Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

South Park: The Complete Twenty-Fifth Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 14, 2023

South Park celebrates 25 years with a condensed season that tries to take the show back maybe not necessarily to its roots, but at least to the periphery of its roots, offering six episodes that are not absolutely bogged down in social commentary and the scramble to integrate the latest "breaking news" as a critical plot points to any given episode. These six episodes are more timeless than they are timely (though some current events, like the war in Ukraine, do make an appearance). The season sees the boys fighting back against a ban on wearing pajamas on school pajama day, exploring the name of the "Token" character, dabbling in real estate, playing airsoft, and learning about St. Patrick's Day. The show relies on some tired themes, like the local weed business, but give some credit to season 25 for not falling all over itself to reach into the headlines to find its bread-and-butter content.

Join Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny -- in 'South Park's' 25th season -- as they correct a long-held misconception about one of their classmates, deal with moody teenagers, and celebrate Pajama Day at South Park Elementary. For them, it's all part of growing up in South Park!

While the season brings things back towards a more traditional structure, it is at the same time less edgy than its recent season contemporaries. The humor is fairly standard for the show, which does ground it, but there isn't much in the way of memorable character evolution (Token, or "Tolkien," notwithstanding) and no single episode of the six that screams out as an instant classic. Still, the entire season operates as "classic" South Park, digging back into the show's well-established basics rather than rushing headlong into the work of spoofing headlines. This, then, is something of a more "timeless" season than is some of its more recent companions.

The following episodes comprise season 25:

• Pajama Day: PC Principal bans the 4th grade class from wearing their pajamas to school on the most important day of the year. Meanwhile, Mr. Garrison has man trouble.
• The Big Fix: Stan's horrified to realize he's misrepresented some of the greatest writing of all time. Randy attends a cannabis expo where he discovers a shocking fact...can Token help?
• City People: When Cartman's mom gets a job as a real estate agent, Cartman becomes inspired to enter the game himself. It's not long before all hell breaks loose.
• Back to the Cold War: A lot is riding on Butter's ability to crush the competition in the dressage championship.
• Help, My Teenager Hates Me!: The boys find out that the joys of playing Airsoft come with the challenges of dealing with teenagers.
• Credigree Weed St. Patrick's Day Special: Butters is shocked to learn that people in South Park don't understand what St. Patrick's Day is all about.

South Park: The Complete Twenty-Fifth Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Needless to say, there's a ton of South Park on Blu-ray so there's ample room for comparative analysis between releases. Season 25 is essentially a carbon copy of previous HD widescreen releases, offering a very format-typical 1080p transfer. In fact, it's essentially indistinguishable from any recent season releases. The level of clarity and image texture are constant, which means very good, allowing audiences to soak in the various clothing and environmental elements with ease. Clarity is excellent throughout the animation elements, rendering everything agreeably sharp and very well detailed. Color output is terrific as usual, with the brightly colored clothing, school interiors, and various locales around town looking marvelously vivid in the barrage of simple but healthy and elegant tones. There are a few jagged edges to contend with, offering the only real issue in the set, and it's generally moderate and not particularly problematic. This is another very solid South Park release from Paramount.

South Park: The Complete Twenty-Fifth Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The series-standard Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers a fairly typical (for this show) audio experience. The track is not particularly forceful, more satisfied to offer a basic listen with little frills or flair. Dialogue drives the show, and its presentation is practically faultless for clarity of the various diverse voices. Front center channel placement and prioritization are excellent. The opening title song and the various musical themes and refrains heard throughout the six episodes offer solid clarity and stable front left and right positioning with mild surround drift. Back channels are used sparingly overall, even for basic atmosphere in school hallways or busy offices. The track is more front heavy than it is surround intensive (and subwoofer happy) so expect a series standard listen and be pleased with this track that delivers the essentials in good working order.

South Park: The Complete Twenty-Fifth Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of South Park: The Complete Twenty-Fourth Season contains no supplemental content. These sets have generally never been huge with extras, but it's a shame that there's nothing here, not even the series staple "mini commentaries." This release is actually fairly different than the others. The packaging has been changed to a simple Amaray case. It's also a single disc set. There is at least inner print artwork that includes the episode synopses seen above. Also, no DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does ship with a non-embossed slipcover.

South Park: The Complete Twenty-Fifth Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

South Park's 25th season doesn't redefine the formula, but if anything it tries to go back to the classic formula that made it so popular to begin with, offering a few standalone episodes that aren't dependent on the latest in breaking news for content. These are more snapshots of the chaos that is life in South Park, and fans who have been itching for the show to get back to its business should find this to be an agreeable, if not incredibly short, season. Paramount's featureless Blu-ray does deliver solid video and audio.