Road Trip is a gleefully raunchy college classic turning 25 this year makes its 4K UHD debut.
The Production: 4/5
Road Trip was the opening salvo, in 2000, from director Todd Phillips, a documentary filmmaker who shifted to fictional stories for this raunchy, rowdy and ramshackle romp, which helped catapult provocative comedian Tom Green to A-list stardom and served as a profitable prelude to Phillips’s subsequent blockbusters, 2003’s Old School and 2009’s The Hangover.
The story is the stuff of a thousand similar films: A long-distance relationship between two childhood friends is strained, resulting in the mailing of a videotape which might just blow apart their bond. Cue the dramatic scramble across multiple states on an impossible timeline amid myriad distracting shenanigans and goings-on. What saves Road Trip, and arguably makes it worth watching 25 years later, is the engaging chemistry of its cast, a gonzo sense of humor and a fistful of eminently quotable lines (“Release the fury, Mitch!”).
Breckin Meyer stars as Josh, whose love for Tiffany (Rachel Blanchard) has endured their separation, as he studies at the fictional University of Ithaca and she attends class at the also-fictional University of Austin. Josh’s pals — horndog E.L. (Seann William Scott, in a role he seemed to play repeatedly in the late 1990s and early 2000s), brainy stoner Rubin (Paulo Costanzo) and wallflower Kyle (DJ Qualls, who, like Green, enjoyed a breakout moment here) — push him to drive 1,800 miles to Texas to retrieve a videotape which might feature him sleeping with Beth (Amy Smart), a fellow Ithaca student on whom he has a crush. Egged on by lunatic lifer student Barry (Green), the foursome sets out on its adventure.
All manner of craziness ensues: Exploding cars, semen donation, a raucous stop at a Black fraternity, vengeful teaching assistants — Road Trip crams a lot into its brisk, 93-minute run time. It hangs together thanks to colorful cameos (Andy Dick is a withering delight as a put-out hotel desk clerk), the game-for-anything cast, particularly Green, Qualls and Scott, and an irreverent sense of humor — some of which has not aged particularly well. Nevertheless, Road Trip remains a beloved staple of 21st century comedy, and the sort of effortlessly funny film you don’t see too often anymore. Now, can we please feed Mitch?
Video: 4.5/5
3D Rating: NA
For its 4K UHD debut, Kino Lorber offers up a brand-new master, created by Paramount Pictures from a 4K scan of the 35mm original camera negative. Road Trip is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen in 2160p resolution, with a Dolby Vision high dynamic range (HDR) grade applied. (The Blu-ray disc contains the restored theatrical cut, alongside the unrated cut of Road Trip, the latter presented in a slightly wider 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer.)
Road Trip is remembered for many things, but being a visually striking film is not one of them. Given that, this image looks vivid, nicely detailed and mostly crisp — it’s just kind of flat and uninspiring (no disrespect intended to cinematographer Mark Irwin’s fine work here). Black levels are superb throughout; colors are well-saturated and there is no trace of print damage or other notable visual defect apparent.
However, in doing a quick A/B comparison between the 4K UHD and Blu-ray presentations of Road Trip, I would argue the Blu-ray actually looks a touch better, to me, than its higher-definition counterpart. I can’t quite put my finger on why, other than to say the image felt more natural, a little smoother and more engaging than watching the 4K UHD version. Perhaps it’s a quirk of my particular viewing experience, and I should note, I’m not suggesting the 4K UHD disc is somehow subpar — merely that the Blu-ray will likely be my preference for future screenings.
Audio: 5/5
Much like the visuals, the audio presentation of Road Trip gets the job done without showing off, via a DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack which gives plenty of detail and oomph to the eclectic songs littering the film — Eels’ bouncy “Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues” gives the subwoofer a healthy workout, as does Run-DMC’s “It’s Tricky” — and the few sequences of mayhem (the explosive car jump in the forest; the raucous Xi Chi fraternity party) allow the surrounds to provide extra nuance and presence.
The dialogue driving the film is heard clearly throughout, and there’s no distortion, drop-out or audible defects evident. A DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track is included, as are optional English subtitles.
Special Features: 4/5
The Kino Lorber release preserves all existing home video supplements for Road Trip, while adding in a brand new extra, created specifically for this edition: A commentary track from film historian Joe Ramoni of Hats Off Entertainment for the film’s theatrical cut. The 4K disc contains only the theatrical cut and Ramoni’s commentary, with the Blu-ray disc housing both the theatrical and unrated cuts (the unrated version adds a whopping 31 seconds of nudity), as well as the remaining bonus features.
The featurette “Ever Been on a Road Trip?” is here (4:55; Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo; 1.33.1 fullscreen), as is the music video for Eels’ “Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues” (3:53; Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo; 1.33:1 fullscreen), nine deleted scenes (10:54 in aggregate; Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo; 1.33:1 fullscreen), Road Trip’s theatrical trailer (in both green- and red-band flavors) as well as trailers for Tropic Thunder, CB4, Wayne’s World 2, Half Baked, Kingpin and The Rundown.
Overall: 4/5
Road Trip was the opening salvo, in 2000, from director Todd Phillips, a documentary filmmaker who shifted to fictional stories for this raunchy, rowdy and ramshackle romp, which helped catapult provocative comedian Tom Green to A-list stardom and served as a profitable prelude to Phillips’s subsequent blockbusters, 2003’s Old School and 2009’s The Hangover.
The story is the stuff of a thousand similar films: A long-distance relationship between two childhood friends is strained, resulting in the mailing of a videotape which might just blow apart their bond. Cue the dramatic scramble across multiple states on an impossible timeline amid myriad distracting shenanigans and goings-on. What saves Road Trip, and arguably makes it worth watching 25 years later, is the engaging chemistry of its cast, a gonzo sense of humor and a fistful of eminently quotable lines (“Release the fury, Mitch!”). It remains a beloved staple of 21st century comedy, and the sort of effortlessly funny film you don’t see too often anymore.
Kino Lorber’s presentation of Road Trip’s 4K UHD debut provides the film’s fans with an updated home video presentation (although, in my opinion, the Blu-ray edges out the 4K UHD disc), and preserves its existing bonus features. Highly recommended.
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