DVD Review

by Bob Grimm & r & & r & Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny & r & & lt;span class= "dropcap " & T & lt;/span & he first sequence in this film is a rock operetta where the actors sing their parts. A kid playing the young Jack Black lip-syncs along to the music of Tenacious D, and Meat Loaf plays his dad. (Ronnie James Dio also makes a glorious appearance.) If the whole film were done rock-opera style, this might've been one of the greatest movies ever made. As it stands, it's fun to watch, but sometimes a little too conventional for Tenacious D.





It's an origin story, showing us the birth of the world's greatest band featuring Jack Black and sidekick Kyle Gass. I'm thinking diehard D fans probably liked this one less than the uninitiated. Those familiar with the brilliant HBO series, and the excellent first album, might find the music and visuals a little inferior.





When the duo discovers that most of history's guitar gods used the same pick (the devil's tooth), they set out on a quest to retrieve it from a rock museum. One of the problems with the film is that Gass spends a large part of it wearing a longhaired wig and acting cocky, shunning Black's pleas to form a band. Gass is much funnier full-on bald and meek.





Perhaps I am just too spoiled. Watching it again on DVD, with expectations lowered, I enjoyed it a little more. But let me make this clear. Nothing short of pure excellence for anything involving the D is acceptable in my book.





D fans will be happy to discover that Black and Gass offer up full, kick-ass commentary; some very good deleted scenes and featurettes go behind the scenes. I bought my disk at Best Buy, and it featured an extra disk of special features, including the full collection of Internet shorts from the D Website, more deleted scenes and some home movies.





The film bombed at the box office, so the chances of further cinematic adventures seem slim. If you haven't bought it yet, get yourself a copy of Tenacious D: The Complete Masterworks and see them in their glory days. It's a good companion piece to The Pick of Destiny.