Films: 
DVDs: 
Billy Madison:
Written by Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler
Directed by Tamra Davis
Starring Adam Sandler, Darren McGavin, Bridgette Wilson, Bradley Whitford, and Norm MacDonald
Features:
- Deleted scenes
- Outtakes
- Running audio commentary with director Davis
Happy Gilmore:
Written by Tim Herlihy and Adam Sandler
Directed by Dennis Dugan
Starring Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen, Frances Bay, and Carl Weathers
Features:
- Deleted scenes
- Outtakes
Released by: Universal Home Entertainment
Rating: PG-13
Region: 1
Anamorphic: Yes.
My Advice: Rent it.
[ad#longpost]Billy Madison
Billy (Sandler) is about to inherit his father’s (McGavin) hotel empire. There’s only one problem, he’s a moron. So, he makes a deal with his dad that he will go back through school–first through twelfth grades–to prove that he’s capable of taking over the company. Along the way, he falls in love with one of his elementary school teachers (Wilson). Slightly awkward.
It’s a predictable movie that follows a formula very closely. There are parts of it that are very funny, and there are parts of it that are just plain annoying. MacDonald, for example, is absolutely annoying. Even more so than he was while he was on SNL. His character adds absolutely nothing to the movie. Not only that, but its completely unbelievable that Wilson would fall in love with him. There’s little to nothing to lift the film above its core idea: situation + Sandler = potential comedy.
The DVD matches the movie. The commentary track with the director is horrible. One of the first comments she makes is that she hates watching her own movies that she’s made. Hell, if she can’t stand to watch them why should I listen to her bitch about it? To be fair, she is talking about having spent so much time on them, she just kind of gets sick of them and wants some time off after they are done, but the same idea applies. Maybe she should rethink her career choice. After all, when I work on something for my job, it’s because I love the hell out of it. I’m actually sad that it’s over and suffer mild attacks of post-partum depression.
Anyway, there are also deleted scenes which are the worst of the bad stuff that was the movie. That’s about all there is to say about that, except that some of these deleted scenes are nothing more than two or three second reaction shots that were cut. Why the hell would they put these together on a DVD? They add nothing and aren’t really a feature so much as “Let’s add another item to the list of features.” Finally, there are some outtakes on this DVD. Considering the cast and their collective talent, you’d think that there would be something funny here, right? Wrong. They are poorly edited and simply thrown together and just do not bring the funny. At all.
Happy Gilmore
Happy (Sandler) loves hockey and he’s damn good at it. He’s got a little problem that hockey may not be able to help him out of, though. See, his grandmother (Bay) owes a lot of money in back taxes. She’s kicked out of her home and Happy is forced to find some way to get the money for her to get her out of the retirement home that she’s currently living in. Through a seemingly random chain of events, he finds himself playing golf against the pros to earn the money to pay back the money she owes the government and save the day.
This is definitely the funnier movie of the two. The plot is no more cohesive than the other, but at least the bits manage some worthy comedy. The main reason to watch this movie is to watch the fist fight between Sandler and Bob Barker (yes, that Bob Barker). It’s worth every second. Other than that, it’s easier to get behind Sandler in this movie. He’s not just a spoiled rich kid trying to get his inheritance even though he hasn’t lifted a finger to earn it until just now. No, here we have a working-class hero who’s out to help his grandmother. The “bad guy” in the movie is much better suited to the task, too. Christopher McDonald is just annoying enough to make you despise him, yet he doesn’t cross the line into annoying to the point where you either want to turn off the DVD or take a hostage; whichever is most convenient.
The DVD is, unfortunately, weaker than the Gilmore DVD. There is no commentary and the deleted scenes and outtakes are, if you can believe it, worse. It’s just a sad fact that the better of the two movies get the worse treatment in this packaging.
If you are enough of a Sandler fan, you probably already own these movies. If you’ve never seen them and see this somewhere for rent, I would do that, but owning it? Based on the strength of the films and the (lack of) features? Not a chance.
Dude what the hell are you talking about, this movie is halarious, its one of my favorite movies of all time.