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The entire cast returns. (See feature story "One Crazy Summer.") Jim Levenstien (Jason Biggs) hasn't gotten any since graduation, and he's feeling a little insecure. Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth) - the quintessential sexual fantasy - is coming to visit Jim at the end of the summer apparently with high expectations of a passionate reunion. Jim turns to the one girl who was his only sexual experience for tutoring, the sexually comfortable band nerd, Michele Flaherty (Alyson Hannigan). And it wouldn't be an American Pie without Jim once again suffering masturbatorial humiliation. Jim's Dad (Eugene Levy) returns to add to his embarrassment; this loving father is unaware that virtually every time he speaks, he puts his foot in Jim's mouth.

Chris "Oz" Ostreicher (Chris Klein) struggles with temptations during a forced eight-week separation with his love, Heather (Mena Suvari), when she travels to Spain for an educational summer. Kevin "Kev" Myers (Thomas Ian Nicholas) - the ostensive leader of this little pack - also struggles; he's pining over his unrequited love for his ex, Vicky Lathum (Tara Reid). She just wants to be friends and this is the least satisfying and most static story arc in the show. Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) is perhaps the most eclectic character - some might say odd - having embraced Asian philosophies and having become an intellectual stud. Despite his conquests, he's still obsessed with the older woman, Stifler's mom, Janine (Jennifer Coolidge). And speaking of Stifler, Steve (Seann William Scott) is back; he's the fifth wheel, the woman- chasing Peter Pan with no impulse control and social judgment to match. Stifler is tolerated because of his killer parties and, during this summer, someone who can share the costs.

Those costs are for the summer rental of a lakeside home, a safe haven for partying away from the hometown police who frown on underage drinking. The five guys earn enough money by painting local homes during the day to have a hell of a good time. They get into a very embarrassing situation when Stifler tries to prove that two very attractive women living in a house they're painting are lesbians. The summer will end well for almost all. Jim's story arc is the most complete and the most satisfying, even if it is somewhat predictable. Heather arrives during the summer's last party to cheer up Oz. Chuck Sherman (Chris Owen) - the Shermanator - is rewarded with every nerd's dream. Even Stifler and Finch are given surprises beyond their wildest hopes. It must have been difficult for the filmmakers to top the first film, but I believe they have. This is a funnier film despite the overly long lesbian sequence and the flat, mentally challenged trombone player scene. (Want more? Visit the Drive-In to view film clips.)

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film's theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 is presented in anamorphic video. I'm pleased to report that edge halos are rare and not at all intrusive. Small object detail is excellent; the little numerals on Jim's home are clearly readable in a wide shot. Colors are rich and nicely saturated. Chroma noise and smearing are totally absent. Contrast and brightness track well throughout the full video dynamic range. Shadow detail during dark scenes, like when Jim and Michelle meet secretly at band camp, is commendable. Compression artifacts like blocking and mosquito noise are not visible. The overall effect is very film-like, and that's what I most want in my DVDs.

Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?

There are two 5.1 English audio tracks in this disc: Dolby Digital and DTS, but neither has any appreciable surround effects nor significant sound effects. The many rock music elements are the most difficult sounds to reproduce here, particularly the gut- thumping bass. But that doesn't extend into the bottom most octave; perhaps the songs were originally mixed to play successfully on boom boxes. The intentional distortions of popular music make assessing fidelity impossible. David Lawrence's instrumental score is overwhelmed by all that source music, but when it is heard, it's presented across a believable sound stage with a nice presence. Dialog remains clear throughout.

Determining a preference between the two encoding formats is difficult here. The film's sound really doesn't call for faithful fidelity. After ensuring amplitude parity, voices and Lawrence's score are arguably very slightly more natural in DTS, but I suspect that the inclusion of DTS may have been more of a marketing decision than a technical one.

The audio tracks are supported by optional English captions and French subtitles.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Universal has included a vast complement of extras for a single-disc, non- "Ultimate Edition" release. Aside from being the Unrated version of the film running a full 6 minutes longer (separate R-rated and pan & scan releases are also available), many are frivolous, simply duplicating material found in the feature, but are at least presented in an imaginative way. For example, Your Favorite Piece of Pie is a compilation of the ten most popular scenes from both films based on a Web poll; Sean William Scott introduces this feature. Admittedly, there are four scenes from the first film, but if you own both DVDs, this is entirely redundant. Music Highlights offers you the choice of any of thirty selections and then plays that sequence in the film in which that music backed the action. Classic Quotes offers fifteen choices of the most popular lines; select any and watch the actor voice the line. I have visions of the disc designers sitting around a table trying to devise ways of adding features with the minimum investment in bits.

The non-anamorphic widescreen trailer is introduced by Jason Biggs with tongue in cheek. Universal Showcase was a pleasant surprise. It is a non-anamorphic widescreen trailer for an upcoming theatrical release, The Bourne Identity. This is an intriguing story - certainly visited before - about an amnesiac spy pursued to the death by his agency. Based on a Robert Ludlum novel (he also served as co-executive producer), it seems promising. Production Notes is a series of ten screens with a small text window describing the, uh, production. Additional notes with considerably greater depth may be found in the DVD-ROM features. This is also true of Cast and Filmmakers; here the information is very terse, but in the DVD-ROM feature, the biographical notes and filmographies are much more complete. DVD Newsletter is an invitation to log onto the web and subscribe; a similar DVD-ROM feature offers an active link. American Pie 2 Special Offers is essentially a couple of commercials, one for Universal Theme Parks in Hollywood and Orlando, and the other for the American Pie 2 sound track album. One of those album tracks is presented as a music video on this DVD, 3 Doors Down perform "Be Like That."

More interesting are the supplements found on the first page of the Bonus Materials menus. The Baking of American Pie 2 is a twenty-four minute promotional short shown in full screen. We do get a few behind-the-scenes glimpses of the filming, but the featurette is primarily composed of scenes from the film and brief discussions by the players of their characters and by the filmmakers about the continuation of the American Pie saga. We see a bit more of the making of the film in the candid short entitled Good Times With Cast and Crew. Essentially without narration and running only five minutes, it's the best hint we have that the uninhibited players really had a good time on the show.

Outtakes is a five and a half minute gag reel. It's always fun to watch the players screw up and laugh at themselves; this is very infectious humor. Also included are ad-libbed sequences that never made the cut. Original Casting Tapes are the video recordings of Jason Biggs, Shannon Elizabeth, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, and Eddie Kay Thomas as they read for the roles. There are seven Deleted Scenes, edited together to run sequentially. Some are extended versions of scenes as they exist in the feature; some have not been seen before. I think you'll find that none of this new material drives the story forward or contributes to any character's arc, so out they went.

Finally, we come to an exhausting array of feature-length scene-specific audio commentaries. There are four. Director J.B. Rogers takes us through the film identifying locations and sets, explaining creative decisions, his players' performances, and - when he occasionally has little to say about a specific scene - falls back on a bit of narration. Screenwriter Adam Herz describes his dilemma of outdoing the first film while staying true to the characters and not making them farcical. He explains character motivation and character development. I liked his touching upon screenplay structure and how the technique of writing affected this screenplay in particular. You may find that the problem with a writer's commentary is that much becomes an extended narration. The remaining commentaries are reserved for the players. One includes Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari, and Thomas Ian Nicholas. Ms. Suvari is a strange choice since she had so little screen time; she reacted to the film rather than offer amusing anecdotes from the set, but she did act as a catalyst by asking questions of her two fellow actors. Biggs and Nicholas had quite a bit to say, and I enjoyed their stories and observations. I got more insight into the making of the film from this track than from the previous two. The last commentary is by Eddie Kay Thomas. He tends to be very laid back, a bit aloof, and tells his tales with a very dry sense of humor. Be prepared for significant gaps in this one...

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

From the opening screen, you can click on any of the characters for a quick quip. Clicking on About The Filmmakers brings up brief bios for seven of the behind-the-camera talent (director, screenwriter, and producers) and includes two very short "interviews" with director J.B. Rogers; they're downloaded as Windows Media Files and require an active net connection. These bios are more complete than the bios available from your dedicated player's remote control. The same is true of the production notes, which also go into greater depth than the brief notes available from the DVD menus.

Stifler's Mix is a cute but not very useful feature in which you can put together on a mock mixing board various sound elements: music, dialog, and sound effects. You can play these, starting and stopping the various sounds to create interesting effects, and if you really fall in love with your work, record it.

Online features only provides links to Universal Home Video, Universal Pictures, Universal Theme Parks, and Universal Studios. Click on DVD Newsletter from your DVD-ROM drive and InterActual viewer, and rather than simply read an invitation to subscribe, it will take you directly to the subscription web page (assuming you're connected to the net at the time). Main Menu, Scenes, and Bonus Features take you to the identical screen on the DVD that your player would have accessed.

Parting Thoughts