Weird, wacky and delightfully absurd the action comedy The World’s End delivers more of the bizarre minds of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. Now on Blu-ray and DVD the film gets as goofy and crazy as their last two films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz with the quick witted British banter that keeps on giving till the very end. While I’m not completely sold on this sketch filled outing it does have its merits.
The mad cap comedy opens with Gary King (Simon Pegg) now in his 40’s just leaving rehab after years of not dealing well with his lifestyle. Thinking back to the days when he and his four buddies Andy (Nick Frost), Oliver (Martin Freeman), Steven (Paddy Considine) and Peter (Eddie Marsan) had some cool times together Gary gets the feeling he’s ready to reconnect.
Back in their twenties the group took on the world together until Gary went off the deep end leaving the boys with the tab. The thing that did them in was a wild and wicked pub crawl drinking marathon of 12 pub locations on the golden mile in their home town of Newton Haven. The drinking tour was supposed to finish at The World’s End pub, but they never got there.
Gary arrives in London where in some fun filled individual meetings with each of the guys they agree to do it one last time determined to make it to the finish line. They meet at Newton Haven train station with Gary picking them up in the same car that was used during the original pub crawl and they take off for their first pint. Writer Director Edgar Wright keeps the film moving at a fast clip with the boys reminiscing and cutting up at several of the pubs in the order Gary has mapped out. Along the way Wright puts the men in some very bizarre situations including run-ins with the law, revenge fights and a lot of other silly circumstances beyond belief.
The actors look like they are having a great time with their characters keeping within the plot lines, but I’m sure they added a lot of adlibbing. Pegg and Frost take on most of the action as they fight back to back through their hometown. While Gary resembles each of the other characters Pegg has played in the past two British hits, Frost does deviate somewhat from Ed in Shaun of the Dead and Butterman in Hot Fuzz. As Andy he takes on his usual co-lead character as Gary’s best friend and confident in the pub crawl.
Direction by Edgar Wright is pinpoint and creative getting the cast to follow his chaotic path to the World’s End pub. He’s had a lot of practice being the chief in both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz so putting the cast through their paces here looks like a walk in the park. He keeps the dialogue snappy, the action hectic and the pervasive language paramount in his form of wacky comedy that the film’s many followers crave.
The World’s End has been rated R by the MPAA for pervasive language including sexual references. The language may be English, but the cast being British the accent does take some time getting used to. You may want to turn on the subtitles and hang in there because the film gets so outlandish you may find some cool dialogue you may have missed with their accents. Yeah Blu-ray/DVD, rewind and pause.
Over an hour of bonus features are included on the Blu-ray. The following is the list without comment due to its length and my article size limitations:
BONUS FEATURES– On Blu-ray (DVD Where indicated)
- “Feature Commentary with writers Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg” (also DVD)
- “Cast Commentary with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Paddy Considine”
- “Technical Commentary with director Edgar Wright and DP Bill Pope”
- “Filling in the Blanks: The Stunts and FX of The World’s End”
- “Completing the Golden Mile: The Making of The World’s End” (also DVD)
- “VFX Breakdown”
- “Edgar & Simon’s Flip Chart”
- “Director at Work”
- “Pegg + Frost = Fried Gold”
- “Friends Reunited”
- “Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy”
- “Animatics”
- “Hair and Make-Up Tests”
- “Rehearsal Footage”
- “Stunt Tapes”
- “There’s Only One Gary King: Osymyso’s Inibri-8 Megamix”
- “Signs & Omens”
- “Deleted Scene, Outtakes, Alternate Edits”
- And much more
For the ultimate Simon Pegg fan there’s the “Trivia Track” that can be accessed so you can watch the film with trivia questions or trivial information as I like to put it.
The Blu-ray quality is extremely good with its 1080p Widescreen. The colors are vivid and the interior shots nicely lit. Even the nighttime has excellent visual quality without distortion. Clear and clean, the boys are in all their wacky glory on your HD TV.
The sound quality with either the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (Blu-ray) or the Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 (DVD) comes across nicely using my HD television speakers. If you have an upgraded sound system, turn it on for even more wild sound effects, especially during the altercations with mystery pub patrons.
Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan and Rosamund Pike
Director: Edgar Wright
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language including sexual references
Genre: Comedy, Action
Running Time: 1 hr 49 min
Video Release Date: November 19, 2013
Original Film Release Date: August 23, 2013
Language: English
Format: Blu-ray, DVD
Audio: Blu-ray- DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, DVD- Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0
Video: Blu-ray- 1080p HD Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1, DVD-Anamorphic Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Number of Discs: Combo Pack
Distributed by: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
