It’s going to be hard saying goodbye to independent film’s favorite duo, Jay and Silent Bob. But they’re leaving the silver screen with one hell of a bang. “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” due for a release on Aug. 10, is the fifth and final frontier of writer and director Kevin Smith’s “Askewuniverse” series.

“There will be no more Jay and Silent Bob,” Smith said during s recent phone interview. “There will be new characters-like Roy and Silent Bill.”

Debuting with the low-budget and wildly adored black-and-white Sundance hit “Clerks,” Smith series, always somehow affiliated with the director’s hometown of Redback, NJ, continued with the surprising smash film “Mallrats,” “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma.” Audiences may be getting their last taste of Smith’s Askew world this summer, but nonetheless they will have plenty to savor and remember with this highly- anticipated film.

“`Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back’ is a bit on the bombastic side,” claims Smith. “It looks big, feels big, plays big.”

And there’s no doubt that “Jay and Silent Bob” is a mammoth flick. While “Clerks” cost a mere $28,000 to make, and “Chasing Amy” a modest $250,000; “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” is a whopping $20 million production. How many candy bars is that, Dante Hicks?

[START SPOILER] The premise of the film is quite enticing and leaves us dying to know where on earth Smith will take us. When Jay and Silent Bob discover that the comic “Bluntman and Chronic” is based on their lives, they set out on a road trip to wreck the movie adaptation when they realize they aren’t making any profit. [END SPOILER]

“It’s satirical in nature, but doesn’t go for the lowest common denominator of humor,” said Smith, who expressed disdain for the wave gross-out humor that has been manipulating Hollywood comedy over the past few years. “It (the film’s humor) is highbrow and, at the same time, lowbrow.”

While the wise-ass Jay (Jason Mewes) and low-key Bob usually serve as unique side commentators/keen observers in the first four Viewaskew films, they are the central characters of the latest.

“[Jay and Silent Bob are] two idiots at the forefront, like ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’ or ‘Waiting for Godot’ but not so smart,” according to Smith.

If there’s anything to get excited about “Strike Back,” it is the enormous cast, which includes recurring characters and actors from Smith’s other films and a few out-of-nowhere surprises. The cast list combines “American Pie” –era actors with cable television, “Saturday Night Live,” with a few missing faces from the 1970’s and ‘80’s. Do you want a list to drool over? Well, here you go (take a deep breath):

Let’s start with Matt and Ben. Ben Affleck returns to his part from “Chasing Amy” as Holden McNeil, and Matt Damon plays Mr. Will Hunting one again—yes folks, his leading role from 1998’s “Good Will Hunting.” We also have teen idols James Van Der Beek (“Dawson’s Creek”) and Jason Biggs as the comic strip duo Bluntman and Chronic, Shannen Doherty, Will Ferrell as a wildlife marshal, George Carlin, Jon Stewart, Seann William Scott, Shannon Elizabeth, Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, Adam Corolla (Dr. Drew’s “Loveline” sidekick), and Alanis Morrissette just to name a few. Hell, Smith even threw in Steve Kmetko and Jules Asner from “E! News Daily.”

Some blasts from the past include Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher (Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia from “Star Wars”), and Judd Nelson (Bender from “The Breakfast Club”). [START SPOILER] And who closes out the movie? The ‘80’s pop-cheese-funk band, The Time (“Jungle Love”), whom Smith saw play live (they’re still touring, believe it or not) at Prince’s Paisley Park in 1999 and then decided to bring them into the film. [END SPOILER]

Smith film regulars and favorites in “Strike Back” are Renee Humphrey (Trisha “the Dish”), Joey Lauren Adams (Alyssa Jones), Jeff Anderson (Randal Graves), Jason Lee (appearing as both Brodie Bruce from “Mallrats” and Banky Edwards from “Chasing Amy”), and Brian O’Halloran (Dante Hicks).

Smith even cast his daughter, Harley Quinn, in the film. “I never knew how much I didn’t like child actors until I worked with my own kid,” he stated.

Whew. Are you sucked in yet?

It is pretty safe to say that (maybe aside from Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge”) “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” is going to be the ultimate summer 2001 movie. Kevin Smith has already become an unexpected household name and subgenre creator, and it seems as if his latest movie will push him over the top. And no worries—he plans on continuing his career as a filmmaker, even though the Jay and Silent Bob days have winded down. And what does Smith have to say about his life as an acclaimed and much-hyped director?

“It’s way better than jockeying the register for a living. I get paid to make pretend.”