Drillbit Taylor Extended Survival Edition

DVD Review

Paramount Home Entertainment

Release: July 1, 2008

Produced by Judd Apatow (Superbad) and written by Seth Rogen (Knocked Up), Drillbit Taylor had a lot going for it to kick things off, including the inclusion of Owen Wilson as the lead character in the comedy. The story revolved around a group of kids who hire a bodyguard to take care of the bully at school, only to find out that who they end up with is just Drillbit Taylor.

Owen Wilson stars in this film as Drillbit Taylor, who ends up landing a job as a bodyguard for three nerdy high school freshmen. The three high school kids hire Taylor to deal with the school bully.

These high school kids quickly realize though that this man, dressed in army attire, is really not much more than just your typical bum, and may not be able to do much to protect them.

This comedy ahs a tough time finding its own place as it really lacks an identity when you sit down and watch it. You can clearly see the influence films such as Superbad and Knocked Up had on it, as it does have some solid writing with some great one-liners thrown into spawn a few laughs. As an overall story though, it feels far too systematic in in how it delivers it all.

The image quality for the DVD release is fairly well-done, but nothing too over the top. The image comes across extremely bright, but also colorful. Black levels could have been a bit improved in some spots. Overall though a clean transfer.

The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. Also included is a Spanish 5.1 track, as well as a French 5.1 track. The audio quality is pretty well –done as you get some great clarity in the center channel for the dialogue. Beyond that though there is not really much else here too notable.

Paramount has released the Dillbit Taylor Extended Survival Edition, which we were able to review. It features some quality extras that fans are certainly going to appreciate.

To start things off, you are presented with a commentary track by Steven Brill, Kristofor Brown, Troy Gentile, Nate Hartley, and David Dorfman. The commentary track is pretty straight-forward, but does provide some quality entertainment as they talk about how they made the film, the characters, etc.

Up next is The Writers Get A Chance To Talk, which allows Seth Rogen and Kristofor Brown to talk about the film in detail, also entertaining and insightful.

This is followed by 13 deleted and extended scenes, which can be enjoyable or boring depending on how much you enjoy the characters. A gag reel and a string of one-liners is included to round it off.

The exclusive survival extras, as they are called, can actually be pretty funny. They include things such as a rap off, as well as an extended version of the film, making it well worth picking up.

It is strange because the extras on the release are almost more entertaining than the film itself, as you can see that the cast had a blast making the movie. For comedy fans, Drillbit Taylor is definitely worth a rental on DVD.

Movie: 6.8

Not the best comedy out there, but fans of Owen Wilson and others will enjoy this as a rental.

Video: 7.0

Nothing impressive, but a clear and bright transfer.

Audio: 7.5

Pretty standard stuff, good use of the center channel for clear dialogue.

Extras: 8.0

The highlight of the release, plenty of quality hilarious extras here.

Final Score: 7.0