What did I just watch? Why was William Shatner doing some kind of Shakespeare rap? Why do they have porn randomly mixed in with the rest of the books at the library? With this many questions you can tell you’re in for a slightly wierd experience and as trailblazers such as Donnie Darko and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas have shown us, wierd is good.
Free Enterprise is the tale of two young Star Trek nerds slash film makers who get the chance to meet their idol, Captain James T. Kirk (or William Shatner as he likes to be known in the “real” world). However they don’t find a heroic starship captain in real life. Well, perhaps not at first, although the end of the film has a nice way of revealing itself.
The movie is riddled with pop culture references. “Ah, the firey ritual of Carousel… perhaps you’ll be renewed,” Robert comments to Mark referencing the 1976 sci-fi classic Logan’s Run (awesome film if you haven’t checked it out and due to be butchered in a Hollywood re-make soon too). Between these and the finite precision of the Star Trek observations you get the feeling that these guys are true nerds, it’s a quality that is sadly missing from most portrayals even if Free Enterprise is guilty of some stereotyping.
While it’s clearly a film about nerds, it’s also a film for nerds though. I think a lot of the references and jokes could easily get lost on those of you who have lives outside of sitting around watching DVDs (your loss) but then everyone should be able to appreciate the underlying core of the movie. When it gets down to it, it’s about two guys who are worried about turning thirty and the difference between the characters people idolise and their real life counterparts (though perhaps, in spirit, there isn’t that much difference after all).
Of course Free Enterprise has it’s faults - Robert doesn’t like Star Trek: The Next Generation. How can you not like Next Gen? I mean, come on, Patrick Stewart! It’s also a very targeted film. Trekkies and pretty much all nerds in general are going to love the film but chances are that it’s appeal outside of the genre is going to be reduced (though far from diminished).
Free Enterprise manages to avoid obvious genre categorisation in the same way that American Beauty did which is quite an impressive feat and despite it’s obvious target-audience has a deeper meaning which should keep most people entertained.
DVD Details
The movie will be available in a “five year mission extended edition 2-disk set” from March 7th (next Tuesday) which as well as coming in nice shiny packaging will feature a bonus disc containing a boot load of extras. It will feature no less than two audio commentaries, a making of documentary, deleted scenes, trailers and a few other extras on top of that.
The main DVD itself is fine, it does have some trailers at the start but it lets you know you can skip these with the menu button. It’s easy enough to navigate round and the chapter selection is organised with pictures from each scene. The bonus disc follows a similar format.
The “making of” documentary on the extras disc is quite impressive, it’s over an hour long and has interviews from writers Mark A. Altman and
Robert Meyer Burnett as well as William Shatner.
The box set itself also contains an insert about the making of the movie with information, notes, a glossary and a quick guide to the chapters.
