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 Producers
: Ty Beeson and Ray Laticia.
Starring
: Rufus Hannah, Donald Brennan, Todd Richard Lewis, Angela
Taylor, Bling-Bling.
Picture
4:3 Full-frame, DD 2.0, Single-Layer, Keep Case
Running
Time : 56 mins
The
story:
A
star is born.
Follow
the antics of The Bumfight Krew (BFK) as they cruise the
West Coat in search of tramps, vagrants or 'bums' as they're
affectionately known, to star in this shockumentary. Star
of the show is 'Rufus the stunt bum' who after years of
sleeping rough, suddenly finds himself in Jackass-style
employment alongside supermodel Angela Taylor. Also starring
is 'The Bum Hunter' and 'Bling-Bling' the crack-dealer!
The summary:
Fans
of CKY or Jackass might already be aware of Bumfights, but
for the uninitiated, this is the latest pretender to the
controversial twisted-pranks market. Whilst similar in style
and content to the big two, the major difference with Bumfights
is that the producers make no attempt to seek fame by performing
the stunts themselves, but instead entice street-bums to
do the dirty work for them. Although it's called Bumfights,
only about half the footage actually involves bums, with
the other half made up of footage of random street fights
and brawls contributed through the Bumfights website. So
more like Bums and Fights then. Jackass was condemned as
immoral bad-taste TV and held responsible for all of society
problems, so quite what these critics make of Bumfights
is anyone's guess. Bumfights takes the principle of Jackass
to the extreme, sticks two-fingers up at the establishment
and exploits the homeless unfortunates purely for the purpose
of it's own gain.
So
we've established that morally at least, Bumfights is probably
unacceptable in today's politically-correct world, but as
we all know, right or wrong there's a market for everything
these days. I don't really consider the poor little lamb
as I tuck into a chop and likewise, you could always take
the view that these 'bums' are really the winners with their
new-found employment and fame. Given time, they'd probably
have beaten themselves up anyway, and in any-case, legal
proceedings aside they seem happy enough. So that's that
justified then, so what exactly is Bumfights all about?
As
mentioned above, there's a lot of footage of various fights
taking place, but these fights are of the 'no holds barred'
variety and if the sight of someone being kicked in the
head or stamped on unnerves you, then you might as well
quit now. Fitting in around this footage is various 'bum'
segments, including the hilarious Bum Hunter. In an obvious
parody of Crocodile Hunter, Todd
Richard Lewis sneaks up on unsuspecting bums and with a
quick flick of his duct tape and cable-ties, he renders
them harmless whilst he carries out his studies. Equally
hilarious are the various characters we're introduced to
throughout the film: Bling-Bling the crack dealer is clearly
off his trolley but makes surprisingly good entertainment.
Donnie gets himself a 'Bumfights' tattoo across his forehead,
something which I somehow doubt he'll ever be sober enough
to regret. And of course, dear old Rufus, who is on a personal
mission to become the Steve-O of his generation. In-between
these, supermodel Angela Taylor poses for the camcorder,
which doesn't really fit in with anything else but it does
at least provides a moment of visual relief.
There's
very little we can say about the disc, other than it's functional.
Home video footage is never going to be great quality but
it's perfectly acceptable for a DVD of this nature. No
extras though, which is a bit of a shame considering that
Bumfights was three-years in the making. Perhaps the BFK
didn't want to incriminate themselves any more than they'd
already done. If you hate Jackass then avoid Bumfights at
all costs, but if you decide you're up to the task, then
love it or hate it, it's an experience you wont forget in
a hurry!
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