Publication Date: 09-22-2025

Jackass 3D (15th Anniversary re-release) review

Dir. Jeff Tremaine

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★

This review was written after seeing the 15th anniversary re-release of Jackass 3D at AMC Theaters on September 22nd, 2025. Consider this a “re-review” following my original review published back in 2010.

Less than a week ago, I stumbled upon Cerys Davies’ article in The Los Angeles Times regarding how “retro movies” are doing considerably strong numbers at the box office this year. Re-releases of movies such as Jaws, Back to the Future, and The Sound of Music have helped bring audiences back to the theaters for the warm, nostalgic fuzzies. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, older movies returning to theaters was more infrequent and less noteworthy. Now, every week at the theater seems to feature some blast from the past.

The problem is unless you’re (a) plugged into the right corners of social media or (b) like me and obsessively check your local theater’s showtimes, you’re liable to miss them. Jackass 3D‘s re-release into theaters certainly caught me off guard due to its lack of promotion. No less, if you’re a die-hard fan of the series like myself, you’d be wise to make time within the next few days to experience this lovely work of low-brow on the big screen once again, in the glorious third dimension.

If that wasn’t enough of a reason to celebrate, September is also “National Pain Awareness Month,” and what better way to recognize such than to watch a bunch of middle-aged men willingly hurt themselves?

I was fortunate enough to see Jackass 3D on its opening weekend back in October 2010. It’s easy to forget how ubiquitous the newfound RealD 3D technology was at the time. Settling into rewatch the film for the third time — only the second in 3D, however — I was quickly reminded how this is the true way to enjoy the second sequel to the Jackass film series. The problem when 3D is used as a gimmick, as opposed to an immersion tool ala Avatar, is that when that same film is shown in 2D, it quite literally loses its dimensionality. Scenes of dildos being shot at the audience, bees flying off the screen, water splashing, and slow-motion replays of people getting sucker-punched do not carry the same power without the novelty of those plastic glasses.

Jackass 3D remains the weakest of the four feature films for that reason. Consider the opening scene — which follows an introduction regarding cutting-edge 3D technology by Beavis and Butt-Head — which features the cast of Jackass dressed in each color of the rainbow fighting, slapping, and crashing into one another in slow-motion. This candy-colored, multi-dimensional sequence needs the third dimension, regardless of how gimmicky it is, to be impactful. This sequence was filmed with Phantom high speed cameras, which shoot at 1,000 frames per second. Tis pity this technology can only be seen on the big screen to show its utmost effectiveness.

But to say Jackass 3D isn’t entertaining otherwise is simply untrue. The gang of Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Jason “Wee Man” Acuña, Preston Lacy, Dave England, and “Danger Ehren” McGhehey still put on a divinely disgusting show, with blood, vomit, feces, sweat, and other bodily fluids gracing the screen at various times, and even, at times, in multiples.

At one point, in the spirit of the infectiously silly Roger Miller song, Johnny Knoxville roller-skates in a herd of buffaloes, yet again showing Knoxville’s proclivity for hidden B-side gems. Steve-O indulges in a cocktail of Preston Lacy’s sweat after he rides an elliptical. Preston, Bam Margera, Bam’s father, Phil, and Wee Man learn the perils of “Super Mighty Glue.” Steve-O gets launched into the air while inside a port-a-potty full of feces to make a “poo cocktail supreme.” Steve-O and Dave England play tetherball with a bee-hive. Danger Ehren gets his tooth ripped out by a Lamborghini, a scene I still cannot view unless it’s between the cracks of my fingers.

Several Jackass mainstays pop up in cameo form, including Brandon Novak, Rake Yohn, and animal expert Manny Puig. Cameraman Lance Bangs gets more screentime than usual thanks to the amount of times the Jackasses make him gag and vomit in disgust. The MVP of this installment is Preston Lacy, in my eyes, who does everything from allow Wee Man to be superglued to his stomach in a “69” position to taking a field goal kick to the face from NFL placekicker Josh Brown. He is a trooper in every sense of the word.

You might forget that the extended end credits of the film also include a video montage of old Jackass clips and childhood photos of the cast scored to Weezer’s song “Memories,” which also features our heroes. Seeing this video montage and hearing this song evokes a different set of memories than the ones Rivers Cuomo penned the tune. Less than a year after Jackass 3D was released, Ryan Dunn was killed in a car accident, and Bam Margera would go on to disassociate himself from the series. In more ways than one does this film recall a simpler time.

Jackass 3D feels padded out by skits moreso than stunts due to the cast’s temptation to make use of the 3D technology. This is why if you have some free time over the next couple days, and desire to relive this nostalgic time capsule in theaters once again, you should absolutely take advantage of it. When the film was over, I walked back into the lobby and told the senior manager of my local AMC that there should be a Jackass movie in theaters every weekend. “I’ll let the GM know,” she told me. Be the change you want to see in the world.

My review of Jackass Forever
My review of Jackass 4.5

Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, Steve-O, Chris Pontius, Jason “Wee Man” Acuña, Preston Lacy, Dave England, and “Danger Ehren” McGhehey. Directed by: Jeff Tremaine.