DeathStar1
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2001
- Messages
- 3,267
- Real Name
- Neil
Specs:
Full Frame
Dolby Surround Sound
Animated Menus
Play All Feature
Biographies and trailers... 20 minute making of Featurete...
When I first heard that there was going to be an animated Bean Series,
I had mixed Reactions. BEAN: THE ULTIMATE DISASTER MOVIE.... was a mix
of old and new jokes that had been done on the TV series, and I feared
they had run out of funny ideas. The reviews from the UK where not that
good to boot when the series was first aired.
However, being a Bean fan, I decided ot give it a chance. I taped an episode off of WLIW 21 in NY, "Birthday" And "The Mole".The first one was so boring, that I got up to do other things while it was on. The second one, "The Mole" redeemed itself a little with at least a few laughs here and there.
So, when I heard there was a Volume 1 of the series being released by A&E this year, I figured what the hell, lets give it a second shot. With 9 episodes, and 18 15 minute skits in all, I was pleasantly surprised...
Lets start with the layout. A+
It has a nicley designed menu, with the REal Bean morphing into his cartoon counterpart. A choice of the episodes are on the left. When you chose an ep, you are given a s ub menu that gives you the choice of wich episode to play, or just click on the Play All Function. The Next Button takes you to the rest of the episodes.
The Video B+
The Picture is rather clear, and I have yet to notice any video compression errors or mastering errors. But, if memory recals, this series was broadcasoted
in Widescreen in the UK, as Widescreen TV is more prevailent there. So, if that was this shows original broadcast ratio, how come we don't get a choice as to wich way we want to view this series? Hopefully someone in the UK with a widescreen TV can help confirm or deny this for me and my grade will chance because of that. OTher than that minor factor, the picture is crystal clear as can be, putting the live action Mr.Bean discs to shame. I don't have the proper Dolby Setup to really enjoy the audio, so I'll let someone else with a real system setup to fill that part in, but the audio was also crisp and clear, you could hear Beans Mumblings with no problem at all....
The Show itself C+
It takes a while to get used to, but it really starts to grow on you after a few episodes. The new characters, such as the Land Lady who runs Beans Appartment, tend to grow on you thanks to the great performances by the voice actors who portray them. Bean also has a few neighbors that he interacts with, wich was rarley scene in the live action show except for a few instances when you see characters like Rupert And Hubert make a one time appearance. Some of my favorite episodes on the Discs, include 'RoadWorks', 'The Mole', and 'The Inventor', wich features an Albert Einstein like character moving in on beans territory. With the crew of the live
action show working on the animated one, I can only wonder about the quality of the other episodes in the series as well..
As a quick Rap up, give the show a chance and pick up this first volume. If the animated series makes a dent in the states, like the live action series did, maby Atkinson will think about reviving the LA series as well.....One can only hope
.
