Friends-Series 7 Box Set (2000) |
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Friends-Series 7 Box Set (2000) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Comedy |
DVD-ROM Extras-Web Links Featurette-Extended Episodes (24) |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2000 | ||
| Running Time | 552:58 (Case: 528) | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
Dual Sided Multi Disc Set (6) |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By |
Kevin S. Bright Gary Halvorson Michael Lembeck Steven Prime |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Warner Home Video |
Starring |
Jennifer Aniston Courtney Cox-Arquette Lisa Kudrow Matt LeBlanc Matthew Perry David Schwimmer |
| Case | Gatefold | ||
| RPI | $69.95 | Music |
Michael Skloff Ian Christian Nickus Peter Kellert |
| 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 | Yes, just for a quick joke |
| Annoying Product Placement | Yes, mildly | ||
| Action In or After Credits | Yes, a final joke in most of the end credits | ||
I'll confess right now that I am not a fan of Friends at all, partly because of the extreme sense of non-reality one feels when viewing the show. I don't know anyone who is successful enough with investments or embezzling to afford apartments the size of houses in metropolitan New York and still spend most of their time in a coffee shop. I've also felt for a while that the inspiration in the show has quite effectively dried up, and a good example of this is Episode 19, titled The One With Ross And Monica's Cousin. If ever there was an example of an episode in which a guest star is quite utterly wasting their time and energy, then this would have to be it.
Since I've never reviewed a Friends DVD before, I will take a bit of your time to give you my perspective on the characters. Even those who have grown tired of the series, such as myself, have a favourite character, and mine just happens to be Chandler (Matthew Perry). I suspect that this is because he says the things that I would like to say, were I ever in a similar position - his sarcastic wit beautifully coincides with what I think of the other five characters a lot of the time. Ross (David Schwimmer) has never been funny, and I find it ironic that a palentologist would be played by a character that many believe to be the living, breathing Missing Link. Joey (Matt LeBlanc) is only funny because his dim-wittedness provides a foil for Chandler on many amusing occasions, such as when he is trying to convince himself that he could play a nineteen-year-old.
Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) is the annoying one who seems to enjoy getting herself into work-related trouble, although the awkward jokes this results in lose their punch on repeat viewings. Pheobe (Lisa Kudrow) is also a character whose funniness tends to evaporate on repeat viewings, mostly through the fault of the screenplay. Monica (Courtney-Cox Arquette) is her usual compulsive self, but she seems to be a lot funnier in conjunction with Chandler's biting wit. In the end, however, when one puts an episode from Season One next to an episode from this season, the only visible clue to the fact that they are six years apart is the improvement in the cinematography.
The episodes contained on this six-disc set are:
In case you are wondering why there are two sets of time codes beside the names of the episodes, it is because Warner Home Entertainment have again elected to place extended versions of each episode on the opposite side of the discs, rather than incorporate them using seamless braching or just settle for a single version. This is an outright silly move, in my view, as it means that in some cases, such as The One With Pheobe's Cookies, we're basically getting the exact same episode twice. It might be interesting to view the difference nearly eight minutes of footage makes to episodes like The One With The Truth About London, but I think serious fans would only make the comparison once. It surely seems like a waste of good glass master money to transfer what is essentially the same programme twice.
The quality of the video transfers for this season is pretty consistent across the board. I watched the extended versions of the episodes, turning the disc over after every fourth episode in order to briefly compare the soundtracks, so all of the times mentioned here refer to the extended episodes.
The transfer of each episode is presented in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and they are not 16x9 Enhanced.
Despite some noticeable improvements in the cinematography of Friends episodes, this is not a particularly sharp transfer, especially when anything in front of the camera moves. Motion is quite problematic for this transfer, with movement rendered in a blurry fashion that gives away the videotape source material of indoor sequences. The shadow detail, when required, is acceptable, and there is no low-level noise.
One of the subtle clues to the recent vintage of these episodes is that their colour saturation is more natural, and not as dull or lifeless as was the case in earlier episodes. Skin tones and environmental highlights are much more natural in this series, with only a single instance of composite artefacting in the shape of dot crawl during an outdoor sequence at 3:00 during The One With The Vows.
MPEG artefacts are mildly present in these transfers - the extended episode sides often have as much as a hundred and five minutes on a single layer, which is not healthy for source materials of this kind. This is quite apparent in the backgrounds of many indoor sequences, where grain is clearly visible in the walls of the characters' apartments - grain that was not visible in the broadcasts. Film-to-video artefacts consisted of moderate aliasing in such items as the studio exterior at 5:14 during The One With Joey's New Brain, or in a stack of dinner plates at 6:45 during The One With Ross's Library Book. In the latter case, I would hazard a guess that this is inherent in the source material. Film artefacts are occasionally present in outdoor sequences, with minor hairs and scratches on the picture that weren't terribly distracting.
There are two sets of subtitles included on these discs, a plain English stream, and an English for the Hearing Impaired stream. After viewing the latter, I'd say they are about seventy-five percent faithful to the spoken dialogue, with a lot of trimmings for brevity taking place.
All of the discs in this set are dual-sided, with the extended versions of each episode on Side B. The side containing the extended versions is not clearly marked, with a glance at the serial number necessary to determine which is Side A and which is Side B. Is it too much to ask for clearer markings?
| Sharpness |  |
| Shadow Detail | |
| Colour |  |
| Grain/Pixelization | |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
The actual mix of soundtracks on these DVDs is dependent upon which side you are playing. If the original episodes as transmitted are selected, then one has a choice between an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack recorded at 192 kilobits per second, or an English Dolby Digital 5.0 soundtrack recorded at 384 kilobits per second. If one turns the disc over and watches the extended episodes, then the latter soundtrack is the only choice. Most of my comments refer to the latter soundtrack, as I mostly viewed the extended versions of each episode.
The dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times, so much so that one can see when the subtitles quite obviously get the wording wrong. The only real exception to this is when Ross' son makes an appearance, which is not often enough to really matter. I did not detect any obvious problems with audio sync.
The music in this series is credited to Michael Skloff, with additional music by Ian Christian Nickus and Peter Kellert. The music is mainly used during scene transitions, and is nothing to get excited about.
The surround channels were used by the 5.0 mix to seperate the music and laugh track from the dialogue and very occasional sound effects. Because they were only used on occasions, they were more distracting than anything else.
The subwoofer was not specifically encoded into this soundtrack. It was not missed.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
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| Subwoofer |  |
| Overall | |
The menu is static and silent. It is not 16x9 Enhanced.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
I haven't found any specific reference to a Region 1 equivalent for this boxed set. There seem to be a lot of "best of" collections available, but no complete seasons, so the local disc seems like a safe choice.
When I first saw The One With Rachel's Big Kiss, I thought that this could be an interesting new direction for Friends to go in, but it seems that the meaning of those three words is totally lost on this series' writing staff. Not only are cracks appearing in the repetitive story-telling, but it seems as though the actors have had a gutful of the series, too, judging by the extravagant salaries they are being offered. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that the money being offered could be put to better use in hiring better screenwriters, or (egads) even developing a new show.
The video transfer is quite good considering the source materials.
The audio transfer is okay. The 5.0 mix is more of a distraction, however.
There are no extras to speak of.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras | |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Toshiba 2109, using S-Video output |
| Display | Samsung CS-823AMF (80cm). Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL). |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
| Amplification | Sony STR DE-835 |
| Speakers | Yamaha NS-45 Front Speakers, Yamaha NS-90 Rear Speakers, Yamaha NSC-120 Centre Speaker, JBL Digital 10 Active Subwoofer |