“America is all about speed. Hot, nasty, bad ass speed”. This (fake) quote from Eleanor Roosevelt sums up America’s fascination and lust for speed. To give you an idea of how popular NASCAR racing is in America, the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama has seating for 175 000 spectators! By comparison the largest NFL stadium in Washington, D.C. can only accommodate 80,000 spectators.
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby tells the story of Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) who was born in the backseat of his Dad’s speeding car. The dope-smoking Reese Bobby, Ricky’s dad (Gary Cole) skips out on the family and Ricky grows up treasuring the only bit of wisdom his father left him — “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”
Ricky and his best friend, Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly), become drivers for the Wonder Bread NASCAR racing team and are soon known as the “Shake ‘n Bake” duo. Ricky becomes NASCAR’s most popular driver, and enjoys the fruits of his labour, amassing an obscene amount of money, a bleached-blond trophy wife, and two cute (but utterly rude) sons Walker and Texas Ranger.
Ricky’s perfect world is about to hit a speed bump. Hit the jump to see where it goes.
Ricky’s happy world is about to crumble when a flashy new opponent, macchiato-drinking gay Formula 1 driver Jean Girard (Sasha Baron Cohen), threatens to take his NASCAR crown. Jean outclasses Ricky, driving him to post-crash hysteria. Ricky loses everything — his speed, his job, his wife — and moves in with his mother. Demoralized, Ricky becomes a pizza delivery guy, and one day happens to deliver pizza to his father. Reese helps Ricky face his demons and prepares him for a return to the Talladega Superspeedway where Ricky will have to face off against Jean for the right to be #1…
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby has a run time of 121 minutes and is rated 10(L). This Blu-ray release presents the film re-mastered in High Definition (HD) and comes with special features including:
- Deleted and extended scenes
- Gag reel — various missed takes
- Ricky & Cal’s Commercials
- Will Ferrell returns to Talladega
- Line-O-Rama — a compilation of the film’s best one-liners
- Interview with the actors
- Bonus race footage — a montage of the film’s best car accidents
- Walker, Texas Ranger — a montage of the actors who play Ricky’s kids
- Commentary with director and actor Ian Roberts
- Trailers
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby was kindly supplied for review by Nelmari Claassens, SterKinekor Home Entertainment Marketing Manager for Sony Pictures. Go to www.bluraydisc.co.za to view the latest Blu-ray news, reviews and competitions featured on SterKinekor Home Entertainment’s newsletter. Sony Pictures can be found on the Web at www.sonypictures.com.
