Chop Socky Chooks-Volume 1: Kobura Strikes (2007) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Animation | Main Menu Audio | |
Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2007 | ||
Running Time | 110:39 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | Dual Layered | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Sergio Delfino |
Studio
Distributor |
Madman Entertainment |
Starring | None Given |
Case | Amaray-Transparent | ||
RPI | ? | Music |
Lou Pomanti Nikk Fielden Michelle Smith |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) | |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | None | Smoking | No |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
"Chop Socky!!!"
Chop Socky Chooks is an animated TV series which was jointly made by Aardman Animation and DMX Media (the Canadian company responsible for kids shows such as Lunar Jim) in 2007. It is directed by one of Aardman's senior animators, Sergio Delfino. It has been shown locally on the cartoon network & ABC1. With this pedigree this should have been a better show, especially considering that the basic idea is great. The concept is that there are a group of three chickens who are martial arts heroes. They fight the baddie, Dr Wasabi using every cliché in the kung fu movie arsenal. The three chickens are Chuckie Chan who is the sensei type character (think Pat Morita combined with Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda), KO Joe who is an afro sporting funky dude in the manner of the Jim Kelly character in Enter The Dragon and Chick P., the Michelle Yeoh of the group.
The problem with this show is that it is wildly uneven. Some episodes (of the five included on the disc) are excellent, funny & exciting especially Now You Coliseum, Now You Don't however the opening episode (and first of the overall show) is confusing, does a very ordinary job of introducing the characters and is only sporadically funny. This show was obviously made by people who love kung fu movies as most of the jokes are taken directly from that source material. Unfortunately, the core audience of the Cartoon Network (5-12 year old kids) has not seen the movies involved and therefore are somewhat confused. Despite this my boys certainly enjoy the show due to the action and general silliness. Also, some of the episodes have themes which can be a little concerning for kids, such as demons from the underworld and nightmares.
This disc contains the first five episodes of the 26 which were made. Seemingly, the title was widely misunderstood in the USA, some even thinking 'chooks' was a racist epithet.
In short, martial arts fans will definitely get a kick out of this show but the core audience will be a little confused & potentially scared despite liking the characters.
The video quality is very good.
The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.
The picture was clear and sharp throughout without being crisp. There was no evidence of low level noise or grain of any description. There was some mile MPEG artefcats such as mild macro-blocking.
The colour was excellent with no blemishes to report.
There were no noticeable artefacts other than those already mentioned.
There are no subtitles.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s.
Dialogue was generally clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.Some lines of dialogue went by a little too quickly for the kids to understand.
The music features a fun theme tune which plays over the opening credits.
The surround speakers were used for atmosphere especially for music.
The subwoofer was also used for music from time to time.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
Nothing except some unrelated trailers.
The menu design is simple, motionless but featuring the funky theme tune.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This series does not seem to have been released in other regions at this stage.
The video quality is very good.
The audio quality is good.
No extras.
Video | |
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Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Sony DVP-NS708H upscaling to 1080p, using HDMI output |
Display | LG Scarlet 42LG61YD 106cm Full HD LCD. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
Amplification | Pioneer VSX-511 |
Speakers | Monitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer |