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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.
Lock, Stock...-And One Big Bullock/And a Good Slopping Out (2000)

Lock, Stock...-And One Big Bullock/And a Good Slopping Out (2000)

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Released 11-Dec-2001

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Mob Main Menu Audio
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2000
Running Time 101:48 (Case: 100)
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Sherree Folkson
Studio
Distributor

Shock Entertainment
Starring Ralph Brown
Daniel Caltagirone
Scott Maslen
Shaun Parkes
Del Synott
Christopher Adamson
Case Alpha-Transparent
RPI $9.95 Music John Lunn


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/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 None Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    This disc contains the final two episodes (episodes 6 and 7 respectively) of the short-lived series based upon the highly successful movie, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. If I was going to be brutally honest, these are probably the lamest of all the episodes and a good reason why the series didn't last. Apart from excellent performances from Ralph Brown as Miami Vice and a half decent job by Chris Adamson as Three Feet, the rest of the cast were becoming very pedestrian, to say nothing of the plots.

Lock, Stock and One Big Bullock...
Miami has a job for the boys. Basically, his previous two 'helpers' have turned out to be a bit of a liability, so he needs the lads to pick up a consignment of beef. Handing them a big bag of cash, he instructs them to meet up with some dodgy Russians coming in from the continent and to exchange the cash for the meat they are transporting. Naturally, this interferes with the lads own little scam they have running on the side - buying dodgy meat and selling it to unscrupulous vendors - but they don't let that deter them. Unfortunately, things don't go quite as planned when they are delayed after visiting Moon's gypsy relatives who are involved in a bit of a beef war of their own over a prize bullock. While they are delayed, Miami's previously hired help steal a march on our lads and confiscate the cargo of meat, leaving the boys with three large problems; a bag of unwanted roubles, three very p***** off Russians and Miami breathing down their necks.

Lock, Stock and A Good Slopping Out...
Miami Vice and Three Feet want a key belonging to a former associate who has recently turned up his toes and despatch Toothless (Richard Graham) to retrieve it. Unfortunately, Toothless makes a meal of it and receives a 10 stretch at Her Majesty's Pleasure. Being of unsound mind and body, Toothless refuses to hand over the key to Miami fearing that he won't receive his due recompense, and Miami isn't amused. Enter the lads, who Miami conveniently fits up on a trumped-up charge and then has incarcerated in the same nick as Toothless with instructions to locate the key...or else! Naturally, things don't go to plan when the boys toss Toothless' cell and can't find the key. It seems he's secured it up his a*** and it will take drastic measures to loosen up that particular problem... In the meantime, the lads end up indebted to a couple of the prison's hard men including Special Brew (Clive Russell), who hates English, and Brummie (Al Hunter Aston) and Ironbar (Colin Hill), the local prison drug dealers.

    These episodes were not exactly the most entertaining of the series by any means but there were still some decent bits. It isn't hard to see why the series was axed. Apart from the predictability of the plots, the characters weren't developing as they should have been and the series as a whole was built on too shaky a foundation. Still, this may become a cult classic in about 100 years, so stock up on those DVDs and you never know! In the meantime, this is the typical sort of series that will end up endlessly repeating on cable, for those that are lucky enough to have it.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    This DVD is very similar in quality to the other disc from the series I recently reviewed, so I'd make a guess and say the whole series is probably on a par transfer-wise. So far both discs have had the same lighting elements for adding a sense of unreality to many of the shots, and have utilised stylised camera angles and settings for effect. All-in-all, this is a good example of made-for-TV material looking exceptionally clear, clean and highly watchable.

    Although originally made for television, this was shot in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is presented in that ratio and 16x9 enhanced.

    Noticeable grain can be seen in both episodes and is fairly heavy at times, but adds somewhat to the gritty format of the episodes. There is a fair amount of edge enhancement in use which is fairly typical of TV shows it seems, but besides that the picture is crisp and reasonably sharp regardless. Shadow detail is a little thwarted by the use of fairly bright sets, but both background and foreground detail is clearly visible with lots of fine detail on offer. Low level noise wasn't an issue.

    Again the colour is a mixture of different styles to convey different moods. Filters are constantly in use to overemphasise yellows and browns, and make blues and whites cold and austere. For the most part, nothing looks quite natural. Still, there is method in the madness and it has its effect. Colour bleed and chroma noise were not an issue and although the palette used was quite extensive it was heavily influenced by the filters.

    This wasn't a series that suffered greatly from film or video artefacts. Some slight ringing on a shirt at 4:50 in ...a Good Slopping Out and some aliasing on a car grille at 14:10 in ...and One Big Bullock. were about the extent of the problems. Minor flecks and the odd scratch are visible but only if you really look hard. Overall, this was another good print and transfer in this regard.

    There were no subtitles on this single layered disc.

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

Audio

    Similarly to the previous disc I reviewed from this series, this DVD sports a shiny English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack at a bitrate of 224 kilobits per second. Given the nature of the music offered, the audio delivery on this disc was much better, with excellent separation across the front channels while the dialogue was centred as usual. The lack of surround usage was a pity as the use of some heavy reggae music would have cut nicely into these speakers for an excellent surround experience, but it wasn't to be.

    Again, there were no problems with the dialogue or the audio sync, but the accents did make it hard at times to work out what was being said and to follow the action.

    John Lunn is again credited with the music and it was similar in style to the previously reviewed disc's soundtrack with the addition of some excellent reggae music.

    Neither the surround channels nor the subwoofer were utilized by this soundtrack.

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

Extras

Main Menu Audio

    Static menu with music from the show. Good separation was noted. It loops about every 30 seconds.

R4 vs R1

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

    At this time there doesn't appear to be a Region 1 version of this disc, although there is a similar release in Region 2. Given the current pricing of these discs, I doubt you'd be interested in looking elsewhere anyway.

Summary

    Another of the Lock, Stock series and probably more for the fans than casual viewers. The series had potential but just didn't measure up for some reason. Still, a good watch. Nothing really objectionable, just a little hard to follow if you aren't used to the format.

    The video presentation is reasonable without too many dramas.

    The audio offering is average, concentrated mainly in the centre speaker without too many problems.

    There are no extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Carl Berry (read my bio)
Monday, August 12, 2002
Review Equipment
DVDToshiba SD5300, using RGB output
DisplayLoewe Xelos (81cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderRotel RSP-976. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationRotel RB 985 MkII
SpeakersJBL TLX16s Front Speakers, Polk Audio LS fx di/bipole Rear Speakers, Polk Audio CS350-LS Centre Speaker, M&KV-75 Subwoofer

Other Reviews NONE