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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.
Chaser's War on Everything, The-Season 1-Episodes 14-26 (2006)

Chaser's War on Everything, The-Season 1-Episodes 14-26 (2006)

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Released 1-Nov-2006

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Main Menu Animation
Featurette-Obligatory Joke Item Menu
Audio Commentary
Additional Footage-Extras
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2006
Running Time 351:00 (Case: 370)
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Dual Disc Set
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Mark FitzGerald
Craig Melville
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Chris Taylor
Julian Morrow
Andrew Hansen
Craig Reucassel
Chas Licciardello
Charles Firth
Dominic Knight
Case Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI $29.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (256Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
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

    The best skit show on Australian television, The Chaser's War on Everything is back with Part 2 of their fantastic first season.

    Drawing on the talents of Andrew Hansen, Dominic Knight, Chas Licciardello, Julian Morrow, Craig Reucassel, Chris Taylor and Charles Firth (all the way from the US), their war on everything is exactly that. No celebrity, TV show, politician, company or institution is safe. Some of the show's best moments are the spontaneous reactions of celebrities, politicians and industry leaders as they are blindsided by the Chaser's latest antics.

    The 26-27 minute episodes all follow a similar format with weekly segments. Some of these recurring segments are my favourites; 

    - The Surprise Spruiker: One victim includes the Melbourne City Council, who had recently banned spruiking.

    - What have we learned from Current Affairs this week? Always an amazing look at some of rubbish that gets broadcast as topical news, such as Australia's most (insert inane category here). Seriously though, between Australia's craziest neighbour, Australia's worst driver and so on, I'm amazed people even watch those shows anymore. It's also fun to see the Chaser's reveal how many of the same 'reports' get rehashed over and over again.

    - Mr Ten Questions: I keep wondering, as these guys get more famous, will they be able to get into press conferences and other events where they get some of their best footage? Victims include Paul Keating (who has aged surprisingly and totally ignored the questions) and the Veronicas.

    - Firth in the USA: Military recruitment centres in drag... need I say more?

    Another highlight from this second set includes the memorable No Gary No skit. Remember those quit smoking advertisments? Well, these guys take to smoko breaks around CBD areas, trying to convince smokers to give up the death stick. They also try to approach a bewildered Peter Costello (I have to give him credit for trying, he attempted to be spontaneously funny, but came off looking a bit loony). The Emperor Palpatine-like Phillip Ruddock (who didn't even break a smirk and totally ignored them) is also featured.

    This 2 disc set is the second half of the season. Normally, I'm against any halving or dividing of broadcast seasons, however this case is different. For a half season it's quite full of special features and in my opinion consumers are not being short changed. It has plenty of episodes, features and commentaries to keep you more than satisfied. Click here to see my review of the first half of the season.

    If you missed the TV run of The Chaser's War on Everything, you should definitely check it out along with the first half season set.

    This is great Aussie television.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The ABC have a good reputation for their recent DVD releases, but this disc is a little disappointing.

    This set is presented in its broadcast ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    Unfortunately, the transfer is not quite as clear or impressive as the first half set. 

    The studio shot footage generally lacks the sharpness of the first half set and there is noticeable difference in quality between the episodes, with some suffering more than others.

    The colours look really good and skin tones look natural.

    Occasionally there can be a difference in quality between studio shot and outdoor footage, but nothing to complain about.

    There are no compression artefacts or video artefacts.

    Subtitles are available for the hearing impaired.

    The discs are dual layered, with layer changes between episodes.

    Overall, this is a good transfer from the reliable ABC, but it falls a little short of the season's first half.

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

Audio

    The audio track is a very decent English Dolby Digital 2.0, encoded at 256 Kb/s.

    The dialogue comes through sounding nice and clear.

    There are no sync or drop out issues.

    There seems to be a reasonable amount of separation across the centre, right and left speakers to give the track a decent amount of depth.

    There is no surround speaker or sub-woofer usage. This is a very competent track.

    There are also the English Audio Commentary tracks on each episode (Dolby Digital 2.0, 192Kb/s).

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

Extras

Audio Commentary

     In a fantastic display of appreciation to fans, every episode has a commentary. Not all Chasers appear on every track, but there are usually 2-3 on each track, as well as contributions from various production team members. Some tracks are funnier than others, but for the most part would be required listening for fans. Insights can be gleaned on some of the different Chasers, the writing and production.

Disc 1

Obligatory Joke Menu Item

    Menu items get inverted...... yes seriously.

Disc 2

Deleted scenes 

    21 deleted scenes, some of which are similar to existing scenes left in the show. Some were hilarious, others fell a little flat and were left out for good reasons.

R4 vs R1

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

    There is no Region 1 set available. The poor Yanks don't know what they are missing.

Summary

    Overall, this is one of the best locally-made shows to hit Australian TVs in a long time.

    The video is good, but not quite up to Auntie's usual standards.

    The audio is very good too.

    The special features are generous for fans.

    Highly recommended.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ben Smith (boku no bio)
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Review Equipment
DVDMarantz DV4300, using Component output
DisplaySony VPL HS10 projector on 100 inch 16x9 screen + Palsonic 76WSHD. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderSony STR-DE685. Calibrated with THX Optimizer.
AmplificationPioneer
SpeakersDB Dynamics VEGA series floor standers + centre, DB bipole rears, 10" 100W DB Dynamics sub

Other Reviews NONE