Orgazmo: Special Edition DVD Review:

The NC-17 rating has been the kiss of death since it was first implemented in the early nineties. Many theater houses won’t carry them and audiences are still confused and seem to think that once it is rated NC-17 it is obscene despite the minor adjustments that can be made to turn it into an R rating. Orgazmo, a kung-fu Mormon superhero comedy in the world of porn, is rated NC-17 despite the lack of obscenity. In truth there is no real nudity despite the subject matter, little language compared to many R rated film, and only cartoon violence. While most people may be turned away by the NC-17 rating, the special edition DVD of Orgazmo goes even further in adding an unrated version to the disc. Even with this included the film is still more silly than it is obscene, and in many ways less offensive than the South Park movie, which was created by the same genius.

Joe Young, played by writer/director Trey Parker, is a devout Mormon visiting Hollywood to spread the love of Jesus when he knocks on the door of a porn producer and suddenly finds himself starring in a pornographic film. At first he has doubts, but when he is offered $20,000 and told that he won’t have to perform any of the sex himself, he decides to take the job in order to pay for a wedding in Utah. What Joe doesn’t expect is that his film would become a national success, even inspiring a sequel. Joe does his best to stick to his morals, and soon finds that he can make a difference off the set as well, thanks to his remarkable talent with the art of Kung-Fu and his sidekick.

Orgazmo actually does a rather decent job portraying the struggle between faith and corruption, despite the offensive context. Although it is obvious that they are poking fun of Mormons somewhat, they never exploit the religion or make it seem stupid. On the other hand, they are much harsher on the world of porn, never letting an opportunity pass to show how ridiculous it is. The filmmakers visited a porn set as research for the film and all say how gross it is to be on set past ten minutes.

Never has there been such a mixing of genres, at least not since Cannibal the Musical, and in a strange way it actually works. This isn’t a film which should be taken seriously, but rather a movie which would be fun to play a drinking game with, like the filmmakers do on one of the audio tracks. It may be offensive to some, but mostly it is just silly fun.

The transfer of the film looks good, with decent audio, to where it actually feels like a larger studio could have made the film. The DVD is double sided with two versions of the film, but it would be hard to tell the difference between the two. There are also three audio commentaries including the drunken commentary which is the highlight of the DVD.

This DVD is jam packed with so many special features that even the most die hard fans would be hard pressed to watch them all. Some of them are hilarious, while others seem a bit excessive. There are a lot of deleted scenes, some of which are funnier than most parts of the film, and over forty minutes of outtakes. While the deleted scenes are funny, some of the outtakes go on for too long. There are an assortment of featurettes and interviews, some are good while others just seem long. There is also The Book of Orgazmo, a documentary about the film with a ton of interviews.

It really is amazing that a film like this has as many features as it does. With all of the bells and whistles you would think that it had done well in theaters or had been remarkably popular. If you are one of the people that liked it, you are in luck, because there couldn’t be a better DVD for such a silly and rather mediocre film.

Ryan Izay

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