South Park

Volume 5


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Details At A Glance

General
Extras
Category Comedy Theatrical Trailer(s) None
Rating Other Trailer(s) None
Year Released 1998 Commentary Tracks None
Running Time 87:24 minutes Other Extras None
RSDL/Flipper No/No
Cast & Crew
Start Up Language Selection then Menu
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
RRP $39.95 Music Adam Berry

 
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, 192Kb/s)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio 1.33:1
Miscellaneous
Macrovision Yes Smoking Yes
Subtitles French
Dutch		 Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

Plot Synopsis

    I'd say that most anyone who is reading this review doesn't need an introduction to what South Park is all about. However, for those of you that really don't know, South Park follows the lives of the inhabitants of South Park, and more specifically of four of its foul-mouthed third-grade citizens; Cartman ("I'm not fat, I'm big-boned"), Kyle, Stan and Kenny ("mpff hmff"). The comedy is crude, the animation is crude, the stories are foul, but it sure is funny. Having said that, I felt that this particular compilation of episodes was a little on the weak side.

    The episodes contained on this compilation DVD are;

    It is worth pointing out that each episode except for the last one abruptly ends after the Executive Producer credit. The last episode continues on and displays the Braniff Airlines and the Comedy Central logos. It is also worth noting that at the end of the last episode, the DVD loops back and starts playing the first episode again.

Transfer Quality

Video

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

    The quality of the transfer is acceptable given the source material. The image is acceptably sharp and clear without being remarkably so. Shadow detail is as the animators intended it to be. There was no low level noise.

    The colours were clear and clean throughout, with no evidence of colour bleeding.

    No MPEG artefacts were seen. There were no specific video artefacts. In particular, I was on the lookout for the NTSC to PAL conversion artefact exhibited by Volume 4 of this series, and it was nowhere to be found, which was definitely a good thing as I found this particular artefact to be a significant distraction during Volume 4.

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.

    Dialogue was a little difficult to make out at times, but this was more a fault of the diction of the characters rather than any fault of the mix.

    There were no audio sync problems with this disc.

    The music was all in stereo, excepting for the title song, and was mostly unremarkable except for a few very slick numbers from Chef (Isaac Hayes).

    The surround channels were not used.

    The .1 channel was not used.

Extras

    There are no extras on this disc.

Menu

R4 vs R1

    The Region 1 version of this disc has the Conjoined Fetus Lady episode on it instead of the Chef's Salty Chocolate Balls episode. On our versions of these DVDs, the Conjoined Fetus Lady episode can be found on Volume 4 of the series.

    The Region 4 version of this DVD misses out on;

   I'll declare this particular comparison equal, though it is disappointing that we miss out on the Episode Introductions.

Summary

    South Park is crude but it is funny. This compilation of episodes is somewhat on the weak side.

    The video quality is acceptable.

    The audio quality is acceptable.

    There are no extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras  
Plot
Overall

© Michael Demtschyna (read my bio)
19th May 2000

Review Equipment
DVD Loewe Xemix 5006DD, using RGB output
Display Loewe Art-95 95cm direct view CRT in 4:3 mode, via the RGB 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; Hsu Research TN-1220HO Subwoofer