David Galindo
Screenwriter
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- Mar 30, 2003
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[c]Da Ali G Show: Da Compleet Second Season(UMD)
Region 1 • TV-MA • Dolby Digital • Available Now
[/c]
HBO delivers the DVD goodness, crammed into a 2-disc UMD set.
Thoughts on the TV Show
If you don’t know who Ali G is, let me give you some background on Sacha Baron Cohen. He embodies three characters for the Ali G show: Ali G himself, who is a gangsta from the UK and only knows what he learned from the streets (i.e. not too bright); Borat, who is an immigrant from Kazakhstan and is filming a TV show about America for his home country; and Bruno, who is a gay fashion TV talk show host from Austria. When he plays any one of these characters, Cohen totally disappears into his personality. He never winks at the camera...he plays them with total seriousness and is completely blunt to everyone he meets.
As Ali G, Cohen interviews important heads of state, well known educators and professors, as well as news journalists and the like. When he sits down with an interview with the former Homeland Security Chief, he goes on to argue with him that it’s not the airplanes we should be worried about with terrorists, but the trains...because they are not as heavily secured. As of this very minute he argues, terrorists could be planning to ram a train into the White House.
Other Ali G segments include roundtable discussions with professors and heads of organizations for topics such as family, science and religion. Some are meant as educational segments for viewers such as a topic on sex. One of the highlights in Season 2 is when Ali G asks a sexual education teacher if it’s OK for kids who cannot afford condoms to use a Doritos bag instead.
When Cohen is Bruno or Borat however, he doesn’t hold back. As Borat, who lives in a society where horses have more rights then women, he goes on and on about the customs of his country, and can be utterly shocked to find out how things work in America. Bruno doesn’t have too many segments, but is equally hilarious as to how clueless he is to half the things he says to people. He makes light of 9/11 and the Holocaust, but not to OFFEND us...but rather to see how others react. In a fashion segment interview with other U.S. fashion designers, he proclaims how Peter Jackson’s tux is like a “mini 9/11” and a fashion designer agrees, saying he’s a “fashion terrorist.”
If you haven’t seen da Ali G show, you absolutely must check it out. It’s one of the funniest shows I’ve seen in quite a while.
Video Quality
Presented in a 4:3 ratio (which means you can zoom, stretch, or keep the OAR), Ali G looks just as good as the DVD. In the Ali G segments, the colors can pop out with an extreme amount of vividness and bright colors, while the Borat segments are washed out and blurred to the point of a low-budget porno film (which is done purposely of course). Some segments are filmed in widescreen so you can zoom into the picture, while others are a regular 4:3 format. Ali G looks great, no doubt about that.
4.5/5
Audio Quality
The UMD is loud and crisp, and the music pops out at the appropriate times. No volume problems of any sort here; the UMD delivers the kind of sound this show needs.
4/5
Extras
This is a 2-disc UMD set, and the packaging consists of two UMD cases shrinkwrapped together. Perhaps it’s time that Sony starts manufacturing 2-disc UMD cases...
Anyways, the presentation on this set is great. The menus are very well done and easy to navigate, with each episode split into several segments as well as a Play All option. There are three episodes on each disc. No subs on anything though.
We get everything from the DVD when it comes to bonus features, totaling nearly an hour’s material. On disc one there’s a Ali G Harvard Commencement Speech (16:01) where Ali G gives an actual speech to the graduates as well as their parents. Hilarity ensues, especially when he gets sidetracked and starts listing all the porno films he bought at his hotel room.
On disc 2 we get lots more, which consists of segments that were never used. In the Ali G menu the segments are Ali G’s Educational Summit (4:33), Ali G Interviews Noam Chomsley (3:28) and Ali G Visits a Civil War Navy Ship (2:59). The educational summit is the best of the three, as roundtables always are when Ali G is the lead host.
Borat’s features include Borat Hunts in Texas (4:06), Borat Learns Football (4:54) and Borat with the PIMA Republican Club (6:44). All have their moments, especially when Borat goes to speak to the PIMA club and asks for a ten minute silence first.
Bruno only has two unaired segments, Bruno Visits a Psychic (7:49) and Bruno Speaks with a Hollywood Stylist (4:37). Both are equally funny.
Overall, I am quite pleased with what we have on this UMD...it’s a perfect port of the DVD. All of this for twenty dollars makes it a hard deal to pass up.
4.5/5
Overall…
I think Ali G had better segments in the first season, while Bruno and especially Borat really came unto their own in the second season. Regardless, you should definitely check both seasons of this show out. Respeck.
4.5/5
IGN CONVERSION:
The Movie: 9/10
The Video: 8/10
The Audio: 8/10
The Extras: 9/10
Overall: 8.5/10
Editor’s Choice? Yes
Region 1 • TV-MA • Dolby Digital • Available Now
[/c]HBO delivers the DVD goodness, crammed into a 2-disc UMD set.
Thoughts on the TV Show
If you don’t know who Ali G is, let me give you some background on Sacha Baron Cohen. He embodies three characters for the Ali G show: Ali G himself, who is a gangsta from the UK and only knows what he learned from the streets (i.e. not too bright); Borat, who is an immigrant from Kazakhstan and is filming a TV show about America for his home country; and Bruno, who is a gay fashion TV talk show host from Austria. When he plays any one of these characters, Cohen totally disappears into his personality. He never winks at the camera...he plays them with total seriousness and is completely blunt to everyone he meets.
As Ali G, Cohen interviews important heads of state, well known educators and professors, as well as news journalists and the like. When he sits down with an interview with the former Homeland Security Chief, he goes on to argue with him that it’s not the airplanes we should be worried about with terrorists, but the trains...because they are not as heavily secured. As of this very minute he argues, terrorists could be planning to ram a train into the White House.
Other Ali G segments include roundtable discussions with professors and heads of organizations for topics such as family, science and religion. Some are meant as educational segments for viewers such as a topic on sex. One of the highlights in Season 2 is when Ali G asks a sexual education teacher if it’s OK for kids who cannot afford condoms to use a Doritos bag instead.
When Cohen is Bruno or Borat however, he doesn’t hold back. As Borat, who lives in a society where horses have more rights then women, he goes on and on about the customs of his country, and can be utterly shocked to find out how things work in America. Bruno doesn’t have too many segments, but is equally hilarious as to how clueless he is to half the things he says to people. He makes light of 9/11 and the Holocaust, but not to OFFEND us...but rather to see how others react. In a fashion segment interview with other U.S. fashion designers, he proclaims how Peter Jackson’s tux is like a “mini 9/11” and a fashion designer agrees, saying he’s a “fashion terrorist.”
If you haven’t seen da Ali G show, you absolutely must check it out. It’s one of the funniest shows I’ve seen in quite a while.
Video Quality
Presented in a 4:3 ratio (which means you can zoom, stretch, or keep the OAR), Ali G looks just as good as the DVD. In the Ali G segments, the colors can pop out with an extreme amount of vividness and bright colors, while the Borat segments are washed out and blurred to the point of a low-budget porno film (which is done purposely of course). Some segments are filmed in widescreen so you can zoom into the picture, while others are a regular 4:3 format. Ali G looks great, no doubt about that.
4.5/5
Audio Quality
The UMD is loud and crisp, and the music pops out at the appropriate times. No volume problems of any sort here; the UMD delivers the kind of sound this show needs.
4/5
Extras
This is a 2-disc UMD set, and the packaging consists of two UMD cases shrinkwrapped together. Perhaps it’s time that Sony starts manufacturing 2-disc UMD cases...
Anyways, the presentation on this set is great. The menus are very well done and easy to navigate, with each episode split into several segments as well as a Play All option. There are three episodes on each disc. No subs on anything though.
We get everything from the DVD when it comes to bonus features, totaling nearly an hour’s material. On disc one there’s a Ali G Harvard Commencement Speech (16:01) where Ali G gives an actual speech to the graduates as well as their parents. Hilarity ensues, especially when he gets sidetracked and starts listing all the porno films he bought at his hotel room.
On disc 2 we get lots more, which consists of segments that were never used. In the Ali G menu the segments are Ali G’s Educational Summit (4:33), Ali G Interviews Noam Chomsley (3:28) and Ali G Visits a Civil War Navy Ship (2:59). The educational summit is the best of the three, as roundtables always are when Ali G is the lead host.
Borat’s features include Borat Hunts in Texas (4:06), Borat Learns Football (4:54) and Borat with the PIMA Republican Club (6:44). All have their moments, especially when Borat goes to speak to the PIMA club and asks for a ten minute silence first.
Bruno only has two unaired segments, Bruno Visits a Psychic (7:49) and Bruno Speaks with a Hollywood Stylist (4:37). Both are equally funny.
Overall, I am quite pleased with what we have on this UMD...it’s a perfect port of the DVD. All of this for twenty dollars makes it a hard deal to pass up.
4.5/5
Overall…
I think Ali G had better segments in the first season, while Bruno and especially Borat really came unto their own in the second season. Regardless, you should definitely check both seasons of this show out. Respeck.
4.5/5
IGN CONVERSION:
The Movie: 9/10
The Video: 8/10
The Audio: 8/10
The Extras: 9/10
Overall: 8.5/10
Editor’s Choice? Yes
