Product Description

Riotous, raunchy coming-of-age romp focuses on four high school seniors who make a pact to lose their virginity by graduation. Their attempts--ranging from awkward Jason Biggs' Internet-broadcast encounter with foreign exchange student Shannon Elizabeth to jock Chris Klein's joining a singing club to impress studious Mena Suvari--teach the boys hilarious lessons about love. With Thomas Ian Nicholas, Natasha Lyonne, Alyson Hannigan and Tara Reid. 96 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital Surround; Subtitles: Spanish; audio commentary; outtakes; DVD-ROM content; production notes; theatrical trailer.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11823 in DVD
• Brand: Universal
• Model: 025192073526
• Released on: 1999-12-21
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 8.00" h x 4.00" w x 6.00" l, .50 pounds
• Running time: 95 minutes

Amazon.com
Anyone who's watched just about any teenage film knows that the greatest evil in this world isn't chemical warfare, ethnic cleansing, or even the nuclear bomb. The worst crime known to man? Why, virginity, of course. As we've learned from countless films--from Summer of '42 to Risky Business--virginity is a criminal burden that one must shed oneself of as quickly as possible. And while many of these films have given the topic a bad name, American Pie quietly sweeps in and gives sex some of its dignity back. Dignity, you may say? How can a film that highlights intercourse with fruit pies, premature ejaculation broadcasted across the Internet, and the gratuitous "gross-out" shots restore the dignity of a genre that's been encumbered with such heavyweights as Porky's and Losin' It? The plot may be typical, with four high school friends swearing to "score" by prom, yet the film rises above the muck with its superior cast, successful and sweet humor, and some actually rather retro values about the meaning and importance of sex. Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, and Eddie Kaye Thomas make up the odd quartet of pals determined to woo, lie, and beg their way to manhood. The young women they pursue are wary girlfriend Vicky (Tara Reid), choir girl Heather (Mena Suvari), band geek Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), and just about any other female who is willing and able. Natasha Lyonne as Jessica, playing a similar role as in Slums of Beverly Hills, is the general adviser to the crowd (when Vicky tells her "I want it to be the right time, the right place," Jessica responds, "It's not a space shuttle launch, it's sex"). The comedic timing hits the mark--especially in the deliberately awkward scenes between Jim (Biggs) and his father (Eugene Levy). And, of course, lessons are learned in this genuinely funny film, which will probably please the adult crowd even more than it will the teenage one. --Jenny Brown

From The New Yorker
Four senior boys at a Michigan high school decide to end their status as virgins and undergo various erotic adventures-some ridiculous or humiliating, some gratifying-which they then relate to one another. The writer, Adam Herz, and the team of Paul and Chris Weitz (the first directs, the second produces) aim low and score. "American Pie" is often funny (one sequence involving a beautiful foreign-exchange student, a horny boy, and broadcasting over the Internet is classic), but you may come out depressed by it. The coarseness in itself is not offensive, but the notion that privacy couldn't possibly be a value that matters to anyone is. With a bevy of young actors, of whom Chris Klein, as a soft-voiced lacrosse player, is by far the most charming. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker