This film will be available on Blu-ray for the first time ever on July 14th courtesy of La-La Land Entertainment.
While superhero films have been around for many decades, there once was a time when they weren’t quite as big a box office draw as they are today. At the turn of the millennium, there was something of a slowing trend for the genre, with titles like Barb Wire (1996), Batman & Robin (1997), Steel (1997) under-performing at the box office. As such, it seemed a proper time for comedies to spoof the genre. Two came along. One was the big budget effort Mystery Men (1999) and the other a little independent feature called The Specials. Neither feature lit the box office on fire, but both have developed a considerable fanbase over the years.
This week, La-La Land Entertainment is releasing The Specials on Blu-ray in celebration of its 20th anniversary. This disc is packed with extras and the feature itself features plenty of talent who have gone on to have incredible careers. The film was written by and co-stars writer/director James Gunn (the Guardians of the Galaxy series) and was directed by Craig Mazin, who created and wrote last year’s phenomenal, award-winning HBO miniseries Chernobyl. This is very obviously an early effort from the pair, but it does provide some amusing moments here and there.
The concept of the feature involves a group of lesser-known superheroes, specifically the country’s 6th or 7th most famous cadre of luminaries. The story begins when new member Nightbird (Jordan Ladd) arrives at team headquarters and is introduced to The Strobe (Thomas Haden Church), his wife Ms. Indestructible (Paget Brewster), Minute Man (James Gunn), The Weevil (Rob Lowe), Amok (Jamie Kennedy), Deadly Girl (Judy Greer), Power Chick (Kelly Coffield), the Alien Orphan (Sean Gunn), and a few other crew members. Instead of focusing on the team’s efforts to fight villains and save citizens, it captures a few days in their troubled personal lives as they deal with conflict within the group. It all comes to a head when the gang get head out to introduce a new line of action figures based on themselves. During the press event, various secrets are revealed and the group begins to splinter.
You can certainly tell that this is a debut feature made on a limited budget.
The film jumps between narrative scenes and interview footage of the various group members commenting on their history and their complicated relationships. There aren’t any notable antagonists in the movie, other than a central character who is thinking of dumping his compatriots for a better position in a higher ranked superhero organization. Truthfully, besides bickering between the protagonists, nothing significant really happens. But of course, playing games with our expectations and allowing the lead characters to express and ramble on their petty concerns is the point of the film and where the humor is derived.
And there are plenty of gags that do earn a laugh. Some of the powers are entertainingly bizarre and the cast seem to be having fun. Greer is particularly funny as the sullen, gloomy and verbally blunt Deadly Girl. Kennedy’s Amok is entertaining as well. He’s an ex-villain who harbors frustration and pent up rage after decided to change his ways and become a hero. It’s a much more difficult transformation psychologically than anticipated. Additionally, Sean Gunn’s facial work as the bizarre and seemingly slow-witted Alien Orphan earns chuckles. Church also gets in some amusing moments as the stiff front man of the organization, trying to act the part despite being reduced to mundane assignments. And Brewster grounds the film emotionally as a wife regretting her life choices and position as team secretary.
For joke that hits the mark, there’s another that doesn’t make the desired impact. It’s all over the place, but there are some entertaining scenes and a good scene every so often. The film is different enough (at least, at the time it was made) to be an enjoyable little riff on the superhero genre. It’s also a fascinating look at the beginnings of James Gunn’s career and would make an interesting companion piece to his later, more developed comic book adaptations like Guardians of the Galaxy.
The technical specs on this 20th anniversary Blu-ray are quite good. This was a very low-budget film that doesn’t boast lavish special effects or incredible cinematography, but the new high definition presentation 2K scan and restoration taken from the film’s interpositive does clean the image up considerably and add much more sharpness to the proceedings. It’s a considerable improvement over the DVD from more than a decade ago and the image quality will impress those who enjoy the film.
Additionally, the extras are impressive. They include a featurette on the special effects, several deleted and extended scenes, the full wedding video and toy commercial that are both featured briefly in the finished film, behind-the-scenes photos and the theatrical trailer newly transferred in 2K.
Those are all entertaining enough, but the real highlights are the archived commentary tracks. There are two. The first, recorded just after the film’s release in 2000, includes director Craig Mazin along with writer/co-star James Gunn, producer Mark Altman and the visual effects supervisor. It’s a fun and genial discussion. All of the participants talk about the difficulties in making the movie on such a low-budget and the stresses it incurred on the cast and crew, but the participants are all pleasant and jovial.
The second track, recorded in 2004 and featuring James Gunn and co-star Page Brewster, is quite different and unfiltered. In fact, one imagines that the two participants might today regret venting so much about co-workers and being so blunt about their experiences. While it may not have been the wisest move for them, it is incredible to listen to. Gunn details how the film came together and that Jamie Kennedy was the person who loved the script and worked hard to get the movie produced. The speaker then details the numerous blow-outs and fights between, well, just about everyone on set at different points in the shoot.
Apparently, Gunn and Kennedy had some big rows (made even more awkward by the fact that he was living with Kennedy during production), and also admits that he and director Mazin had issues. Apparently, he didn’t like the mood that Mazin had adopted in telling the story and critiques it. Gunn talks about how disappointed some cast members were with the end product. He also notes how upset he was that one of the stars appeared to blow the project off after landing a bigger role in a TV series, not even appearing at the premiere or supporting the movie. In fact, both Gunn and Brewster share a long list of complaints with others, some of whom weren’t even involved in this production. Time has passed and one assumes that everyone has calmed down now that they have all moved on are enjoying more professional success.
As for the movie itself, The Specials isn’t a classic, but it does have a couple of laughs. And perhaps more interestingly, it serves as an incredible look at the early work of cast and crew members. The juicy extras are also eye-opening and the two commentary tracks included make for an amazing contrast and enlightening look at how, even after a few years, some of those involved harbored negative feelings about the project. If you’re a fan of the filmmaker or comic book films in general, you’ll definitely get something out of this curiosity and this updated Blu-ray comes recommended.