BMG Special Products presents

Andrew Dice Clay: No Apologies (1993)

"That's what makes me sick. You come in here, and you look at me like I'm terrible. Isn't that the truth, sweetheart? That's right, you wanna point your #$)(%*^*$% fingers at me and go, oh, that's the bad guy. That's the one that says all the dirty things. Talks about $)(%U^ and #$)(^&* and #$)(*^& . That's right, look at me, the bad-#@$(*&%$-guy.....but it's okay when Sharon Stone flashes her #$)(% in a #$()*%&* movie, that's okay. Demi Moore, nine months #$()%*^*&$ pregnant and her fallopian tubes stickin' out of her #$(% on a #$(*&^$ magazine. And that's okay. Woody Allen lives with his #$(*%& step-#%$(*%-daughter over there, and that's okay. Priests are #$(%*%& nine-year-old boys in this world, but I'm the @%*$%&# bad guy, huh?.....and I'm the bad guy? Well #$(* you, and #$()%*& them!"- Andrew Dice Clay

Stars: Andrew Dice Clay
Director: David Bergman

Manufacturer: BMG Special Products
MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (seriously foul language, nudity)
Run Time: 01h:02m:30s
Release Date: 2000-05-23
Genre: comedy

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
B	B-	B	B+	D-

 

DVD Review

As you might have guessed, it's pretty hard finding a quotation on this disc that can be used on a family site like this one. The original politically incorrect macho man, Andrew Dice Clay doesn't make the pretensions to following Lenny Bruce as a political humorist, but he certainly takes Bruce's fondness for foul language and runs with it to the nth degree. It's pretty rare to hear Dice get through a sentence in this live show that doesn't include a half-dozen obscenities. Clay gets a lot of mileage out of his mega-testosterone act, swaggering around the stage in the round, chain-smoking and taking on all comers. The clear lesson from this disc is that unless you like punishment, you definitely don't want a front row seat at one of his live shows.

Is it funny? Well, it takes a while to get going. There's an overly long, completely unfunny introduction where Clay gives himself the title of heavyweight champion of comedy. He manages to louse up one of his lines but proceeds nonetheless, the champion of the inarticulate as always. Once he gets going into the live show and starts interacting with the people in the audience, talking about their sex lives, his sex life, and race relations, things get irresistibly funny.

If you can get past the aggressive, confrontational obscenity, there's a lot to laugh at here; Dice's misanthropic character ("I hate everybody and everything and every #$)(*%%*& thing about everybody") is good for quite a few guffaws. Obnoxious though he may be, a good many of his observations are right on the money. The fact the program is from 1993 dates it some; there are some rips on Princess Diana that don't come off quite as well nowadays.

Dice concludes with an encore featuring his many fractured nursery rhymes; while they don't always hit the Mark, the audience is definitely into this portion of the program and their enthusiasm is infectious.

The program is quite brief; once you take off the introduction, there's substantially less than an hour of show left. Considering the complete lack of extras, there doesn't seem to be a lot of value here, even for those who like Clay.

Rating for Style: B
Rating for Substance: B-

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Review: For a live show shot for television, the image is quite good. Colors are vivid and bright, and the picture is clear throughout. Occasionally there is some wobbly camera work from the handheld equipment, but overall it's more than acceptable.

Image Transfer Grade: B
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	no
Dolby Digital 5.1	English	yes

Audio Transfer Review: The disc gives the option of the original DD stereo track, or a DD 5.1 remix. The 5.1 version gives one the definite sensation of being in the crowd; there are lots of crowd noises out of the surrounds. We also get the interesting effect of Clay's monologue coming out of the main speakers and center speaker in a natural manner, and with a substantial echo of being in a large hall out of the surrounds. The remix is quit effective indeed and well done overall.

Audio Transfer Grade: B+ 

Disc Extras

Static menu with music
Scene Access with 12 cues and remote access
Packaging: Alpha
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: single

Extras Review: Nary an extra to be seen here. About the best we can manage is there is chapter selection and a main menu. I really longed for a subtitle track on this DVD; that would have been one of the raunchiest ones ever written.

Extras Grade: D-
 

Final Comments

Andrew Dice Clay is not for tender ears or the easily offended. Those who don't mind the language and heavy sexual content will find this to be a very funny show. The main complaint they will have is the brevity of the program and the complete lack of extras.

Mark Zimmer 2000-05-22