; Extended and Alternate Scenes; Commentary with Filmmakers and Cast, including Director David Gordon Green, Seth Rogen, Judd Apatow, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, Ed Begley Jr., and Rosie Perez; The Making-of Pineapple Express; Cast and crew making-of featurette; The Action of Pineapple Express; Seth Rogen, James Franco & Director David Gordon Green discuss adding the element of hard-core action into the comedy genre, including a behind-the-scenes look at several stunts; Phone Booth: Before the role of Angie was cast, Judd Apatow played the part off camera. This piece shows the phone booth scenes that made the movie, and the voice that was really behind those phone calls; Line-O-Rama: Back-to-back shots of the actors' different delivery of certain lines from the film, featuring Seth Rogen, James Franco and Craig Robinson; Direct-O-Rama: A Blooper reel featuring David Gordon Green directing and taunting the cast from behind the camera featuring Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Gary Cole, Rosie Perez and Craig Robinson; Item 9 Experiments: Alternate Footage featuring smoking experiments on various characters and their reactions to smoking the top secret government "Item 9" weed; Saul's Apartment: Random characters from the film meet up and share hilarious moments in Saul's (James Franco) apartment and get stoned; Raw Footage: Unedited raw footage for the following scenes: Cross Joint, My Cat's Birthday, Tit Butter and Dinner's gonna be cold tonight; Begley's Best: Ed Begley Jr. discusses his endorsement of non-toxic cleaning products called "Begley's Best" and shows us how he fulfills customer orders; Red and Jessica's Guide to Marriage: Red & his wife Jessica give special tips on how to make a marriage work; Injury Report: The cast discuss the many injuries they have sustained during the shoot. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, featuring Seth Rogen and James Franco and compete for who got hurt the most; Stuntmaster Ken: Ken Jeong gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the stunts from the film; Rehearsal Footage: Footage of James Franco and Seth Rogen rehearsing scenes for the movie; First Table Read: Footage from the very first table read of Pineapple Express before filming begins; Comic-Con Panel: Excerpts from the Comic-Con panel. Filmmakers and Cast answer questions from "random" audience members. Questions are really being asked by staged comedians.; Red-band theatrical trailer.

Blu-ray High Def Exclusive Bonus Material: Ride The Express" Game

1-Disc Theatrical and Unrated DVD Special Features: Extended and Alternate Scenes; Gag Reel; The Making-of Pineapple Express Featurette: Commentary with Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen.

Unrated 1-Disc DVD includes both the Theatrical and Extended film versions.

Prairie Miller is a multimedia journalist online, in print and on radio. Contact her through NewsBlaze.

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