Search - The Venture Bros.: Season One on DVD

Pete C. from BRIGHTON, MA
Reviewed on 1/14/2016...

Cockpits! Booby Traps! Hilarity!

Andrew | Chicago, IL, USA | 02/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The first thing I'm going to say is this: although this is a cartoon, it is most definitely not for kids! The Venture Bros. deals with a lot of adult situations, and it can get very vulgar and graphic at times. Having said that, this may be one of the best new cartoons I've seen in a long time.
I was never really a big fan of Adult Swim; until I got to college, the only show on the block I had seen was Futurama, which debuted on FOX. While I still don't like overall, it does have its gems, such as Cowboy Bebop (best anime ever!), Aqua Teen Hunger Force (when it was in its prime), and The Venture Bros. The Venture Bros. is a show that most heavily parodies Johnny Quest, though it also draws from Star Wars, DC and Marvel Comics, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and even Kafka's The Metamorphosis.
The plot is as follows; Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture is the son of Dr. Jonas Venture, one of history's greatest inventors and adventurers. Jonas built up a successful science industry and led a team of heroes known as Team Venture. Unfortunately, Rusty was never able to live up to his father's image. He never completed college (thus the fact that he calls himself a doctor is called into question a couple times), and he is pretty incompetant at most everything he does. Most of his inventions don't even work, and when they do, they always malfunction. He is also a pill-popper who suffers from dreams involving his dead father and a weird flashback to his mother's womb. However, he is a genius compared to his two sons. Hank and Dean Venture redefine naive. Even though they see themselves as cool and brave, they are anything but. They get squeamish around violence and are easily scared, yet they are always clamoring to go on new adventures, in which something always inevitably goes wrong. Fortunately, the three Venture men are protected by CIA agent Brock Sampson (voiced wonderfully by Patrick Warburton, who played David Puddy in Seinfeld and was The Tick in the live action series). Brock is basically an unstoppable man-beast who defies the laws of physics and biology to keep Dr. Venture and his sons safe. Other Venture allies include Dr. Byron Orpheus, a sorceror who tends to speak in an overly dramatic voice (even when warning others not to use a bathroom due to his choice to have Taco Bell for lunch) and his daughter Triana, who is kind of a goth/punk and is embarassed by her dad very often. Dean has a crush on her, but she finds the Ventures pretty silly. Dr. White and Master Billy Quizboy are two other allies who help out Dr. Venture from time to time. Dr. White is an albino while Billy is a vertically challenged genius with an oversized head.
On the villains side, Dr. Venture's archnemesis is The Monarch, a man who was raised by monarch butterflies after his parents died in an accident. He too is incompetant (seems to be a running theme in this show); he doesn't really have any "powers" per se, besides his weak weapons he built into his suit, and his henchmen are morons. The best twist though is that while The Monarch considers himself to be Dr. Venture's greatest nemesis, he has no reason to (Dr. Venture barely realizes that he exists). In this sense, I like to attribute The Monarch to The Joker; in a sense one can't exist without the other, or at least, that's how things would be if Venture actually paid attention to what was going on around him. The Monarch is dating Dr. Girlfriend, a woman who dresses like Jackie O. and probably has the deepest voice on the show. The other main villains include Baron Werner Underbeit, a Dr. Doom-esque villan who blames Venture for a lab explosion that blew off his jaw, as well as Phantom Limb, a man whose arms and legs are invisible.
Most of the episodes involve the family, Brock, and H.E.L.P.eR (the Venture's robot) going on some sort of misadventure, where Brock basically has to bail everyone out by the end. That's not to say that the episodes are formulaic; each one is very unique and very hilarious. For example, in one of them, Dr. Venture holds a yard sale in order to raise money, only to have a bunch of villains show up and create havoc. In another, the family goes to a theme park run by a Walt Disney lookalike who tries to get Venture to clone him. And in one of my favorite episodes, The Monarch is put on trial, and the opening scene is priceless (MECHA SHIVA!).
A lot of the show's humor is derived from the sheer bizarrness of the situation; most of the adventures are beyond impractical, and knowing how limited the abilities of the Venture family are, one has to wonder why they don't just give up. There is a good amount of parody, but the show doesn't overdo it (the way too many shows and movies are doing nowadays). And there are some very dirty jokes thrown in for good measure. As I said, this is not for kids. It is somewhere between a PG-13 and an R in terms of rating (they can only go so far because its TV, but there are times when, if it hasn't crossed the line, it is walking it). I think that at times, its even dirtier than Family Guy (and much funnier).
The Venture Bros. is not for everyone; the humor is for a very select group, and there are some scenes that are extremely disturbing and disgusting. However, it is a hilarious show that deserves a look. You're only hurting yourself by not checking it out."

It does NOT get better than this.

Rick Lundeen | Western Springs, Il USA | 02/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This warped take on the old Jonny Quest adventures features some of the best comic book/sci fi/action adventure hilarity you can imagine. I've been waiting a year for this DVD set to finally come out and it's finally arriving. Sit back, keep the kids away and enjoy. For Adult swim fun, you seriously can't beat the Venture Bros. The voice acting, animation, music, stories, you name it, all 5 stars."

You WILL see this... and you WILL be changed forever.

Jeff-o-matic | Wright-Pat AFB, Ohio | 04/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"-
I can best describe "The Venture Bros." with six words:

"'Johnny Quest' gone horribly, horribly wrong."

That is all you need to know."