In my opinion, they really got it right with this DVD preview. I will be buying a copy, if for no other reason than for what Netdatta wrote above. I'm just waiting to pre-order until I read something official (maybe they co-release it with some other promotional special?).
That is at least 10x a better trailer than either of the theatrical releases. I know over a dozen people that plan to buy the DVD but wouldn't see it in theaters, this should easily outsell the box office.
The movie was never released in theatres in my city, so I was really looking forward to the DVD release. I rented it on Tuesday. I have to say, I thought the movie was ok, but it didn't blow me away. I'm not sure if that's because reading the blog for 18 months beforehand had raised my expectations unreasonably high, or because it just wasn't that extraordinary. I did laugh out loud at several scenes, but not consistently enough to consider this "a classic". Having not seen it in theatres I can't really compare, but it seems a lot of things that were issues for people on this board (lighting and sound levels for instance) I didn't notice while watching the DVD. Maybe it was touched up before being issued? I'm not sure how such things work. All in all, an OK movie - no better than anything else out recently, but no worse either. I wouldn't buy it for my collection. edited to add: I don't completely remember all the special features - I only watched a few - but they definitely included a bunch of deleted scenes, and I think there is a commentary track (but I'm not 100% on that). There wasn't really a ton of extra content, but that's not always unusual for a rental version of a DVD.
DVD review can be checked out here: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/40603/i-hope-they-serve-beer-in-hell/
Out of curiosity where did you rent it? Since it doesn't come out for another couple of weeks. I'm going to buy the movie for a few reasons: 1. I haven't seen it yet. 2. I followed it from start to finish. 3. I pimped this book and movie to more people in real life than I did my own writing. 4. RMMB Nostalgia. I wrote stuff on that message board almost every day. It really made me feel good to write a funny story, and know that thousands of people were going to read it. It was the closest thing to being published I will ever reach. I spent to much time there. It's demise is probably a good thing, I'm sure my productivity is up 10x at work. It will be nice to have a reminder of the glory days.
I rented it from my local video store, Roger's Video. It's a pretty large chain in Canada, so I would imagine it would be available at all of them. There was only 2 copies for rent though, so they didn't exactly sell out buying copies of it.
The movie has finally made it's way online for those of you that haven't seen it and want to check it out. I know Tucker stated that he had no problem with people pirating the movie and watching it for free, but I'm not sure what the take on that sort of thing is here, so PM me and I'll provide the linkage.
It wasn't out anywhere in Hawaii, so I couldn't see it in theaters. And I've gotta say, I'm really curious to see it with all the completely mixed (biased?) reviews it got. And yes, like everyone said, I spent a shit load of time on the old boards. Nostalgia? Appreciation? Graditude? Something like that. I'll buy it.
I guess I'll buy the movie for the reasons you guys all stated, plus I haven't seen it and would like to see what I think of it. I didn't contribute on the old board but I did read a lot of the threads, enough to merit me registering so I could have access to everything. My friend's brother just wrote a book about the Republican tea parties, and while I'm not sure if the topic interests me I still plan on buying it to support the kid. I guess my reasoning is the same for the DVD.
Solid but not outstanding. Tucker's character is tough to deal with at times but has great quips, and Drews lines are amazing when you don't want to smack him for being an emotionally broken tool. Dan is never tolerable, basically a pussywhipped idiot who follows his friends around blindly. The dialog is funny I just can't fully get behind the characters and that hurts it.
Tucker said he didn't mind people pirating his film, so here it is: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.movshare.net/video/cq92gq1v21h9c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.movshare.net/video/cq92gq1v21h9c</a>
It's not a good movie and the plot was weak. The character of Tucker doesn't come off well - there is nothing redeemable about him and I'm not sure why they made him so unsympathetic, leaving Drew to be the hero of the movie. Given all the material from Tucker's exploits that they have to work with, I don't understand why they decided to go with what they went with. Maybe a mocumentary of some sorts would have made for a better film. It's a bit cliched now because that is how shows like The Office, Modern Family and Parks and Recreation are, but the end result would be superior to what we saw.
It's available on BitTorrent and as per Tucker's instructions, I downloaded it and watched it. I found the movie to be decent at best. The plot wasn't too strong and parts of it didn't make sense. I couldn't rationalize the bride suddenly being on Tucker's side after thinking he's a bad friend the whole movie. It was too much of an about face for me to accept. Not once during the movie did I laugh out loud. Even during the shit scene. I did appreciate that in the end Tucker was still an asshole and just paid off the maid. Honestly, I don't think the movie would have been a huge hit even with a bigger marketing campaign. I'd be shocked if it performs well on DVD, and I don't anticipate any sequels. Maybe I was underwhelmed because I bought into the hype that Tucker tried to create, but it was pretty disappointing. Oh well. Too bad the movie's failure cost us the RMMB.
And last I saw, it was higher on the popularity list than The Hangover. Watched it again via this very method, and I gotta say, it was exactly as good as I remembered. Which is to say, amusing, difficult in spots, but overall, rewatchable while drinking. The only major problems I had were Slingblade on the McGriddle rant, which didn't sound even remotely realistic (using the exact wording of a messageboard post doesn't translate well to spoken word), and Lara the stripper giving extremely cliched expositional "advice" about how not all women are whores. 3.5/5
I really think that joke should have ended up on the editing room floor. I read the original post so I got it in the movie, but having to substitute "McGriddle" for "pancakewich" every time he said it just killed it. I think if they could have actually said McGriddle it would have been fine.
Alright, just got done watching it. And I really liked it. It wasn't great or revolutionary or anything, but it was pretty fucking funny and I enjoyed it all the way through. Tucker's character was definitely the weakest, and there weren't a whole lot of laughs from his little quips. Drew on the other hand, was absolutely fucking hilarious. "Dance monkey! Dance for your dollar!" and "If you touch me again I will gut you and grind you into pig slop." were probably my biggest laugh out loud moments. Everything he said was funny though (except pancakewhich rant which sucked). And I liked Lara too, she was ridiculously hot. If you didn't like it much, I don't really know what to tell you. Maybe try watching it again. Because this IS a funny movie. 4/5 for me.
I watched it for the first time after coming back drunk and high. I remember being bored and seeing that it was available so I started watching and it felt horribly forced and disorganized so after about 30 minutes I shut it off and went to bed. The next day I woke up and eventually went to my computer and gave it another shot. I gotta say that I liked it a lot more the second time around. Maybe because I was able to pay more attention to it, maybe I was in a better mood. I don`t know, but I enjoyed. I even watched it a third (second and a half) time later on just to make sure, and I still found it pretty funny. It certainly had it`s flaws, but overall it was enjoyable. Drew undoubtedly had some hillarious lines, but I feel like that`s all they had him do. Everytime he opened his mouth it was another quip about women being whores or Tucker being self centered. I think it was a bit much. He still had some great lines though. Tucker`s character was an unlikeable asshole, if this was the case then great job portraying that, if he was supposed to come off as charming as well though I don`t think that it worked so well I couldn`t really find myself rooting for him at all. All in all i`d recomend the movie to others.
The movie's box office failure kind of reminds me of reasons why some other movies that have become cult dvds. Specifically, Shawshank. Nobody wants to spend $10 to see a movie about a guy in prison for life, getting raped for 2 years, climbing through a shit pipe, and having old guys offing themselves because they couldn't readjust to the world. It's just depressing. IHTSBIH was kinda the same way for me when I saw it in theaters. The general plot is just kinda depressing, Dan's fiance is pissed the whole time, Drew is sulking around the whole time, The stripper's life is depressing, Dan's default face is always mopey and constantly complaining about Tucker's actions affecting him. Along with just the tone of the movie and how dark a lot of the shots are with the lighting. It makes sense most people on their first view don't catch that Drew doesn't actually hate women. To me it just makes more sense that this is better suited on dvd than in theaters. I think Tucker and company should have realized this and not released in theaters. It is definitely rewatchable though. Some jokes I think aren't nearly as funny as they think they were (his/ hers gaming chairs, the pancakewich rant) I think it will do modest on dvd but nothing spectacular.
Just DL'd it today. An overall 3/5. The thing is, you have to have not read the Austin Story to get the full effect. Having read it already, I almost predicted the entire plot. Very entertaining though. The only part I hated was the inevitable Tucker-shits-in-the-lobby part... shit scenes in movies are pretty much dealbreakers for me, but with Tucker I make an exception. I would agree lifting lines right from the stories makes it a bit less enjoyable seeing as they're used so much. Overall, decent, but falls short of my expectations of Tucker.