The Good

If fun is what you want than you won't be disappointed by this movie.

The Bad

Some aspects of this film are just plain inane.

Doug (Tim Allen), Woody (John Travolta), Bobby (Martin Lawrence) and Dudley (William H. Macy) are the Wild Hogs. Basically, they are that group of weekend warriors that you see who tool around on Harley's (or other kinds of motorcycles), wear a lot of leather and basically completely change up their acts once the sun rises on Monday morning. The only problem is that none of the Hogs are happy with this lifestyle. They aren't respected by their children, their wives treat them like little kids, or they just plain seem to be missing something. So they decide to go on a road trip and in the process of learning about themselves, also have run in with the mean, biker gang known as the Del Fuegos. It soon becomes apparent that the Hogs are going to have really confront these guys (the Del Fuegos also happen to terrorize a small town), and when they do we see what happens when rubber meets the road.

I would be lying if I said that Wild Hogs was the best movie I have ever seen. As far as buddy, road trip movies this is no Stand by Me. However, it isn't meant to be. Wild Hogs is a fun tale of friendship. It examines the idea of acting your age and basically says that no matter how old you get you should always have fun.

Features

How to Get Your Wife to Let You Buy A Motorcycle

This featurette is precisely what it says it is. One of the stunt coordinator's on this film walks us through the talk one needs to have if they want to get a bike. It all begins with presenting the argument, discussing the benefits of the open road, etc. After this, you could then bring up the idea that you look good in leather and how it will give you something of an intimidation factor. Playing into all this is the sound of the bike which is more than likely to turn a few heads. Who knows how good or bad this argument is, but couldn't one just show their partner this featurette and save the discussion time?

"Bikes, Brawls and Burning Bars: The Making of Wild Hogs

Alternative Ending and Deleted Scenes

Two deleted scenes are available for viewing in this section. In all honesty, they aren't that great, but that might have something to do with the Alternative Ending. I don't want to give too much away but for anyone who has seen this movie they will be happy to know that it centers around the John C. McGinley character. Ultimately, I think that either ending works here. One isn't better than the other and that isn't something you can always say when we get to see these things. Also, you can watch the ending with an optional commentary track.

Outrageous Outtakes

Commentary Track

Director Walt Becker and writer Brad Copeland do the talking here and, sadly, they really don't seem to too much to say. This probably accounts for why this track is beset with long moments of these two guys not saying anything. Things open up interestingly enough with Becker talking about how he used to sell Harley's when he was younger so he could finance his education. After this we then find out how Jill Hennessy (Kelly) was cast; apparently she was originally in the running for the Marisa Tomei (Maggie) character. Beyond anecdotes like this, I really don't think that this commentary offered too much. If you like the movie a lot you should check this out, but I don't really know how necessary that is.

Video

Widescreen - 2.35:1. Enhanced for 16x9 Televisions. Overall, Wild Hogs has a pretty typical look to it. The scenes are crystal clear and even when they're trying to make things look "gritty," that will only go so far for a Touchstone inflected film. While there isn't too much to say about how the picture looked, I did screen it on a TV that I don't normally watch DVDs on. The picture seemed pretty solid all the way through with the nicest shots being those that showcased our four stars on the open road.

Audio

Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. French and Spanish Language Tracks and Subtitles. As you can guess, this is one of those movies that is backed up by well known songs in order to bring out the comedy of whatever the scene wanted to achieve. I didn't hear anything that special about this soundtrack, it mainly seemed to try and keep things (soundtrack-wise) in the era of the Wild Hogs. However, there were always nods, olive branches of sorts, to the younger people who might also be watching.

Package

The cast of this movie, all decked out in leather, stands with a decrepit motorcycle lying on the ground in front of them. The back features a few choice shots from this film, a description of what Wild Hogs is about, a Bonus Features/Technical Specs listing and credits list.

Final Word

This was one of those films that I stayed away from when it was in the theater. I just didn't think that this movie really had anything to offer me. While I like all the actors in this movie, I wasn't entirely sure what I was expecting it to be. I imagined a lot of run of the mill drama humor, featuring jokes and music that would probably give me the idiot shivers. Make no mistake, this movie had plenty of that, but it was also charming. I loved the relationship between Doug, Woody, Bobby and Dudley. Sure all of these characters were basically playing types, but I liked how they put this across. There's also something to be said about this film being a good, old fashioned road movie. That is one aspect of this film that I don't think has been played up enough. Our characters are on a road trip and, as usually happens in movies of this nature, they all seem to grow a little bit. Doug manages to get the respect he deserves from his children. Bobby's wife begins to get off his back a little bit. It continues like this with varying degrees for the rest of our characters.

All in all, Wild Hogs isn't going to win any awards, but it is a good time and that seems to be what people want to have right now.

Wild Hogs was released March 2, 2007.