The Dukes of Hazzard

I'll start this review off with a few words of commentary; a Fiendatorial, if you will.

Ben Jones commenced a great bruja-ja here in (semi-)local Knoxville when he was present for the unveiling of this cinematic work. It seems that Mr. Jones (and while he spoke for some of the other "original" cast members, I never quite believed he was authorized to do that) believes that he should have been offered a cameo in this work. Since he wasn't, he has set about extolling the horrors of this modernized update of the beloved (?!) family series.

Okay, I'll accept that some people did LOVE this series. But the Dukes of Hazard always was a bit racy for some. Bo and Luke ran moonshine from their Uncle Jessie's still, Daisy was a little short on the wardrobe department, and Uncle Jessie was the leader of this motley hillbilly moonshine gang that any "Revenuer" worth his badge would have loved to have thrown in jail. The "boys" stayed in a constant state of trouble, and flaunted their illegal activities in the face of local law enforcement. These were NOT "good" boys!

No, there was no marijuana use in the television series. It was TELEVISION! They couldn't do that and be on television as a series.

Frankly, I never loved the series. I thought it was hokey, unintelligent, and downright stupid. It made Southerners look like we ARE inbred idiots. I detested it.

As far as this modernization goes, I found it to be a 100% improvement over the cheesy dialog and horrible acting perpetrated upon us by the series! The performances were great, the plot was in keeping with the original series, the action...wow the action!

This movie was a stunt-driver's wet dream! It was reminiscent (if only a small bit) of Smokey and the Bandit in that it was great fun to watch. And while I enjoyed Jessica Simpson's Daisy Duke far more than I thought was possible, she would have made a better Ellie Mae Clampett, in my opinion.

It wasn't afraid to laugh at itself and never took itself too seriously. Unfortunately, Burt Reynolds was a very weak Boss Hogg. I have no idea what they were thinking. The casting choice wasn't necessarily a bad call, but the direction of his character was just flaccid, as was Burt's performance. He played him too unemotional without ever coming close to hitting the level of calculated treachery Sorrel Brooke's Boss Hogg exuded. I felt that Mr. Reynolds was just...horrible in this endeavor, but Willie Nelson more than made up for that in his portrayal as Uncle Jessie.

So don't listen to the nay-sayers. This is a highly entertaining endeavor. Even those of us of the "alternative" categorization could (and did) experience a few honest belly-laughs at our own expense. Heck, we survived "Deliverance!" I'm sure we'll survive this.

The best line in the movie?

"You're hillbillies!"

"We prefer Appalachian-Americans!"

It rates a 7.6/10.

Yes, I was once a 9-year-old who would 'yee-haw' in front of the TV every Friday night. But then I grew up and basically forgot about the Dukes of Hazzard. Years later, when I learned of the movie, I scoffed. I had zero expectations and no plans to see it. Then months later, I ran into it on HBO.

This movie is a blast. Anyone looking for a dusty museum exhibit to replay the original series for a new generation will be disappointed. But It's great fun for anyone willing to be in on the joke and go along for the ride.

Boss Hogg isn't fat. Uncle Jesse smokes weed. Roscoe is less cartoon bumbling, more cartoon menacing. Daisy is blonde. The General's paint job needs... explaining.

But the movie retains everything that made the original series work: car chases, bar brawls, short-shorts and good-hearted outlaws looking out for the good folks of Hazzard County. The movie brings back all these crucial elements... and then takes them out and gets them drunk. Buckle up for safety!

The plot is an inch deep, but gets the job done. The humor is perfectly simple and perfectly funny. And, aside from Burt Reynolds, the cast aren't winning any Oscars (ever), but they can handle these characters just fine.

Lastly, I had no idea how much I missed the General Lee. I'm not a car guy or an action-for-the-sake-of-action guy, but the car chases, crashes and jumps in this movie are incredible. Most modern action scenes are just noise and blur, but the driving-action scenes in this movie are extremely well-paced and well-executed. I could replay the car chase in Atlanta (with Bo in emotional crisis behind the wheel) a hundred times and never stop loving that scene.

I was truly surprised how much I enjoyed this movie - both times (thanks, Netflix!), with about 10 years between viewings. The big screen version of The Dukes of Hazzard actually works, and no one was more surprised than me.

Now how do you think them boys are going to top this one?

I'm a huge fan of the Dukes of Hazzard TV show. And I really enjoyed this flick. I enjoyed myself here a lot more than I did with other summer blockbusters.

It's funny hearing people rail against this movie with excuses like "lame plot" and "it's much cruder than the show." Does ANYONE remember the crudeness of the humor in the pilot episode? Daisy makes incest jokes and Bo says that Luke had probably fathered half the kids in the orphanage. The only reason it was cleaned up is because it changed to and earlier time slot.

And as far as the plot goes. It was the perfect Dukes plot. In fact as a remake it probably stays truer to the source material than any TV show that has migrated to the big screen.

While Sean William Scott and Johnny Knoxville aren't EXACTLY like their small screen versions, they do a great job and work very well together. I wasn't too keen on Burt's Boss Hogg though. And I would have like a little bit more incompetence from Sheriff Roscoe. In the movie Roscoe is a little... scary.

And who didn't have a smile on their face as the General Lee is racing through the streets of Atlanta and the back roads of Hazzard?

Folks, allow yourself to enjoy a movie that is just an excuse for nostalgia, bikinis and car chases, you won't be sorry. It's just a great dumb movie!

Having read some of the other comments here I was expecting something truly awful but was pleasantly surprised. REALITY CHECK: The original series wasn't that good. I think some people remember it with more affection than it deserved but apart from the car chases and Daisy Duke's legs the scripts were weak and poorly acted. The Duke boys were too intelligent and posh for backwood hicks, the shrunken Boss Hog was too cretinous to be evil and Rosco was just hyper throughout every screen moment. It's amazing the series actually lasted as long as it did because it ran out of story lines during the first series.

Back to the movie. If you watch this film in it's own right, not as a direct comparison to however you remember the TV series, then it's not bad at all. The real star is of course the General Lee. The car chases and stunts are excellent and that's really what D.O.H. is all about. Johnny Knoxville is his usual eccentric self and along with Seann William Scott as Cousin Bo the pair make this film really funny in a hilarious Dumb-And-Dumber sort of way the TV series never achieved. The lovely Jessica Simpson is a natch as Miss Daisy, Burt Reynolds makes a much improved Boss Hog and M.C. Gainey makes a believably nasty Rosco P. Coltrane, the way he always should have been.

If you don't like slapstick humour and crazy car stunts then you wouldn't be watching this film anyway because you should know what to expect. Otherwise if you want an entertaining car-action movie with a few good laughs that's not too taxing on the brain then go see this enjoyable romp with an open mind.

Oh the days when any half way decent old TV show was getting turned into an underwhelming movie. This movie definitely isn't good, but everyone seems to be having fun with it and, despite the flaws, I find this to be pretty darn watchable background noise.