Clerks III (Lionsgate) Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook 4K Blu-ray Review + 1080p Screenshots + Packaging Shots

Kevin Smith has given us his most emotional film yet with Clerks III and Lionsgate has given us an awesome 4K blu-ray release with tons of special features and great picture and audio.

Studio: Lionsgate
Release Date: September 13th, 2022 (theatrical) / December 6th, 2022 (4K blu-ray)
Run Time: 1 hour 40 minutes 1 second
Region Code: FREE (4K blu-ray), A (locked) (2K blu-ray)
Picture: 2160p (1.90:1 aspect ratio) (4K blu-ray), 1080p (1.90:1 aspect ratio) (2K blu-ray)
Sound: English Dolby Atmos, English Dolby TrueHD 7.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1

HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Slipcover: Yes
Digital Copy: Yes
Starring: Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Trevor Fehrman, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Rosario Dawson
Written by Kevin Smith
Directed by Kevin Smith
Rating: R (pervasive language, crude sexual material, and drug content)

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Poster

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What's It About?

Dante, Elias, and Jay and Silent Bob are enlisted by Randal after a heart attack to make a movie about the convenience store that started it all.

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Video/Audio

Presented in the film's original aspect ratio of 1.90:1, and sourced from a 4K DI, CLERKS III looks great. Detail is high as it would be something shot with a RED camera. Colors are good, but this isn't an overly colorful film. Skin tones look accurate and detail is high. The HDR balances colors while giving us deep blacks and nice whites.

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Extras/Packaging

Introduction by Kevin Smith (2m 14s, 1.78:1) This plays before the menu comes up and features the regular Kevin Smith intro.

Audio Commentary with Writer / Director Kevin Smith, and Actors Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Trevor Fehrman and Austin Zajur

The Clerks III Documentary (1h 36m, HD, 1.90:1) A mixture of fly on the wall behind the scenes stuff and interview stuff. I had a really fun time with this one. I kind of like more humble Kevin Smith as opposed to before his heart attack Kevin Smith. There is also some footage for scenes that were shot that are not included in the deleted scenes section of the blu-ray.

We're Not Even Supposed to Be Here Today: 3 Decades of Clerks (1h 15m, HD, 1.78:1) Here we have a look back at the three decades we have had of Clerks with many of the people who were involved in the making of these films. Like the previous doc, this thing is a lot of fun and a breeze to get through.

Deleted and Alternate Scenes (29m 30s, HD, 1.90:1) There is some good stuff here. I do wish that some of this stuff had made it into the film.

Theatrical Trailer (1m 56s, HD, 1.90:1)

Lionsgate, for some reason, has only made CLERKS III available on 4K blu-ray through an exclusive deal with Best Buy. They have done this in the past with films like DIRTY DANCING and RAN, but this is a new release so I am not sure what the thinking on this one was. This is a SteelBook release and a nice one to boot. There is a plastic see-through slipcover that features Jay and Silent Bob in front of Dante and Radall. When you remove the slip, you reveal Rosario Dawson standing next to Dante. The back of the SteelBook has some more scenes from the film. All of this is done in a nice art style. The back of the slipcover gives us a synopsis of the film, special features listing, and a credits block at the bottom. Inside the SteelBook you will find two discs (a 4K blu-ray and a blu-ray) with artwork taken from the front cover. The interior artwork is actually a nice look at the main setting of the film. Also included is a digital copy slip that you can redeem on Apple TV or VUDU.

The 4K blu-ray is REGION FREE while the blu-ray disc is REGION A (locked)

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Overall

Kevin Smith has made one of his best and most heartfelt films with CLERKS III. I saw this in the theatre after not watching anything past the first trailer and I was glad that I did. The film has some really funny moments but also has some sad ones too. I did not expect the film to go in the direction that it went and I thought the film was better for it.

Kevin Smith has always been the king of special features going back to THE VIDEO STORE DAYS and laserdisc (where I first discovered audio commentaries). Every one of his films (minus YOGA HOSERS) has contained multiple special features and this release is no different. We get an addictive commentary track, a feature length making of doc, a doc about the legacy of CLERKS and a ton of deleted scenes. This is a 4K blu-ray release that deserves to be on your shelf.

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Extras/Menus