There is no release date yet for director Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. However, he has not been shy about sharing tons of other details about its production.  Jay and Silent Bob, played respectively by Jason Mewes and Smith himself, first appeared in Smith’s 1994 breakout movie Clerks. The two would go on to appear in View Askew films Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma. After that they’d finally receive their own solo film in 2001’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin on Fatman Beyond

On a recent Fatman Beyond episode Smith claimed that his latest film entry in the View Askew Universe has more visual effects in it than the original Star Wars.

“This is not bragging and this is not saying this makes me a better filmmaker by any stretch of the imagination, this is just for the layman to show you how far filmmaking and special effects have come from our childhood. We have three times as many visual effects/CG/visual effects in general in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot than they did in Star Wars.”

– Kevin Smith, Fatman Beyond

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot in perspective

If you a Star Wars fan or simply into film history you know that the first Star Wars movie (Episode IV: A New Hope) changed the industry in the way of special effects in movies. So, making a claim that your movie has more VFX is no small claim. However, Kevin Smith was quick to clarify that it didn’t mean that the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot was going to be visual treat that Star Wars was.

Green screen being used on Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Visual effects shots can be for something as simple as using a green screen to simulate scenery for a car driving scene these days.  Film makers also need to use VFX to change the sign in the background. Perhaps the even use it to alter an iPhone screen to make it look the way Apple requires.  I think it is safe to say that the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot will not go down in history the same way Star Wars did. Notwithstanding, it is interesting to know how much special effects go into movies these days.

The red-band trailer for Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is set to premiere at SDCC.