Question:
While I don't really like to critcise the disc (as proceeds are going to a good cause, after all), I really would reccomend avoiding the newly released Comic Relief: Seriously Funny! DVD.
The program is presented in anamorphic widescreen, which means that everything (save the Nick Hancock presenting segments and the occasional clips from the most recent Comic Relief shows) has been cropped from the original 4:3 presentation. While the BBC Comic Relief sketches are hardly renowned for their tight framing and composition, the cropping makes everything seem very cramped, with heads occasionally disappearing - most notably (and I'll have to check this on one of the old VHS tapes just in case I'm wrong) - the oft-repeated Romeo and Juliet scene with Lenny Henry and Frank Bruno as Juliet - in the first shot when Juliet walks onto the balcony, his head is completely cropped off the top of the frame, and we see about 5 seconds worth of the audience going crazy laughing until the shot cuts to a close-up, finally revealing Frank. Nevertheless, we still lose a lot of picture in many scenes, which is distracting if not always so severe. This seems to be an annoying trait most notably occuring at the BBC lately, where they seem to want to present a lot of their old 4:3 material in cropped widescreen format, but this is the first time they've done it on DVD (although arguably this was released through VCI).
The saddest thing, however, is that many of the clips included are nowhere near complete - we just get brief snippets as part of short themed compilations introduced by Nick Hancock. I've only watched the first five chapters fully and then skipped around after that, and the only complete presentation so far has been the Young Ones Cliff Richard song. (The only thing I can say in favour of this is that we're spared the full Billy Connolly streak, which has been cut down to a quick rear-only shot.)
At an RRP of £19.99, this really is a joke. No extras, no subtitles, and a mere 68 minutes running time. When it was first announced, I was annoyed to hear that the thing was so short, but to now find that it is so short because so many of the sketches have been cut to pieces is such a disappointment. I purchased this disc mainly as an attempt to make-up for the extras that I'd hoped would have been included on the discs of a number of BBC shows - to complete my collection with the full MBB sketch, the Alan Partridge Comic Relief broadcasts etc. but they're not even presented properly here. They really should have made either the running time longer, or even made this a 'volume one', filling the 68 minutes with full-length clips and moving ones that they did not have time to include onto another disc later (not my favourite choice, but it is for charity I suppose).
The DVD box states that a minimum of £100,000 will go to Comic Relief as a result of sales, which is commendable, but I can't help thinking that you'd be better off donating a fiver or so to Comic Relief now, and then at least waiting for the disc to end up in the bargain bins at a sub-£10 price, and even then I'd have reason to question the purchase. This offers very little than what has previously been offered on VHS, which is both a lot cheaper and in the correct aspect ratio.
Hmmm...I was thinking of getting this primarily for the Alan Partridge and Men Behaving Badly bits.
Don't think I'll bother now.
i got it for the MBB and Rik and Eddie bits (and some early Comic Relief stuff was actually funny i'm led to believe) Wish i hadnt after reading that:(
...was just about to order this... thanks for the warning!... will get Lee Evans' Wembley thingy instead...
. . . :( . . .
And yet the HIGNFY dvd runs for over 3 hours, has two titles which play sequentially (1 for the early 4:3 shows and one for the later widescreen shows so that the widescreen clips can be presented in 16:9 enhanced without windowboxing the 4:3 selection), features a good selection of extras including a rather insightful commentary by Paul and Ian.
Also a VCI disc.
Yes, I got this as well this week - and it really is an excellent disc. VCI really do seem to be a bit patchy with their DVDs, particularly when it comes to providing subtitles. Comic Relief has none, whereas everything (bar the commentary) is subtitled on the HIGNFY disc, with almost 3 hours of footage (before taking extras into consideration) as well as keeping the correct aspect ratio preserved (and a good idea putting it as two seperate titles, switching when the show made the transition to widescreen, rather than cropping the earlier footage or windowboxing the 4:3 image within the widescreen frame), plus a load of great special features.
If only the same effort had been put into Comic Relief. As it stands, the Comic Relief disc feels just like one of BBC2's nostalgia documentaries (minus the talking heads).
The program is presented in anamorphic widescreen, which means that everything (save the Nick Hancock presenting segments and the occasional clips from the most recent Comic Relief shows) has been cropped from the original 4:3 presentation. While the BBC Comic Relief sketches are hardly renowned for their tight framing and composition, the cropping makes everything seem very cramped, with heads occasionally disappearing - most notably (and I'll have to check this on one of the old VHS tapes just in case I'm wrong) - the oft-repeated Romeo and Juliet scene with Lenny Henry and Frank Bruno as Juliet - in the first shot when Juliet walks onto the balcony, his head is completely cropped off the top of the frame, and we see about 5 seconds worth of the audience going crazy laughing until the shot cuts to a close-up, finally revealing Frank. Nevertheless, we still lose a lot of picture in many scenes, which is distracting if not always so severe. This seems to be an annoying trait most notably occuring at the BBC lately, where they seem to want to present a lot of their old 4:3 material in cropped widescreen format, but this is the first time they've done it on DVD (although arguably this was released through VCI).
The saddest thing, however, is that many of the clips included are nowhere near complete - we just get brief snippets as part of short themed compilations introduced by Nick Hancock. I've only watched the first five chapters fully and then skipped around after that, and the only complete presentation so far has been the Young Ones Cliff Richard song. (The only thing I can say in favour of this is that we're spared the full Billy Connolly streak, which has been cut down to a quick rear-only shot.)
At an RRP of £19.99, this really is a joke. No extras, no subtitles, and a mere 68 minutes running time. When it was first announced, I was annoyed to hear that the thing was so short, but to now find that it is so short because so many of the sketches have been cut to pieces is such a disappointment. I purchased this disc mainly as an attempt to make-up for the extras that I'd hoped would have been included on the discs of a number of BBC shows - to complete my collection with the full MBB sketch, the Alan Partridge Comic Relief broadcasts etc. but they're not even presented properly here. They really should have made either the running time longer, or even made this a 'volume one', filling the 68 minutes with full-length clips and moving ones that they did not have time to include onto another disc later (not my favourite choice, but it is for charity I suppose).
The DVD box states that a minimum of £100,000 will go to Comic Relief as a result of sales, which is commendable, but I can't help thinking that you'd be better off donating a fiver or so to Comic Relief now, and then at least waiting for the disc to end up in the bargain bins at a sub-£10 price, and even then I'd have reason to question the purchase. This offers very little than what has previously been offered on VHS, which is both a lot cheaper and in the correct aspect ratio.
Answers:
Hmmm...I was thinking of getting this primarily for the Alan Partridge and Men Behaving Badly bits.
Don't think I'll bother now.
Answers:
i got it for the MBB and Rik and Eddie bits (and some early Comic Relief stuff was actually funny i'm led to believe) Wish i hadnt after reading that:(
Answers:
...was just about to order this... thanks for the warning!... will get Lee Evans' Wembley thingy instead...
. . . :( . . .
Answers:
And yet the HIGNFY dvd runs for over 3 hours, has two titles which play sequentially (1 for the early 4:3 shows and one for the later widescreen shows so that the widescreen clips can be presented in 16:9 enhanced without windowboxing the 4:3 selection), features a good selection of extras including a rather insightful commentary by Paul and Ian.
Also a VCI disc.
Answers:
Yes, I got this as well this week - and it really is an excellent disc. VCI really do seem to be a bit patchy with their DVDs, particularly when it comes to providing subtitles. Comic Relief has none, whereas everything (bar the commentary) is subtitled on the HIGNFY disc, with almost 3 hours of footage (before taking extras into consideration) as well as keeping the correct aspect ratio preserved (and a good idea putting it as two seperate titles, switching when the show made the transition to widescreen, rather than cropping the earlier footage or windowboxing the 4:3 image within the widescreen frame), plus a load of great special features.
If only the same effort had been put into Comic Relief. As it stands, the Comic Relief disc feels just like one of BBC2's nostalgia documentaries (minus the talking heads).
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