American Movie [4K UHD] [Blu-ray]

I have a confession: I rented this on video as soon as it came out back in 1999 & I hated it. In fact, my friend & I turned it off in the middle of the film. Actually, I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but one of the reasons is b/c we didn't know we were watching an actual documentary. Looking back on it, I feel like one of those stupid people who went to see The Blair Witch project, threw up, & thought it was real. I don't know how I could have been so stupid. But I eventually had to watch this again in one of my film classes (yes, by then I realized that it was an actual documentary) & I gotta say... I loved it this time around! As far as documentaries go American Movie is near-flawless. It's got humor, sympathy, inspiration, old guys eating Polish sausage... You name it-- it's there. No really, we laugh at the "characters," but there's actually an inspiring & uplifting message to it all. It follows the life of one major film buff from Milwaukee who sets out to make a feature film (Northwestern) but becomes sidetracked with funding problems, so he decides to finish up a short horror film (Coven) to sell for profits. The trials & tribulations of Coven's production make up American Movie. As for the DVD, it's excellent. There are deleted scenes galore, many of which are GREAT! And they're not just throw-away junk scenes, which is always a plus. There are commentary tracks & trailers, but best of all, the mother of all extras is... COVEN. Yes, the 22-minute short film is included in its entirety. I saw my friend recently & told her that I not only watched American Movie again but that I loved it! She then told me how she was "forced" to watch it again for one of her film classes & that she loved it too! So there's hope for all us imbeciles yet. Do yourself a huge favor & see this movie if you haven't already done so. And if you watched half of it before & hated it, please give it a second try. Once you loved it, come back & purchase this DVD like me!

Much better than expected. I got the dvd shortly after it was released (like 25 years ago!) & that’s what I’ve been watching every thanksgiving since. The 4K version blows it outta the water. Perhaps not surprising, but I’d read mixed reviews about the image. It looks terrific to me.

The following are two negative reviews about this movie. "The film is trashy, and the people in it are embarrassingly inferior trailer trash. They are all-too-realistically only themselves. They have no lines, they don't act. The American Dream is not to create shoddy no-quality films or anything else shoddy and of no-quality; it is to achieve something of quality and, thereby, success." Bjork-Bjork, Portland, Oregon "Should you wish to see the worst film ever made, look no further. Some wretched movies are watchable because they are unintentionally funny. Alas, American Movie has no wit at all, no unintentional humor." Aben Rudy, Scottsdale, Arizona Mark Borchardt, the subject of the movie, is not trailer trash. He lives with his mom and has a paper route (his three children do live in a trailer with his ex-common law wife). However, he does make "shoddy, no-quality films." But this movie by Chris Smith is an amazing documentary filled with wit, humor, pathos, and the indomitable American spirit. The director presents a sympathetic, all too real portrayal of independent filmmaking. The film starts with Mark planning his great American movie--Northwestern. The first scene is a monologue by Mark (during his early morning paper route). "I was a failure, I was a failure, and I get very sad and depressed about it . . . Now I am back to being Mark who, who has a beer in his hand and is thinking about the great American script and the great American movie and this time I cannot fail, I won't fail. It's not in me. You don't get second chances and mess them up, you'd be a fool to . . . this time it's most important not to fail--just to drink and dream--rather to create and complete." However, Mark realizes that before he can make his great American film, he first has to finish his 30 minute 16mm straight-to-video horror flick called Coven (which does not rhyme with oven). American Movie then follows Mark over the next two years making not Northwestern but Coven. Mark is dogged in his pursuit: enlisting the aid of his friends, his ma, his Uncle Bill, and anybody else he can talk into it. The scenes are reminiscent of Spinal Tap or The Office--perhaps not as clever, but poignant and often laugh out loud funny. Mark and Mike (his childhood friend who provides the music for American Movie) belong in the pantheon of comedy duos--alongside Abbot and Costello, Laurel and Hardy. And Mark's interactions with his Uncle Bill are touching (when Mark bathes him) and hilarious (when Mark is on take 27 of the one line that Bill has in the movie--"It's alright; it's OK. You have something to live for. Jesus told me so!"). Do we watch movies to see beautiful people succeed? I guess in Hollywood. But not in America.

This is arguably one of the best documentaries ever made. It certainly is my favorite. Did this need to be on 4K? Well no. Shot on 16mm film the Blu Ray was more than enough. I had the Blu Ray already, but the 4K also contains "Coven" so if you want that you need to get the 4K. Kind of a way of bilking people out of more money on Sony's part by keeping the "Coven" special feature off the original Blu Ray and making you double dip by delaying the release of the 4K by a couple of years. But the price on this finally came down to around $12 so I got this version as well.

`American Move' is a documentary on Mark Borchardt who is an unknown filmmaker trying his best to make filmmaking his actual job. The bad thing is, is that he doesn't really have any money because he works mainly part time lame jobs. While trying to make his new movie `Northwestern', he realizes he doesn't have the money for it, nor is anything really ready for it. So he goes back to making a 30+ minute movie, called `Coven', he stopped filming awhile back to hopefully make some money off it to help pay for `Northwestern'. With the help of his best friend Mike Schank, they start to call local actors to get `Coven' done. I never even heard of this until an Amazon friend named D. Wilson reviewed this awhile back. I'm glad he did though because this documentary is, in my opinion, absolutely hilarious. Not everything, but so much. I was in awe when watching Mark in action. The man really does try his best. I mean when he's at his best, he's still almost laughable. And I don't mean that in a bad way, but sometimes he is. So many times I feel bad for him also, because the people around him are just, well, not good at all. And you can see the frustration in his face sometimes because of it. You can tell Mark just wants to scream, but yet, the people who are making him want to scream are his family and friend, so he just holds it in. And his best friend Mike, you just can't help but smile every time that guy talks. But man is he fried from his past use of drugs and alcohol. I really hope Mark got his dream, because I haven't even checked. I think he really deserves it though. He's pretty out there, but hell, everyone is different. At least he's a nice guy. It was pretty sad to see him sleeping in a sleeping bag with his 3 children. And anyone who actually tries for their dreams and never quits, even after your own family doesn't believe in you, and aint some evil person, they really do deserve to be happy someday. In the end, the documentary might not be for everyone, but for me I loved it. I think anyone who is even slightly interested in film making or just a big movie person would love it also. P.S. - I didn't get to watch it because someone else was watching this with me, but the feature film of `Coven' is also on the disc for your viewing pleasure.

One of the best Documentaries I've ever seen. I've watched it several times and shown it to friends. It's the story of a regular guy trying to make and sell indie movies. He's got great enthusiasm but no money.

I double dip on film releases if they are something I really enjoy. This is one of those that I didn't have to even think about upgrading from the original Bluray. The transfer looks great and if you want to watch American Movie in the best possible quality, this is going to be the definitive version for years to come.

So nice to have this movie in 4K! And you get to see the full film Mark makes that is called Coven. Please pick this up if you're interested in guerilla film making and also watching a determined soul to do what he is inspired to do. It is sad to know that Mark's best friend Mike Schank in the movie died back in 2022 from cancer. He was only 56.

Cool movie... but... No Bonuses included :( I bought the movie solely for Coven and was very disappointed when I found it wasn't there. My own little christmas present ruined.

Cult Classic!

Bought this for my partner who has been waiting for this film to come out on DVD for years..

This is my favourite film. Its one of the funniest and most feel good films you are ever likely to see. Its got everything, two great main characters who really draw you in, an amazing story and a bittersweet ending. I implore anyone with a vague interest in documentaries to watch this....YOU WON'T REGRET IT!!

Mark Borchardt is an aspiring filmmaker that is struggling to complete his short film 'Coven' whilst indulging his impossible dreams about directing his pet project, a feature film called 'Northwestern', in spite of being in enormous debt. Much praise has to be given to the filmmakers here for managing to create a very good film out of what I can only describe as a rather hopeless individual for a subject. Sure, Borchardt's lyrical waxings about his belief in the American dream and his own desire to succeed are engrossing; but he evidently is all talk as he possesses little actual talent and commitment for his chosen craft, but rather likes the 'idea' of being a revered cinematic poet, when in truth he is just a lazy waster who prefers to sit around drinking beer and getting high whilst living in his parents basement and running up even more debts. So where did it all go wrong for Borchardt? He comes from what seems like a nice family. He has many loyal friends and collaborators that only want to help him achieve his goals. He has three lovely children. He's clearly an intelligent and articulate person possessed by an energy that he's not sure what to do with. Yet, somehow he's developed into a selfish and extremely irresponsible individual that has resorted to taking advantage of his wealthy, but senile, elderly uncle into funding his film-making efforts. As Borchardt's two brothers in the film say: 'Mark's biggest talent is his mouth.' Or in other words he is a gifted BS artist. During the end credits we learn that Borchardt's uncle has since passed away and has left him $50K to complete his dream project - the feature film 'Northwestern'. Well 21 years on from the release of 'American Movie' Mark Borchardt's 'Northwestern' has still failed to materialize, nor any other completed films for that matter, which is quite pathetic really considering the amount money and support he had at his disposal that instead chose to put all his efforts into making his 'public persona' well known to the general public by being the token weirdo 'People Guest' on talk shows such as David Letterman and taking cameos in zero-budget straight-to-video movies. But his greatest claim to fame was his misleading cameo as a filmmaker in an episode of Family Guy. This man is NOT an active filmmaker. But 'American Movie' is still a fine piece of documentary film-making all the same.