The Jerk (Blu-ray + Digital Copy + UltraViolet) (1979)

This is one of my favorite comedies. It's not for everyone, as you must understand Martin's unique style of humor. That having been said, the DVD is awful.

The transfer is decent, although could have been cleaned up more. Luckily, it's at least anamorphic widescreen. The sound, while hardly sounding like 5.1, still sounds decent, as i doubt surround sound was on the mind of film makers in 1979. Seriously, it's not Star Wars.

Extras? Fugetaboudit! NO commentary. NO making-of. NO interviews. Just one delected scene, trailer, and a dumb ukelele lesson.

The WORST part! There are scenes missing! Perhaps this version of the film is exactly as it was released in the theaters, but i'm too young to know. However, every time i've seen it on television, there were scenes not present in this release...such as the several different people requesting donations from the rich Navin Johnson. In this, you only get the Mexican priest. Where's the guy who needs new seat covers on his plane? That scene was classic!

You know, this is the SECOND release of this film on DVD, and they call it an "Anniversary Edition." If they're going to give it a name like that, they could at least include the cut of the movie with extra scenes added back in. Maybe the commentary and a simple 15-minute making-of is asking too much, but at least give us the material that's already in the can.

Surreal to the point of silliness, "The Jerk" captured the atmosphere of comedy perfectly in the 70's. Before Robin Williams broke through to a larger audience on the big and little screen, Steve Martin was THE JERK. As dense as a brick, Martin doesn't so much as act like a jerk as become one. Opening like a variation on all those Hollywood tales where the hero of our story is down on his luck but soon to be redeemed (of course, this IS a comedy so it's unlikely he'll get the redemption we expect because, well, that wouldn't be funny), Navin Johnson (Martin) mentions at the beginning that he was "born a poor black child". Adopted by a poor African-American family living in poverty, Navin is horrified to discover that not only is he adopted but he's always going to be Caucasian and have absolutely no rhythm. Navin discovers he does have rhythm after all ("praise the Lord!") when he listens to a radio playing dance music from the time. Navin eats his Twinkies, learns the difference between sh-t and Shinola and hits the road hoping to be rich. Armed with the advice his family gives him ("God bless the working man...and remember never trust whitey!"). He hitchhikes getting his first ride which takes him to the end of a fence getting about twenty feet away from home. Needless to say, life is more than an adventure for Nathan and his dog Shithead; it's a vocation.

Receiving a very nice transfer, "The Jerk" looks typical of a film from the late 70's with noticeable film grain and while the colors aren't quite as vivid as I would have thought, they're acceptable. This is the first widescreen presentation for the film so that's something to be thankful for. There's quite a bit of analog debris in the form of dirt (in fact it looks as if this is exactly the same transfer as the previous edition). The 5.1 remastered Dolby Digital Surround Sound mix has nice presence but (not surprisingly) it doesn't use the format particularly well.

In addition to the original production notes from the previous edition and theatrical trailer we also get 1 extra and 1 featuring footage cut from the film. "The Lost Filmstrips of Father Carlos Las Vegas De Cordova" is a "continuation" of the film within a film where we see Martin play various characters doing things like verbally abusing a plant, dressing a bulldog in a clown suit as the audience cheers and takes pets in a bizarre parody of cock fighting. It's really footage that was cut from that sequence. "Learn to Play `Tonight You Belong to Me'" includes sections where you can learn to tune a ukulele (something I've been dying to learn), play it, play along with the Ukulele Gal and, finally, play along with the jerk himself. It's bizarre to say the least. The last bit is just a scene from "The Jerk" where Navin serenades his sweetheart at the beach.

No commentary track from Martin or Reiner. Honestly, you'd think they were embarrassed by this film! Or, maybe they weren't asked to do it or wanted too much money. While an improvement on the original edition of the film, that improved is slight at best. The featurettes are pleasant diversions but the real reason to get "The Jerk" is that this is the first time it's been presented in widescreen. The image quality could have been cleaned up quite a bitas there's quite a bit of analog debris that appears early on in the film. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this unless you're dying to have the widescreen version of this classic comedy.

Buy The Jerk (Blu-ray + Digital Copy + UltraViolet) (1979) Now

NOTE: review below was in regards to the Full Screen or Pan & Scan version of The Jerk that was the initial DVD release. A later edition was released which does respect the movie and offer it in widescreen format. If you are purchasing, be sure to get the anniversary version of the movie so you'll see the ENTIRE movie and not lose the images on the edges of the screen. Remainder of original review left as is. Thanks!

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First off, I love this movie. It's silly, it's funny, it's touching in some places, but mostly, it's just entertaining.

My biggest complaint with this DVD is that it's one that offers little to no bonus value, and, to me, commits the cardinal sin of not putting the movie in it's original format instead offering only a Pan and Scan Full Screen presentation.

I've hoped for several years that this movie would get a 'special anniversary' or other 'collectors edition' that would offer the original wide screen format and some decent special features, but finally had to break down and purchase this 'original' release of the DVD because my wishes seem to be going unanswered.

Please note that I rate the movie itself here a full 5 stars (* * * * *), but the DVD gets only 2 stars, for it's lack of respect to the buying public.

The movie was a classic when it was released.

Steve Martin, the ultimate 'white guy' finds himself 'born a poor black child', without rhythm and unable to figure out why he doesn't fit in with his Black brothers and sisters.

He gets motivated to go off and discover himself, and his adventures along the way are a total riot.

In many ways a model that could have been used for the original "Rain Man" character, Navin R. Johnson (Martin's character) had a simple charm and naive streak that was almost unbelievable, but too funny not to laugh at.

This movie is a comedy classic, and it deserves a Special Edition and better treatment on DVD. Hopefully someday it will get just that.

Read Best Reviews of The Jerk (Blu-ray + Digital Copy + UltraViolet) (1979) Here

This is a fantastic movie... even though I love many of Steve Martin's movies this is the one that I can quote from beginning to end and still laugh constantly!

My main complaint, like others, is that it is NOT WIDESCREEN! The sad thing is, if you look at the packaging for "The Steve Martin Collection" 3-pack it shows "The Jerk" as originally being slated to be shown in the widescreen format, however for some reason they decided to keep in Pan and Scan anyway.... Ugh!

Another sad thing is that this movie HAS DELETED SCENES but they are NOT INCLUDED in the DVD! Anyone who has seen the movie syndicated knows that there are additional scenes which are shown on TV but for some reason are left out of the DVD!

Hopefully Universal will soon release a version of this movie comparable to their great DVD releases of AMERICAN GRAFFITTI and ANIMAL HOUSE... until then, this version will have to do I suppose.

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I have really come to the end of my rope concerning Universal DVD releases. Why hasnt this film been cleaned up and at least out out on a widescreen format? Their is no excuse for this. They are by far the biggest and the worse dvd distributor in the market. They continually release dvd after dvd with framing errors-no digital transfers-no extra features---grainy dirty negatives without any concern about preserving these films. Its pathetic.To add to all of this they will release these films then pull them over and over again how many more re-releases of one film can you produce?Why? your not adding anything but new crappy artwork for the cover.Whens the last time the original cut of the Blues Brothers has seen the day of light??Now The Jerk is also among your lame releases. GREAT film HORRIBLE release done by the worst in the biz. Simply put UNIVERSAL SUCKS.

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