Bottom-Live 3: Hooligan's Island (1997)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Comedy	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1997
Running Time	100:00
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Rik Mayall Adrian Edmondson
Case	?
RPI	$29.95	Music	Simon Brint

    This is the third in a series of four releases of the stage shows performed by Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall set around the characters first debuted in their TV series Bottom in the early 1990s. This was recorded live at the Bristol Hippodrome in Avon, England. The language contained on this disc is just as bad as that found on 2001: An A*** Oddity, but it isn't as prevalent, so be warned if you are easily offended.

    The show is in two acts, both set on Hooligan's Island, a deserted island in the Pacific. The boys have been marooned after Eddie sank the ship on which they were the stage act, and pathetic they were too. After some not-so-funny gags followed by sawing the captain in half (amongst other things), Eddie accidentally sets the boat on fire, and then proceeds to sink it, and now they have been stranded on the island for nearly three years. Act 1 is a mish-mash of different things; Eddie rescuing a bird and Richie trying to shag it; Eddie spying Richie's knackers and giving him a bollocking; Eddie being crapped on by a very slow-moving seagull (x marks the spot) and a plethora of other sight gags.

    Act 2 is about the boys being bored and discovering they have a nuclear bomb on the island and that in fact the island is about to be used in a French nuclear test and they have only minutes (actually about 46 minutes) to live. Naturally, there are lots of French jokes, lots of pseudo-beatings and much interplay with the audience. The best part about this series is that the two comedians are very at home and relaxed on stage. Forget about the embarrassment of forgetting your lines, these two do it all the time and turn it into a gag.

    This is probably more for the die-hard fans of series like The Young Ones and Bottom, but I find that even the level of vulgarity is lessened by the fact that these two guys are very funny. There is a great sense of vaudeville in the act, lots of sound effects, and they are obviously enjoying themselves, which shines through constantly. This is another worthy addition to the world of DVD.

Video

    Although not as good a transfer as the last disc, apart from some very minor problems this is another quality transfer.

    Unlike 2001: An A*** Oddity, this is offered in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced. Fortunately, this doesn't result in a great loss of vision.

    Again, like the previous disc I reviewed, this offered up many examples of the not inconsequential use of edge enhancement which, although not totally annoying, does diminish somewhat the overall sharpness of the transfer. Shadow detail is fairly minimal due to the extreme brightness of the stage area and the static set design, although the transfer does offer extremely good fine detail. There was no noise on display and grain is once again exceptionally minor with only the odd moment where it is noticeable.

    The colour is another aspect that has remained fairly constant on this disc. Fully saturated with good variety given the surroundings and layout, there are good skin tones on display, no colour bleed noted and no chroma noise.

    A few minor problems showed up in this transfer. At 20:06 you will notice some pixelization on Richie's shirt sleeves. This occurs quite frequently but is only a minor annoyance. At 38:44 and 69:52 moiré artefacts can be seen on both Eddie's string shirt and the grille beneath the bomb. Once again, there are no noticeable film artefacts, blemishes or flecks to contend with for a very clean and watchable picture.

    There were no subtitles on this disc

    There was no layer change on this disc.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    A single audio track is available on this disc in English Dolby Digital 2.0 at a reasonable bitrate of 192 kilobits per second. Precisely the same as the first disc I reviewed, this is exclusively concentrated into the centre channel to the exclusion of everything else. Some audience laughter can be heard from the front speakers, and some of the sound effects, but there is little to suggest this is anything but a monaural experience.

    The dialogue and audio sync were spot on as you'd expect

    The opening and closing music was from the TV series Bottom and there was some incidental music during the show, but on the whole music was minimal.

    There was some surround activity noted, specifically crowd reactions and applause, which added slightly to the overall envelope, but not greatly.

    There was no subwoofer activity on this disc.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    As far as I can ascertain, there is no Region 1 release of this disc at this time. Therefore, we have the definitive version.

    Another one for the fans of the TV series Bottom and lovers of good British comedy, complete with toilet humour and large doses of unbelievability. Both Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson seem to be enjoying themselves immensely in this stage show and it shows. I still can't believe I find this funny after all this time, but I guess that says something for my own lavatorial sense of humour.

    The video is excellent with a crisp, clean picture on offer for the most part with only minor blemishes to spoil the show.

    The audio is suitable for the material, which is the best thing you can say for it.

    There isn't an extra to be seen on this disc... more's the pity.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall