Intensity	Stupidity:Nudity Ratio 7:3	Budget Big

Intensity	Stupidity:Nudity Ratio 7:4	Budget Medium

It may have been a mistake to watch these two pretty much back to back, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. You know how one candy bar tastes so good that you decide to have another only to have the taste turn cloying and your stomach start to churn? That is about what happens watching these two too close together.

Anyway starting with the 2005 release, we have Bo and Luke delivering shine for Uncle Jessie just like always. And just like always Luke has an eye for the ladies while Bo only has eyes for the General Lee. After nearly getting shot while making some time with one of the local girls, the boys come home to find that Boss Hog is foreclosing on their land and has planted a still in the barn. It all revolves around an elaborate plot to strip mine Hazzard county. Boss Hogg has scheduled the town hearing during the annual race and brought in a ringer or two to make the race more exciting so that no one attends the hearing on the strip mining. Setting aside the fact that as no one seemed to know about the meeting there was no real need to provide a distraction, the story moves along with the usual lack of logic that you would expect from a movie version of a TV show.

Unfortunately, this version lacks the family cohesiveness from the original show. By exagerating the already exagerated characters from the original, the movie becomes a series of set pieces. Simpson is pretty hot as Daisy, but she only parades around in skimpy outfits, she doesn't really interact with the guys. Luke mostly plays second banana except when there are girls around. Bo states in no uncertain terms that likes his car a lot, in fact, to a degree that I am pretty sure is illegal in Alabama (and most other states as well). So you end up with a series of skits; Luke has a girl throw herself at him, Bo drives the car and talks to it, the boys get in trouble so Daisy gets out her bikini, Uncle Jessie tells a bunch of jokes. While the movie is certainly enjoyable in parts, there is no sense that these people even like each other.

In the 2007 release, we start out with Bo and Luke not living with Uncle Jessie yet. As the group gets reacquainted we get to see them spend time with each other and change. I'd say the characters evolved and grew, but even I can't buy into the story that much. There is much more of a connection between the family members and a lot more interaction between them. We don't even see the General Lee until about 30 minutes into the movie. So the story line in this one is that Boss Hogg is going to foreclose on the farm and is trying to put all the other moonshiners out of business so that he can have a monopoly and sell the stuff at his ice cream parlors. You know, that must be one hell of a mortgage if the Dukes haven't been able to pay it off in 150 years, perhaps crime doesn't pay after all.

Both movies are unrated and include a few F bombs and a fair amount of nudity none of which is supplied by the lead actresses. The 2005 movie got a theatrical release, while the 2007 movie went straight to DVD. This is a pretty standard marketing strategy now. Release a PG-13 version to the theaters, release the DVD as unrated by using the alternate scenes, and then follow up the series with a direct to DVD release. Both discs also have gag reels and deleted scenes including an alternate ending for the 2005 movie. While neither film is terrible, neither are they very good. Both are enjoyable in the right frame of mind, though I find the 2007 movie to be the better of the two.

About Daisy. Catherine Bach had a huge edge on the other girls because she played Daisy for seven seasons and was able to flesh out the character more. (Keep in mind, we are talking about a TV character here.) Jessica Simpson has limited screen time almost all of which is devoted to the sexy side of her character. April Scott at least gets to start off as a "plain jane" before finding her true calling as a babe, so she gets a chance actually act. All three of the girls end up looking like Barbie dolls, their clothes seem to form them rather than their shapes fill out their clothes. Still, I gotta go with Catherine as being my favorite.

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