The Good

Many years later, all these films still hold up very well.

The Bad

No Special Features on anything but the first movie.

Porky’s the Ultimate Collection gives us all three films in the Porky’s lexicon in one set. That should be reason alone for people to buy it. The movies in the set (for those who do not know) are as follows:

  • Porky’s

  • Porky’s II: The Next Day

  • Porky’s Revenge

In Porky’s we see the boys from Angel Beach High School (Pee-Wee, Meat, Billy, Tommy and the rest of the gang) doing everything they can to get laid. This leads them to Porky’s ney stolen by the owner who bears the club’s name. Well, hi-jinks ensue but it eventually becomes clear that Porky is going to have to be taught a lesson. In Porky’s II: The Next Day, the game to get into the pants of all the girls possible is still on, only this time they face a battle closer to home. Mrs. Balbricker and Reverend Bubba Flavel want to ban their performance of a Shakespearean play. Mix some racists also getting their comeuppance and you have a recipe for fun and mayhem. Lastly, in Porky’s Revenge, the man is back and this time he has his sights set on Meat. Apparently, he wants Meat to marry his daughter and the boys find themselves going up against their old nemesis again.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Features

Porky’s (none of the other films in this collection have any extras)

Porky’s Video Game Sales Pitch

I know what you’re thinking because I was thinking the same thing, “There’s a video game for this movie?” Yes, there is and apparently it was meant to be run on the Atari 2600. With its very dated look I almost laughed during this pitch (which is combined with a trailer for Porky’s II: The Next Day) when the announcer said the game had “outstanding graphics.” Also, I couldn’t make heads or tails out of what was happening in the game, but something tells me it doesn’t deviate too much from the movie. This is a must watch.

Porky’s: A Comedy Classic

Porky’s Through the Peephole:Bob Clark Looks Back

This is a bittersweet look at this film considering that its Director, Bob Clark, died this past April in an automobile crash. He discusses the tough road he had to go through in order to get this movie made. Apparently, 20th Century Fox was repelled by the subject matter, but things eventually worked out and this small film ending up grossing over $100 million dollars. He talks about spending his own money to get Porky’s off the ground, casting the actors, the racist subject matter that the film deals with and all in all, I think its hard not to watch this without realizing that one of our best was taken from us too soon.

Bob Clark sits down and discusses one of his finest creations. (I am also a huge fan of his other films A Christmas Story and Turk 182). He explains that what we are seeing on screen is his life story, then he talks about the differences between kids in 1952 and 1982, how all the guys were naked in the “Cherry Forever” scene (although “no weaponry” was shown), and he also discusses the various themes of the film. If you don’t have a lot of time you can probably get by watching the Porky’s Through the Peephole:Bob Clark Looks Back segment, however, I found myself really enjoying listening to what he had to say on this track.

Video

All of the films in Porky’s the Ultimate Collection can be screened in Widescreen - Anamorphic: 1.85:1. As it has been a long time since I screened any of these films on VHS tape, I was pretty impressed with how good the DVD transfers were. I also saw things that I had never seen before as, after awhile, it seems like my VHS tapes kept getting darker and darker. While I think the best looking film in this collection is the first one (and that’s interesting considering it was a period piece made for about $3-$4 million dollars), all of these films seem like they have been cleaned up a lot.

Audio

Dolby Digital. The audio was great. I heard things before that I had never heard before. Also, the terminology and lingo that Bob Clark put into these movies really comes across nicely here. I found that I didn’t have to turn up the audio that loud to hear anything, and that in itself was a nice surprise. These movies are 25 years old now and it seems like Fox has kept them stored in the vault quite well. Also, the sound design, especially with the way the characters ad lib seems like its been bumped up a lot. I watched this film and for the first time feel that I “got” everything. It also might be because I’m older now?

Package

All three movies are stored in a black and orange slipcase cover that features a ladies stocking moving up and down. This cover also lists out all the movies in this collection. The back continues this motif (only nothing is moving), and it also gives us a thumbnail look at all the film’s covers, and also offers up a description for each one. There are also some minor technical specs here as well. The three discs that store the three movies are housed in three slim cases, all of which seem to have new artwork for this collection. Overall, 20th Century Fox has put out a great release.

Final Word

I would be lying if I didn’t say that the best movie in this set is clearly first Porky’s. Still raunchy, controversial, funny and real to this day, I was amazed at how well this film held up. The acting is superb. The jokes and talk of sex is still just as jaw dropping. This movie’s ability to deal with sexual subject matter is uncanny. Like The Last American Virgin, this movie seems on the surface to be merely an excuse for a bunch of guys to run around like degenerates. Now, while Porky’s might never get as serious as The Last American Virgin does, it shows friendships and family issues in a very real light. Sadly, Porky’s II: The Next Day and Porky’s Revenge went more for laughs, as opposed to breaking any new ground with the characters. Also, by the third film, the character of Porky seems more like a joke than the cunning businessman he originally came off as.

All that said, my only bone of contention is that all the films didn’t contain more extras. From the perspective of adding some seminal films to your DVD collection, I would say it is 100% worth owning Porky’s the Ultimate Collection.