Friends-Series 7-Volume 2-Episodes 5-8 (2000) |
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Friends-Series 7-Volume 2-Episodes 5-8 (2000) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Comedy |
DVD-ROM Extras-Web Links Featurette-Extended Episodes (4) |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2000 | ||
| Running Time | 174:15 (Case: 176) | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | Dual Sided | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Kevin S. Bright |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Warner Home Video |
Starring |
Jennifer Aniston Courtney Cox-Arquette Lisa Kudrow Matt LeBlanc Matthew Perry David Schwimmer |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent | ||
| RPI | $29.95 | Music | Michael Skloff |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame |
English Dolby Digital 2.0  (192Kb/s)English Dolby Digital 5.0 (384Kb/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 English for the Hearing Impaired |
Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | Yes | ||
| Action In or After Credits | Yes, each episode contains one last funny scene | ||
Friends is an American sitcom revolving around the lives of 6 close friends. It centres on the quirky habits of each character and is primarily filmed within the confines of their three apartments. Please see Michael's earlier review of Friends Series 1 - Volume 1 if you would like to read some background information on the main characters of the show.
The episodes present on Side A of this disc are;
The One With The Engagement Picture (21:01) - Rachel plans to get closer to Tag (her new male assistant) by getting him to spend time with Joey, however, her plan backfires when Joey teaches him how to pick up plenty of women each night. Monica cannot seem to find a good picture of herself and Chandler. Unfortunately, Chandler is hopeless once placed in front of a camera.
The One With Nap Partners (21:03) - Monica becomes concerned when she runs into one of Chandler's long lost girlfriends and finds out the reason he dumped her. Phoebe and Rachel fight for the honour of being Monica's bridesmaid and they make a fatal mistake when they ask Ross and Joey to be the judges. After a late night of judging, the two guys end up having a nap together on the couch and wake up in compromising positions.
The One With Ross's Library Book (21:01) - Joey decides to dump his really nice and likeable girlfriend which causes Rachel and Phoebe to whine until he changes his mind. Monica stumbles upon Chandler's former girlfriend Janice who, during the course of the conversation, invites herself to the wedding. Ross is ecstatic when he learns that his dissertation is available in the university library.
The One Where Chandler Doesn't Like Dogs (21:02) - Rachel is happily surprised when her assistant Tag shows up for Thanksgiving Dinner. Phoebe sneaks a puppy into the apartment and Chandler finds out. This forces him to confess to why he hates cats and dogs. Ross tries to name all 50 states.
The extended episodes present on Side B of the disc are;
The One With The Engagement Picture (21:01)
The One With Nap Partners (23:11)
The One With Ross's Library Book (22:55)
The One Where Chandler Doesn't Like Dogs (23:01)
The video transfers across all 8 episodes were of a similar quality and appearance.
The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and is therefore not 16x9 enhanced.
This transfer contains less grain than the previously reviewed Series 7 Episodes 1-4 DVD and the entire Series 6 collection, which was rather invigorating. Shadow detail is acceptable but most scenes are in brightly lit conditions making any possible problems less apparent. There is no detectable low level noise.
The colours are bright and clear at all times throughout all 4 episodes. There were no irregularities with the colour rendition of this transfer.
There were very minor MPEG artefacts seen and as with the previous series they are more apparent on the hallway and apartment walls than in any other areas. Aliasing, when it does occur, is quite subtle and considerably less noticeable than on previous Friends DVDs. I did not notice as many film artefacts in these episodes as on previously reviewed Friends DVDs, which is a nice change for the better. Those film artefacts that are visible are quite small and not at all distracting.
Compared to previous Friends discs, there was a limited collection of subtitles available with only two to choose from. The English subtitles that I checked appeared close to the spoken word but were not exact. The font size is quite small, most likely to fit some of the long lines on screen at the same time.
This DVD is presented as a double-sided single-layered DVD and therefore there is no layer change. Instead, you have to leave your chair for a moment and flip the disc manually to see the four extended episodes. Personally, I can see no reason to watch the Episodes that are on Side A. Go straight to Side B and you will not only get an extended version of each episode but also Dolby Digital 5.0 sound.
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| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
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The dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times and I detected no hiss during any of the episodes.
The theme and background score were provided by Michael Skloff. The short little sound ditties played between scenes match the show well.
The Dolby Digital 5.0 track was disappointing but an improvement nonetheless from Episodes 1-4. The laughter and applause is placed throughout the soundfield but very few instances of directional sound (requiring a match to the on-screen action) are used. Those that did exist only appear half-way through the disc and can be found in the following places;
The subwoofer was not used by the soundtrack at all.
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| Audio Sync | |
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| Surround Channel Use | |
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| Overall | |
The menu has had an overhaul since Series 6. Like the show, it is in Full Screen. It is easy to navigate. If you manually select a particular episode from the menu you are returned back to the menu after it has finished playing. If on the other hand you select the "Play" option on the menu then all 4 episodes are played on each side.
DVD-ROM Extras
When the disc is loaded into a DVD-ROM drive, PC Friendly is loaded. Two extra menus are available that link to the "Friends Website" and the "Friends Events" site which is really the main Warner Brothers Events site for all of their products.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
I could not find any reference to an equivalent Region 1 version of this DVD. The only ones that I saw reference to were "Best Of" collection discs.
As always, these episodes of Friends contain quite a few good laughs and make for some nice, light entertainment. It is a shame that you now get less episodes per disc.
The audio is now available in Dolby Digital 5.0 but does not contain enough instances where the on-screen action warrants its use.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer XV-DV55, using S-Video output |
| Display | Loewe 72cm. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Pioneer XV-DV55 |
| Speakers | Pioneer S-DV55ST-K Satellite wall mouted 5-Speaker System; Pioneer S-DV55SW-K Powered Subwoofer |