South Park: Not Suitable for Children Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

South Park: Not Suitable for Children Blu-ray Movie Review

"She's not a slut. Mrs. Streibel is a woman engaging in legal activity on a website that's for adults only!"

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 12, 2024

South Park just celebrated the 27th anniversary of its August 13th, 1997 debut on Comedy Central. Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny were first seen in the animated short “The Spirit of Christmas,” and from there were launched into television history. Co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are executive producers, along with Anne Garefino and Frank C. Agnone II. Eric Stough, Adrien Beard, Bruce Howell and Vernon Chatman are producers. Christopher Brion is the Creative Director of South Park Digital Studios.

One man. Two South Park specials. And a mission to see if the beloved show remains as audacious as ever. Which will come out on top? The End of Obesity or Not Suitable for Children? Which will bring the most laughs, the most gut busters, the most jaw drops, the most shock and awe? Which will be anointed South Park double feature champ? Let's find out as Stan, Cartmen, Kyle, Kenny, Tweak and the gang dive headlong into the worlds of medically prescribed weight loss drugs and 21st century energy drink fad-dom.

"We told you guys we have better Cred than anyone at school!"

When the adults of South Park grow increasingly concerned about the health and social effects of a "hydration" energy drink called Cred, popularized by an array of social media influences and platforms, the students' desire for Cred increases exponentially, eventually driving them to states of ecstasy and lunacy as they acquire more and more. Little Clyde Donovan, though, is strictly forbidden from drinking Cred, so he creates his own, tricking other students into believing he's drinking the real thing. As a result, he gains access to Cartman's exclusive Affinity Group for Cred Drinkers. But when it's discovered that Clyde has been filling a black market Cred bottle with mere apple juice, the entire group is cast out of their social groups and unfriended. To repair their reputation, Cartman and company make the trip to Pueblo, Colorado to purchase Super Cred, only to come to their senses, realize they've been manipulated, and become determined to hunt down Cred's go-to celeb hocker, Logan LeDouche.

South Park is hilarious. You either agree or you continue to miss the joke. Sharp as razor-wire and funny as all get out, it blends social commentary with gross-out gags, multilayered plotlines, ridiculous characters and deadly on-the-nose parodies to great effect; primarily for bigger and bigger laughs, but also to leave viewers thinking. Not too shabby for an animated shocker celebrating its 27th birthday.

Not Suitable for Children isn't upper tier South Park -- it takes aim at targets its hit for years, again and again -- but it does deliver the goods, as promised with each new season. Social media... shallow, one-dimensional D-list celebrities... the worst OnlyFans has to offer... manipulative advertising... worshiping fads... consumerism taken to the extreme... it's all ripe for the picking, and Matt Stone and Trey Parker line up their marks and tag them dead center, one after another. There's nothing all that new or different here, but sometimes tried-n-true comedy is plenty. Not Suitable for Children gets increasingly chaotic, as South Park tends to do, and only a few bits fall short. (Randy's run as a nude influencer, package on full display, gets old fast, and Parker and Stone only double down the more irritating it becomes.)

South Park: Not Suitable for Children Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This stuff takes time. You don't just put up a page and immediately get followers. You have to support it with other social media, have a craft to teach... Being an influencer takes time, Sharon!

The End of Obesity and Not Suitable for Children could easily be mistaken for sharing a disc, as their excellent 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentations are virtually identical. Colors erupt off the screen, primaries take big swings and connect, black levels are nice and inky, and contrast is spot on. Detail is as crisp and clean as you'd hope, with perfectly sharp edges and carefully resolved textures. (Take a close look at any of the "paper"-esque elements and you'll notice a faint construction-paper disposition.) Better still, there's hardly any -- if any at all -- encoding or animation issues afoot, with little to no banding and blocking to speak of. The encodes are as proficient as they are striking, and there's not much at all to gripe about.

South Park: Not Suitable for Children Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

We're dead. We're f***in' dead! Word is gonna spread through the school that our affinity group has no Cred and then we're gonna…

Likewise, both South Park specials boast strong Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless tracks. Voices are clean and clear at all times. Effects explode with aggressive low-end and rear-speaker support. And dynamics are nothing short of impressive. The LFE channel comes locked and loaded with chaotic thooms and booms, while directionality is surprisingly three-dimensional for such a two-dimensional animated show. Pans are slick, music is bright and boisterous, and every last element enhances the rollicking good time.

South Park: Not Suitable for Children Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Blu-ray release of Not Suitable for Children doesn't include any extras.

South Park: Not Suitable for Children Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Yeah, but it's, like, seriously, look at how it's suddenly everybody now. Like that Spencer Hollis kid. He never even cared about Cred, he just drinks it 'cause some stupid influencer said it's cool now!

The winner? The End of Obesity, by a close margin. Both discs offer nearly identical AV presentations (and unfortunately zero extras), and the specials are both hilarious at best, fairly funny at worst. Only Randy's tiresome nudist subplot in Not Suitable for Children drags it out of contention. Otherwise, the specials would likely walk away with a tie in this double feature match-up.