Perhaps the folks at MTV thought that Wildboyz was doing so well, that they figured that maybe they should fly the boys out to even more remote locations, but that they should include some old Jackass members also. And sure enough, in the second season of Wildboyz, both Wee Man and Johnny Knoxville show up for guest starring roles and accompany the boys as they travel to Indonesia, Africa, Brazil and Costa Rica, to name a few places.
I’m pretty sure I’m not spoiling it for those who haven’t seen it, but there’s very little surprise involved. You’ve got Party Boy, Chris Pontius, and Steve O, both travelling to exotic locations to encounter animals, the locals in those areas, and to get drunk off the indigenous moonshine.
To watch these two get into situations that they’ve kinda maybe sorta been told about, but then to see them disregard any advice and go for it anyway, putting themselves on the line is a pretty stupid thing but one that’s funny to watch. You know you’ll never put your hand into a glove full of fire ants, so why not watch someone else do it, right? Yeah, I thought so! THAT’S why the show is funny, and should be watched by more people. As it stands, with the 4th season wrapped up on MTV2, the second season of Wildboyz shows up for its DVD release.
Video
No complaints, no worries. While the episodes are slightly letterboxed, they are in the 1.33:1 standard format, so I should get that widescreen TV pretty soon. Like Jackass before it, the Wildboyz cameramen are using handhelds and tripods, so things usually come through looking good.
Audio
As is the case with other TV shows on DVD, the audio is in Dolby 2.0 surround only. It sounds like some of the songs have been changed from the TV release to the DVD release, presumably because of music rights issues. Since the music doesn’t carry the bits too much, it’s not that big of a deal that they’re missing. The sound is perfectly fine with no issues to speak of.
Special Features
As before, the gang at MTV have done a good job with extras on both discs, starting with Disc 1, where commentaries are featured on every episode. Aside from the stars and creators, Jackass alumni Johnny Knoxville and Wee man join in on selected episodes also. Disc 2 has a large chunk of deleted scenes and outtakes, which total a little over an hour in length. The few of you who watch Season 3 will notice that some of this footage appears in those episodes, and by and large the material isn’t worth jumping up and down about. Next in a 20 minute making of piece on the show which is almost professional because some British folks are shooting it (though you find out at the end it’s just MTV UK), which shows some behind the scenes details of the boys’ trials and tribulations in Costa Rica. The Wildboyz Encyclopedia, bite lists, photo gallery and previews are similar to those in the Season 1 DVD, just updated. The other new extra is a 9 question trivia game which “rewards” you with a clip of Steve O putting down some cable in the middle of the ocean, so to speak. There are also easter eggs on both discs that close things out.
Closing Thoughts
Wildboyz is good fun featuring two guys whose humor is very tongue in cheek. To paraphrase, you don’t care whether they’re going to torture their parents and their Uncle Don Vito or not, it’s just stupid fun in various exotic locales that you wouldn’t see with the help of a tour guide. It’s worth looking at, since MTV repeats it so much.
