Sex on the Beach - Blu-Ray

Movie: Finally, vacation! Having survived their final year of school, friends Will (Simon Bird), Simon (Joe Thomas), Jay (James Buckley) and Neil (Blake Harrison) want to celebrate their successful graduation together in Crete. Away from their parents, away from the schoolmates they have been teased by for years. Only sun, beach, parties, alcohol and of course sex with hot chicks is the order of the day on this vacation. But these dreams are shattered as soon as the boys arrive at their holiday home, which turns out to be a run-down flophouse. And the friends don't really go down well with the ladies either, especially since they hardly miss an opportunity to put their foot in their mouths. But a big boat party could bring the hoped-for turnaround and the longed-for holiday flirt. But getting the tickets for these exclusive parties is a difficult undertaking, which even threatens to break the friendship of the four.

Sex on the Beach is the cinema sequel to the British comedy series The Inbetweeners, which ran very successfully in the UK for three seasons. Unsurprisingly, the cinema version was also a real box office hit in the UK, becoming one of the most successful comedies of the last decade. A US remake of the series is about to be launched on MTV (with a different cast, of course, but with the same creative team behind it) and a US version is also planned for the feature film. The huge success of the theatrical comedy was then probably the reason why the film also made it to our cinemas under a German title completely detached from the series, although The Inbetweeners has not (yet) been shown on TV in this country and the first season will only be released in German stores with the home cinema release of the theatrical film.

While this rather raunchy comedy is not necessarily necessary to know the series. But who knows the sometimes refreshing biting wit and the high degree of self-irony of the series, will be able to recognize it in the film. Those coming into contact with the Inbetweeners for the first time here, however, are unlikely to recognize what made the series so successful, as it is almost entirely smothered under countless tastelessness and stale zingers in the film adaptation.

And so the film then seems to be little more than another American Pie clone, presenting faeces and other bodily fluids but coming across as almost prudish again in the titular Sex on the Beach. This not only comes across as incongruous, but almost a little mendacious. But apart from that, the question arises whether the film has more to offer than flat unsavouriness? The answer is clearly yes. Because as in the series, the joke of the film often lies hidden in the off-commentary of head nerd Will. Because there the behavior of the protagonists is sometimes surprisingly clever and biting commentary that it loses some of its Fremdschämcharakter and sometimes even seems really funny.

Sex on the Beach is not as shallow as it seems in the trailer. But to the wit and charm of the series (at least the first season) the comedy unfortunately does not come close. Therefore, if you can still laugh at the typical American Pie humor, you might also enjoy this trip to Crete - and should definitely watch the series afterwards. But if you can laugh less at crude fecal humor and sex jokes, you should rather go to the nearest cocktail bar and enjoy a Sex on the Beach - that will be more fun, guaranteed.

Picture + Sound: The technical implementation of the Blu-Ray is on a good level, although alone genre-related no great revelation should be expected. The picture is very clean, the colors very strong, the warm tones atmospheric and the overall sharpness more than satisfactory. Contrary to what is stated on the cover of the Blu-ray, the audio is in German as well as the original 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix. This one is less than spectacular, however, as the surround channels are only used by the music during the scenes in clubs and are otherwise only used by minor ambient noises. The rest is determined by the rather frontally mixed dialogue. For a comedy, however, this is absolutely sufficient and therefore there is also a deserved: good!

Extras: The Blu-Ray has over three hours of bonus material to offer. The first episode of the series The Inbetweeners - Our Virgin Years (approx. 21 min.) can still be viewed in German or in the original English sound. The other extras are only available in English and unfortunately do not have optional subtitles. Who has a decent knowledge of English, but comes here fully at his expense. It starts with a 63 minute long Making of, which traces the filming in England and Mallorca in great detail and partly also quite funny.

Further it goes with some short cut scenes (about 11 min.) and outtakes (about 13 min.). Also included exclusively on the Blu-ray is an amusing video diary of the cast (approx. 44 min.), as well as three featurettes on the world premiere in London (approx. 11 min.), the stunt training (approx. 14 min.) and on some crazy actions the cast used to pass the time instead of practicing their lines (approx. 10 min.). An all-around successful bonus package, whose positive overall impression is only slightly marred by the lack of subtitles. Nevertheless, there is for this aspect of the Blu-Ray a: very good!

Conclusion: Sex on the Beach is not a film for the finicky. The rather raunchy American Pie-style comedy doesn't have the charm of the series it's based on, and many a gag literally goes off the rails. Nevertheless, this holiday trip has not only flat zoten, but also enjoy some really funny moments, which makes the film on balance for friends of the genre well worth seeing. The Blu-ray is technically well implemented, the bonus material is extensive, amusing and makes by the addition of the pilot episode also great desire for the first season of the series The Inbetweeners, which is released at the same time. Therefore, if you like it a little coarser and can also laugh at relentless fecal humor, you can safely enjoy this Sex on the Beach.

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp