The movie critique portion of this review was written by my colleague Ben Belcher
Before Dave Chappelle’s Netflix specials and the show that made, and would come to define, his career there was Half Baked: the 1998 stoner comedy that would go on to become a cult classic.
In a nutshell, Half Baked is a wacky adventure about friends trying to rescue their roommate from prison before terrible things can happen to him, but there’s more to it than that. There is an in-depth examination of weed culture and the different facets of people who use cannabis. A love story is cleverly worked into the plot that adds motivation for our main character to grow and mature. There’s ridiculously off-the-wall elements like a drug dealer’s guards all being scantily clad women with swords doing kung fu. This is clearly a movie made by people who are having a great time and making what they wanted to see, and what they wanted to see was hilarious.
We’re introduced to our main character Thurgood (Dave Chappelle) through his narration as he regales us with the story of how he and his group of friends first tried cannabis and how it changed their lives forever. This then transitions into how these young friends have grown up and what they’re doing with their lives: Thurgood is a janitor at a pharmaceutical company, Scarface (Guillermo Diaz) is an edgy frycook, Brian (Jim Breuer) is a barely capable record store clerk, and Kenny (Harland Williams) is a successful kindergarten teacher. They all live together in an apartment in New York along with a man who is always asleep on their couch (Steven Wright) and enjoy copious amounts of cannabis while they listen to Sir Smoke-a-Lot.
We’re walked through the daily ritual of their return from work and how they choose to smoke together. Community is a big part of weed culture, and this movie is very good at capturing that idea even when it’s openly making fun of it. It then falls on Kenny to procure the groups’ munchies for the evening. If you’ve ever smoked before, you know this is a necessity. Kenny dutifully makes his way out into the city, but in his high stupor feeds all of the groups’ food to a police horse and accidentally kills it. This results in one of the best lines in all of cinematic history: “This horse is a diabetic!”
Kenny is swiftly incarcerated and it’s up to Thurgood and the others to come up with $100K to bail him out, and fast. Kenny’s ass faces peril at every turn, protected only by a mysterious inmate known as Squirrel Master (Tommy Chong). Can he hold out long enough for his friends to find a way to come up with the money?
Lo and behold, the pharmaceutical company where Thurgood works is testing various potent strains of cannabis for the FDA and he’s given a sample for helping out one of the scientists. There are few things that have made me laugh harder than the “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy” tour of New York scene, and you really have to see it to understand. Without any other viable options to speak of, our heroes agree to sell it to rescue Brian. He does make an important distinction saying, “We’re not drug dealers. We’re fundraisers.”
The gang hits the streets and we meet all the different types of smokers in an almost documentary-style format as we’re treated to cameos from the likes of Jon Stewart, Snoop Dogg, Janeane Garofalo, Steven Baldwin, and several others as they portray these different types of people. We’re also treated to what might be the best quitting a job scene ever put to film. You’ve probably seen it even if you’ve never heard of Half Baked.
The final act of the movie revolves around a high level drug dealer named Sampson (Clarence Williams III) who has taken notice of Thurgood and friends after losing business to them. The boys join forces with the police and take the drug kingpin down which allows them to free their friend before anything terrible can come to pass.
The final scene of the film sees Thurgood saying goodbye to cannabis in favor of a relationship with the charming and beautiful Mary Jane (Rachel True) and the two walk off into the distance as Thurgood narrates.
By no means is Half Baked a perfect film, but it’s damn funny and sometimes that’s all you really need. Sit back, relax, pop this one on, and smoke ‘em if you’ve got ‘em. You’re in for a good time… just make sure you’ve got your munchies ready beforehand.
Video Quality
Half Baked comes to Blu-Ray from Kino Classics with a digital AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 that appears to be derived from an older master that is in decent but not outstanding shape. The presentation is fairly pleasing throughout most of the runtime with image stability and delineation being strong with moments of weakness. Instances of print damage are few and far between, but overall clarity and detail is lacking a bit. The film thankfully does not present with much in the way of unnatural digital tinkering. This transfer has some natural film grain, but you have to contend with it being unstable and a bit clumpy in instances. The picture can run a bit soft in long shots, but colors are natural even if they are lacking extreme depth. Black levels hold up fairly well, but some scenes exhibit clear signs of crush. This presentation is fine, but a new scan would make a world of difference for the film. It deserves better than this.
Audio Quality
This new Blu-Ray comes with both a lossless DTS-HD 5.1 and 2.0 Master Audio mix that captures the intention of the film really well. The dialogue holds up wonderfully, coming through clearly without being stepped on by the music or sound effects. The environmental effects are delineated nicely from the sounds of the urban environments to the chatter in the jail. The track avoids any instances of age related wear and tear or distortion. This is a film that utilizes music really well, and it is presented with great clarity. The needle drops placed in the film maintain a pleasing fidelity as they fill up the room. This is a track that represents the film in an enjoyable manner. Optional English subtitles are provided on this disc.
Special Features
- Audio Commentary: Director Tamra Davis provides a great commentary track as she reflects back upon the production of the film including the opening for which she had to fight, the weed substitute used in the film, her memories of the performers, the locations used for shooting, the famous faces that show up and more. There are many long periods of silence, but when she is speaking the insights are interesting.
- Deleted Scenes: Eight unused scenes totaling ten minutes are provided here in very rough standard definition quality. The scenes include more “weed rules”, Thurgood arguing with his girlfriend and more that are worth a look.
- Alternate Ending: A nearly six-minute alternate ending which is closer to what Chappelle intended.
- Five Minutes with Guy On The Couch: A five-minute piece in which you too can spend time with the “Guy On The Couch” – think of this almost like a screensaver.
- Different Types of Smokers: A three-minute animated breakdown of different types of smokers. Each little sequence provides some nice chuckles.
- Granny’s Guide to Bakin’: A six-minute cooking demonstration with “Granny” which is not too informative but is amusing.
- Trailers: The two-minute trailer is provided for Half Baked. There are also trailers provided for CB4, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka and Bustin’ Loose.
Final Thoughts
Half Baked is not a grand piece of art, but it is typically good for a solid amount of laughs when you are in the right headspace. There are some problematic elements that most comedies of a certain age exhibit, but most of this can be chalked up to ignorance rather than maliciousness. If you are a Chappelle fan, this is one of the prime examples that showed he had what it took to become a household name. Kino Classics has released a Blu-Ray featuring a middling A/V presentation and some decent legacy supplemental features. It is nice to have this one finally in high definition, but it would have been great to get this one remastered.
Half Baked is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
