Venture Bros – Season Four (2009/Adult Swim/Warner Blu-ray)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: B Episodes: A-
Season 4 of Venture Bros picks up right where Season Three left off, building upon the established plot and
creating more mysteries with each passing moment.
As Venture Bros is continually building
upon itself in both plot and creativity, I don’t find it fair (to fans) for me
to divulge too much about the series at this point. Season
Four is NOT the place to join Venture
Bros as too much as happened and by this point the creators/writers are
assuming the viewer knows what is going on.
Even as an avid fan I had to watch the episodes several times to
understand past episode references; annoying and fun at the same time. So I implore those who are interested to
start the series from the beginning as I am more than sure you will be
hooked. Venture Bros is a perfect mix of action, adventure, comedy, and pop
culture references. Whereas at first it
may seem unintelligible, it is in fact genius in both style and delivery.
In terms
of the technical features all I can say (ask?) is why, why, why?!? Can you say compression issues. Though this is the second time Venture Bros has appeared on the
Blu-ray format, this is the first time they have really messed it up. The 16 episode season is CRAMMED onto one
(yes, 1) disc and that includes all of the other supplements as well. This release is an example of pure disregard
for the fans and the series itself. The
picture is a 1080p VC-1 MPEG-4 1.78 X 1, but you would never know it as
compression issues appear left and right.
The colors are muted, there is aliasing everywhere, the characters have
an odd glow and the panning shots even seem to blur; all thanks to compression. The disc is about to burst from so much in
such a tight space, so much so that the artifacting is a disgusting norm for
this set. It is horrible and I would
recommend this set to no one. The sound
is just as screwy as the Dolby 5.1 True HD (What? Why?) track proves to suffer
from as many compression issues as the picture does.
Annoying
as the picture and sound, the extras (though good) are hidden within the
disc. To find the audio commentaries for
each and every episode look closely at the episodes tab. The commentaries have creators Publick and
Hammer divulging a ton of info and interesting factoids about the series;
definitely worth a listen. There are
other bonus features that include Deleted Scenes, Finale On-Air Promos, Comic
Con Promo, Lost Open, and “So this is Captain…” line gag.
As
previously mentioned, I would NOT recommend this set, unless you missed this
season and the DVD release is just as bad.
I would however call this one of the best animated series of all time. Venture
Bros is smart, funny, referential, and the interconnecting stories put it
over the top. A truly great series that
was let down by a single disc Blu-ray release.
For a
look at the BETTER Season Three Blu-ray
release, please follow the link below:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8473/Venture+Bros+%E2%80%93+Season
- Michael P. Dougherty II
