A Million Ways To Die In The West: Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
After Albert backs out of a gunfight, his fickle girlfriend leaves him for another man. When a mysterious and beautiful woman rides into town, she helps him find his courage and they begin to fall in love. But when her husband, a notorious outlaw, arrives seeking revenge, the farmer must put his newfound courage to the test.
If you’ve seen Family Guy or Ted then you already know what to expect from Seth MacFarlane when it comes to humor but we’ve never really seen him actually act before. With this being his first live action acting role I was curious to see just how he stacked up against the likes of Charlize Theron and Liam Neeson. MacFarlane wasn’t half bad. He has this way about him that you can’t help but pay attention to but for some reason his voice still doesn’t match up to his looks. Nothing against him at all but if I were to close my eyes that’s not who I would picture. Theron and Neeson both are stellar actors but I feel like they took themselves down a notch or two for this film. With them in the film it does give it credibility and there’s no denying that they are funny as hell in the film but I just couldn’t stop feeling like they were shortchanging themselves. Then of course you have Neil Patrick Harris. This guy can do no wrong in my eyes and he excels at everything he is in. This role called for an over the top theatrical villain and he pulled it off flawlessly. The film started with jokes that were thrown in your face almost as to say “Look, this is what kind of movie it is and if you aren’t on board then leave now.” but those same jokes also helped to set up what the story basically was and that is the fact that the old west was a dangerous place. Again, the jokes are what you would expect from the mastermind behind Family Guy but like Ted, there really wasn’t a filter as far as some of the stuff they talked about. If you’re into crude humor then you’ll definitely be in heaven. I thought it was pretty hilarious for the most part and a lot of the more crude punchlines came from Sarah Silverman who plays a whore (I’m serious) who is saving sex with her fiance until they get married (I’m serious). The funniest moment to me was just a one off scene where Albert stumbles onto a barn and when he opens the door it’s Doc Brown from Back To The Future working on the Delorean. A simple exchange between the two about a weather experiment (you know what I’m talking about) and a “Great Scott!” later and I thought that it was complete genius. There’s also another small cameo by another A-List actor at the end of the film that makes an awesome impact. I’m not going to say who because it’s just too good to spoil. This film has all the random crude humor that you could ever ask for and though this may not be the best film in the world it is a lot of fun. Check it out if you get the chance.
Special Features:
Alternate Opening – A decent alternate take on the opening but the one in the final cut was a better pick.
Alternate Ending – This was pretty funny just because of the small jab that it takes on modern day issue….just the other way around.
Deleted/Extended/Alternate Scenes – There are a number of scenes here that are actually really funny because they seemed to be improvised for the most part. Worth checking out.
Gag Reel – This is pure gold and Giovanni Ribisi’s laugh is so infectious that you can’t help but laugh with him.
Once Upon a Time, in a Different West – A good BTS feature with lots of insight from the cast and crew. They also talk about what it’s like to work with MacFarlane.
