Writer/director Jared Hess made his feature debut with the "wonderfully offbeat" high school comedy Napoleon Dynamite. It wowed the crowds at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and delighted critics before going on to become a cult hit at the box office. Jon Heder stars as a small-town nerd in this series of deadpan vignettes that's sort of like The Diary Of Adrian Mole, but with an Idaho accent.

Napoleon's Complex

In case you missed it first time around, check out a funny, five-minute wedding sequence after the final credits. Kip (Aaron Ruell) and LaFawnduh (Shondrella Avery) get hitched but it's Napoleon who's cast as the romantic hero by arriving at the party on horseback. In a short making-of featurette, entirely dedicated to this one scene, Heder reveals that he learned expert horsemanship while in the Scouts. Disappointingly there's no behind-the-scenes coverage on the preceding 85 minutes, except for a feature commentary by Heder, writer/director Jared Hess and producer Jeremy Coon.

Thankfully it's an entertaining commentary matching the film for bizarre lines eg Hess explains, "The moon boots that Napoleon wears in the film belong to my wife's Uncle Wally." Indeed the making of Napoleon Dynamite was very much a family affair with Hess pointing out his brothers among the cast of extras. You may also be surprised (and slightly unnerved) to hear that nearly every scene in the film comes directly from his own childhood. For example he admits that, "When I was in middle school, I joined the sign language club because all the other clubs were filled up." You won't be surprised when he adds, "I was the only boy in the club."

A Dynamite Package

There's more commentary for four deleted scenes. Each one is a comic gem, but perhaps the best features Pedro (Efren Ramirez) reliving the trauma of eating a taco possessed by "evil" forces and having to seek out a "holy potato chip" to cure himself. And yes, this too is based on a true story! Hess doesn't claim to have had such an experience, but was told the tale by a friend who served alongside him at the Mission Of The Latter Day Saints in Chicago.

It's a wacky set of extras to say the least, but it's a shame there isn't more behind-the-scenes access. A look at the film's successful debut at the Sundance would also have been a great addition. Nevertheless, Napoleon Dynamite will blow your mind on DVD.

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