An 'orgasmic' DVD release

It was nine years ago that "Orgazmo," the brainchild of "the 'South Park' guys" Trey Parker and Matt Stone, was shot and completed. Cursed with an NC-17 rating and released independently, it was received coldly by filmgoers in 1997. Perhaps that's not a bad thing, as a movie like this is best viewed on DVD anyway.\nThe movie follows Joe Young, played by Parker himself, a Mormon assigned to mission work in Los Angeles. Suspension of disbelief is required when Joe accepts a role in a porno film for $20,000 -- money he'll use to marry his goody-two-shoes fiancée Lisa (Robyn Lynne Raab) in the Mormon temple and start their life together. Of course, being a good Mormon, he is provided with a stunt phallus to avoid actually participating in the unholy acts taking place in the film. Obviously, much of the humor comes from the absurdity of watching this sheltered manchild as he's emersed in the seedy underworld of the L.A. pornography industry.\nOf course, "Orgazmo's" goal is not be realistic. Its goal is to be funny, ridiculous at times, and it achieves its goal completely. Despite its original NC-17 rating, "Orgazmo" isn't a nudie fest -- which is surprising considering the number of actual porn stars that take part in the film, including Chasey Lain and the legendary Ron Jeremy. This may not be a movie for porn fans, unless they can see the humor in a movie about porn with no nudity. While the DVD includes an "unrated" version, don't expect additional nudity -- I actually had trouble distinguishing between the two despite the fact that the "unrated" version runs two minutes longer. \nHowever, the DVD is worth picking up for the special features alone. Parker fans are familiar with his infamous CWI (Commentary While Intoxicated), but don't expect serious discussion of cinematography -- the cast and crew, including Parker, a relatively silent Stone, Dian Bachar (aka "Little Bitch" of BASEketball) and others watch the film and reminisce while playing a drinking game. As it progresses and they become more intoxicated the conversation disintegrates into a whiney Parker insisting on quitting the commentary and heading out to a strip club. The deleted scenes and outtakes, apparently recorded on the same night, are complete chaos. By the time they get to deleted scenes, most of the conversation is Parker drunkenly proclaiming, "This is totally sweet! Why did you guys let me cut this?!" I know, it sounds terrible, but somehow for this film it works well and comes off nothing short of hilarious.\nAlso included in the DVD are a documentary about Parker and Stone's early work, including "Cannibal: The Musical," a behind-the-scenes featurette and almost an hour of interviews with the cast, crew and filmmakers. While all of these features are informative and entertaining (who knew Ron Jeremy is a narcoleptic), the additional two commentaries are best left skipped. The third commentary, which they call "Wild Commentary," may seem intriguing, boasting the presence of Kevin Smith, Bob Odenkirk and David Cross of "Mr. Show" and "South Park's" writing staff among others, it's choppy and boring as it's split into separate 15 to 20 minute segments for each contributor. In fact, at the end of Smith's portion, which is literally phoned in, he admits to never having seen the film.\nFor "South Park" fans, "Orgazmo" is worth a try. But it's best to keep your expectations low and watch it for what it is: a glimpse at the as yet undeveloped talent of a team that would someday become geniuses.