The Dukes of Hazzard (DVD, 2005, Unrated, Widescreen Edition)

The movie "Dukes of Hazzard", which of course is based on the popular television series that ran through the late seventies and early eighties, left me feeling good at seeing some familiar plotlines, stunts, and friends, while at the same time making me miss the original's all the more.

We have the core of what made the Dukes of Hazzard intact...Backwoods Southern spoof's about moonshining and knowing everyone in town, crooked cops, and cute cousins. Spectacular jump scenes of the infamous General Lee Car as well as a plotline filled with corruption in which the end justifies the means...or in this case the justice ends up with the Dukes coming out on top.

What disappointed me was that the cops of the show were non-existent in terms of depth, humor, and overall performance. Unlike the original series where Roscoe/Enos were mainstays and integral part's of the show, the actors who portrayed these characters in this were faceless, nameless, and pretty much useless.

Burt Reynolds turn's in a pretty good performance as Boss Hogg, despite the fact he is different in stature than the original Boss, he makes a great sinister villian. The same can be said for having Willie Nelson as Uncle Jessie. Jessica Simpson does more for Daisy Duke's sexual appeal than any other Southern Bell in Hazzard competing for a boy's attention could hope.

What helps us hold onto the past is the original theme song by Waylon Jennings (I think) as well as a superb soundtrack featuring Mountain with "Mississippi Queen" and a couple of great AC/DC songs that are played during one of a multitude of chase scenes.

Overall it was enjoyable, though getting the unrated version is a waste of time. No movie to me personally, especially this particular one, ever benefits from foul language. However, what was I to expect with Knoxville and Scott cast as the Dukes?

When I first saw this film, my brother (who was a Dukes Of Hazzard fanatic) walked out of the room disgusted. He was angry that they destroyed the characters he grew to love as a child. However, I took the film differently. If you take a look at the cast (Johnny Knoxville {known more for his outrageous stunts on MTV's "Jackass" than his acting}, Jessica Simpson (a "Green actress" before her role in Employee of the Month), Sean William Scott {better remembered for his role as Stifler in the "American Pie" movies}, Willie Nelson {Country music sensation known for "Honeysuckle Rose" and a string of B-Movie made for TV westerns}, and Burt Reynolds {mostly remembered for films such as "Smokey and the Bandit", "Hooper", and "The Cannonball Run"} all are either green actors or have more experience in comedy or B-movies. That should be the tell tale point that this film is actually a spoof of the classic television show. However, the breaking point should be that the film was directed by Jay Chandrasekhar {Famous for directing and starring in "SuperTroopers", and "Club Dread"} plus featuring famous members of The Broken Lizard Comedy Troop. If these are not signs that the film is suppose to be taken as a parody, then you need not watch it.

Some of the jokes are very crude and border on racial tensions, but then again the show takes place in the southern states where this is still a hot-button issue. If overlook these issues and think of the film as it was meant to be (a parody) then it is quite a fun film or at least better than the parody of "The Brady Bunch".

Its a well known Hollywood tradition to make horrible remakes of classic movies. Just recently we had the Poseidon Adventure, the Longest Yard, the Fog, War of the Worlds and the list goes on. Now, Hollywood in its infinite wisdom makes a movie out of the Dukes of Hazard TV show. While that show was campy fun with cool car chases, corny jokes, and Daisy Duke, this movie is just plain dumb.

This movie fails for so many reasons but lets just stick to the obvious ones. First, there is no real plot to speak of, well none worth mentioning anyhow. Second, the acting is simply awful. I like Willie Nelson, and Jessica Simpson is gorgeous, but they're not enough to salvage this film. There's no character development, the jokes aren't funny, and the car chases are boring and predictable.

Finally, maybe this is one of those times when someone in the Hollywood board room should have realized that this series isn't made for the big screen. The movie has none of the fun of the original series and I'm not the only one to think so judging by its quick exit from the theatres. The Dukes of Hazard Movie is awful and should only be watched on cable, when its free, if nothing else is on.

Ok lets start with the likes of this flick, there was plenty of action in the movie- Jessica Simpson looks hot. If you have kids you might not want to have them see this movie as there are a couple topless sceens where the womans breast is clearly showed.
It would have recieved a higher rating from me if they had the charactors differant names, they could have easly done this as its been over 20 years since the original Dukes of Hazzard show was on. What I mean by differant names, is say Boss Hogg could have been Boss Hogg Jr. etc.
The guy that played Rosco was lame, the actors that played Enos and Cooter were actually better then I thought they would be. Burt Reynolds was pretty good as Boss Hogg, Junior Brown did a EXCELLANT job as Ballander. Jessica Simpson was good as Daisy Duke. Willie Nelson did a simi-decent job as Uncle Jesse.

TOO MUCH FOUL LANGUAGE! NO one in the South would have used so much cussin' and swearin'! The two topless scenes were BAD,BAD,BAD! My son wanted to watch the show and how do I tell him that it's NOT APPROPRIATE for him to see OR hear the filth they added into the show just to sell it!Wouldn't have bought it if I had known there was so much trash in it!Totally missed the mark.Story line stilted,just didn't measure up to the old series.Lots of action and the music tracks were fantastic,BUT the actors were WAY OFF! Willie Nelson just didn't act the part smoothly enough of Uncle Jessie.The Duke Boys were way off also!Just a brunette and a blonde guy trying hard to make the part happen but were so far away from originals!Jessica Simpson,while a very sexy woman,just didn't measure up to the class that the OTHER Daisy Duke had.Being Blonde stole it all away for me as Daisy Duke was one of the first few BRUNETTES to make a huge hit with the men!Don't take that away from her!If they plan to make another then get better actors/actresses that look AND act the part.