A friend tells me this is an excellent movie and can't wait to pick up the SE and drop the first edition.

Is it that good?

It's pretty good. But that is coming from a Kevin Smith fanboy. If you haven't seen or are not a fan of Clerks, Mallrats or Chasing Amy then you might see Dogma through unclouded eyes, unlike me.

But I like it.

CFG!

My opinion: better than Mallrats but not nearly as good as Chasing Amy and Clerks. Excited for the SE release since I waited for the SE and didn't buy the first release.

i'm not a KS fan, but enjoyed parts of Mallrats, though didn't like Clerks and never saw chasing amy. DOGMA, though, was the funniest movie i've seen in a LONG time. Pretty good interesting story, great acting, and superb dialogue. i can watch this one over and over and laugh all the time. Matt Damon's character has hilarious as was Chris Rock.

if ranking the works of kevin smith, i would place them in this order:

1. Chasing Amy
2. Dogma
3. Clerks
4. Mallrats

however, the separation between dogma and clerks isn't as great as the separation of clerks from mallrats. to better answer your question though, i believe that you should listen to your friend, and wait for the special edition due out later this month. i would imagine that all of the extra features will make dogma SE almost on par with chasing amy: criterion. the movie itself is superbly-written, and i myself have viewed the original dvd multiple times, giving credence to its replay value, and only heightening my anxiety for the release of the special edition.

Why doesn't anyone like Mall Rats? That movie rocks!

As a Kevin Smith fanatic, I'm not sure how much you value my personal opinion of the film's greatness. While the movie was controversial for its view of religion and catholic dogma, I think it was excellent simply because it was just a well written comedy by Kevin Smith. All the characters and events in the plotline work, and make this one of Smith's best films to date. I always refer to this movie as Kevin Smith's "Last Temptation of Christ".

Oh, since everyone else did it:
1. Clerks
2. Dogma
3. Mallrats
4. Chasing Amy :)

What about those who've never seen any of Kevin Smith's work? Anything you can compare this to? Would a rental be strongly recommended before buying?

snowball,
in response to your post, the most recent film that i can draw comparisons to regarding Kevin Smith's work is something like High Fidelity, the movie starring John Cusack. it has the same self-reflexive, biting wit that can be found in all four of Smith's movies.

and as far as the general discontent with Mallrats, i think that it was invariably altered by Universal and its unwavering studio system ideals of what humor should and shouldn't be. it actually could have been a good movie, but when your financier talks, you listen. as it stands, it probably remains one of the blundering examples of why independent filmmakers and big hollywood do not mix well...

I too have never seen Dogma, and was considering the SE, but after this comparison I have to reconsider. I was bored stiff by High Fidelity and only marginally enjoyed Chasing Amy.

I don't rent often, but this might have to be the exception.

Dogma for Smith fans
 

I enjoyed this film alot, but I too am a biased Smith fan. Thank GOd (no pun) that he actually decided to give a crap about the photography, the only thing lagging in his previous films.

1.Clerks
2.Mallrats
3.Dogma
4.Chasing Amy

Until recently the only KS film I had seen was Dogma and I loved it. I decided to rent Clerks and loved it. (There's also a funny story of the first time I saw Clerks, I was in 4th grade at the time -eek- and didn't understand half of it.) And 2 days ago I rented Mallrats and Chasing Amy. I thought Mallrats was hilarious and then I saw CA. I have no idea what I was expecting. I was expecting another KS type comedy and I got.... this. It's not a bad movie, just not what I was expecting. They really shouldn't have had this in the Comedy section instead of Drama.

1. Clerks
2. Mallrats
3. Dogma
4. Chasing Amy (Don't think of it as last, think of it as 4th place)