The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees (2002 Video) User Reviews

At last!

[pearceduncan · 8/10 · 23 February 2003]

Finally, a decent doco about the Friday the 13th series! There's some good interview footage here with Sean S. Cunningham, Kane Hodder, Joe Bob Briggs etc and some perplexing footage of the guys from American Movie.

The only qualms I have are: no interview with Tom Savini, and no footage from any of the first eight Fridays. Paramount owns the rights to those movies (this disc was from New Line who only did the last two) and it's way past time for a special edition of at least the first Friday the 13th, with a decent doco on the series at bare minimum.

For the moment, though, this'll do.

A Reason to rent Jason X on DVD

[The_Vertigo_Edge · 8/10 · 8 October 2002]

So I got dragged to the theaters to see "Jason X" and I felt ripped off (even though I didn't pay). Then I get stuck in bed after a car accident, and my girlfriend rents me "Jason X" on DVD. I decided that I was not going to watch the film for a second time, but I would check out the special features. This is where I discovered "The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees" documentary. Say what you want about the "Friday the 13th" series (they suck), but this documentary is very interesting. Realizing just how much money was spent, and how much was generated was something of amazement. You realize early on (hearing from crew members of the various movies) that no one ever took these movies seriously. They saw them as money-makers, nothing else, and it works. But to say this is just a documentary about the character of Jason Voorhees, but about the horror/slasher film genre itself. From the great aspects of the genre to the criticisms of that genre and its effect on society.

In addition to the various crew members, you hear from various critics and horror film people, from Joe Bob Briggs to Mark Borchardt, director of "Coven" (see "American Movie). Plus, as an added bonus, you get to see Kane Hodder (Jason himself) unmasked. After hearing what he had to go through to play the role of Jason on four times makes me respect Kane Hodder much, much more then I ever thought I would. Overall, this documentary is worth the five dollars you'll have to shell out to rent "Jason X" (just do it in disguise when no one else is around, or have your significant other rent it for you to avoid any embarrassment).

8/10

He's like a cat, only not very cute

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 6/10 · 26 January 2011]

With a running time of half an hour(or 28 and a half minutes, sans credits), this is the longer of the two featurettes on the DVD of Jason X, and focuses, of course, on that movie, though it isn't a making of... the shorter of these is. It consists of interviews(including with the awesome and terrifying Kane Hodder), clips of the various films(and ones not from this series) and stills of promotional stuff and reviews("Jason Lives – for no readily apparent reason", *excellent* headline). They talk about the earliest slasher flicks, the history of the franchise(starting with the first(detailing how they put the original together and its background) and going over the major changes, and how this one is a bit of a reimagining), the various death scenes, and they get into the violence in movies discussion(...care to take a guess at what side they're on? *Man*, are some horrible things said on this subject, dude, if that's your best argument, STFU and don't give the opposition ammo like that). There is blood, gore, violence, sexuality and nudity in this. I recommend this to fans of the Friday the 13th flicks. 6/10

If your new this is the best way to understand the past of the movies

[jeff934 · 10/10 · 19 July 2004]

If you been wanting to watch the Friday the 13th flicks but your not sure what you should start with or that you don't know much about the franchise than this is the best place to start. "The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees" is the best Documentry about the movie series it goes all the way from the first movie. "Friday the 13th." all the way to "Jason X." In this Documentry you'll learn who the major players are and how the Character of Jason and the movies have evolved from the very first low budget film all the way up to the powerhouse it is now. You'll learn intresting facts like that no one has ever played the Role of Jason Voorhees more than once with the exception of Kane Hodder. And that Paramount was ashamed of the movie that they picked up. I think this is the best way to get a understanding of this cult clasic movie franchise. I give it a 10/10

Makes the JASON X DVD worth buying

[jellyneckr · 21 November 2002]

This documentary is featured on the JASON X DVD and although I didn't think that JASON X was nearly as good as the previous FRIDAY THE 13TH movies, I ended up buying the JASON X DVD anyway due to the fact that this is one of the best movie documentaries I have ever seen. This tells you nearly everything there is to know about the FRIDAY THE 13TH franchise. Of all the JASON X DVD special features, this is the best one.

blah

[movieman_kev · 4/10 · 19 April 2004]

An extra on the "Jason X" DVD, This is just an average documentary about the "Friday the 13th" franchise. It doesn't have any new nuggets of info even for the most casual viewer. the 30 minutes only made me long for the old Paramount Friday movies, as the Ne Line ones pretty much suck This gets plus points for having Joe Bob Briggs in it, but those points are evened out by having Drew McWeenie AKA: Moriarty (I dislike Ain't It Cool-related people). It's OK, but feels a little like a fluff piece then anything else. Feel free to skip it, you won't miss anything. Ironically it still is better then any of the Friday films that New Line has put out.

My Grade: C-

same

[Ratevil2004 · 10/10 · 7 April 2006]

Jason cold hearted was the coolest movie i seen on playstation DVD.the "Friday the 13th" franchise. It doesn't have any new nuggets of info even for the most casual viewer. the 30 minutes only made me long for the old Paramount Friday movies, as the Ne Line ones pretty much suck This gets plus points for having Joe Bob Briggs in it, but those points are evened out by having Drew McWeenie AKA: Moriarty (I dislike Ain't It Cool-related people). It's OK, but feels a little like a fluff piece then anything else. Feel free to skip it, you won't miss anything. Ironically it still is better then any of the Friday films that New Line has put out.

"I wish this cockroach of a film would just disappear." OK documentary.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 26 July 2007]

The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees is a 30 odd minute documentary that features on just about every Jason X (2001) DVD ever released anywhere. It's an average documentary which doesn't cover anything new or particularly groundbreaking.

There are various interviews with film critics & a few of the people involved with the production of Jason X & Jason goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993) as those are the ones owned by New Line Cinema & are mentioned the most beyond a polite reference.

The obvious problem is that Paramount still own the Friday the 13th films from parts 1 to 8 (although Warner Bros. hold the international rights for part 1) so this documentary can't & doesn't use any clips form those films & doesn't really mention them other than part 1 was a big success & they were embarrassed by them but stuck with the series because they made money.

The documentary focuses mostly on the character of Jason Voorhees & his iconic status amongst film fans & in pop culture in general. OK, fine but it's just not very interesting & I'd have preferred a more in depth look at the actual films.

There are various clips from the New Line owned films & there is a brief sequence which talks about the 'long awaited' Jason vs. Freddy flick as when this documentary was made Freddy vs. Jason (2003) wasn't.

The Many Lives of Jason Voorhees is an OK time waster & is good value as it's a free extra on a DVD but it's utterly forgettable & a bit pointless, I've seen better documentaries that's for sure.

Best horror movie documentary I have ever seen.

[Jack the Ripper1888 · 15 December 2002]

This is indeed one of the greatest documentaries ever made. Not only does it make the JASON X DVD worth buying, it is just plain good. I would rent JASON X again just so I could see this documentary.

It is a bunch of people involved with making the original FRIDAY THE 13TH film talking about how they never expected it to be as big a success as it was. If you a big fan of horror films, and are interested in the inspirations and makings of some of them, then you will love this documentary.

THE MANY LIVES OF JASON VOORHEES gets 5/5.