South Park

Volume 2

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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Theatrical Trailer(s)	Yes, 1
Rating		Other Trailer(s)	None
Year Released	1997	Commentary Tracks	None
Running Time	93:18 minutes	Other Extras	Episode Introductions
RSDL/Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Selection then Menu	Cast & Crew
Region	2,3,4,5,6	Director	Matt Stone Trey Parker
Studio Distributor	Warner Vision	Starring	Cartman Kyle Stan Kenny Chef Mr Garrison & Mr Hat et al
Case	Super Jewel	Starring	Cartman Kyle Stan Kenny Chef Mr Garrison & Mr Hat et al
RRP	$39.95	Music	Isaac Hayes

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Full Frame	MPEG	None
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.33:1	Dolby Digital	2.0
16x9 Enhancement	No	Soundtrack Languages	English (Dolby Digital 2.0, 192Kb/s) French (Dolby Digital 2.0, 192-256Kb/s)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio	1.33:1	Miscellaneous
Macrovision	Yes	Smoking	No
Subtitles	Dutch French	Annoying Product Placement	No

Plot Synopsis

This is another compilation of South Park episodes from the first series of the show.

The episodes contained on this compilation DVD are;

An Elephant Makes Love To A Pig (Episode 105)
Death (Episode 106)
Pinkeye (Episode 107)
Tom's Rhinoplasty (Episode 111)

Transfer Quality

Video

The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. It is not 16x9 enhanced.

Overall, I felt that the quality of the transfer for the Volume 2 episodes was better than the quality of the Volume 1 episodes. Image detail was reasonable, whilst not being exactly reference quality. Shadow detail was passable and low level noise was non-existent.

The colours were clean and clear throughout, with no colour bleeding apparent at all.

No MPEG artefacts were seen. Video artefacts were not noticed.

A specific DVD-ROM issue with this disc is that there is some information visible at the very top of the frame which shouldn't be visible - TV overscan eliminates this problem, but this may be an issue for some people as it is quite distracting.

Audio

There are two audio tracks on this DVD; an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, and a French Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. I listened to the default English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, though it is quite funny watching with the French soundtrack as well.

Dialogue was always clear and reasonably easy to understand, within the limitations of each character. Kenny is still particularly hard to understand (grin). I listened to Kenny's dialogue through my Esoterica reference amplifier with especially matched Kryptonite triode and pentode valves and my Planar Nautilus Reference speakers and I still couldn't understand Kenny's dialogue. I substituted a run of ceramic superconductor speaker wire (SuperCer - $4000/metre) and interconnects (SuperCer Line Level - $8000/metre) and this resulted in greatly improved dialogue intelligibility from Kenny.

There have been some reports of the Region 1 version of this disc having some audio "popping" problems. This was not evident with the Region 4 version.

There were no audio sync problems with this disc.

The music was unremarkable mono, occasionally being mixed in stereo.

The surround channels were not used.

The .1 channel got called into play by my surround processor mainly during the end credits of each episode, but otherwise was silent.

Extras

The extras are limited on this disc.

Episode Introductions

Each episode is introduced by Matt Stone & Trey Parker, the creators of South Park. The first two episode introductions are Fireside chats and the second two episode introductions are Ranch-based.

Trailer

This is presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio and with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound. This is the same trailer as found on the Volume 1 episode compilation.

R4 vs R1

The Region 1 version of this disc has the Damien episode on it instead of the Tom's Rhinoplasty episode. On our version of these discs, the Damien episode can be found on Volume 3 of the series. Otherwise, the two discs are identical, and equivalent in features.

Summary

South Park is crude but it is very funny.

The video quality is acceptable, and is considerably better than the quality of Volume 1.

The audio quality is acceptable.

The extras are amusing.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Review Equipment

DVD	Pioneer DV-505, using S-Video output
Display	Loewe Art-95 95cm direct view CRT in 4:3 mode, via the S-Video input. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Audio Decoder	Denon AVD-2000 Dolby Digital AddOn Decoder, used as a standalone processor. Calibrated with the NTSC DVD version of Video Essentials.
Amplification	2 x EA Playmaster 100W per channel stereo amplifiers for Left, Right, Left Rear and Right Rear; Philips 360 50W per channel stereo amplifier for Centre and Subwoofer
Speakers	Philips S2000 speakers for Left, Right; Polk Audio CS-100 Centre Speaker; Apex AS-123 speakers for Left Rear and Right Rear; Yamaha B100-115SE subwoofer