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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.
Friends-Series 3-Volume 3-Episodes 17-25 (1997)

Friends-Series 3-Volume 3-Episodes 17-25 (1997)

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Released 9-Oct-2000

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy Music Video-I'll Be There For You-The Rembrandts
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 1997
Running Time 197:01 (Case: 176)
RSDL / Flipper Dual Sided Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Sam Simon
Robbie Benson
Terry Hughes
Michael Lembeck
Studio
Distributor

Warner Home Video
Starring Jennifer Aniston
Courtney Cox
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)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
French
Finnish
Danish
Swedish
Norwegian
Dutch
Icelandic
English for the Hearing Impaired
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 is the third and final volume of episodes from Series 3 of Friends. I have reviewed the first two volumes of this series already; you'll find the review for Volume 1 here, and for Volume 2 here. This volume contains the last 9 episodes of the season, including the cliff-hanger for the end of the season. The episodes on this disc are:

    The cliff-hanger is easier to resolve today - you can simply get the first volume of the next season. When this show was originally broadcast, we had quite a wait before we discovered the answer. Back then, we cared what happened - it's a shame how much the show has deteriorated.

    There are some really funny moments in these episodes, and there are some tender moments, too, perhaps following the tradition that we cannot have great comedy without some tragedy - mostly involving Ross and Rachel.

    If you read my review of the first volume in this series, you'll notice that I pointed out an error on the back cover, where they've misarranged the photo shots from the episodes. This cover has the same kind of error, but worse. The top row of four photos is fine, but the bottom row is completely wrong. The last photo in the row should be above the first caption (the captions are in the right order), and all the other photos should be moved right one position. Interestingly, the exact same misalignment occurs inside the cover, too. Yeah, it's not a huge problem, but I find it amusing that it happens on two of the three volumes.

    Before I go, I would like to point out that these volumes of Friends are pretty good value - 25 half-hour episodes on just three discs. As a comparison, Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 offers only 4 or 5 episodes per disc, with a total of 26 episodes on six discs. But then the episodes of Bubblegum Crisis average 26 minutes, while Friends averages 22 minutes.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The episodes on this disc are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, which is the original aspect ratio, as you might expect for a TV series from the US made in 1997.

    The image is soft, but generally acceptable - there are some moments where it becomes distinctly blurry (check the Warners logo at the end of the episodes - that's probably the worst). Shadow detail is fine. There's no visible low-level noise. There's not a lot of edge enhancement, at least.

    There is some aliasing, but it is not annoying. I saw no film artefacts, and no MPEG artefacts.

    Colour is good, with some well-saturated colours on display.

    There are subtitles in many (OK, eight) languages. I checked those in English, both the standard ones, and the ones for the hearing impaired. There seem to be very few differences between the two. They are clear, and can be read against any background because they are white with a black border. They are accurate.

    The disc is double-sided and single-layered. Four episodes are on the first side and five episodes on the second side. I do wish they'd mark the sides a little more clearly - the only indication of the side is an A or B appended to what I guess is the disc serial number - hardly the most obvious of labelling. The main reason for this gripe is that it matters which episodes you see first.



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

Audio

    There is only one soundtrack, which is English in Dolby Digital 2.0. It is not surround encoded.

    Dialogue is clear and readily understood. There were no visible slips in audio sync.

    The music is by Michael Skloff, but I don't consider it important. He's mostly limited to a moment here and there between scenes, which is hardly an opportunity to shine.

    The surrounds and subwoofer are not used by this soundtrack. In fact, this is not even a stereo image, as far as I can tell - it sounds like a mono soundtrack.



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

Extras

    Golly, gee. The same extra as on the other two volumes. 

Menu

    The menu system is static and silent. It is simple and easy to use, but not exciting.

Music Video

    Let me see now. I have watched 25 episodes of Friends in reviewing these discs, so I've heard the theme at least 25 times (actually, rather more than that). And now I have a fifth and sixth copy of the music video of the Rembrandts performing the theme song, which I've watched diligently to check that it is exactly the same (it is). I used to like this song, but I think I could happily spend the remainder of my life without ever hearing it again. I won't be reviewing the next series of Friends, and this is one of the reasons.

R4 vs R1

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

    As far as I can tell, Region 1 does not get complete seasons of Friends on DVD. They have to make do with discs of  "The Best of Friends". That doesn't make it easy to follow on-going plot lines.

Summary

    Friends-Series 3-Volume 3 is a collection of fun episodes. You would want to get the first two volumes too, though.

    The video quality is reasonable, but it could be considerably better.

    The audio quality is fine, for what it is.

    There is the same extra, twice, again.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Tony Rogers (bio-degrading: making a fool of oneself in a bio...)
Friday, September 14, 2001
Review Equipment
DVDArcam DV88, using Component output
DisplaySony VPH-G70 CRT Projector, QuadScan Elite scaler (Tripler), ScreenTechnics 110. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationDenon AVC-A1SE
SpeakersFront Left and Right: Krix Euphonix, Centre: Krix KDX-C Rears: Krix KDX-M, Subwoofer: Krix Seismix 5

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