PopHorror Let's Get Scared
We at PopHorror recently had the chance to sit down with legendary filmmaker Kevin Smith to discuss one of his most iconic and endlessly debated comedies, Dogma. Starring an incredible ensemble cast that includes Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Rock, Alan Rickman, and the late, great George Carlin, Dogma remains a bold, irreverent film that continues to spark conversation decades after its release.
In our conversation, Smith reflects on the movie’s lasting impact, why it still resonates so strongly with fans old and new, and how its themes feel just as relevant today. We also dive into the long-awaited 4K Blu-ray debut, packed with special features that celebrate the film’s legacy and give fans a definitive way to revisit this cult classic.
PopHorror: Hey Kevin, thank you so much for joining me today.
Kevin Smith: Happy to be here. So happy to be here, man. Still talking about Dogma.
PopHorror: Yeah.
Kevin Smith: 26 years later, still talking about Dogma. It’s been the year of Dogma for me. I’ve been talking about Dogma a lot all throughout 2025. Felt like 1999 all over again.
PopHorror: And it’s the first time it’s being released on 4K. What can fans expect from this rerelease of it on 4K?
Kevin Smith: They can expect this bad boy right here. Look at this sweetness.
PopHorror: Beautiful.
Kevin Smith: Finally, they can watch something at home that won’t cost them an arm and a leg on eBay. Look at that. Look at that.
PopHorror: 4K is beautiful.
Kevin Smith: Never thought I’d see it, man. Wonderful artwork. When they were putting the theatrical campaign together, the one that I went out with back in April and May, they showed me a bunch of images, man. This was one of them. And I love the Buddy Christ poster so much. I was like, “Let’s hold this for home video.” And here we are. And look at the prominence. Look at it.
PopHorror: It is so beautiful, yeah.
Kevin Smith: Jay and Silent Bob legitimized right up front. I mean, granted, still under our betters, but right up front next to the main character. Lionsgate, kids. Still making physical media.
PopHorror: And as a filmmaker, how important is physical media to us still to this day? We live in the streaming era. Everything’s at your fingertips, but physical media is still important.
Kevin Smith: It is. You think everything’s at your fingertips and then you go looking for something. I was going to look for a Jay Ward appearance on the Johnny Carson Show, Circa 1962. Good luck. You know what I’m saying? But if I had the old Carson collection on DVD, I bet you I could find it. Not everything goes to streaming. And as we’ve seen lately, studios are far too willing to push the button on delete on a whole-ass movie just to get a rebate and stuff. So physical media, very important to me still, but also because it helps me get movies made. I’ve said many times, we sold so many Jay and Silent Bob Reboot DVDs and Blu-rays that Lionsgate was like, “You have any more of this Jay and Silent Bob shit?” And we were like, “Yeah, Clerks 3.” So it actually helped-
PopHorror: Yeah, and my dad actually went to the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot Road Show here in Charlotte before everything shut down.
Kevin Smith: That was the last good time, wasn’t it, before the whole world went away and stuff. But yeah, physical media made Clerks 3 possible. So physical media still matters to me in a big, bad way. Plus the people who liked my stuff, you can’t sign Netflix. You can sign a DVD or a Blu-ray if they got it.
PopHorror: Right. And you sold out within 24 hours of all your shows for the Dogma tour. So how was that, just the reception of it?
Kevin Smith: Lovely, man. The kind will that people still feel toward the movie all this time later is still marvelous to behold. And I got to sit there every night and feel the room, man. Just night after night watching some of my favorite people up on screen at their absolute youngest. And folks were there. I’d ask before every screening, how many people have seen Dogma before? Majority of the folks out there. How many people have never seen Dogma in a theater before? And then less people would clap hands and stuff, but still substantial. And I’d be like, how many people have never seen this movie before? It was always less than 5% would clap. At which point I’d be like, “Why would you overpay to see it now? You could have watched it on YouTube for years.” But the collection of people that came, like all the ages, was just nuts to me.
I recognize the fans who’ve grown up with this, obviously, because they look like me with all the white hairs and the beards and in their hair. But seeing their kids that they brought with them, we’re seeing art school kids who followed up on Dogma years later, was just absolutely lovely. It did this old heart good to see that people still cared.
PopHorror: Right. And going back to the physical release, what kind of special features can we expect from Dogma as well?
Kevin Smith: Funny you should ask. Let’s whip this open and see. Okay. Physical media introduction with Kevin Smith, new. Revelations, Making of Dogma, documentary feature. Oh my God, that’s long. It’s packed. It’s got everything-
PopHorror: Did you do the Snyder cut version of that?
Kevin Smith: Yeah, essentially. I never put all the footage back together, but the extra footage is in there. So it’s got everything that the old DVD had plus 4K version of the new movie. Plus, look at all this crap. I know there’s a little booklet that goes with the steel book that it has a bunch of hate mail in it. I had to approve that. They were like, “We’re making a little book that you can read all samples of the hate mail we got back in ’99,” which was kind of charming. Not then, but charming to put in a little bit now. But Lionsgate packed it, man. So everything you loved about the old DVD plus all the new bells and whistles they added to it.
PopHorror: And as a filmmaker, when you watch the 4K, there’s just so much more stuff you can view. There’s, of course, 4K HDR 10+, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos. What is the technical aspects that gets you excited watching one of your films on 4K as well?
Kevin Smith: Honestly, when somebody even talks about taking my movies into 4K, it’s just relevance at the end of the day. They don’t do that unless there’s still life in what you’re doing. So any bell or whistle they want to add to it, anything technically they want to put through the filter, anything that makes anybody go like, “Oh, now I’ll watch it on my home theater system,” I’m all for. But I am certainly no techno geek, man, by any stretch of the imagination. As much as I love physical media, I open it, pop it in and watch. My friend Vincent Pereira is gifted when it comes to this stuff and can quote you every variation of 4K that there could be and with the quality of the best to the least and whatnot. I’m just the guy that’s happy to have the actual disc.
PopHorror: Well, Kevin, thank you so much for joining me today. It’s been a pleasure and congratulations on the release of Dogma.
Kevin Smith: Many, many thanks. Excellent talking to you. Careful out there. Excellent posters, man.
AJ Friar: Of course. Thank you so much.
We also talked to Kevin about Dogma earlier this year. You can check out that conversation right here!
