Friends-Series 8 Box Set (2001) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Comedy | None | |
Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2001 | ||
Running Time | 504:00 (Case: 528) | ||
RSDL / Flipper |
Dual Sided Multi Disc Set (3) |
Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By |
Kevin S. Bright Sheldon Epps Gary Halvorson David Schwimmer |
Studio
Distributor |
Warner Home Video |
Starring |
Jennifer Aniston Courteney Cox Arquette Lisa Kudrow Matt LeBlanc Matthew Perry David Schwimmer |
Case | Gatefold | ||
RPI | $69.95 | Music | None Given |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame | English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) | |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles |
English Dutch French |
Smoking | No |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
In the world of television comedy, Friends is a tall-poppy indeed. Its huge following and critical praise makes it really tempting to write a controversial and cynical review of this, the Friends Season 8 box set.
I am not going to do that. Instead, I will let the facts speak for themselves. Friends has been nominated for a staggering forty-four Emmy Awards, four Golden Globes and has won the "People's Choice" award for Favourite Comedy Series four times. Guest stars have included Brad Pitt, Tom Selleck, Bruce Willis, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Helen Hunt, Elle McPherson...and the list goes on. Episodes can attract audiences of over 30 million people in the USA and this justifies the main actors' $1,000,000 (US) each per episode. Friends is reputedly the "most expensive half-hour on TV - ever".
Sure, the plots can sometimes provide a sense of dejá-vu. Sure the jokes are not always laugh-out-loud funny. Sure, it is kinda long-in-the-tooth. However Friends is a genre-defining series which, despite its age, can still hold its own after 9 (and counting) hugely successful seasons, and can consistently bring a smile to the face of millions of fans around the globe.
For those of you who have been in solitary confinement, or unable to correctly tune-in your television set for the past nine years, here's the basic set-up. The show focuses on the lives of six (now thirty-something) yuppy friends as they share their lives in New York City. Most of the action takes place in one or other of the trendy Greenwich Village apartments they share, or the local coffee shop, The Central Perk.
The three main male characters are Chandler (Matthew Perry) a witty desk-jockey, Ross (David Schwimmer) a gutless paleontologist and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) the buff-but-dim actor. The three primary female characters are Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) the sexy, naive, fashion executive, Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) the sexy, hippy masseuse and Monica (Courtney-Cox Arquette) the sexy, formerly-obese, compulsive chef.
The box set of Friends - Season 8 contains three double-sided DVDs containing the following episodes:
The episodes all run for 21:00 (give or take a few seconds) which did feel appreciably shorter than I remembered them. Still, the lack of commercial breaks more than makes up for the apparent brevity of each episode.
Whilst I am not a huge fan of the show, I have to admit that it is genuinely humorous with high production values. I have yet to catch an episode of Friends which didn't make me - at the very least - smile. This, whilst not compulsive viewing, is feel-good comedy at its warmest.
The video transfer for this season is of a similar quality throughout. There are no major defects to be seen, although some of the flashback scenes do vary in quality - suggesting an improvement over time.
All the episodes are presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and they are not 16x9 enhanced.
The original footage is shot on videotape so it is not a particularly sharp transfer, with a fair level of grain present throughout the episodes. Most buyers of these discs will be well aware that they are from a television series, and therefore the expectations of video quality will be that the discs adequately reproduce what was seen "on TV". All of these episodes do just that - the quality is no more, and no less than as broadcast.
Colours appear bright, with skin tones and the occasional outdoor shot looking quite natural.
There are three sets of subtitles on the discs: English, French and Dutch. Sampling the English subtitles across several episodes, it becomes apparent that they are somewhat truncated. You still get the gist and they probably cover eighty per cent of the dialogue.
As mentioned, the discs in this set are dual-sided, with four episodes on each side. It is very difficult to determine which side is which, without careful inspection (or the assistance of a scanning electron microscope). This is annoying.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
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Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
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Overall |
The episodes are presented with a single, unremarkable English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0 recorded at 192 kilobits per second. The surround flag is enabled.
The dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times.
Music is restricted to the catchy theme song "I'll be there for you" and minor snatches of tunes at scene transitions. There is nothing noteworthy here.
As would be expected from the sound mix, and the source material, the surround channels see limited use and basically carry the music and (slightly grating) laughter track. They did not really add anything to the viewing experience. Subwoofer activity was not evident at any point.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
The discs contain no real extras.
As an aside, one feature that might be considered an "extra" is the extremely irritating "InterActual" software DVD player. If I want to change my default PC software player, I am quite capable of choosing to do so myself. I do not need a pop-up window to require me to cancel it every time I insert a disc!
The menu is functional but silent. It is 16x9 enhanced.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
I can find no equivalent Region 1 box set. It appears similar complete sets are only available for Seasons 1-3 in Region 1. The Region 4 set appears to be the only choice if you wish to have all twenty-four episodes in one easy-to-carry box.
This is Friends. It is a funny show.
This is Season 8. The laughter lines are slowly becoming fully-fledged wrinkles.
If you are a fan of the show, then this rather utilitarian DVD set will undoubtedly present you with almost 12 hours of good times on three shiny little discs.
The video transfer is as would be expected from a recent TV series.
The audio transfer is acceptable for a dialogue driven TV series.
There are no extras.
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Extras | |
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Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Pioneer DV-344 Multi-Region, using Component output |
Display | Panasonic TX-47P500H 47" Widescreen RPTV. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
Amplification | ONKYO TX-DS484 |
Speakers | JensenSPX-9 fronts, Jensen SPX-13 Centre, Jensen SPX-5 surrounds, Jensen SPX-17 subwoofer |