DVD Review: This Is the End

STUDIO: Sony | DIRECTOR: Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg | CAST: Seth Rogan, James Franco, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride
BLU-RAY & DVD RELEASE DATE: 10/1/2013 | PRICE: DVD $30.99, Blu-ray $40.99
BONUSES: featurette, commentary, marketing promos
SPECS: R | 107 min. | Comedy | 2.40:1 aspect ratio | 5.1 Dolby audio | English, English SDH, French subtitles

RATINGS (out of 5 dishes): Movie | Audio | Video | Overall

When I saw the trailer for This Is the End, it seemed that Seth Rogan (The Guilt Trip) and a bunch of his friends got together and made a movie to have a laugh. And they did. But what I didn’t expect, is that the film actually has a decent story, some heart and quite a few laughs for the audience as well as them.

This Is the End follows Rogan and actor friend Jay Baruchel (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) as they go to a party given by James Franco (Oz the Great and Powerful). Yes, they’re all playing themselves, or caricatures of themselves. The party, which Baruchel did not want to go to and isn’t enjoying, is interupted by the end of the world, and Rogan and Baruchel are holed up with Franco, Craig Robinson (Hot Tub Time Machine), Danny McBride (Your Highness) and Jonah Hill (21 Jump Street), all trying to survive.

With this group, you’d expect a lot of crass humor and gross-out jokes, and this film’s filled with them. But there’s also some geniune laughs, and it’s fun to see the actors riff on their movie star images. Perhaps the funniest is Michael Cera (Youth in Revolt), who throws off his sweet, clean-cut image in favor of a hyper, obnoxious and drug-addicted version of his on-screen self.

The difference between This Is the End Baruchel and real-life Baruchel, we find out in the commentary with Rogan and co-writer/director Evan Goldberg (The Green Hornet), is that he wouldn’t have even gone to the party in the first place.

The commentary is the best special feature on the DVD. Rogan and Goldberg riff jokes a lot less than you’d expect, so it’s not laugh-out-loud funny. Instead, they mostly give away behind-the-scene secrets, and those can be be very funny. For example, Cera’s butt got a visual effects touchup.

As well as the commentary, there’s a brief featurette and a more extensive collection of marketing promotional sketches, which can be missed unless you’re a huge Rogan fan.