Writers: Fred Wolf & Peter Gaulke
Director: Fred Wolf
Cast: Steve Zahn, Allen Covert, Jonah Hill, Kevin Heffernan, Ashley Scott, Peter Dante, Harry Hamlin, Robert Patrick, Joe Don Baker, Blake Clark, Justin Long, Jeff Garlin
Rating: R
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: May 20, 2008

It seems hard to imagine that Adam Sandler would let such slop bare the name of his Happy Madison Productions label, but apparently he had a lapse in judgment. Nobody really liked Strange Wilderness when it was in theaters so it seems pretty pointless for Paramount to distribute it on DVD. Nevertheless that is what the company has decided to do, and believe me when I say it’s not worth it.

While I prefer dramas to comedies, I will watch something that makes me laugh, if it does just that…make me laugh. I like my comedy to have humor in it. Sadly, Strange Wilderness is a humorless pile of sop that has pretty much earned its place in a tawdry list of worst movies ever. Not only did people hate this movie, critics seemed to hate it, too. They didn’t just hate it, they loathed it. You can add me to the list of those who wish this movie was never made let alone distributed on DVD. This movie makes Navy Seals look like Oscar-worthy material and that is quite a difficult task to pull off.

Release Information:
It’s no surprise to know that this movie bombed at the box office. It was lucky to make the $6 million it did in its short, five week run. I guess they decided to pull the film since it sucked so much. Honestly, I’m not sure why you’re still reading my review. Maybe you’re a glutton for punishment. If you are then check this out.

Strange Wilderness debuted in movie theaters on February 1, 2008. Despite poor reviews and dreadful box office numbers, people on IMDB seem to like the film due to a rating over 5, which is what it has been given. I guess they think this is going to become a cult classic, although I wouldn’t want to be a part of the cult that liked this piece of trash. I can also see why it’s rated R. I wouldn’t want to expose my child to such stupidity.

Paramount has decided to release Strange Wilderness on DVD before summer arrives. You’ll be able to pick up a copy (if you’re brave…or stupid enough) on May 20, 2008. The movie is available for pre-order at Amazon for $19.99, though I hardly think it is worth it.

The Strange Wilderness Plot
There really isn’t a plot for Strange Wilderness. It’s really a movie about absolute bullsh!t. That’s about how well the plot is followed. Sure, the movie is about something, sort of, but the entire purpose of the movie gets lost in the substandard jokes and the stupid humor. I’ve been told that this is a stoner movie, but I’ve seen plenty of stoner movies I like. This isn’t one of em!

The acting for Strange Wilderness is as substandard as the plot, or lack thereof. I have to blame the director for this as much as the actors’ choice to do this movie. They should have known better than to do such a crappy movie. It doesn’t really help them. This movie just seeks to hurt all of the people involved in the entire production, including Adam Sandler, who appears to have less authenticity as a filmmaker and producer. How one can go from a Billy Madison or Happy Gilmore to Strange Wilderness is beyond me. At least those movies were funny. This barely made me smile let alone laugh.

Strange Wilderness is painful to watch with moments of absolute boredom and moments of passes at what could have been good humor that falls flat. I don’t really have a problem with the cast. Most of them are pretty good in other things they’ve been in. I guess it just was the wrong group of people getting together in the wrong movie with a pointless plot, poor writing and terrible direction. Not even the moments of nature in the “strange wilderness” were entertaining. Nature has a way of being entertaining all on its own, but Strange Wilderness manages to ruin even that!

The story revolves around Peter Gaulke (Steve Zahn), who is a nature enthusiast and also hosts his own television show about nature. His sidekick and show partner, Fred Wolf (Allen Covert) is as worried as he is about their shows drop in ratings (go figure!). So, Gaulke decides he must take on Bigfoot to keep interest in the show. Basically, it’s Steve Zahn in a bunch of semi-wacky situations with animals and other critters. There really isn’t any other point to the movie than that. Ultimately, Strange Wilderness is a bomb all around, making it one unfunny, worthless comedy, and Steve Zahn’s worst movie to date.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
The best part of Strange Wilderness was actually its video quality. That is always the way, with crappy movies. They generally have decent audio and visual qualities and bonus features. The anamorphic widescreen is available with a 2.35:1 ratio. Everything comes through looking bright and brilliant with sharp contrast and a nice color palette.

The audio for Strange Wilderness is another thing that is decent about this DVD. Strange Wilderness is available in a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound mix. There is also a Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. Both soundtracks come with closed captioning. The sound comes through perfectly with no need to play with the volume.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
All crappy movies have to have at least a few bonus features. It’s like an unwritten law for crappy DVDs. The bonus features for Strange Wilderness start out with a behind the scenes interview feature. The cast were interviewed for a behind the scenes Comedy Central special, “Reel Comedy: Strange Wilderness”, on the movie, though lord knows why since it’s not really comedic or funny. This is pretty clear in the interviews. I don’t think the cast even liked the movie.

“The Turkey” is a featurette about a scene in the movie where Steve Zahn has an up close and personal encounter with a turkey. It wasn’t funny in the movie and it isn’t funny in the bonus features. “Cookers Song” is a featurette that extends the scene where Jonah Hill performs a song in the movie. This too, is supposed to be funny, but it’s not. There are some deleted scenes included that are about as bad as all the other scenes in this movie. You could have stuck all the scenes in this movie into the deleted scenes and they would fit. There are also outtakes from a scene called “What do we do?” This too, isn’t funny. None of its funny, so this bonus section, this movie, and this entire DVD is pointless.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
Don’t buy Strange Wilderness unless you’re one of the few people who think this is a cool stoner movie and can’t wait to buy it on DVD. Everyone else needs to run far, far away from this film and never purchase it. This one is so highly not recommended for purchase (or even renting) I can’t give it any lower a rating than I already have (and what it received is me being nice).

Overall Rating:

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