Blades of Glory on DVD
Will Ferrell Ice Skating Comedy is Surprisingly a Cut Above
DVD bonuses enhance the story of two disgraced rival figure skaters who join together to become the first-ever same-sex pair to compete in the world championships.
The DVD version of Blades of Glory is one of those movies that’s actually better as a DVD package watched at home than a major motion picture watched at the cinema.
Raunchy figure skater Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Ferrell) is an overweight sex addict and fierce competitor of effeminate pretty boy Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder). After they tie for the gold medal at the world championships, their public brawl gets them barred for life from the men’s competition and stripped of their previous medals. Jimmy’s crazed fan Hector (Nick Swardson) finds a loophole that allows Jimmy to work again if paired with another man. So Jimmy and Chazz team as the first male figure skating duo.
Figure Skating Fun
The absurd story plays for laughs, and becomes increasingly more ridiculous as the movie progresses. In fact, most of the humor is derived from physical comedy: two large straight men (Heder is 6’1” and Ferrell is 6’3”) must touch intimately, pose provocatively, and wear flamboyant unitards while skating. Secondary characters such as a brother and sister skating duo (Amy Poehler and Will Arnett), their younger sister (Jenna Fischer) who falls for Jimmy, cameos by famous figure skaters, and various skating officials generate far fewer laughs than the two central characters. And Farrell and Heder do get the big laughs.
Poehler (who was terrific as a pushy publicist in Mr. Woodcock) takes it a little too far here, pushing her despicable figure skater character into near-psychotic episodes of abusing her sister, cheating at the competitions, and attacking her opponents – all with apparent delight. Arnett is slightly more likeable, but not much.
The Bonus Features
This single-disc edition of Blades of Glory contains truly entertaining bonus features that won’t enhance your knowledge of filmmaking one iota, but will treat you to some important (relatively speaking) back-story deleted from the theatrical version. In addition, you’ll see tongue-in-cheek behind-the-scenes footage and deleted scenes that will broaden and deepen the entire Blades of Glory experience – or at least keep you amused anyway.
For instance, there’s former Olympic figure skater Scott Hamilton fielding 20 silly questions about the sport. There’s Arnett and Poehler (married in real life) discussing their plans to birth the world’s funniest baby. There’s “Hector: Portrait of a Psychofan” in which Swardson (as Jimmy’s obsessive stalker) provides a bizarre look into his fantasy life. There’s a look at skating training for the actors (“Celebrities on Thin Ice”) and a Moviefone Unscripted segment with Ferrell, Heder, and Arnett answering questions about their roles in the film.
The longest featurette, “Return to Glory: The Making of Blades” comes across as more mockumentary than documentary with off-the-wall, confrontational questions posed to the actors by a mysterious interviewer. Still photos, a featurette on costuming, a music video, a commercial for DreamWorks Bee Movie, a gag reel, and more pack this little DVD with hours of fun.
If you liked the movie (or missed it at the cinema), then you should enjoy the DVD. If you thought the theatrical release was merely a ridiculous story set around two oversized homophobic skaters prancing around the ice without a snowball’s chance in hell of actually winning the competition – well, you’re probably right – but you still might like the DVD.
- Blades of Glory
- Director: Will Speck and Josh Gordon
- Movie Run Time: 93 minutes
- Rating: PG-13 (crude and sexual humor, language, comic violence, drug references)
- DVD Bonus Features: deleted scenes, gag reel, alternate takes, behind-the-scenes featurettes.
For more information on comedy films, read Superbad on DVD
