Uwe Boll is a cinematic cancer that, despite a seemingly endless stream of critical and commercial flops, refuses to go into remission. That might sound like a jab at the guy, but I actually admire his persistence, and have faith that, someday, Boll just may manage to splice together a reasonably entertaining film, although, seeing as how he’s proven an abject failure in the horror, action, and fantasy genres, it’s understandable why the auteur would be anxious to try his hand at comedy with Postal – Boll’s umpteenth attempt at a video game adaptation.

Anyone who’s ever played the Postal games can tell you that they’re basically crassly humorous, borderline offensive first person shooters in which the player takes on the role of a redneck who’s reached his breaking point, and takes out his rage on everything and everyone in his path. The game drummed up all sorts of controversy for its racist, sexist, and gruesomely violent content, which is what, most likely, led Boll to the property in the first place. The director’s slapstick take on the game is essentially a string of unrelated jokes and “comic” scenarios, mostly done in bad taste, and hardly worthy of the few chuckles they induce, with Boll mining everything from 9-11 to racism to the holocaust for comic value. The sad thing is, this is probably Boll’s most coherent and polished movie since “House of the Dead” (which I still rather enjoy for its camp value), but, considering his body of work, that’s hardly a compliment.

Vivendi delivers Postal to Blu-ray with a 1080p transfer that looks better than it has any right to, but, like Boll’s character, the transfer has many flaws. Detail is fairly solid, but blacks are a bit washed out, and I found fleshtones to be “hot” and unnatural. Boxing and artifacting issues are surprisingly abundant given the film’s age, and fine grain (a by-product of the low-budget production values) is ever present.

The audio fares much better, with a rather robust surround mix that made full use of my 5.1 system. Dialogue is crisp and clear, and bass effects provided a satisfying rumble. Given the somewhat lackluster video transfer, I was surprised by the audio quality presented here.

Postal is loaded with bonus features, but, much like the film, the entertainment value of these extras is debatable. The highlight of the special features has to be the “Raging Boll” segment, in which Boll faces off against a bunch of out-of-shape internet movie critics and beats the snot out of them. To be fair, I remember when the contest to box Boll was announced, and I thought it was an ingenious marketing ploy. The end result, however, is somewhat dull and poorly produced. Boll’s in pretty decent shape, though! Other extras include the obligatory Boll commentary in which he seems to be watching an entirely different movie, as well as some throwaway extras, including an annoying Verne Troyer parodying Indiana Jones. The best extra, the full version of the Postal 2 video game for PC, is on a second disc, but even then, this dated game can be downloaded for free (legally, even) online.

Postal is a train-wreck in every sense of the word. It's not even the entertaining kind of train-wreck, where it's so bad you can't look away, but rather the kind that is so bad that you'd choose to gouge out your own eyes lest you be further subjected to the horrors on display here (Dave Foley's full-frontal nudity scene has scarred me for life).

Rent one of his other movies instead. Boll’s so much funnier when he’s not trying to be.