Family Guy-Freakin' Sweet Collection (1999) |
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Family Guy-Freakin' Sweet Collection (1999) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Comedy |
Audio Commentary-Brian And Stewie - 'Road To Rhode Island' Audio Commentary-Crew - 'To Love And Die In Dixie' Audio Commentary-Crew - 'I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar' Audio Commentary-Crew - 'Lethal Weapon' Featurette-Preview Of American Dad Featurette-Seth MacFarlane Talks About American Dad Featurette-Seth MacFarlane Talks About Family Guy Season 4 Trailer-Futurama Season 4, The Simpsons DVD Collection Web Links |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 1999 | ||
| Running Time | 108:11 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Ads Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By |
Sarah Frost Seth MacFarlane Neil Affleck Greg Colton |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Twentieth Century Fox |
Starring |
Seth MacFarlane Alex Borstein Mila Kunis Seth Green |
| Case | ? | ||
| RPI | $24.95 | Music |
Ron Jones Walter Murphy Rick Mackenzie |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English for the Hearing Impaired English Audio Commentary |
Smoking | Yes, Talking, Animated Dog |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Family Guy first came to my attention on Pay TV and after watching a few episodes I was hooked.
The dynamics of the Griffin family are unlike any other; the not too bright husband, Peter (Seth MacFarlane), his lovely wife, Lois (Alex Borstein), his moody daughter, Meg (Mila Kunis), his half-witted son, Chris (Seth Green), the intellectually sophisticated one year old, Stewie (Seth MacFarlane), and the talking alcoholic dog, Brian (Seth MacFarlane). Intellectually speaking, Brian and Stewie could run rings around the other family members and I think this is the great attraction of Family Guy. Sure, The Simpsons might have Maggie and Santa’s Little Helper, but they can't talk.
Family Guy – The Freakin’ Sweet Collection contains five of Seth MacFarlane’s favourite Family Guy episodes.
If you want to know more about Family Guy, check out Edward M’s Family Guy - Season 1 review here and Aiden O’s Family Guy - Season 2 review here.
When Peter uses Lois’ rainy day money to purchase volcano insurance, he turns to Max Weinstein to get it back. Peter is convinced that Jewish people are guaranteed to succeed in life because they are better at managing money, so he sets out to convert Chris to Judaism.
Brian flies to Palm Springs to pick up Stewie from Lois’ parent’s house. When Brian becomes drunk at the bar, their bags are stolen and they miss the return flight. Deciding to make their own way home they stop off at Austin to visit Brian’s mother. This episode was created two years before Sept. 11 and contains a scene showing Osama Bin Laden smuggling weapons onto an aircraft.
After Chris identifies a convenience store robber, the FBI decides to move the Griffins into protective custody. Their move to Bumblescum, in the Deep South, sets the stage for laughs aplenty. This episode is my personal all-time favourite – they rubbish banjo-playing, redneck, Southerners in a way that I didn’t think Americans could.
Peter is charged with sexual harassment in the workplace and is forced to attend a woman’s retreat. When he returns home, Peter is in tune with his feminine side and the stage is set for some great humour. The best gag occurs when Stewie wakes up and realises that Peter has been breast feeding him – the revulsion on Stewie’s face is priceless.
It’s Autumn and the New York “Leafers” come to Quahog to view the season’s colours. Lois decides to take Tae-Jitsu classes and Peter charges people money to fight his wife. The episode ends in an all-in brawl that involves the whole family.
Apart from aliasing the transfer is near perfect.
The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and it is not 16x9 enhanced.
The animation is clean and sharp. There is no visible noise or grain.
As you would expect from a cartoon, the colours are vibrant.
I did not notice any MPEG artefacts but aliasing is a problem. While most scenes are unaffected, severe aliasing of the whole image does occurs occasionally and when it does it is quite annoying. Some examples are When You Wish Upon A Weinstein (15:22) and Lethal Weapons (3:55 and 17:05).
English subtitles are offered for all five episodes and English Commentary subtitles are offered for all episodes except When You Wish Upon A Weinstein, which misses out on an audio commentary as well. The subtitles are clear and easy to read, though they tend to move around the screen in an effort not to obscure the action.
The layer change occurs between episodes on this disc.
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The default audio track for each of the five episodes is English Dolby Digital 2.0 (Surround). An English Dolby Digital 2.0 (Surround) Commentary track is also offered for each episode, except for When You Wish Upon A Weinstein. I listened to both audio tracks.
Dialogue is always clear and easy to understand and, being an animated series, audio sync wasn’t a problem.
All dialogue and sound effects sit firmly in the centre sound stage with only the music making its way to the surrounds.
Subwoofer use is minimal.
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The DVD contains a broad selection of extras.
The main menu follows the obligatory anti-piracy ads which, thankfully, can be skipped through. The menu is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced. It is not animated and contains no sound. The main menu allows you to select the episodes individually, Play All, or access the Special Features.
Commentary tracks are offered for each episode, except When You Wish Upon A Weinstein. Seth MacFarlane is joined by Executive Producer Dan Palladino, writers Steve Callaghan, Danny Smith, Mike Henry, Craig Hoffman, Chris Sheridan, and the voice of Lois, Alex Borstein, to discuss the various censorship hurdles they had to jump over to make each of the episodes possible. It is clear that all concerned are passionate about their work.
The Road To Rhode Island commentary takes the cake, with Stewie and Brian providing an inside look at their off-screen life. It is hilarious and, to some extent, even funnier than the episode itself.
Profanities are common throughout and in part this is what makes Stewie's and Brian’s commentary so funny.
The sneak preview of American Dad is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is accompanied by Dolby Digital 2.0 (Surround) sound. The transfer quality is comparable to the main features and as such, includes some aliasing.
Stan Smith works for the CIA and lives with his all-American family; Francine his wife, Hayley his teenage daughter and Steve, his 13 year old son. Stan is paranoid about terrorism, to the extent that there is even a terrorism alert meter on the fridge.
The similarities to Family Guy are evident with two talking, non-human, characters taking the place of Brian and Stewie. We have Roger, an alien from Area 51 and Klaus the fish. Klaus has had a German’s brain transplanted for his own and hence, talks with a German accent.
In short, the humour of American Dad will appeal to anyone who enjoys Family Guy. A friend of mine has seen the first six episodes of American Dad and she believes they are even funnier than Family Guy.
Seth MacFarlane talks about the new series, American Dad. It is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and accompanied by Dolby Digital 2.0 (Surround) sound.
Family Guy - Season 4 was created at the same time as American Dad - Season 1 and as Seth MacFarlane explains, American Dad was created to provide a new set of characters, allowing the writers to take their humour in new directions.
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and accompanied by Dolby Digital 2.0 (Surround) sound. The usual aliasing issues are present. Seth MacFarlane talks about his five favourite episodes and the Family Guy in general. He reveals that Fox initially refused to air When You Wish Upon A Weinstein because they were concerned it would be perceived as anti-Semitic. Apart from referring to the fact that Family Guy was dropped by Fox, only to be picked up again for Season 4, there really isn’t much information about Family Guy - Season 4.
An advertisement for the Season 4 box set of Futurama.
A general advertisement for the multitude of DVD collections and box sets available for The Simpsons.
A simple text page that encourages you to log on to www.foxmovies.com.au.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (Surround) sound
French Dolby Digital 2.0 sound
Spanish subtitles
The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;
Nothing
Apart from the foreign language audio and subtitle tracks, there is no difference between the Region 4 and Region 1 versions of this disc.
Apart from some aliasing issues, the video and audio transfers are very good.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-533K, using Component output |
| Display | InFocus Screenplay 7200 with ScreenTechnics 100" (16x9) screen. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to Amplifier. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Denon AVC -A11SR |
| Speakers | Jamo D6PEX wall mounted Speakers and Powered Sub (7.1) |