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Sausage Party features lots of rudeness as sausages meet buns, causing much innuendo, which made me feel that the number of ideas were so thin in the trailer that I was amazed it lasted two-and-a-half minutes. It began as a typical CGI movie where various items of food were bought in a supermarket – thinking they were being taken to a utopia known as The Great Beyond – but were actually taken home to be cooked, so were opened up and, for example, a potato is de-skinned and it swears a lot in return, due to the pain. Wonderful(!) Even a Saving Private Ryan spoof looked to show that it really proved that the well of ideas in Hollywood has truly run dry.
However, while it looked like it sucked big-time in the trailer, I understood from Mark Kermode’s cinema review, at the time, that this changed tack dramatically after the first act… It didn’t, unless that takes into account some of the items wandering about the store, encountering various condiments who paraphrase from various movies as a way of getting their apparent humour across.
Other attempts at jokes include Seth Rogen‘s sausage, Frank, getting across to Kristen Wiig‘s bun, Brenda, about how he’s effectly a one-woman man by using the term “bunogamy” (aka monogamy, for the hard of thinking), and elsewhere, rather than get Woody Allen, they’ve got Edward Norton doing an impression of Woody Allen, as Sammy Bagel Jr. I really couldn’t understand what the point of him was, as he added nothing other than a lame impression. Norton is so much better.
Sausage Party has some decent animation at times, such as when the sausages – and other items – are in danger in the kitchen and one or two other places, giving a Tom & Jerry feel on occasion. But that’s the only positive I can really give it.
I don’t feel any hatred or animosity towards Sausage Party that I did for Wiig’s godawful Ghostbusters reboot, but I just feel complete… nothing. It washes over me with a minute chuckle here and there, but no more than that. It’s not in any way offensive (unless you find swear words offensive – and if you do, then you wouldn’t be watching this)
Finally, it’s been claimed that this is the highest-grossing R-rated animated comedy of all time… but there isn’t exactly much in the way of modern competition. Even if there was anything gross out from the ’70s or ’80s, the fact of inflation will boost the current movies over the older ones.
The film is presented in the original 1.85:1 widescreen ratio and in 1080p high definition and you’d be surprised if it was not a top-notch transfer for a brand new film, showing off the animation to great effect.
There’s some decent DTS 5.1 split-surround effects in the supermarket at the start as the camera zooms around, and later when a character has a drug-induced psychotic episode. Beyond that, it’s all fine, but nothing to get too excited about.
The extras are as follows and highlight why the overall package is rated 18, even though the film is a 15-certificate:
- Good Food Gag Reel (7:29): Studio video of when the cast stray off-script. Some of it is clearly relating to ruder footage not in the movie, which indicates – deceivingly – why the box has an 18-certificate slapped on it, while the film’s just a 15-cert. I imagine this is down to footage shown here of anal beads being pulled out of the rear of Brenda, plus some other sexual elements in the subsequent extras.
- Shock And Awe: How Did This Get Made? (5:11): A question that needs to be asked… but it’s just a bog-standard ‘making of’, including how they thought they’d never get an animated adult movie made.
- The Booth (9:28): The recording booth? Presumably, but it’s just an excuse for more chat that may as well have been part of the ‘making of’.
- Line-o-rama (4:57): More alternate lines recorded.
- The Great Beyond (4:01): Scoring the leads song in teh film.
- The Pitch (2:33): A 4:3 piece about how to pitch a movie, recorded for MTV Canada. Quite why it’s in 4:3, God only knows.
- Seth Rogen’s Animation Imaginatorium (1:05): The longest title amongst the extras, but the shortest piece. This is a preview of the film filmed in a spoof 1950s-style.
- Previews: Trailers for the Ghostbusters reboot and The Night Before, which are also on the disc before the main menu, so why they aren’t just here, again, God only knows.
- Audio description: Does exactly what it says on the tin.
The menu features a static shot of the ‘cast’ set against a piece of the score, there are subtitles in English and Polish, and there are 16 chapters, which is approximately just enough as I go by the rule of thumb of one every five minutes.
Sausage Party is released today on Blu-ray, 4K Blu-ray and DVD, and click on the packshot for the full-size image.
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FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
1 10 8 4 |
| OVERALL | 6 |
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 89 minutes
Studio: Sony Pictures
Cat.no.: PRJ836049BD
Year: 2016
Released: December 5th 2016
Chapters: 16
Picture: 1080p High Definition
Sound: DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Languages: English
Subtitles: English SDH, Polish
Format: 1.85:1 (D-Cinema)
Disc Format: BD50
Directors: Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon
Producers: Megan Ellison, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen and Conrad Vernon
Writers: Kyle Hunter, Ariel Shaffir, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and Jonah Hill
Music: Christopher Lennertz and Alan Menken
Cast:
Barry: Michael Cera
Frank / Sergeant Pepper: Seth Rogen
Brenda: Kristen Wiig
Carl: Jonah Hill
Teresa Del Taco: Salma Hayek
Troy: Anders Holm
Honey Mustard: Danny McBride
Druggie: James Franco
Firewater / Tequila / El Guaco: Bill Hader
Darren: Paul Rudd
Mariachi Salsa / Gefilte Fish: Alistair Abell
Berry Good Candies / Grape #3 / Coconut Milk: Iris Apatow
Baby Carrot / Cookies: Sugar Lyn Beard
Apple / Tickilish Licorice / Relish / Bag of Dog Food: Ian James Corlett
Chunk Munchers Cereal / Light Bulb / Indian Chutney: Michael Daingerfield
Italian Tomato / Lettuce: Brian Dobson
Queso: Michael Dobson
Beet: Ian Hanlin
Popped Cherry Mixer / Plum #1 / Loretta Bun / Frozen Fruitz: Maryke Hendrikse
Douche: Nick Kroll
Lavash: David Krumholtz
Camille Toh / Tampon: Lauren Miller-Rogen
Sammy Bagel Jr: Edward Norton
Grits: Craig Robinson
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.