Product Description

Miramax Home Entertainment is proud to present this amazing, three-disc collector's set that includes two versions of the original indie classic, a killer, brand-new, 90-minute documentary -- "Snowball Effect: The Story Of CLERKS," and more never-before-seen bonus material than you can shake a salsa shark at!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10121 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-09-07
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 196 minutes

Amazon.com
Before Kevin Smith became a Hollywood darling with Chasing Amy, a film he wrote and directed, he made this $27,000 comedy about real-life experiences working for chump change at a New Jersey convenience store. A rude, foul-mouthed collection of anecdotes about the responsibilities that go with being on the wrong side of the till, the film is also a relationship story that takes some hilarious turns once the lovers start revealing their sexual histories to one another. In the best tradition of first-time, ultra-low budget independent films, Smith uses Clerks as an audition piece, demonstrating that he not only can handle two-character comedy but also has an eye for action--as proven in a smoothly handled rooftop hockey scene. Smith himself appears as a silent figure who hangs out on the fringes of the store's property. --Tom Keogh

DVD features
Aimed squarely at its most devoted fans, the 10th anniversary DVD of Clerks is jam-packed with entertaining retrospective features. Kevin Smith's $27,000 film turned into one of the great legends of independent filmmaking, so it's only fitting that "Snowball Effect: The Story of Clerks" should be almost as long as the film itself, chronicling the film's rags-to-riches history in inspirational and often hilarious detail, from ominous flooding in Smith's New Jersey hometown as filming was about to commence, to the film's dream-like discovery at the Sundance Film Festival in 1994. The "10th Anniversary Q&A" is almost as good, since it reunites the entire cast and primary crew for an amusing, heartfelt, and occasionally confrontational reunion, including an on-stage reconciliation between Smith and cast member Jeff ("Randal") Anderson, who had fought over Anderson's claim to a cut of Clerks profits. (Smith admits he was wrong.) While the 10th anniversary commentary (with Smith, producer Scott Mosier, and costars Brian O'Halloran, Anderson, and Jason Mewes) is mostly a rambling waste of time, the archival materials are extensive and fun, amounting to what is essentially a scrapbook (including Smith's personal journals) about one of the scrappiest success stories of the 1990s. The "first cut" is appropriately rough (it was mastered from a VHS tape), but it gives Smith's loyal followers a chance to see the original, slightly longer version of Clerks that attracted so much enthusiastic attention among influential indie-film promoters in late 1993. Overall, this three-disc set is a valentine to do-it-yourself filmmakers everywhere, offering that crucial glimmer of hope that Smith's good fortune could happen again, to anyone with a camera and a dream. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

Not funny.
This movie is simply offensive! It would be better with Carlos Mencia or Bob Saget.

Utterly Impressive
Kevin Smith is a pretty amazing dude. From the quality of the film to the intense knowledge of the subject matter, the utter indie-ness of "Clerks" is apparent from the start. But when you really look into how Smith made this movie from the ground up, it makes the overall product that more amazing. Because not only is this a respectable indie effort, it's also a fantastic movie.

Instead of following the romantic tropes that the plot seems it's going to follow, the film instead focuses on the character interactions, giving special attention to dialogue that, at the time this was release, was only really done in Tarantino films. Smith definitely set the bar for raunchy comedies to come, already developing a style that would later become an influence on one of my favorite comedy film makers of all time, Judd Apatow.

But let's kill the comparisons, because Smith's work stands on its own. This day-in-the-life-of-a-store-clerk film has great insight onto that profession and the different, hardened states of mind that clerks develop after day after day of the same crap from customers. The characters are wonderful, the conflicts and plot points are so subtle and underplayed that you might miss them if you don't watch close, and the highly quotable dialogue really pulls you into the film. It's like one of those vulgarly fantastic books that you just can't put down.

8/10

Clerks is awesome
This was the movie that lead me to the genius that is Kevin Smith. This was his first movie and I think it's the second best movie he has ever made. This is one of the comedies that echo truth that exists in you that you can only understand if you have actually worked as a convenience store clerk. The lead character Dante Hicks has to deal with irate customers, a girlfriend that has issues with his stature in life, an nymphomatic ex-girlfriend, and a best friend that almost wants to see him fail.

This is one of the ultimate slacker comedies. I was first aware of because of an article in Details magazine hailing it as one the latest and greatest independent films released. I went out to Suncoast Video (do those even exist anymore?) and purchased the VHS tape for 29.99 and went home and immediately popped it in the video tape.

This is one the best movie for one liners that you repeat to your friends. This is one of the movies where either you get it or you don't. It's one of the greatest slacker comedies made. If you haven't seen this movie, stop what you are doing and go out and get it.

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