Roy "Chubby" Brown-Thunder Bollocks (2001)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Menu Animation & Audio Web Links-broken
Rating
Year Of Production	2001
Running Time	57:09
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Tom Poole
Studio Distributor	George Forster Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Royston Vasey
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English MPEG 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	Unknown	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Thunder B*!!*cks is the second title I have had the pleasure of reviewing from Roy "Chubby" Brown, an anorexic Middlesborough-born comic with the trademark leather pilot's helmet. Chubby is considered to be one of the original comedic larrikins who forged the way for other milder mannered artists to follow.

    This particular evening was filmed live at the SECC (Scottish Exhibition - Conference Centre) in Glasgow back in 2000 and is filled with an endless barrage of funny tunes, jokes and one-liners in the true Chubby fashion.

    As with all of Chubby's material you should not watch this or any of his other productions if you are easily offended, have a weak stomach, or a sense of humour that differs from mine. Every major news topic of the day is commented upon in true Chubby fashion. Some of the subjects discussed are: Sex, The Queen Mother, Pavarotti, Greeks, Sex, Ethiopia, Garry Glitter and, as always . . . his own wife.

    If you can handle the subject material then you will find this to be an enjoyable release and a good source of material for your next BBQ party.

Video

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is extremely clear and extremely sharp and was a real pleasure to watch. Shadow detail is also excellent, which is always a plus for on stage performances that contain a mixture of bright spot lights and complete darkness outside the light beam. There is no low level noise and not a hint of any problems due to the black background of the stage.

    The colours were vibrant and bright. Chubby's trademark jacket, that is made from patches of different materials, was clear and well defined and looked as if you where actually there. A beautiful example can be seen at 8:07 which shows the clarity of colour in his clothes and the deep black background. Go to 5:13 to see an example which combines rich colour, deep blacks in the background and image clarity. A closer zoomed image is visible at 8:07.

    There were very few MPEG artefacts to be seen. Aliasing is common but thankfully very mild when it does occur. The only culprit of this artefact was caused by the cloth patterns on Chubby's jacket. An example is seen early on at 4:42. Film artefacts were non-existent which leads me to believe this feature was not originally shot on film.

    There are no subtitles present on this disc.

    This disc is an SSSL (single-sided, single layer) disc, so there is no layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There is only an MPEG 2.0 audio track available on this disc, which is an unusual choice for such a mainstream title. To listen to this disc I had to change my DVD player's setup to down-convert the MPEG 2.0 stream to PCM which the amp recognised as a Dolby Digital Pro Logic II stream. All information in this section is based on this setup.

    The dialogue was clear and easy to understand at all times; it was the accent that I had trouble with a few times rather than the audio quality itself.

    Audio sync was not a problem at all with this transfer, and was completely spot on.

    The surround channels were used by the surround encoded track to provide extra ambience as the crowd cheered and applauded. It also gave a fuller "feeling" to the music that Chubby played. At 13:28 there was a distinct cough coming from someone in the crowd which "appeared" out midway between the Front Right and Rear Right speakers. It was so clear that I stupidly turned my head to the right to look at an imaginary person. At 16:47 for 1 second, the sound was only output from the Front Right and Rear Right speakers while all others went mute. While brief in time it was very distracting and obvious.

    The subwoofer was not used by the track, but it was not missed and not fitting for this type of feature anyway.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

Link To The Web

    This menu option most likely contains an authoring error. If it is selected from a standard (non DVD-ROM) player the menu in effect freezes any other menu choices for 58 seconds. When the disc is placed into a DVD-ROM drive it does not load up a web browser with the correct link, but merely returns to the menu without the subsequent pause. I suggest you start your own Web Browser session and go to www.chubbybrown.com to access the official Chubby Brown website.

    There is no Region 1 specific release of this disc. Instead, this title can be played in Region 2 and region 4 players.

    This title is a good night's entertainment as long as those who watch it with you have an open mind and are not easily offended.

    The video quality is superb.

    The unusual choice of audio track may require some adjustments to your audio setup as it did with me. Personally, I feel that a Dolby Digital track in any form would have been a more logical choice.

    The extras don't exist, and the web link option on the menu doesn't work. Check out Chubby's Stocking Filler title if you want to see some extras and behind the scenes with the man behind the mask.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall