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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Fat Pizza-Uncensored (2003)

Fat Pizza-Uncensored (2003)

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Released 9-Sep-2004

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Main Menu Introduction
Main Menu Audio & Animation
Introduction-Pauly
Featurette-Surfers Shooting Club + 2
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2003
Running Time 119
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Paul Fenech
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Paul Fenech
Paul Nakad
John Boxer
Maria Venuti
Annalise Braakensiek
Tahir Bilgic
Jabba
Ada Nicodemou
Sandy Gutman
Tania Zaetta
Shane Porteous
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $29.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (320Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    I imagine that the low-brow and puerile Fat Pizza Uncensored is one of those controversial love-it-or-hate-it releases that polarises its viewers into two camps. I personally loved this ode to irresponsibility and hedonism (but then again, I loved Benny Hill). However, I can understand that a collection of street-car burnouts, drunk schoolies, lap-dancing strippers, and Jesus, "the fully sickest son of God", getting crucified with a nail gun, might not be everyone's cup of tea.

    "Too rude for TV. Too raunchy for the movies. Too horny for Bobo's mamma. It's Fat Pizza Uncensored, you stooge! Hit the road with Pauly, Bobo, Rocky and Habib as they travel across Australia looking for some filthy, freaky action in this exclusive, never-before-seen DVD. It's fully sick, mate."

    The road to Fat Pizza Uncensored is a long and interesting one: During the early 1990s, Paul Fenech self-funded (produced, directed, and starred in) a series of short comedy films featuring the misadventures of a pizza delivery man. In 1995, one of these shorts, Pizza Man won third place at the Tropfest film festival. Fenech's festival win helped him convince SBS of the viability of a sit-com, and Pizza was born in 2000. The series success allowed a move to the big screen with Fat Pizza in 2003. With Fat Pizza Uncensored, however, Fenech has almost come full-circle, as he returns to making a collection of comic shorts.

    Fat Pizza Uncensored has an almost magazine-style, interview-based, cinema verite presentation, and includes various sections. They roughly divide into four: Summernats, Schoolies, Strippers, and Mini-Pizzas.

    Summernats runs for approximately 25 minutes, the bulk of which is a segment titled Over the Line at Summernats (10:21), but there are 10 segments in all. The various segments contain footage of the burnouts at this annual Canberra street-car event (www.summernats.com.au). Pauly (Paul Fenech) and Habib (Tahir Bilgic) provide narration, and interview a number of the participants. A few topless girls, and an interview with the gorgeous Miss Summernats, are also thrown in for good measure.

    Schoolies is perhaps the most joyously irresponsible of the sections, and it runs for about 20 minutes. Schoolies Week is well known phenomenon where, (usually) in late November, hordes of school leavers descend on the Gold Coast for a week of under-age binge drinking, free love, and unrestrained partying. While there are three segments within this section of the DVD, Schoolies Mate - I Love It, is the main one, running for about 19 minutes. Here Pauly and Habib wander around Surfers Paradise with a camera crew, capturing footage from the streets, clubs, and parties. We see teenage drinking games (with teenage vomiting), flashing teen-girls, and plenty of "hot chicks pashing" each other. Some of the faces have been pixilated, as they are obviously under-age.

    Strippers is shot in Showgirls Bar 20 in Melbourne (www.bar20.com.au) and runs for approximately 26 minutes. Pauly, Habib, and Rocky review all the action inside, which includes them visiting the pole dancing stage, the fetish rooms, the shower-rooms, and having a lap-dance. There are 13 segments contained in this section of the DVD, and many of them contain the performances of individual strippers, and those girls working . . . errr . . . as a team.

   Mini Pizzas runs for about 34 minutes in total, and contains 8 segments, including Fenech's three original short films, Pizza Man, Hero! and Dangerous Pizza. There is also the History of Pizza, which is a rather irreverent (and completely unfactual) look at pizza through the ages. Nothing here is sacred, and these costume-drama shorts include 'Jesus', "the fully sickest son of God", getting crucified with a nail gun, and 'Don Bradman' getting beaten up in a public toilet.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

    The transfer is slightly limited by the source material, which I assume comes from hand-held DV cameras, but it is perfect for the DVD's content.

    The transfer is presented in a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.75:1, 16x9 enhanced.

    The sharpness is reasonable. The shadow detail is okay, but as some of the scenes are shot outdoors with natural light (and DV Cameras), it can appear a little harsh, such as during the Summernats section at 2:38.

    The colour is fine, and the skin tones are accurate.

    Sadly, there are MPEG artefacts throughout, and many scenes suffer from pixelization, such as during the Summernats section at 3:40, or during the Strippers section at 0:33. Film-to-video artefacts appear in the form of aliasing, such as the shimmer on the girl's top during the Summernats section at 5:58, or the shimmer on the tracksuit during the Schoolies section at 7:42.

    There are no problems with film artefacts.

    English for the Hearing Impaired subtitles are present, and they are very accurate.

    This is a Dual Layered disc, and I assume the layer change is placed between segments, as it was not noticeable.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Although the packaging promises both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Stereo audio tracks, in reality, there is only one audio option: English Dolby Digital 2.0 (320Kb/s).

    The dialogue quality and audio sync are excellent.

    There is no musical score per se, rather a collection of hip-hop and dance flavoured tunes are found pumping in the background, which suits the production well.

    As a stereo track, there is no surround presence or LFE activity.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

    As this disc is really a collection of various segments, it's hard to identify the 'extras'. That said, according to the menu, the following are the extras:

Menu

    A very simple menu, with audio.

Introduction-Pauly

    Pauly and Bobo introduce the DVD and the content.

Stripper Extra

    Pauly, Habib, and Rocky discuss tips for improving your next visit to a strip club.

Mini Pizzas Extra

    'Hidden Camera' footage showing some half-naked activity in Bobo's toilet.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    It seems that Fat Pizza Uncensored has no release date in R1.

Summary

    Yes, there were plenty of moments that made me cringe, but for those who like to laugh (and are not easily offended), Fat Pizza Uncensored is an absolute corker of a DVD!

    The video quality is slightly disappointing, but still very watchable.

    The audio quality is reasonable for a stereo track.

    The extras are fun, but hard to distinguish from the main feature/s.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Brandon Robert Vogt (warning: bio hazard)
Sunday, September 05, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-535, using S-Video output
DisplayGrundig Elegance 82-2101 (82cm, 16x9). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationSony STR DE-545
SpeakersSony SS-V315 x5; Sony SA-WMS315 subwoofer

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