Nature shows have become a favorite of mine over the years because there are so many different ones out there and I also love animals, but not enough to risk my life in order to play with them. So that job is left up to people like Les Stroud and the late Steve Irwin, but not Bear Grylls because he is a fake and he sucks. Nature shows aren’t just limited to animals though as we have seen the aforementioned hosts travel great distances and stay out in the harshest of the elements in order to bring different views of the world to those that can’t see them on their own. Sometimes the situations they get into are educational and some are exciting. Others are dangerous and some end up quite beautiful. There’s even those times when nature has a sense of humor and decides to make everyone laugh.
Peter Gaulke is a certified stoner that has taken over control of a nature show called “Strange Wilderness” after the passing of the show’s host, his father. He, writer Fred Wolf, and a band of other miscreants have taken the show and run it straight into the ground forcing the studio to lay forth an ultimatum. Either Peter gets the ratings on a rocket ship ride to the top or “Strange Wilderness” will be no more and end up in cancellation hell. Let’s not forget that the guys have a new timeslot at three in the morning making their climb that much more difficult. All of a sudden the guys know they have to do something before the show is lost forever, but what on Earth can a bunch of nature retards to save a show about the wild? Find Bigfoot of course.
You ever come across one of those comedy films that is supposed to be so funny that you just know it’s going to be hilariously great? Well Strange Wilderness is not one of those flicks. The trailer interested me a long time ago because of the buck-toothed fish shown swimming around while a voiceover guy just does a funny guffaw laugh. I found that to be extremely funny and when seeing some of the people that would be starring in Strange Wilderness, I figured that a shot needed to be taken on it. What a wasted shot it was too. This wasn’t even accidentally funny most of the time. It truly is a good thing that it runs for less then an hour and a half because two or three giggles throughout that time is not a good ratio.
I wish there was more to say about this but there really isn’t. Seriously, it’s just bad.
The film is shown in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen and for a film that is more of a joke then anything; it really could have done itself a favor and looked really good being out in nature and all. Well, it didn’t do that either making it decent, but nothing spectacular.
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and again fails to make use of something that could have made it a much better viewing experience. Being driven mostly by dialogue, the center speaker gets a good workout and comes through fine. The surrounding speakers though barely seem to get much use at all and actually don’t even sound that impressive when they do come into play.
Cooker’s Song – This is a behind the scenes look at one of the songs from the film that is done by Jonah Hill. Nothing exciting. (5:48)
The Turkey – Another behind the scenes look into the shooting of a scene involving the infamous turkey. Trust me; you know which one I’m talking about if you’ve watched the film. Kind of funny at times, but again it’s nothing too much. (6:47)
What Do We Do? – Here is a feature that looks into the make-up applied to Justin Long for his character and other discussions that went on at the roundtable between most of the cast. (6:06)
Reel Comedy: Strange Wilderness – A promotional piece for Strange Wilderness from Comedy Central that is some interviews thrown together with clips from the film. (21:16)
Deleted Scenes – Thirteen deleted scenes that wouldn’t have helped the film whatsoever although I’m not really sure they would have hurt it either.
Tasteless humor along with stupid jokes and those which childish and infantile are usually things that will make me laugh just because I find those sorts of things funny. But Strange Wilderness is just bad. It is almost as if they are trying way too hard to get some laughs out of people and only managed to squeeze a few giggles from me here and there. With Jonah Hill, Steve Zahn, and Justin Long you’d figure that the comedy would be there in droves but it just always fails to hit its mark. Crappy production and transfer to the Blu-ray format along with useless special features don’t even make this one worth a rental. Fair warning though to watch out for turkeys because those bastards are vicious.
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Paramount presents Strange Wilderness. Directed by: Fred Wolf. Starring: Steve Zahn, Allen Covert, Jonah Hill, Justin Long, Ashley Scott, Robert Patrick. Written by: Peter Gaulke & Fred Wolf. Running time: 87 minutes. Rating: R. Released on DVD: April 14, 2009. Available at Amazon.com
