Product Details

• Actors: Betty Aberlin, Ben Affleck, Nancy Bach, Lesley Braden, George Carlin
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• VHS Release Date: October 24, 2000
• Run Time: 128 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (683 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0767849493
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,098 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Kevin Smith is a conundrum of a filmmaker: he's a writer with brilliant, clever ideas who can't set up a simple shot to save his life. It was fine back when Smith was making low-budget films like Clerks and Chasing Amy, both of which had an amiable, grungy feel to them, but now that he's a rising director who's attracting top talent and tackling bigger themes, it might behoove him to polish his filmmaking. That's the main problem with Dogma--it's an ambitious, funny, aggressively intelligent film about modern-day religion, but while Smith's writing has matured significantly (anyone who thinks he's not topnotch should take a look at Chasing Amy), his direction hasn't. It's too bad, because Dogma is ripe for near-classic status in its theological satire, which is hardly as blasphemous as the protests that greeted the movie would lead you to believe.

Two banished angels (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) have discovered a loophole that would allow them back into heaven; problem is, they'd destroy civilization in the process by proving God fallible. It's up to Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), a lapsed Catholic who works in an abortion clinic, to save the day, with some help from two so-called prophets (Smith and Jason Mewes, as their perennial characters Jay and Silent Bob), the heretofore unknown 13th apostle (Chris Rock), and a sexy, heavenly muse (the sublime Salma Hayek, who almost single-handedly steals the film). In some ways Dogma is a shaggy dog of a road movie--which hits a comic peak when Affleck and Fiorentino banter drunkenly on a train to New Jersey, not realizing they're mortal enemies--and segues into a comedy-action flick as the vengeful angels (who have a taste for blood) try to make their way into heaven. Smith's cast is exceptional--with Fiorentino lending a sardonic gravity to the proceedings, and Jason Lee smirking evilly as the horned devil Azrael--and the film shuffles good-naturedly to its climax (featuring Alanis Morissette as a beatifically silent God), but it just looks so unrelentingly... subpar. Credit Smith with being a daring writer but a less-than-stellar director. --Mark Englehart

From The New Yorker

This is obviously the growth season for indie kids. Just as David O. Russell has graduated from nerdy comedy to "Three Kings," so Kevin Smith, lord of the zero budget ("Clerks," "ChASINg Amy"), has decided to stretch himself with this sprawling, star-stuffed fantasy on the trifling theme of good and evil. It even has special effects: fairly cruddy ones, it's true, but there was a time when the most special Kevin Smith effect was two consecutive minutes of audible sound. His unlikely plot features Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, the Abbott and Costello of the next millennium, as a couple of renegade angels who spot a chance to reënter heaven and thus terminate the universe. Up against them is a rank of supernatural forces-played by Alan Rickman, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, and Selma Hayek-a perplexed earthling (Linda Fiorentino), and a couple of unwitting prophets, played by the grungy Jason Mewes and the bearded Smith himself, back by popular demand from his previous pictures. The result has some great lines, but it's a muddle that turns into a mess; there have been cries of distress about the film's attack on organized religion, but no self-respecting church could seriously claim to be damaged by this extended skit. With Alanis Morissette as God. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Catholicism....WOW!, April 18, 2000

By	J. Anthony Rick (the 'burg, Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dogma (DVD)

Don't listen to the zealots, this is a great movie. Many people believe that this movie "bashes" Christianity, Catholicism in particular. Now, like Kevin Smith, I am a Catholic, and I was in no way offended by this movie, in fact I saw it five times in the theater. This is a movie that shows the idiosyncracies in church dogma, just as every structure has idiosyncracies. The movie shows these points through an interesting and entertaining story of good v. evil. The overall theme of this movie is that people should be more open to new ideas and to realize what Christ was all about, love and understanding. "Jesus wasn't sent to earth to give us the 'willies,' he is a booster." Finally, this is a great movie, with great ideas and great dialogue. I believe that it is Kevin Smith's best work to date. Matt Damon, Jason Lee, Linda Fiorentino, George Carlin, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Alan Rickman, and Chris Rock all give very good performances, but Ben Affleck does a wonderful job as Bartleby. I would certainly suggest this movie to anyone. Faith is a funny thing.

34 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Movies of 1999!, April 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Dogma (DVD)

Contrary to some of the negative reviews (who really cares ifan A-list movie looks "subpar"--if it's watchable andenjoyable, then what does it matter), this movie has more than simple comedy and great performances. Smith's "Dogma" asks so many theological quetions that when I left the theatre, I could not stop talking about some of the ideas he proposed--however controversial they might have seemed. Smith's writing, I think, has reached an all time high with this film, following his superb "Chasing Amy" and hilarious "Mallrats" (sorry to all you "Clerks" fans, but watching that film is so exceedingly painful and boring I can't describe it). In "Dogma," Smith rips apart religion and its factions--with a few extra stabs at his own Catholicism--yet at the same time upholds religion as a whole. And his knowledge of the Bible is clearly apparent, for some of his scenes (namely the scene between Fiorentino and Affleck (...)) drip with emotion and truth that Smith's motives are clear: in writing "Dogma" Smith attempted to intertwine lost faith, religious humor, and redemption. And what a fine effort it is! Even if the visuals are not amazing, the script, cast, and the discussions you will have long after the movie has ended are. Rent or buy this movie--it doesn't matter which--just see it. "Dogma" is truly wonderful; one of the best of 1999. END

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars SO, SO FUNNY!, May 26, 2000

By	"tee-vee-stevie" (Hull, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dogma (DVD)

This is an all round great movie that offers so much to the viewer. The plot is original and well crafted. It offers an intelligent, sometimes violent, but ultimately lighthearted telling of two banished angels who have found a loop hole which will enable them to re-enter the gates of heaven. However, this cannot be allowed to happen, for it would negate all existence. It is up to the cynical Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), accompanied by two unlikely prophets, Jay & Silent Bob (who provide some hilarious moments) and the "13 apostle", (Chris Rock) to stop them.

This is probably Kevin Smith's finest work yet, despite it being aimed at a more mainstream market than his usual audience. He uses the same type of characters and much of the same cast as those which made Mall Rats, Chasing Amy and Clerks so watchable. It is a very creative, hilarious, fantasy tale that I can watch over and over again.

The Dvd quality is complimentary to the movie. The 5.1 surround makes full use of its capabilities while the picture is clear. However the extras are dissapointing. For such an interesting movie, it would have been good to understand more about the making of and Kevin Smith's vision, Nonetheless, it is still a must have in your collection.