BLADES OF GLORY
Starring:
Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Jenna Fischer, William
Fichtner, Romany Malco and Craig T. Nelson
Directors:
Josh Gordon & Will Speck
Running Time:
93 mins
Out to buy on DVD 06/08/07, HD-DVD 03/09/07
"It's provocative!"
Jimmy MacElroy (Heder) and Chazz Michael Michaels (Ferrell) are the best male figure skaters in the world but when they draw at the world championship in Stockholm, neither of them can accept that they are equally the best. This leads to a fight on the podium, which leads to the two fierce rivals receiving lifetime bans from the sport they love. Three and a half years later and Jimmy and Chazz have hit bottom but Jimmy's old coach has a plan. They enter a class of skating that they are not banned from and that class is pairs figure skating.
The sight of two men performing together on an ice rink, as a figure skating pair is a comedy premise with great potential but can Will Farrell and Jon Heder score a perfect 6.0?
At the moment Will Farrell can do no wrong. With huge hits like 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy' and 'Talladega Nights: The Ballard of Ricky Bobby' under his belt and gaining critical acclaim for the excellent 'Stranger than Fiction', he is America's king of comedy at the moment. Jon Heder's career hasn't really had the meteoric rise that was expected after he burst onto the scene in the cult comedy classic 'Napoleon Dynamite'. Appearing in movies like 'Just like Heaven', 'The Benchwarmers' and 'School for Scoundrels' he hasn't really had the chance to leave Napoleon behind and create a character that allows he to step out of the super-geek's big shadow. This is that role however and together with Will Farrell, they get to have some fun.
The premise is one set up for the comedy that both Will Farrell and Jon Heder excel in. The world's two best male figure skaters are banned for life and the only way they can get back into the sport is to become the first male/male pair to compete. The reason why they were banned however is because they hate each other and the two of them got into a fight on the gold medal podium in Stockholm, disgracing the sport they both adore. Now they have to work together if they are ever going to prise the gold medal away from the current pairs champions, the brother and sister team of Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg, played by the always funny Will Arnett and Amy Poehler. Throw in a love interest for Jimmy, a sex addiction for Chazz and a coach who's most dangerous part of the routine could lead to one of the pair been killed and you have everything for a gold medal for comedy, right?
Will Farrell movies are very hit and miss when it comes to scoring major laughs with the audience. His movies also suffer from an aliment that most comedy movies suffer from, revealing most of the best gags in the preview trailers. Unfortunately for the most part 'Blades of Glory' is one of those movies. There are some good quality laughs to be had here but most of them are either extremely obvious or have been previewed or hinted at during the trailer. This doesn't take anything away from the performances of Will Farrell and Jon Heder however, as the pair definitely have the chemistry but the restrictions of the script mean that they only end up in the bronze medal category.
'Blades of Glory' is fun but not as funny as it could have been. There is plenty to enjoy here, especially the performances of Will Farrell, Jon Heder, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler and Jenna Fischer but just don't expect comedy gold.
PICTURE & SOUND
Presented in Widescreen 2.35:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good.
BONUS FEATURES
Return to Glory: The Making
of Blades (14.13 mins)
Directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon, producers Stuart Cornfeld and Ben
Stiller and stars Will Farrell, Jon Heder, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler and
Jenna Fisher provide a comedic approach to the usual making of featurette.
The group talk far too passionately about the film and the prospect of a
male/male figure skating championship as well as their characters and getting
involved in the movie. They are also asked to reveal their Top 20 figure
skaters and their dreams of skating glory.
Celebrities on Thin Ice (5.51
mins)
Directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon, skating choreographer Sarah Kawahara
and stars Will Farrell, Jon Heder, Will Arnett and Amy Poehler talk about
the training they had to go through to become the masters of the ice.
Cooler than Ice: The Super
Sexy Costumes of Skating (4.27 mins)
Directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon, costume designer Julie Weiss and stars
Will Farrell, Jon Heder, Will Arnett and Amy Poehler look at the peacock,
fire & ice, rap and the big finale costumes from 'Blades of Glory'.
Arnett & Poehler: A Family
Affair (5.37 mins)
The husband and wife team take a comedic approach to the interview revealing
the funnier side of their careers and marriage.
20 Questions with Scott Hamilton
(4.49 mins)
The former competitive figure skater talks about the sport and if two males
could compete in the figure skating championships
Hector: Portrait of a Psycho
fan (3.16 mins)
Hector talks about his love for Jimmy and the things he has stolen from
the man he adores.
Deleted Scenes (8.47 mins)
Entitled 'Stanz and Fairchild watch Katie's video', 'Chazz offers the Verticoli
flashback', 'Blades of Glory song' and 'Hector shoots Darren', these deleted
scenes suffer from the lack of a commentary track or introduction to say
why they were removed.
Music Video 'Blades of Glory'
by Bo Bice (4.30 mins)
Watch the music video with clips from the movie throughout.
Gag Reel (2.06 mins)
Watch as many of the skating scenes go a little wrong.
Alternate takes (8.18 mins)
See the cast improvise many of their lines and responses in this montage
of footage.
Trailers
Watch previews of 'Transformers', 'Norbit' and 'Year of the Dog'
OVERALL
The DVD package for 'Blades of Glory' is a lot of fun. None of the featurettes are taken very seriously with the cast improvising and having fun at the interviewer's expense. The lack of a commentary track is very disappointing however especially when it was crying out for a Will Farrell and Jon Heder track. This is still a decent package however that fans will enjoy.
DVD
