Customer Reviews

Reno 911! - Miami (Unrated Edition)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Familiar with the sheriff's department in Reno, Nevada? They are a fine group of individuals: well-seasoned, well-meaninged, hard working folks that protect the nighttime streets in the Biggest Little City in the country. And then the day crew shows up, Dangle and the rest, and all heck breaks loose in the town. Well, the crew has been transplanted to Miami in their newest and first feature film: Reno 911: Miami, and I'm happy to report it doesn't let us down.

Dangle and his crew have been invited to a law enforcement convention in the great city of Miami, and being the schumks they are, they board their bus and travel to it. However, due to a computer mixup, they arrive at the convention and are not registered, so they are forced to stay at a seedy motel. This sets up the scenario of the movie perfectly, as a plague sweeps through the convention and it's up to our lowly team to protect the streets of Miami.

Those of you who have seen Reno 911! before are very aware of the bawdy, slapstick brand of humor often prsented on the show. The movie banks on that type of humor and does it very effectively. On several occasions, I found myself laughing so hard that I couldn't breathe. The theater that I saw this movie in was crowded, and clearly the crowd enjoyed it just as much as I. Those people who haven't seen it might be put off a bit by the humor at first (I mean, can anyone possible explain Trudy to anyone?).

Kudos to everyone that works so hard on Reno 911 to give us weekly laughs, and for creating an equally wonderful movie experience!

There is more to this DVD than first meets the eye. Not only to you get the Digital DVD to download the movies on the DVD into your IPOD, but you also really do get a "LOST VERSION" of the movie! Since all the other reviewers have chosen to review the original movie which is also on this DVD, I thought I'd give you a run down of the "Lost Version." In the "Lost Version" there is a huge extended trip across country, where you watch the Reno Sheriff's Department stopping at a scad of different road-side attractions. There are more scenes of everybody partying in Miami. There is even a quasi-Lesbian scene with Wendy Covey and Mary Birdsong...but you don't see any skin and Wendy Covey leaves before anything happens. You also see more of the "love scene" between Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenny-Silver. Junior's adventures with the underage Asian girl and also covered in more depth. I could go on and on, but to sum it up, the "Lost Version" is COMPLETELY different from the movie shown in the theaters or the Unrated Version (which is also on this disc.) It really is NUTTIER and NAUGHTIER than the movie theater version (just as the DVD cover proclaims.) It's a completely different movie! Now here's the catch. If you don't watch the movie in the proper sequence you will keep watching the Unrated Version, which is also on this DVD! I'm not sure if Thomas Lennon and company deliberately did this, BUT the "Lost Version" is HIDDEN (more or less) on the DVD. The trick is that you go to the "Intro to the Lost Movie" section on the DVD Menu and click there. Then WATCH the Intro! Do not fast forward through it. Watch the entire Intro and when it is done click on the "Lost Version" movie BENEATH the Intro. Be warned, if you simply opt to click on the "Watch Movie" option, you will continue to get the original hilarious movie released in theaters and then later re-released in unedited form on the Unrated Version of the film. So if you already have this "Lost Version" DVD and think you've been "ripped off" because the movie is the same...well...that's the orginal version on the DVD. Remember there is a "Watch Movie" function which will keep on giving you the Original Version and NOT the "Lost Version." Once again, in order to watch the "Lost Version," you must go to the "Intro to the Lost Version" and then watch it, then click on the "Lost Version" movie to get it. If you chose to click on the "watch movie" option, all you will get is the original movie. You can tell you've got the "Lost Version" because it doesn't have virtually any "Hollywood" style music or staging. It looks like a much longer "Reno 911" episode with the television-style music. The "Lost Version" is actually better (at least I think so) than the original version. According to Lennon's introduction, they really did loose this film and were forced to release the other version. I'm not sure if this is true, but it is completely different and way more risque. I'm probably not the only person who discovered this really cool feature which explains why this DVD is sold out almost everyplace. Fortunately you can still get it from Amazon.com...but they are going fast here as well. A final clue as to what the Lost Movie is like...if you watch the original movie and see all the strange outtakes at the end of the movie, like the "Go back to Cuba" scene...those are all originial scenes in the "Lost Version." In otherwords, they really did make TWO different versions of this movie. Whether it was by accident, (according to Lennon, they LOST the first version in the editing room) or by design, the "Lost Version" is definitely worth having. You see way more of the Sheriff's patrolling Miami, and way less of the "Drug Lord" story highlighted in the Theater/Unrated Version. Get the "Lost Version" before it disappears. (No pun intended.) Oh yeah...you also get to see more of Jones and Garcia in this version. They are two of my favorite characters. To sum it all up, the "Lost Version" is completely different from the Unrated Version, but it's also sort-of-hidden on the Disc. But thanks to your's truly you now know the code to see the new one. Remember, in order to see the "Lost Version" of this movie you must have the correct "Lost Version" DVD, which is the one advertised right here and then click on the "Intro to Lost Version" prompt and watch the Intro, then click on the "Lost Version" movie. Then sit back and enjoy a completely different, completely hilarious different version of "Reno 911 Miami."

Never having seen "Reno 911" on TV, I really had no idea what to expect from "Reno 911!: Miami," the full-length theatrical version of the Comedy Channel cult favorite. I figured that the movie would be silly and childish to be sure - and I was certainly not disappointed in that regard - but I was definitely not prepared for just how terribly funny and utterly endearing it turned out to be. All you overpaid writers of "Wild Hogs," "Evan Almighty," "License to Wed," "Norbit," etc, please take note: THIS is how to make a screwball comedy.

A playful take-off on the you-are-there reality TV show "Cops," "Reno 911" features the crazy, slapstick-ridden antics of the most inept law enforcement agency this side of the Keystone Kops. For their big-screen debut, these fun-loving goofballs leave their home-base in Nevada and head off to Miami for a national sheriff's convention, giving them a chance to wreak their own unique brand of havoc on the unsuspecting citizens of South Florida.

The movie is really nothing more than a series of loosely constructed comedy sketches held together by the barest outline of a story (all the cops at the convention are quarantined except for our intrepid band from Reno, putting them in default charge of all law enforcement in the greater Miami area). But you don't really need or want much more than a barebones plot when the material is as clever, ribald and inspired as it is here. Indeed, there's an almost Marx Brothers-like, burlesque freeform quality to the movie, enhanced by the good-natured, anything-goes fearlessness of the performers, who never balk at what they are called upon to do, no matter how undignified, humiliating or degrading it might be. In fact, it's that high-spirited infectiousness that comes wafting off the screen and envelopes the audience in laughter.

Credit for the film's success goes to writers Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney, co-writer/director Ben Garant, and their fellow actors, Carlos Alazraqui, Mary Birdsong, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Niecy Nash and Cedric Yarbrough, lovable bunglers all who know that true comedy works only when the performers approach the material with the utmost straight-faced earnestness. There are also clever cameo appearances by Danny DeVito, The Rock, Paul Rudd and Paul Rubens to ramp up the hilarity.

In a film year woefully bereft of humor and laughs, "Reno 911!: Miami" is like a life-saving oasis in a movie comedy desert.

Marvelous fun.

The dim-bulb cops of the Reno Police Department, lead by flamboyant lieutenant Jim Dangle (Thomas Lennon), have been recently invited to a convention of Miami. While partying and getting dirty, they're called upon to stop recent acts of terrorism. Aided by various law enforcement figures (David Koechner, Patton Oswalt), they unwittingly find themselves butting heads with a local drug lord (Paul Rudd), reuniting with cokeheaded prostitute Terry (Nick Swardson), and getting into all kinds of crazy situations.

Combine "Saturday Night Live" with Cops and you get the "Comedy Central" cult favorite "Reno 911!" This Emmy-nominated, heavy-on-improv parody of the FOX reality show has garnered quite a following, starring a bevy of actors capable of laughs. Director Ben Garant (who plays deputy Travis Jr.) also is offered the chance to bring the whole gang to the big screen, as well as set their sights on wrecking havoc in the southeastern coast. Enter "Reno 911!: Miami."

Armed with the single-shot, Indie-patented camera shooting from the TV show, "Miami" does what the original does best: getting laughs. Now, on the big screen, and rated R no less, Garant takes a page from last year's success story "Borat" and crams the movie adaptation with gross-out gags, gratuitous nudity, and violence (some played for laughs) that will have the FCC frantic.

If there's one scene that is classic, it's 1/3 into the movie. It's where the deputies are in their hotel rooms, either masturbating or - even wilder - having sex. It's hard to find a filmmaker to have the gusto to include a scene like that in a film (well, unless it's "Borat"), yet Lennon proves to be the right boy for the job. Besides, any scene like that is worth $5.50.

There's a bunch of other memorable gags: an ode to buddy comedies in where Raineesha teaches Trudy how to talk black (while they walk around in somewhat-skimpy bathing suits) the deputies blowing up a whale after failed attempts (including Jones falling into the whale), a guy getting ate up by a crocodile in his neighborhood pool, a SWAT leader (played by wrestler The Rock) gets blown to bits while trying to disarm a grenade, Dangle often trying to hem new outfits (he's often nude in these scenes), two of our boys crashing a hip-hop party looking for Death Row CEO Suge Knight (like that won't happen), and plenty more.

As we said earlier, the whole cast is in this film: Thomas Lennon (Lt. Jim Dangle), Ben Garant (Dep. Travis Jr.), Niecy Nash (Dep. Raineesha Williams), Mary Birdsong (Cherisha Kimball), Kerry-Kenney-Silver (Dep. Trudy Wiegel), Wendi McLendon-Covey (Dep. Clementine Johnson), Carlos Alazraqui (Dep. James Garcia), and Cedric Yarbrough (Dep. S. Jones). All are in top form, and improving like no tomorrow, even if some of the jokes are hit-and-miss (the joke about Kimball being a lesbian runs dry, and there's a slapsticky chase across a bridge).

There are also some new faces in the cast. Sure, we got some familiar faces there, such as funnyman Nick Swardson reprising his role as Terry and a brief cameo by Kathryn Fiore going from a Peace Corps rep to playing a helicopter model. But there are other surprises: producer Danny Devito as a lietenant in a dream sequence that mirrors a Jerry Bruckheimer movie, Patton Oswalt as the deputy mayor and, highlight of the film, Paul Rudd as a druglord who watched "Scarface" too many times. Sure, "SNL"'s Bill Hader would've nailed the part, but Rudd's almost dead-on impersonation of Al Pacino's character from the 80's cult film gets the film's browny points.

This is a highly-enjoyable comedy. While not matching the button-pushing or gut-busting hilarity of "Borat", it's a nice little film that is sure to turn on a few kids to the hit Comedy Central show.

I've always enjoyed the show, so when I heard the movie was coming out I knew I had to go see it. It was hilarious, I've never laughed so hard at a movie and @ one point I was even crying. I can't wait for this movie to come out on dvd so I can buy it!

Not bad really, Very funny, Of course it could have been better, It could have been like the TV Show, But it wasn't. Still Good Laugh, and funny shock moments.

I almost wish I'd never heard of Reno: 911! before I saw this movie. That way I probably would never have known that it wouldn't be as good as the TV show. Oh make no mistake - it's still outrageously hilarious, but even extra running time and the gift of not being censored can't fully restore this to its Comedy Central glory.

The hapless Sheriff's Department of Washoe County is invited to a Law Enforcement convention in Miami. Taking a bus (yes, a bus!) across the country, they arrive only to discover they aren't located on the paperwork, and must stay at a no-tell motel with a rude, seedy desk clerk (Toby Huss, as always, perfect). Their first night in Miami doesn't quite go as well as planned, and each officer ends up, um...let's just say alone.

In the morning they arrive at the convention center only to find that ALL of the other officers have been poisoned and are under quarantine, and they are the only unaffected group. Therefore, they are the defacto protectors of Miami.

Scary, huh? There are some wonderful cameos in this movie: Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) has a small role as a SWAT agent, as well as Patton Oswalt, Mindy Sterling, Paul Rudd, and my favorite - Nick Swardson, reprising his role as Terry the roller skating hustler - in Miami to make a record.

Now the movie was funny, but you have got to do yourself a huge favor and watch the Special Features. There are Public Service Announcements that are a hoot, as well as three feature commentaries: one with several of the actors as themselves, and then two different additional commentaries with the actors playing their characters.

Also, my favorite part of movies like this is just letting the comedians loose and seeing what they come up with. The extended scenes are un-freaking-real. The scene with Patton Oswalt and Mindy Sterling was hysterical - and it was all one take. The bus scene was also definitely worth watching.

I LOVE Reno 911! This movie had the potential to be the funniest movie ever made, but just didn't make it. There are some FUNNY FUNNY moments in this movie, but the WHOLE thing COULD have been hilarious. This was a crew who had NO LIMITS to what they could have done, but it did fall short of what it could have been.
If you like Reno 911, you do need to see this movie, but I doubt that this would make any NEW fans.

This is by far one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while. It's great! I pre-ordered it the second I saw it on amazon. If you like the show, you'll love the movie. Even if you've never seen the show, you'll still love the movie. That is, just as long as you've got a sense of humor and are not easily offended.

I wasn't disappointed by this film at all; in fact, I thought it was quite the hysterical adventure. What happens when the most pathetic police team in the country needs to save the rest of the cops in the country, and protect Miami? I anticipated very stupid humor, and there is tons of that throughout. This DVD stengthened my self-esteem too, as I realized that even a total moron can be a useful member of society, even while corrupting and destroying other parts of it. Great comedy and XXXcellent nudity throughout. Recommended for a funny evening...with anybody.