Already HAVING bought myself a copy of the original Barry McKenzie film The Adventures Of Barry McKenzie, you can imagine how happy I was to score this DVD for review. My Bazza collection is now complete! I really love this series, as I cant take Humphries ocker creation as seriously as other reviewers might. Certainly at the time of the films release in 1974, it seems that the film arts community was firmly divided about it. The insightful documentaries provided in the extras on this DVD point to this sense of unease. People either loved or hated the film, and those who hated the film were itching to crucify Humphries (creator and co-writer) and Beresford (director and co-writer) for what they felt was a disgraceful representation of the Australian male, at a time when our shiny happy profile was just emerging internationally. Lets face it, what would the world make of this brutish antipodean caveman? It is an undeniably controversial little film, but I would have to say that I am proud of it. If this isnt a prime example of Australias (much touted) ability to be able to laugh at ourselves, then Ill give up on the idea once and for all! Then again, maybe things have changed sine the 1970s! I hope so, judging by the medias oh-so-serious approach to the film as evidenced by the 50 minute documentary in the extras.

So  to the story! This film actually tries to sustain one, unlike its more episodic predecessor, and I think it succeeds, more importantly. Yes its wacky and far-fetched, but it could hardly work as anything else. Whats more it provides opportunities for Barry to insult as many nationalities as possible as he makes his way through Europe. The one-liners come thick and fast, trust me! Take a deep breath, suspend your disbelief, and off we go!

Barry McKenzie (Barry Crocker) and his beloved Aunty Edna (Barry Humphries) are off to their ancestral home, England, as is the wont of all dutiful convict settlers. En-route with Frogair (one of the better overall scenes in the film) a plot is hatched by two dodgy-looking fellow passengers to kidnap a tiara-clad Edna once she gets to England, as they mistake her for the Queen. Figuring that her presence in their little-known Transylvanian province (complete with vampires) will boost tourism, she is snatched from a London street and spirited away. In her own quaint style, Edna is oblivious to the precarious nature of her situation, merely thinking herself an important guest, so crazy misunderstandings are constantly occurring between her and her vampiric host, Count Erich Plasma. These scenes are also quite good, I think. Once he realises her true identity, he becomes obsessed with bottling her blood as a fine Australian addition to his world-class cellar. And its all up to Barry McKenzie and his beer-swilling band of aussie cronies to save her. There are many raunchy, offensive and totally suspect scenes in the playing out of all this, and I really doubt whether a film like this could be made today. Of course, this only makes me like it more as a unique piece of cinematic history never to be repeated.

Ill finish by saying that one of the best things about this film is the brief appearance of our then Prime Minister and his wife, Gough and Mrs Whitlam (Gough was later to be knighted) who bestow the great honour of Damehood upon our humble Edna. Presumably for her bravery in the face of hostility! Its cultural history in the making  I love the scene! Are there any other heads of state, I wonder, who have so gamely lent their support to the Australian film industry? I think the idea behind this was inspired!

THE EXTRAS

The extras on this collectors edition DVD are really interesting  the best Ive seen from Madman/AV Channel since Ghosts..Of The Civil Dead. Apart from the basics (scene selection, trailers, TV spots and Umbrella propaganda) you also get an audio commentary by Barry Crocker, 20 minutes of LITERALLY behind-the-scenes footage which is a unique perspective on the brass tacks making of a film (focusing mainly on the films early aeroplane scene), and two documentaries which explore the impact of this film on the Australian film industry then and now.

Barry Humphries Gives Us The Good Oil is a 30 minute mini-doco, filmed in 2003, where a much older Humphries, with the benefit of hindsight, reminisces about the creation of Barry McKenzie, originally as a comic strip character during his London years. We also discover the connection between Humphries, McKenzie and legendary English comedian Peter Cook, who appeared in the original film The Adventures Of Barry McKenzie.

Barry McKenzie: Ogre Or Ocker is a 50 minute documentary made around the time of the films release in 1974, and features priceless interviews with both Barry Humphries and a newly damed Edna Everage. It is amazing how seriously square our interviewers were in the 70s! Maybe national pride was at stake, or something? They seem singularly determined to get Barry Humphries to admit that the character of Barry McKenzie is his personal view of the average Australian male, which he clearly avoids doing, and it sure is amusing watching him play semantics with the hapless and uber-nerdy interviewers. Also of interest is an interview with one other journalist-cum-film critic of the time who I suspect speaks for a large section of the film arts community in relation to this film  he loathes it, and Humphries along with it. Im happy to say that Humphries gets a chance to respond, without naming names, to this attack, but its clear that his response is aimed at this guy specifically  his name escapes me, but is not critical to the point. I do love a good bitchfight!

Finally, there are occasional subtitles that automatically crop up whilst watching the film - to help the uninitiated through the more difficult sections of Bazzaspeak  the extras have thought of everything! An exceptional extras section, but there are essentially NO other subtitle language options, which I think is a shame, and stops me from giving top points in this section.

CONCLUSION

I cant help but love this film  the politically correct will be shocked at the crudeness and shameless stereotyping  you have been warned! As the sequel to the original The Adventures Of Barry McKenzie (which cant yet be hired or bought off the shelf in DVD format in Australia to my knowledge  go figure!) these films are Australian cult classics. Imagine the possibilities in this storyline. Barry and his band of aussie goons have to save his beloved Aunty Edna from the clutches of a transylvanian vampire  Count Erich Plasma  who has kidnapped her in the mistaken belief that she is Queen Elizabeth, all in the name of promoting tourism to their little-known Eastern European province! Theres a little bit of everything (that constitutes bad taste) in this, described in the trailers as Australias first dramatic comedy adventure mystery musical, and every foreign-national that Barry encounters cops a battering. I do like the fact that its so shameless  even the DVD cover features the words VULGAR, TASTELESS and SMUTTY in big print as a selling point for the DVD! So why not forever shatter your mums romantic illusions about our very own cheesy Aussie crooner, tie her to a lounge chair, and expose her to a side of Barry Crocker that theyve (likely) never seen before! I guarantee you it will be one of those priceless Mastercard moments. This DVD package comes highly recommended, with great extras; love him or hate him, Barry McKenzies part of Australian film history. Just so you know that I mean what I say, I bought the original Barry film as mentioned above from an overseas DVD sales company in the UK at great cost just so I could get my hands on a copy.