8.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Step up to the bar with Mac, Dennis, Charlie, Dee, and Frank (Danny DeVito), the outrageously inappropriate gang at Paddy's pub, as they work together for a common cause...themselves.
Starring: Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day, Kaitlin Olson, Danny DeVitoComedy | 100% |
Dark humor | 81% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
BD-Live
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Is there a support group for people who just never quite “got” Seinfeld? I consider myself a person with a fairly good sense of humor, and any number of sitcoms through the years of all different types have appealed to me immensely, but I have to say that for whatever reason Seinfeld simply wasn’t one of them, not that there’s anything wrong with that. (See? Humor. I have it.) And so when It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was being touted as “Seinfeld on crack”, that was obviously not an advertising campaign meant to woo me personally. The good news is that It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia tickles my personal funny bone much more consistently than Seinfeld ever did, though truth be told, I still wouldn’t place the series in my top tier of comedy favorites. This may make me tragically unhip or at the very least, an old fuddy duddy, but there you have it. The series takes a gaggle of highly objectionable characters and throws them together in a series of often off-putting adventures that are admittedly frequently very funny, in a very black comedic way that actually reminds me less of Seinfeld, despite that series’ gaggle of narcissists, than it does of shows like the old Sarah Silverman Program, shows where completely self-absorbed folks have absolutely no moral compass other than whatever figurative shiny bauble in front of them is currently making their internal needle point to “true north”. There’s also a certain South Park-esque quality to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, due not so much to Philadelphia’s cartoonish ambience as to its relentless pursuit of taboo subjects. My colleague Casey Broadwater has reviewed the previous Blu-ray releases of the series, and it’s interesting to note that even he was less than blown away by It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas, the first entry in the show he wrote about. By the time Casey wrote his It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: The Complete Season Seven Blu-ray review, he had thrown down the gauntlet and drawn a line in the hardscrabble Philadelphia gravel (or something like that), wondering if he could ever hang out with someone who didn’t like the series. I’m assuming that means that maybe I’ll be kept out on the porch of the Broadwater home, available for a brief tète á tète or two, but not allowed into where the party is really happening. (See? Humor.)
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: The Complete Season 8 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. As Casey Broadwater mentioned in his reviews of previous seasons, Philadelphia straddled the high definition era rather awkwardly, producing its first several seasons in standard definition. This native HD presentation continues the tradition of the last few seasons, with a generally very solid, if not exactly spectacular, presentation. The image here is usually very clear and well defined, especially in brightly lit daytime scenes. There still tends to be slight murkiness in some of Paddy's shadowy interiors and some darker sequences like the hospital scenes where Pop-Pop lies comatose. Contrast seems to be intentionally pushed at times, leading to glowing, effulgent light in brighter scenes. Colors are very natural looking and are nicely saturated. There are some very minor issues with aliasing, most noticeable in quick establishing shots of the Philadelphia skyline.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: The Complete Season 8 features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix which is probably a bit of overkill, given the series' fairly unambitious sound design. The mix here is resolutely anchored in the front channels almost all of the time, thought the sparkly, insanely happy sounding theme music and some of the incidental music occasionally spills into the surrounds. Fidelity is excellent, rendering dialogue and the occasional ambient environmental sounds with authenticity.
- Pop-Pop: The Final Solution with Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton
- The Gang Recycles Their Trash with Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton
- The Maureen Ponderosa Wedding Massacre with Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton and Josh Drisko
- Charlie's Mom Has Cancer with Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: doesn't quite tickle my fancy as much as it evidently does others, but it is undeniably a scabrously funny show a lot of the time. My personal issue with the series is that there is literally no one to root for: these are all despicable, scheming losers. That's great fodder for black comedy, but it might be nice to shed a little light on the proceedings, at least once in a while. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia continues to push the envelope rather dramatically (and/or comedically) and shows few signs of slowing down now eight years into its dysfunctional reign. This Blu-ray offers very good video and audio and comes with some enjoyable supplementary features. Recommended.
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Includes 4 Exclusive Paddy's Coasters.
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