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Category | Comedy | Music Video-I'll Be There For You-The Rembrandts | |
Rating | |||
Year Released | 1995-1996 | ||
Running Time | 175:06 | ||
RSDL/Flipper | Dual Sided |
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Start Up | Menu | ||
Region | 2,4 | Director | Kevin S. Bright
Thomas Schlamme Michael Lembeck James Burrows |
Distributor |
Warner Home Video |
Starring | Jennifer Aniston
Courtney Cox Lisa Kudrow Matt Le Blanc Matthew Perry David Schwimmer |
Case | Transparent Amaray | ||
RPI | $36.95 | Music | Michael Skloff
Ian Christian Nickus |
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Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame | English (Dolby Digital 2.0, 192Kb/s) | |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 |
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Macrovision | ? | Smoking | Yes |
Subtitles | English
French Finnish Danish Swedish Norwegian Dutch Icelandic English for the Hearing Impaired |
Annoying Product Placement | Yes, occasionally |
Action In or After Credits | Yes, almost every episode has action during the end credits |
The episodes on this DVD are Episodes 9 - 16 of Series 2.
The One With Phoebe's Dad (21:52). This episode is the Christmas episode for 1995, and it sees Phoebe come to the realization that her father is not who she has been told he is. Monica and Rachel's cash-strapped position see them give cookies to their mailman, newspaper delivery boy and building supervisor instead of a cash tip, with variable results, particularly when their radiator gets stuck on full.
The One With Russ (21:55). Rachel starts dating Russ, essentially a clone of Ross, down to the dubbed voice and annoying mannerisms. Monica and Fun Bobby get back together until Monica realizes Bobby is only fun when he has a drink in his hand. Fun Bobby turns into Dull Bobby when he gets on the wagon, driving Monica to drink to excess to compensate. Joey scores a plumb role on Days Of Our Lives as a neurosurgeon.
The One With The Lesbian Wedding (21:55). Susan and Carol plan a wedding which Ross thoroughly disapproves of, but he gets involved regardless. An elderly lady dies on Phoebe's massage table, her spirit entering Phoebe's body, with often hilarious consequences. Rachel's mother visits and confides to Rachel that she wants to leave Rachel's father.
The One With The Superbowl Part I (21:51). I have no idea why this and the next episode make reference to the Superbowl, as it doesn't even rate a mention during either episode. Joey picks up a stalker (Brooke Shields) as a result of his ongoing role on Days Of Our Lives. At first, this appears to be a good thing, but this stalker thinks Joey is really a neurosurgeon. Ross attempts to visit Marcelle (his ex-monkey) but Marcelle is no longer at the zoo. Phoebe is convinced to play her unique brand of songs for children at the local library by Chris Isaak.
The One With The Superbowl Part II (21:56). Ross finds out that Marcelle is actually in show-biz now, and is starring in Outbreak II, being shot in New York. As a consequence, Rachel finds herself going out with Jean-Claude Van Damme, much to Monica's chagrin and Chandler finds himself going out with a girl from his primary school - Julia Roberts. Chandler's dream date, however, does not turn out quite as he expects. JCVD proves he still can't act in this episode, even when he is playing himself.
The One With The Prom Video (21:55). Joey gives Chandler an extremely ugly bracelet which Chandler feels compelled to wear, however Joey finds out that Chandler hates the bracelet in a very funny scene. Ross, Monica and Rachel view a prom video shot by Ross and Monica's parents, which makes Rachel look at Ross in a more sympathetic light.
The One Where Ross And Rachel You Know (21:56). Aside from the obvious sub-plot suggested by the title of this episode, Joey buys a new TV and recliners for Chandler's and Joey's apartment, which they promptly take up residence in. This had to be my favourite sub-plot of this entire collection of episodes, especially given the irony this particular reviewer felt whilst lazing back on his viewing couch. Monica caters a party for an ophthalmologist friend of her parents (Tom Selleck) and the sparks fly between them despite their 21 year age difference.
The One Where Joey Moves Out (21:46). With his new-found wealth, Joey decides it is time to strike out on his own and find a new apartment, which Chandler is none-too-happy about. Monica attends her father's birthday party where her relationship with Dr Burke is revealed to her parents. Rachel and Phoebe convince each other to get tattoos.
The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. It is not 16x9 enhanced. Four episodes are present on each side of the DVD, which is not clearly labelled in regards to which side is which.
The transfer as a rule is relatively soft, although the opening credits for each episode actually look very good and are better than many of the episodes in quality. Background details are reasonably well-defined in these episodes, within the limitations of the occasionally quite short focal length used during filming. Shadow detail remains quite limited during any darker scenes, such as in the cab during Episode 9 and during the opening of Episode 10. There is no low level noise as such, although film grain is a mild problem at times.
A momentary increase in brightness occurs during Episode 9 at 5:35 for no apparent reason.
The colours were strongly saturated without being oversaturated. There were no problems with colour bleed at any stage nor with grossly oversaturated skin tones at any stage, unlike previous DVDs from this series. In fact, the overall consistency of the colour saturation was much higher with these episodes than with any previously reviewed DVD from the series.
MPEG artefacts were not overly problematic for this disc, mainly because the grain was at a much lower level than on previous discs. If you paused the image you could readily note minor posterization in the backgrounds but this was not apparent when viewing these episodes at normal speed. Foreground posterization of faces, a problem for the previously-reviewed Friends-Series 2-Volume 1 was not an issue with this DVD, however motion blur was.
An odd aliasing effect was seen in several episodes,
such as Episode 12 where the venetian blinds at around the 12:30
and 14:50 marks shimmered vertically
in a very odd fashion. This artefact was repeated during Episode 13 on
some background columns at around the 1:00
mark. A presumably related artefact appeared as a string of dots on the
edges of Rachel's blue prom dress in Episode 14 at 16:38
and on a wastepaper bin in Episode 16 at several points, such as at 19:00.
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Film artefacts were not noted at any point in this
transfer.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/MPEG Artefacts | |
Film-to-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
The dialogue was clear and easy to understand at almost all times. Dialogue in the cab in Episode 9 was boxy, but that is only to be expected for dialogue captured in this particular setting. Dialogue during Episode 15 also had a slightly boxy and unnatural sound about it.
Audio sync was marginal during Episode 10, particularly during Russ' dubbed dialogue. At around the 15 minute mark in this same episode, a lengthy conversation between Joey and Chandler in their apartment is subtly out of sync. Other than this, sync was not a problem for any other episodes.
The score by Michael Skloff and Ian Christian Nickus was mainly limited to the opening theme of the series, but additional musical cues found their way into the score at times.
The surround channel had some limited use for audience
ambience, probably more accidental than anything, and the only use of the
stereo capabilities of this soundtrack was for the limited music. The subwoofer
had more musical low end directed to it than in previous instalments.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Distortion/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
© Michael Demtschyna
(read my bio)
6th December 2000
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DVD | Loewe Xemix 5006DD, using RGB output |
Display | Loewe Art-95 95cm direct view CRT in 4:3 mode, via the RGB input. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials. |
Audio Decoder | Denon AVD-2000 Dolby Digital AddOn Decoder, used as a standalone processor. Denon AVD-1000 DTS AddOn Decoder, used as a standalone processor. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials and the NTSC DVD version of The Ultimate DVD Demo Disc Platinum. |
Amplification | 2 x EA Playmaster 100W per channel stereo amplifiers for Left, Right, Left Rear and Right Rear; Philips 360 50W per channel stereo amplifier for Centre and Subwoofer |
Speakers | Philips S2000 speakers for Left, Right; Polk Audio CS-100 Centre Speaker; Apex AS-123 speakers for Left Rear and Right Rear; Hsu Research TN-1220HO subwoofer |