Reviews of Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning

[Meadowmufn]

For those of you who've seen Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning, on ABC Family or on DVD, post your reviews here!

[Gibbers]

Well, I came, I saw, I watched....and it was good!

The jokes were funny, the acting was on par with the show (which I KNOW i'm gonna get criticized for saying), and even though the sex and such is all still there (and worse on the DVD - my friend was able to rent it a week early, he works at Movie Gallery) it didn't detract as much as I thought it would from the presentation of the movie itself.

In some details, the freeze-frames that were present in the movie as a tribute to the show are gone, but the Balladeer plays a much bigger role in "The Beginning" than he did in "The Movie" (where he ONLY spoke when the freeze-frame happened)

Cooter wasn't as bad as everyone thought, portrayed as a high school senior who's been a senior three years in row. Enos was played well, but played a much smaller role, first as a hall monitor, then as Deputy Enos. Lulu's made out to be a sex maniac, but Rosco's much more comedic than his film counterpart (but he's still not the Best - pun intended)

The biggest surprise? It has heart. Instead of being merely about a road warrior, a stuntman/ladiesman, and a pretty butt/face, there are some touching scenes including one where Bo catches up to Luke at the county line after a fight and says "I can't follow you across that line. I love it in Hazzard." and he continues on....gets a thumbs-up from me

The toilet humor's still there, the sex gags are still there and it's obvious a lot was cut out of the ABC Family version, but it goes to prove that at its heart, the DOH: The Beginning is really a good tribute to the show. (and it in no way ties itself plotwise into the first movie - thank god)

A small note: I read an article about the screenwriter, and he mentioned that as research for the movie, he watched every episode of the Dukes on DVD (something Chandrasekhar didn't do) and used that as basis for his final script. Smart Guy.

[Divia]

To be honest I was kinda shocked by some of the sex talk in there. Not so much that I care about it but it was on ABC Family. Although I did find it amusing there were many commericals for "the new Family" or something like that. Maybe the new ABC Family channel has a lot more sex

Daisy being ugly and in glasses reminded me of Not another Teen Movie where they have to find the ugliest girl in school and that is of course the girl with overalls and glasses.

Some of it was a bit much. Not enough car chases for me. But it was interesting to see how they tried to use the same forumla as the TV show. Luke has a great idea, they go sneaking around, Daisy uses her sex appeal car chase etc. etc. I wonder what the ratings were and if there will be more.

[TRPColtrane95]

yeah I saw dukes of hazzard movie on ABCFamily and it was awesome and little funny,.. one thing funny about General Lee car where Bo's door is welding, and on side of Luke's door open.. would be both close.. weird of General Lee car. And also funny Bo and Luke drive atv in school hall way?!! funny.. not bad show.. nice..

what about those actors? what think that cool? or Okay?

[MinDuke]

Call me crazy but I didn't 100% hate this movie! Now I know that this might make some of you upset, let me explain. I did wince when I heard about this, most of us did, but that was in part thanks to the way the 2005 Jessica Simpson, Sean William Scott, Johnny Knoxville movie was done. And I will admit seeing the previews for it on the ABC Family with Bo and Luke donning dresses didn't exactly inspire my confidence either. But trying to be as impartial as possible, my husband and I sat down to watch it. I have to admit that though it wasn't what we all grew up with, it was a lot more palatable then the 2005 movie! Though there were some things that I didn't get, like for example why Luke had this obsession with explosives. On the tv show, Luke and Bo did use dynamite arrows, but this Luke's every thought seemed to be centered around TNT, bombs and the uses of nitroglycerin. Bo was his usual hormonal self, but I did see the seed of Bo being the excellent driver we all know being sewn with his behind the wheel antics. LOL After all, great drivers didn't start off great and Bo clearly was no exception.

I did like this Daisy a lot better than Jessica Simpson. April Scott played Daisy the way we all know her, sweet, showing some toughness, a strong sense of family but not the high-heeled almost bully way Jessica portrayed her. Another plus was the fact that Uncle Jesse actually spoke more words this time around instead of just bad jokes.

Chris McDonald was all right as Boss: greedy, chubby and obsessed with money...His plans were up to par as was his framing of his nephew for the crime. LOL He did a lot better job then Burt Reynolds. Rosco had his moments of humor and his puppy was adorable. I did have a flash of James Best when I saw the badge pinned to his robe. Sorry Harland Williams, there's only one Rosco and he ain't you LOL.

Speaking of the family, that is one way in which I thought this one was better than the 2005 movie, these Dukes had a family sense a lot more than the movie did. They did seem to have affection, the boys grappling with each other, their sense of protection for Daisy when she gets her heart broken, wanting to get Uncle Jesse out of the pokey etc. I really liked the fact the boys had a bit of a spat and parted ways briefly. That fight was very much the Bo and Luke that we knew, as was the way they made up. It was a brief very Duke moment that made me turn to my husband and say.. now that's Bo and Luke! He agreed. And yes the movie did have its fill of stuff I expected, sex jokes, toilet humor...and believe it or not, some rather racy humor involving Sherilynn Fenn and poultry!

I can't imagine what the unrated version is going to be like considering all the sex jokes that got left in LOL. But overall, I'd have to say that it wasn't that bad. A decent enough movie that I might even considering buying it when it comes out on DVD. For those of you that may ask why I'd buy it...this movie was a lot closer to the Dukes that we grew up with then the 2005 big screen version.

Will this make those of you that didn't see it buy the DVD? It might or it might not, but just let me say this...don't turn your nose up at it sight unseen. I know I was surprised by it and some of you might be as well.

Jax

[Meadowmufn]

Well, it's about 45 minutes til the end and I've lost interest. Honestly, I lost interest about half an hour ago. It's definitely not "Dukes", but it's better than the crap I expected. Considering how bad I hear the movie was (I haven't brought myself to watch it yet), my expectations were so low, it'd be hard not to succeed in some way. LOL.

If I had kids, I wouldn't let 'em watch it, but as far as teenage or "adult" entertainment, I suppose you could do worse.

Nothing really tied the movie together. I felt like it was all over the place. Perhaps that's why I lost interest. Anyway...

If I had to sum it up in one word, I'd say "Blah".

[DaneyDuke]

Boss's scheme was classic. John Anderson did a very nice version of the theme song. =) And the balladeer sounded like the same one from the 2nd cast reunion movie, the role doesn't seem to be credited on imdb. It had some moments that were decent.

[Meadowmufn]

I must add that I think Flash was the best part of the movie. What a cutie!

[lost_sheep3]

I just finished watching the Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning. And I have to say, I wasn't all that excited about it to start with - it's not one of those things that I was thinking I had to watch, but...I did, and I'm glad!

It wasn't the Duke's as I knew them and loved them - as I still love them - but that's okay. I wouldn't want it to be exactly like the original only with a different cast.

Yes, there were raunchy jokes, bad humor and I have to say it was borderline for what I would consider family. But as others have said, the cast did seem to come together better as "family" this time. They seemed to have a genuine chemistry - not as good as the original, but not as bad as the big screen movie.

I really enjoyed this movie. It made some nods to the original series (the blowing up of the portalets, the way that they got Boss to confess at the end), without taking an episode word for word and remaking it. It was also updated for 2007 in some ways - but they weren't glaring. And I was thrilled to see the reappearance of the CB use - the movie had them using cell phones exclusively - and I hated that.

Overall this was not a bad movie - not the original, but not bad. And I'm all for keeping the Dukes of Hazzard a "living" tv presence.

I will likely be buying this one.

[Lukas_KD]

Reappearance of the CB use, plus an argument for continuing it whatever year they're in.

Like others said, the jokes got a little raunchy for my tastes. But the characters actually weren't bad at all. They even got a few personality quirks of the originals tossed in. "Jesse" gave a pretty good nod to "our" Uncle Jesse this time, honestly... I enjoyed that. And the scenery was very Hazzard-esque. The general feel was very Hazzard-like. Tone it down a rating or so and I'd really like it. As it is, I enjoyed it well enough, except for a couple parts that made me wince.

I think one other thing I enjoyed about it was that it caught some of the "timelessness" of the original series. Like the series, there was enough of the old blended with the new to be able to figure out in what era it was filmed if you tried... but at the same time it didn't date itself into any particular timeframe too much. Just... life. I always liked that about the show.

[Meadowmufn]

By "wince", I'm assuming you mean any scene with Lulu in it. Am I correct? LOL. Cuz that's when *I* winced. So did my hubby. LOL. Actually, he winced through the whole thing. Khee!

Usually our hound will watch Dukes of Hazzard when we watch it on CMT. She wouldn't even be in the same room when the movie was on tonight. LOL. I guess you could surmise her opinion of it.

[Brian Coltrane]

I liked it. It wasn't a masterpiece, but the new cast actually seemed to give a damn this time, and they put something into the characters. Not saying I agreed with everything, but this was a better effort than the 2005 movie.

I wasn't bowled over by the writing. The sex jokes weren't even that good - there was nothing fresh about seeing guys in drag. Or in mishandling a raw turkey.

But there were moments that got a laugh of of me. The humor poked gentle fun at the original series without being mean-spirited about it. (For example, Bo's first hood slide was a resounding failure. Later, after he has his honeymoon drive with the General Lee, he pounces on Luke and Cooter for a hug at the same time, in his zeal. Credit to all three of them for not toppling over in a heap.)

The lack of continuity to the original series on a few fine points will always drive me nuts. Yet, this effort was closer to the mark, and fun enough that I'd watch another episode, if it were on next week.

Brian

[Lukas_KD]

Yes Mufn, those were the parts I meant most, heh...

As for things like the hood slide and pounce, I enjoyed those too. There were points that actually caught certain elements of the original Dukes. Such as Bo's tendency to pounce like that even back then! And Luke's plan-it-till-it-drops approach to life... heheh. And Daisy was much more believable as... well, Daisy, a country girl. Though a few pounds put on would do her good. Overall, the Dukes were pretty good. All the characters did okay except Lulu... gah.

[bink]

i just got done watching it as well.

i do gotta say that this movie was in all ways better than the 2005 one. it did give credit to the show.

buttttt like the 2005 movie, there was a few things that pissed me off about both.

1. put it back in the 70's everything would back. it would work better.

2. the orginal show was a "family" show, yes there was hints about sex, but not american pie meets hazzard county. so if they would have made it more like that it would have done better, diffently by fans.

3. more car chases and what the general was made for...racing, not just mone shine, there was a reason for a number on the side.

anyways beisdes that i did like the new one better. the cast was better. and id watch another one if they came out with it form this cast...and even if they made a tv show from this one....

[edfiero]

I haven't seen the end of the show yet, but please explain if this movie was suppose to be THE BEGINNING, which was obvious with Bo and Luke still in High School, WHY the movie took place in present day and not in the early 70's ??

Also, did any one notice that the p.o.s early 1980's era Datsun that Bo was driving at the beginning of the show had AIR BAGS?? Not real for sure.

[warpedsoul]

I must admit, as an avid DOH fan, I really enjoyed THIS movie; I hated the big screen version. It took me a long time, but I came to grip with the fact that no matter who remakes the Dukes, except for the origional cast, it will never be the same, have sex jokes, and probably take place in modern day. With that said, this was a really good movie. I could have lived without the Lulu sceens, and still want Danny Davito (SP?) as Boss, but other than that, no complaints.

As far as the sex jokes, everything these days has it. Sad to say, but its true. What is worse to say is that it was more tame than the big screen version. But since it didnt involve the origional cast, and present day timing, I can live with the TV version at least. Havent seen the unrated, but I will buy it. I don't know how much cussing will be in the DVD version, but it was better this time around. I hope the DVD doesn't change that part of it. I listen to rap, watch action movies, and even cuss myself, but in some things it doesnt belong and in movies like the 40 year old version, some things can have too much of it.

Bo and Luke dressed in drag didnt bother me. They used it in a right way, to get information to help Uncle Jesse. I can actually see that happening in the original show if drag was a common thing like today.

The Duke family seemed more like a family in this one. They had their troubles, fights, but came together like always.

I like the way the General came to be in this movie. It doesn't stay true to "Happy Birthday General Lee", but it was cool non-the-less. Alot better than the 2005 movie. I didn't like how Luke would open the door to get in, but after all, this is THE BEGINNING, and some things have to evolve. Luke did climb through the window at the end of the movie.

The cast did a great job. They stayed true to the original for the most part. Bo was Bo, Luke was Luke, and Daisy was Daisy. I think improvements are still to be made for Uncle Jesse and Boss Hogg. In my opinion, they got Roscoe right this time around. Bo loved to drive, Luke was the smart one and came to sudden conclusions (i.e. when he placed his hand on the truck to discover what Boss Hogg was actually doing), Daisy used her looks and charm, Uncle Jesse was the center of the family, Boss Hogg was crooked, Roscoe was goofy, Enos was head-over-hills for Daisy, etc.

All in all, I give it two thumbs up. Just keep in mind, I'm rating this knowing that it wont be the same, and differences are going to be there. It seems like alot of research was put into this film, and one person mentioned the director watched all the DVD's.

I made be hated for this, but oh well. If WB was to make a new series of the Dukes, I would want the same cast and story from this movie; just tone down the sex jokes a lil bit, and whala. As much as I love the original and nothing will replace it, if a new series was to come along, I wouldn't want it to be the exact same as the first. I would want some parts of it to be new, and this movie did a good job of that.

[GENERAL CHARGER]

It was decent. Better than the movie even though the tie-ins were all clearly there (opening music, credit sequence, Hazzard police car design) but still not the Dukes.

Bo's actor started off alright, but slowly became a SWS clone. Luke was definitely smarter than Knoxville's take, but still came off retarded. Daisy was a vast improvement over Jessica Simpson, and Willie is still my pick for Jesse even though he's far too amoral for the role. I also didn't like how 90% of the time all the boys thought about was sex, and all the damn sex jokes. Not neccessary.

Rosco wasn't Rosco, he was easily the weakest character while Boss came off almost like an amalgamation of the two versions. I liked the movie's take of Cooter more than this one, and Enos was barely there to really judge but he seemed like good casting.

Now, how they found/fixed the General was just fine. It's the reasons they used that kinda blew. The General was meant to be a race car, not explicitly for moonshine delivery. Also, the car chase scenes were lacking and there was only ONE jump! ONE! One freakin' jump!

If the humor was tweaked, I could probably tollerate this as a show. But it's still not the Dukes.

[fonzi242004]

I think this movie was closer to the original series than the 2005 movie.This new cast was more like the original cast with the exception of Lulu, She acted more like a sex maniac than the food maniac that Peggy portrayed in the original. The deal with Bo finding the General Lee in the creek was kinda weird because they bought the General Lee at the junkyard in the original.I have one question, Where the heck was Cletus in this movie?

Ok enough thoughts about what happened in this movie.I will give this movie 2 thumbs up.

I will be having a poll on my Dukes of Hazzard Yahoo Group probably tonight for yall that are members of it.If not here is the link.

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/DukesStuff

http://www.myspace.com/Dukesstuff2

[Captain D]

I hafta be the black sheep of this forum, lol. I personally was "VERY" dissapointed in this film...I'm glad that it simply came on t.v. because there would be no way that I would want to pay movie ticket prices nowadays to see this...Don't get me wrong, I am a "HUGE" Dukes fan, but this was simply just ridiculous!!!!

Positives: The guy who played Luke, looked a lot like Tom Wopat (even though he sounded like a chipmunk). This new Daisy did A LOT better job than Jessica did in the 2005 movie hands down. And of course, the General looked good. This Roscoe "could" be a "little" better than the 2005 movie Roscoe, but nobody even comes close to James Best. But that's it as far as I can tell.

Negatives: Where do I begin? For starters: Again, they make Bo out to be this retard who couldn't act to save his life, the casting of Cooter was simply a joke, the storyline was extremely dull and slow, they make Uncle Jessie out to be this old perverted drunk...again, poor casting because Willie Nelson can't act to save his life neither, Boss, again, sucked - if they were going to cast anyone close to Sorrel Booke they would have to get Danny DeVito, most and for most....it's a shame that they have to use sooooo much sexual images to sell Dukes or any movie for that matter. Its true that the Duke boys liked women, but come on!!! They put it on WAY TOO THICK! Last, but not least, the stunts and visuals with the General simply sucked. They spent way too much time showing how horny teenagers (again - who can't act) get excited than showing good visuals with the General. And again, here we see Bo & Luke against the law as reckless yahoos. The original Duke boys weren't against the law, they just were against Boss' and Roscoe's schemes! Everything involved was simply so cheap and cheesy.

In conclusion...I feel that people nowadays (not saying anyone here) miss the meaning of what the Dukes represent. How many t.v. shows today actually have the family, as a whole, sit down together for a meal as a family? Especially saying grace before they eat?!? The Dukes represent a slice of Americana where the simple life is present without all the hipe of today's "fast-food" form of living. They worked the land from the heart and that brought them closer to each other and to God. They were good ol' boys. Period. These two new movies (2005 and the "Beginning") are just ridiculing those values of everything that the original Dukes of Hazzard represented.

I say let there be two simple options:

A.) The only Dukes movies to be made are those starring John Schneider & Tom Wopat as the Duke boys.

B.) Without these two men...I would rather let the Dukes of Hazzard R.I.P. forever rather than for modern low-valued filmmakers & actors to come in and ridicule what the Dukes of Hazzard truly represents to America.

Just my 0.2 cents worth.

Aaron D.

[Julieduke]

Reappearance of the CB use, plus an argument for continuing it whatever year they're in.

Like others said, the jokes got a little raunchy for my tastes. But the characters actually weren't bad at all. They even got a few personality quirks of the originals tossed in. "Jesse" gave a pretty good nod to "our" Uncle Jesse this time, honestly... I enjoyed that. And the scenery was very Hazzard-esque. The general feel was very Hazzard-like. Tone it down a rating or so and I'd really like it. As it is, I enjoyed it well enough, except for a couple parts that made me wince.

I think one other thing I enjoyed about it was that it caught some of the "timelessness" of the original series. Like the series, there was enough of the old blended with the new to be able to figure out in what era it was filmed if you tried... but at the same time it didn't date itself into any particular timeframe too much. Just... life. I always liked that about the show.

I am looking forward to buying it March 20th myself.

[TimDuke]

No Captain D you aren't the only blacksheep.Everyone here probably knows how I feel on this piece of garbage so I won't go any further. I agree the cast looked better and the General Lee always looks good. Other than that trash.

[Divia]

Did you even watch the movie?

Anyway. I would be interested to see how well it did. And if WB would dare to a series. And I agree this Daisy was much better than Jessica Simpson. I thought she was really good.

[TRPColtrane95]

it was awesome yeah Daisy better than Jessica I agree that too.. and Willie not bad at all as well.. so I plan get DVD as well next two week..

[TimDuke]

Yes I watch it Divia till about 9:20. All my stomach could handle. I think Captain D summed it up pretty well but I bet someone with the same rank as him probably loved it if I'm guessing right.

[bethie88]

I was pretty impressed with this movie. Granted, there were the sexual things and all, but over all, this cast really did a good job. There were times when I'd look at Randy Wayne as Luke and swear he could have been related to Tom Wopat. I was so glad to see Daisy as a sweet little brunette with a brain instead of an idiot. April Scott was great.

I have to say that when I first saw the pictures of Jonathan Bennett, I didn't think he could pull Bo off, but he did. Some of the things he said could have come right from John Schneider's mouth.

I think my favorite scene was the hood-slide... It was great!

I didn't like the way they portrayed Lulu, but hey... not everything was going to be perfect.

The southern accents were really not that bad, and I liked Enos alot.

One thing I didn't like was that Cooter's part was a bit over acted. But overall, I appreciated it. I wasn't expecting a copy of the show, but I did think it was really a good tribute and something that we as Duke fans can enjoy and appreciate.