Street Date: September 23

Official Synopsis:
When Miami’s “real” police force is quarantined, the misfits of the Reno Sheriffs Department, in town for a cop convention, become the only hope for the citizens of South Beach. But with access to high-speed patrol cars, lethal firearms and a killer attack chopper, Lt. Dangle and his bumbling crew may just destroy Miami before the criminals can even get started.

  
Our Take:
Reno 911! Miami has really had some awkwardly negative responses, especially from fans, which is something I just cannot fathom. The film has everything the show does, except it runs longer. Does this make it tedious and boring? – No. It keeps the pacing and the laughs going the whole way through. So, why all the hate?

The biggest complaint I’ve been hearing is that the plot just doesn’t work for what is usually a bunch of sketches that are loosely, if at all, tied together. Well, I don’t really know what people were expecting on this. All I know is that I would have been pretty angry if all they had done was make and hour and a half episode of the show. I’m glad they tried something new while keeping the style of comedy the same. Sure, the story is crack-potted and dumb at best, but that’s always where this show has grown its charm from.

I’ve ranted in a negative fashion towards the advent of the “Bonus Digital Copy” shenanigans before and just to clear some things up it’s not because I don’t like the feature. Albeit useless to me, the digital copy is a pretty cool thing especially since so many people love to put movies on their iPod’s so they can watch them during school. The reason I’m not an enthusiast about this “bonus feature” is because studios are using it as a tool to trick consumers. Two-Disc Special Edition DVD sets have no special features on the second disc when that second disc is used for a digital copy, so it’s just unfair to label it as such. Fox is now dipping back into their well and releasing a pretty big catalog of some of their best sellers with the 2-Disc treatment, which in reality just features the bonus digital copy in tow. That’s fine and dandy to do for those who are interested in the format. What’s not fine and dandy to do is release it as a 2-Disc set that holds less special features than the regular single-disc set. It makes no sense and is NOT a worthwhile purchase.

Special features include:

* Commentary by Director/Writer Robert Ben Garant, and Writers Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silver.

* Intro To The Lost Version (3 minutes) – New feature.

* Blooper Reel (5 minutes) – New feature.

* Extended Scenes (13 minutes) – With optional commentary.

* Public Service Announcements (3 minutes)

* Bonus Digital Copy.

While Reno 911! Miami is still a great movie no matter which cut of the film you watch, this set (and others like it) is only good to purchase if you don’t own any of the other numerous releases already out on DVD. Be cautious around these digital copy editions, check the special features and then check them again to make sure you’re getting what you deserve to be getting.

Overall Picture:
Movie: B
DVD: B

- Landen Chase Pelish
Staff Writer