In short - offensive, painful to watch and not even remotely entertaining. As witless as the original Dukes of Hazzard TV series was it was at least wholesome/entertaining/witless fun with mostly talented and likable cast members. No such thing can be said about this direct to video 'prequel' to the TV series. As a person who (sadly on so many levels) remembers and enjoyed the original series I was trying to keep an open mind and hoping for a new spin on the old and 95 minutes of entertaining fluff and car chases with the General Lee. The choice for script material, acting, childish/offensive language, music, sound effects, editing and the actors themselves make the old series seem like Masterpiece Theater by comparison. Christopher McDonald and Harland Williams as Boss Hogg and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane respectively will go down in movie history as possibly the two worst replacements for the talented Sorrell Booke and James Best from the series. Rather than good, family fun this movie is another in a long series of horn-dog teenage films with more in common with Porky's or American Pie. Full of crude language and sexual innuendo (even in the rated version) and references, likely only to get an 'R' rating, as a replacement for actual humor or storyline. I won't even comment on the pointless and excruciating to watch cross-dressing scene. Even the sound is poorly done with, in one scene, the exhaust noise from the General Lee coming from the left (hood) side of the screen as it was started for the first time. Don't buy this movie, don't even rent it - go out and buy/rent one of the first 2-3 seasons of the series.
Review of The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning
