Ernest Triple Feature: Ernest Goes to Camp, Ernest Goes to Jail & Ernest Scared Stupid

I've been a fan of Ernest my whole life. The commercials are great, the series was excellent and I really like the first four movies. After 'Ernest Scared Stupid' Jim made five more Ernest movies but the first four(the three on this set and 'Ernest saves Christmas')are what I personally think are the best! So, In my opinion, this set gives you three of the four BEST Ernest movies!

I own the dvd releases from 2002 of the three movies in this 2011 set. The first thing I noticed was that 'Jail' and 'Scared Stupid' are in anamorphic widescreen 16x9. Which I was happy to see because the 2002 dvds of those two films are in fullscreen. Well, I compared the two and it seems that the widescreen is actually the fullscreen cropped to fit the 16x9 ratio. I noticed that in 'Jail' when they show an exterior of Ernest's house you can not see the sidewalk in the widescreen version but can in the fullscreen. It's too bad that they could not get the theatrical print* but it doesn't hurt my enjoyment of the films. With most televisions widescreen I understand why they did it. Some customers will not like this fact, I'm sure.

There are two dvds, one has 'Camp' and 'Jail' on it and the other has 'Scared Stupid'. The discs are in black paper sleeves and are held within a tray inside the package. This works well enough, the discs seem decently protected.

I think 'Camp' on this set is very similar to the 2002 version if not exactly the same, which was released in widescreen (Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1) from Buena Vista Home Entertainment. As for the other two films, it seems that the picture has been cleaned up. It seems a bit crisper to me. I can't say for sure that it is, but I like the quality better with 'Jail' and 'Stupid' on the 2011 releases.

A fun addition Mill Creek Entertainment made with these are the dvd menus. The 2002 versions had a simple picture of Ernest and a Play or Scenes option, and while the new 2011 has the same options the menus are clips of the movie you want to watch ('Camp' and 'Jail' sharing a menu alternating clips between the two) and play music from them while you wait to hit play. A fun idea and well executed.

Keep in mind I'm a big Ernest fan and that's why I gave this five stars! Sure there are no special features and there is the widescreen issue I mentioned, plus it's missing the fourth Touchstone film 'Ernest Saves Christmas' (although I'd guess that has something to do with Buena Vista), but for all the fun and humor in these three movies and the price you'll pay- it's a great set!
If you have the previous releases it's really nothing new, but I'm happy to add the box to my shelf. I think if you're an Ernest fan and have not been able to get these films, this is a great purchase. Plus you can't beat the price, knowhutimean?

* EDIT: Marlowe7 added a comment with some great information that I was unaware of: These widescreen versions most likely are the theatrical versions. The full screen versions were just open matte. A lot of movies were filmed this way before widescreen TVs became commonplace. The extra space at the top and bottom of the screen in full screen really adds nothing, but was necessary in the VHS, square TV days.
-----Thanks to Marlowe7 for this information. There are examples of movies that used this in Marlowe7's full comment that you can read by clicking on the 'comments' below.

I won't bore anyone with an actual review of the films. We all know Ernest is awesome, and these are 3 of the best Ernest films. I was pleasantly surprised with the video quality. They looked very nice played on my upscaling dvd player, and best of all, they are all anamorphic. A must buy for Ernest fans, especially for the price.

I have to admit, for me at least, Ernest P. Worrell was an acquired taste. It took awhile for the charm of the character to finally get through to me. Probably the first Ernest appearance to really tip the scales for me was in Ernest Saves Christmas (not included in this triple pack, but readily available on a single disc DVD) which I saw in the theater, many years ago. I'm a sucker for Christmas movies anyway, and ESC just hit all the right buttons for me.

Over the years, the genius that was Jim Varney slowly grew on me, catching the occasional Ernest movie that would turn up on cable TV. I often entertained the notion of collecting the Ernest films on DVD, as they had come to be true guilty pleasures for me. But other than the aforementioned Ernest Saves Christmas, I somehow never got around to it. Then along comes this Mill Creek Entertainment Ernest triple feature for well under ten dollars. What a deal! The perfect way to kick-start my Ernest DVD collection. I'm no expert, but so far as I can tell, the image quality of these DVDs is excellent. Not much in the way of extras, but for the money, how can you go wrong? Over time, Mill Creek has more or less built their name by releasing any number of public domain films in multi-pack DVD collections of wildly varying quality. But the one constant has always been a great value for your hard-earned dollar. Now with the Ernest movies, the Ernest TV series (which I have yet to purchase, but probably will), and several other recent top-quality DVD releases, Mill Creek has greatly enhanced its reputation, at least in my opinion. Again, thank you, Mill Creek Entertaiment. And THANK YOU, Jim Varney, may you rest in peace...

So, if you are a fan of Jim Varney/Ernest, this value simply cannot be beat. Three TOP Ernest films in one low-priced package. True bang for your buck. Now go over and check out the terrific value on Mill Creek's Hey Vern, It's Ernest! TV series. I know I will!

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