American Movie 4K Review (Sony)

American Movie is a 1999 documentary film produced, shot, and directed by Chris Smith (Mr. McMahon, The Yes Men, American Job, The Pool, Collapse, 100 Foot Wave, Devo, and Home Movie). It grossed $1,166,245 worldwide at the box office. This documentary follows an aspiring filmmaker (played by: Mark Borchardt from Coven, Bitcon, Cabin Fever 2, Family Guy, The Devil’s Muse, and Lycanimator) with the help of his best friend (played by: Mike Schank from Coven, Storytelling, Slaughter Weekend, Small Change, and Family Guy) that tries to finance his dream project “Northwestern” while trying to complete the low-budget horror film “Coven” that he abandoned years ago. The duo struggles to put together this independent feature as problems continue to disrupt their production!!!! American Movie is hilarious but it’s actually spot on when it comes to making low budget cinema. The filmmaker is inspired by horror and independent directors. He goes back to the no budget movie that he gave up on forever ago. He is very ambitious and he wants to make his bigger project Northwestern but he must finish Coven to raise funds for that one. His best friend supports and helps him with whatever he needs. The comedy and humor comes off so organic when they are put in awkward situations to carry out their dream. They try to make something out of their Wisconsin surroundings despite having no talent at all. The serious efforts in this turn into parody which keeps American Movie so damn fun and entertaining as it transforms to mockumentary. You get to experience bizarre characters like Uncle Bill. I love how Billy Crystal randomly gets thrown in this during all it’s madness. Mark Borchardt and Mike Schank show you what not to do when trying to put together a film with no money. They end up just making everything worse when they continue to be so clueless. American Movie has become a cult classic over the years. It’s kinda like a train wreck, you can’t stop watching it after it starts. American Movie is so much better than it should be, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation and special features from Sony Pictures Classics! This 2160p (1.33:1) transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is the best that this low budget documentary is ever going to look. It took a long time to get some HD treatment but it’s 2022 blu ray home video release must have been very popular to get a brand new 4K only a few years later. As you know, this independent production can only look so good but it’s an improvement from the older original versions and a slight upgrade compared to it’s recent blu. It has an English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track on the UHD. This isn’t the type of film that’s going to rock your speakers but it’s still solid. All of the dialogue is very clean, the struggle is elevated, and the music has a nice boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has an “Audio Commentary” with Chris Smith, Sarah Price, Mark Borchardt, and Mike Schank. They chat about the cult classic here. They talk about a variety of things from the low budget effort. They provide plenty of detailed information and inside stories about American Movie. If you ever wanted to know more about this documentary then you love this fascinating track. It has almost 37 minutes of “Deleted Scenes”. I can see why most of these didn’t make the final cut but there’s some interesting stuff mixed in here. It has the little over 36 minute horror short “Coven” from Mark Borchardt. This is the real reason to pick up this new 4K. I’ve always wanted to see this because the documentary makes it look hilariously bad and it definitely delivers in that department. This cheap horror short is an excellent example of what not to do. Without this, there would be no American Movie so you have to appreciate it for that at least but it’s still a fun mess. It has the “Theatrical Trailer”. It comes with a slipcover. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!