Official Synopsis
lear the runway for Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller), VH1’s three-time male model of the year. His face falls when hippie-chic Hansel (Owen Wilson) scooters in to steal this year’s award. The evil fashion guru Mugatu (Will Ferrell) seizes the opportunity to turn Derek into a killing machine. It’s a well-designed conspiracy and only with the help of Hansel and a few well-chosen accessories like Matilda (Christine Taylor) can Derek make the world safe for male models everywhere.
Zoolander is a crazy film filled with lots of self-indulgence from director/writer Ben Stiller. It follows the ‘out of this world’ life of model Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and his quest to avoid becoming irrelevant in the eyes of the fashion community. Along the way, Derek goes head-to-head with fellow model, and competitor, Hansel (Owen Wilson) to see who is the best of the best on the runway. Doesn’t sound like much, right? Well, add a tinge of murder into the mix, mostly involving Derek murdering the Prime Minister of Malaysia, all driven by the warped mind of fashion tycoon, Mugatu (Will Ferrell).
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When I first saw this film on DVD back in 2002, I thought to myself, ‘Why is this funny?’ As the years have gone by, Zoolander has slowly become one of those films that sticks on you for no good reason. The humor in the film is somewhere around ‘par’. It’s not quite the slapstick of Mel Brooks, but it certainly isn’t Woody Allen comedy by any means. Somewhere in the middle of the comedy genre lies a place for Zoolander to exist. It has its moments of really fun and intelligent comedy, such as the Billy Zane line during the runway face-off. Other times, the comedy becomes lost and cheap, as you can see during ‘the next morning’ scene with Hansel and Derek (and a third party, who will remain unknown). Much like Stiller’s variety show from the days of old, he tends to throw out as much comedy to his audience in hopes that it will deliver some semblance of entertainment. More times than not, he hits the mark and keeps going. It’s an interesting way of creating a comedy, but it’s Ben Stiller’s way and it works for this type of movie.
Anyway, Zoolander is a cult classic for whatever reason. Stiller seems relaxed in this type of environment and still delivers the goods with as much excitement and candor that he has always used to entice his audience’s interest into the comedy he creates for them. You have to respect consistency when it comes to making movies and without that consistency I’m not sure Zoolander would be as well remembered with its audience as it is currently.
In short, Zoolander is still entertaining, as is the cast that Stiller put together to make this film happen. Certainly worth a go, especially if you have never seen it.
On the Blu-ray side of the equation, Paramount does a masterful job of delivering the best quality version of the wacky-ass film. There is little to no graininess in the transfer, as well as complete color banding absence. Paramount is in my top three for HD transfers and Zoolander justifies that train of thought. Again, a solid transfer onto Blu-ray.
The real treat, outside of the ridiculously stupid (yet fun) film is the amount of goodies that come with the steelbook release. Check out the goods:
– Commentary by Ben Stiller and writers Drake Sather & John Hamburg
– A Really, Really, Really Cool Teaser for Zoolander No. 2
– Breakdance Fight Rehearsal—NEW!
– Alternate Brainwashing Sequence Storyboards—NEW!
– Walkoff Rehearsal Footage with Ben Stiller commentary
– Deleted Scenes with Ben Stiller commentary
– Extended Scenes with Ben Stiller commentary
– Outtakes
– VH1 Fashion Awards Skits
– Music Video “Start the Commotion” by The Wiseguys
– Public Service Announcements
– MTV Cribs
– Interstitials
– Photo Galleries
While there are only a few new items of interest in this list, the steelbook and the amount of features here is impressive. Having never actually reviewed any prior Zealander releases, the content is fresh to me. Anyway, a good amount of entertaining featurettes that will help push along some sort of anticipation for the sequel.
Onto the summary!