Search - South Park 1-3 on DVD

Believe it or not, the VHS is better

08/12/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"FIRST OFF DO NOT GET ROOKED! I realized after I bought the DVD three-pack that it's almost exactly the same if you buy them individually! What a complete and total GYP!If you're still reading: South Park is really really funny. I've watched all of these episodes many times and they're funnier each time (although somehow they're not as funny after the movie). So if you want to see something very funny, get this.But what were the DVD people thinking? Each episode is an entire chapter, you cannot go by commercial breaks (which are still there via fade out and in) or from one part of an episode to another. The introductions by Trey and Matt (which vary from funny to so-so... I think they were riffing off of the Chris Carter intros to X-Files, but that's probably just me) cannot be skipped. Nor can the FBI warnings, the "This has adult content; celebrity voices impersonated" message, the Brannif and Comedy Central wipes or the really REALLY long English AND French versions of the "Don't Copy This DVD" messages. You have to watch ALL of that for EACH episode. I'm guessing that the people who put the DVDs together were the lawyers who write the fine print for the FBI rather then people who were interested in creating a great DVD.Now I know you're saying "Why not fast forward?" BECAUSE IT'S A DVD! When you ask that question, you're asking "Why not buy the VHS?" Especially with South Park where the intentionally subpar quality of sound and animation seems a lot more subpar with the DVD. I don't know too much about the transfer process, but the animation seems worse with the DVD then VHS. I can't explain it.In the end, there's no reason to buy the DVD over the VHS. There's no real behind the scenes stuff or something that gives better insight to the show (Ex, what's Kenny saying?) The additional features section of the box should say "Extra FBI Warnings! Four Times the Junk That You Always Fast Forward Through! Bonus Commercials!"Save your money. Sure you get four episodes per DVD as opposed to three for the VHS, but that and the intros are the only reason to buy; and the intros aren't worth it."

Pricing?

Michael John Szabo | Northboroubh, MA USA | 04/03/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Um, right now it is cheaper to by all 3 DVD's separately than to order this set. So much for buying in bulk..."

Fresh, foul, fartastic humor

Lynwood E. Hines | Saint George, SC USA | 02/03/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"These three volumes of South Park are structurally identical to all six volumes that have been released so far, and suffer from the same shortcomings. One glaring flaw is that none of the episodes are sub-titled, so if you are hearing impaired, you're out of luck.I don't find these episodes as funny as the first time I watched them. A lot of the humor of South Park is in shock value, and that has worn off. But even so, I find them funny enough to be worth watching every now and then. If you are a hard core fan, I recommend all three volumes on DVD. If you are just a casual fan, your money would be better spent elsewhere.There are no extras on any of these DVDs worth mentioning. What's worse, there are no extras of any kind included with the 3-pack. You just get the three DVDs with a strip of paper holding them together. So be careful to check the individual prices of these DVDs before buying the 3-pack; it might make more sense to buy them separately.The primary advantage of the DVDs over the VHS versions is random access to the episodes. You also get Matt and Trey introducing the episodes, which is fairly amusing. However, the lack of substantive extras is very disappointing. Also, the menus are static and silent; the power of the DVD medium has been completely ignored. This is why I only give this set 3 stars.Some have complained that you can't skip the introductions, but I have no problem fast forwarding through them with my DVD player. Many have also complained about the three worthless items appearing at the end of each episode (the Braniff logo, Comedy Central logo, and FBI warnings). But simply pressing the "menu" button on your DVD's remote is all that is required to skip these items. I don't like this rubbish either, but the people who whine on incessantly about this are making a mountain out of a molehill.So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!Episodes
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Originality: A+
Creativity: A
Complexity/Depth: C-
Relevance/Message: C- to A-
Artistic Merit: D
Overall Entertainment Value: A
DVD
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Transfer Quality: A
Extras: D
Use of Medium: D
"

Comment on video transfer

Brian C Oraas | Victoria, BC Canada | 03/21/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"What everyone says is true - these are the episodes, no extras, yadda yadda. I don't really want to submit a numerical review... I think anyone who's interested in this knows what the content is. This is a more technical review, for people who care about that sort of thing.Be aware that the quality of the video transfer is quite low. I'm very surprised to see other people's reviews saying the transfer is good or excellent.Digital artifacts are visible around anything that moves. There is a strange bluriness that pulses through the picture regularly, that comes and goes. Also, perhaps most annoying, there is very severe dot crawl encoded on the DVD! Were these DVD's transferred from a VHS tape? With the highly contrasting colours of the animation style, there are large amounts of dot crawl.... I thought it may have been my system, but pause the playback, and the dots stop moving... and watch them crawl, frame by frame.The colours, which should be solid and pure, are instead swarms of constantly moving pixels. Very annoying. The blurriness and swarminess of the colours make it look like a VHS recording.The movie - Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, is an absolutely flawless, beautiful picture. It's a shame that they couldn't have rerendered these episodes from the source. Weren't they all generated digitally to begin with?"