For my husband's Secret Santa this year he was quite pleased when he was bought the newly released Ted DVD as opposed to the usual joke novelty item he seems to receive. I was pleasantly surprised and we settled down to watch it last night with me knowing a little about it and my husband knowing nothing.

Firstly, I need to point out that this is absolutely not suitable nor will it ever be suitable for children, despite the cute looking teddy on the front cover. I dread to think how many 5 year olds will have an unsuspecting grandparent buy them this DVD for Christmas. It's not often I myself will read the blurb on the back of a DVD for children, nor really check the rating as if a cute looking teddy is on the front cover then surely its suitable for kids right? To put it bluntly, no! The film starts relatively harmless enough with a nice sounding man pleasantly narrating the story of a young boy named John who has trouble befriending children in the neighbourhood. The narration stops and John politely asks the local kids if he can join in and play (who are currently beating a boy because he is Jewish.... yes that's right!) and all innocence is lost when the main bully (who can be no older than 9) turns around and tells him to eff off (and he doesn't put it so politely!). So from this point on my husband is in fits of laughter while I'm still slightly confused! Kids of the 80's will like the opening scenes of the films which brought back childhood memories for me when they were opening presents at Christmas and they were items like Cabbage Patch Dolls and Nintendo consoles.

The introduction of the film is spent introducing lonely John who wishes that his new teddy bear (Ted) could 'really' talk, and as it is Christmas Night and magic is in the air, his wish promptly comes to life. A short amount of time is spent showing us how Ted shoots to fame across the globe but he never forgets his best pal John. Fast forward 20 years and Ted (and John) are not quite as innocent as when they first became inseparable....

I can honestly say this film is completely unique and I haven't ever seen a film like it before. It can certainly be called unique in that respect. I was originally drawn to the film as I'm a bit of a (secret) fan of Mark Wahlberg, and as the main actor he features heavily throughout the film as John. All grown up John has a fairly decent job as the next in line for the Manager of a car rental shop. He cannot however, be relied upon in any shape or form, and with best buddy Ted in tow they generally laze about, take (a lot of) drugs, watch 80s TV and films (Flash Gordon features heavily in the film!) and drive girlfriend Lori (Mila Kunis) slowly up the bend.

There are some cringey moments in the film. Most definitely meant to shock, but for me, perhaps going a little too far. One comment from Wahlberg about the high school shooting at Virginia Tech was probably regrettable to the makers, after last week's devastating incident at Sandy Hook School. Even if last week's incident didn't occur I still think it's never appropriate to joke about something like this (even if the joke was aimed at the shooter). Another low point of the film for me was when one of Teds 'dates' decides to take a poo on the rug. I just didn't think this was funny? There was also lots of 'fat kid' kind of jokes which don't really do it for me.

The story of the film was okay, it's not going to win any Oscars but the general 'who will he chose' premise came into the film, as well as a bizarre kidnapping. It's one of those films where if you start to break it down you wonder where on earth the concept came from! Several cameo's in the film were amusing and Ryan Reynolds makes an unexpected appearance as a gay guy. He doesn't speak but it was still quite nice to see him! Ted Danson plays himself (making fun at the size of Woody Harrelson's penis, yikes!), and Flash Gordon also features. Giovanni Ribisi (Phoebe's strange brother from Friends) plays a very funny part, even if he is slightly creepy in the film.

The acting is good, and I have to say that Mark Wahlberg plays some excellent scenes in this film. A fight scene with Ted springs to mind and I was laughing uncontrollably at what he must have looked like while filming the scenes with a CGI'd Ted who obviously wasn't there when filming!

Other things that spring to mind are the strange elevator music which seems to be played throughout the film. The CGI of Ted is amazing and really believable that this little Teddy bear is actually real!
All in all, I would recommend you watch this film, even if it's purely to make your own opinion of it. It's not like anything you will have seen and you will laugh at (some) aspects of it.

The blu ray aspect I guess is okay but only if you really love the film. My husband sat and watched most of the extras but for me the film was enough. The extended cut is a bonus but I didn't see the original at the cinema so I don't know which we're the extra 6 minutes.

Extras include:

The Making Of: A Guy, A Girl And A Teddy Bear; Doing It Live; A MacFarlane Set
Alternate Takes
Teddy Bear Scuffle
Deleted Scenes: John Longs For Friend; Kid Smashes Pot; Pooped In My Hand; Doubles In The Bathroom; Someplace Classy; Sleeping With Rex; Donny Stalks Ted; Round Table Discussion; New, Grown-Up John Bennett; Dryer Ride; Making Smiles At You; John Talks To Everyone; Rex Asks Lori Out; You Smiled; This Is Theresa
Gag Reel
Theatrical Feature
Commentary with Director/Co-Writer Seth MacFarlane, Co-Writer Alec Sulkin and Star Mark Wahlberg

Rude, crude and full of sexual inuendo's, careful who you watch this with!