Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

The Venture Bros.: Season 5 Blu-ray Movie Review

"Jettison the lunch room!"

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown February 26, 2014

Before diving into the Blu-ray releases of The Venture Bros. and Adventure Time's latest seasons, let me try to put one prevailing criticism to bed. I'm sure you've heard it. It goes something like this... usually in a high-pitched whine: I can't stand *insert modern animated series title*. It isn't funny. The animation is terrible. The jokes are stupid. The episodes don't make any sense. It's all random references strung together with ridiculous characters. Cartoon Network needs to get back on track and produce quality shows! Sound familiar? I promise you fans of The Venture Bros. and Adventure Time -- each one successful enough to not only survive but to thrive -- have heard it countless times before, typically from a loud but irritable minority that's eager to complain without ever having properly sampled the goods. Inevitably, some series devotees stand proud and mount spirited defenses when attacked; others simply bite their tongues, knowing full well no argument, no matter how impassioned, will convert the unconverted. But here's the thing: dig into any cartoon junkie's Top Five and the same criticism can be leveled at almost any animated show. Old or new, well-known classic or obscure oddity. Venture Bros. and Adventure Time are no more random than a show about four underage, shuriken-slinging, skateboarding reptiles with a taste for pizza and a penchant for '80s slang; no more out there than SpongeBob SquarePants and its pineapple under the sea, Transformers and its clunky, chunky robots, Scooby-Doo and its talking, crime-solving dog, Looney Tunes and its anthropomorphic antics or Tom and Jerry and its mouse-house mayhem.

When did we all lose our minds, grow old and crotchety, and forget we're dealing with cartoons? If one isn't for you, find another. If everything Cartoon Network releases gets under your skin, maybe it isn't the style, the humor, the writing, the show or the channel you're on. Maybe you're just getting too old for cartoons, or at least cartoons that aren't fueled by childhood nostalgia. Or maybe, juuuust maybe, you aren't the target audience. Maybe the fact that Venture Bros. and Adventure Time have healthy audiences annoys you to no end, and for no good reason other than it means you're not a card-carrying member of a particular club. After all, if there's one thing the internet hates, it's someone who find joy in something someone else doesn't. Me? I'm a fan of both. I'll take The Venture Bros. and Adventure Time over a variety of other animated series, some with sizeable fanbases. But I'm also not afraid to say, "You know what? I just don't get such-n-such series. It's not for me. But I'm happy you love it. Moving on." So give cool, calm and collected a try. Scratch Venture Bros. and Adventure Time off your stress list. Or here's a thought: actually take the time to try each show. Watch more than a single episode. See what all the fuss is about. You might be surprised how quickly they grow on you...

"The most secluded island in Greece... Spanakos! You might say I had my first solo adventure there!"

Hank (Christopher McCulloch), Dean (Michael Sinterniklaas), Doctor Venture (James Urbaniak) and Brock Samson (Patrick Warburton) as they are pushed in unpredictable new directions. Ray shields, altered personalities, mutant soldiers, mad scientists, OSI agents, cyanide brain chips, Spanakopita, talking teddy bears, prison riots, super-maniacs of all stripes, and the baddies of SPHINX; all in a day's work for the Venture clan.

Patience is a prerequisite when absorbing each new season of The Venture Bros. Season Four wrapped in November, 2010; Season Five kicked off in July, 2013. More than the years that pass between seasons, though, is the challenge of adjusting to each new entry in the series. The fifth season (with just eight episodes and two specials) cuts a swath through just about everything fans know and love, drastically altering and sometimes even ignoring key characters, mixing up the status quo, and focusing on the villains more than ever before. For those who don't mind such jarring shifts, it can be refreshing; a bold creative boon. For those who enter the fray with expectations, it can be maddening; an adjustment that takes a good deal of time. Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer's comedy stylings are intact throughout thankfully, and the pair make each transition reasonably smooth. It's nice to see Publick and Hammer try something different -- after all, the best laughs are those that sneak up on you, cloaked in surprise -- and it's even better to plow through a season of Venture Bros. without the faintest idea of what boundary-pushing Adult Swim zaniness is coming next. But there's also a certain comfort that comes with a clear direction, and there are moments where the series feels as if it's wandering in the wilderness. No matter. The jokes and genre gags hit hard and often, with enough forward momentum to propel anyone with the least bit of affection for The Venture Bros. into its sixth season... even if it turns out to be another three years in the making.

Episodes include:

1. What Color is Your Cleansuit?
2. Venture Libre
3. SPHINX Rising
4. Spanakopita!
5. O.S.I. Love You
6. Momma's Boys
7. Bot Seeks Bot
8. The Devil's Grip

Bonus 1. A Very Venture Halloween
Bonus 2. From the Ladle to the Grave: The Shallow Gravy Story

The Venture Bros.: Season 5 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Venture Bros.' fifth season and Adventure Time's third season Blu-ray releases feature reliably and commendably encoded 1080p/VC-1 video presentations that share similar strengths and weaknesses. And fortunately, the good far outweighs the not so good. Both excel in color, contrast and clarity, with bright, punchy palettes, vibrant primaries, inky black levels and crisp-to-a-fault line art. Hardly a scene goes by that wouldn't make its creators proud, and each BD edition blows its DVD counterpart out of the water in terms of power, proficiency and raw visual oomph. What few issues there are trace back to each series' animated source. The Venture Bros. exhibits instances of obvious banding (keep your eyes glued to the night skies and darkest interiors for the worst of it), slight intermittent aliasing and some softness. Again, though, the animation, not the encode, appears to be the culprit, and fans will have no problem shrugging off most every eyesore. All told, the show's high definition presentation delivers.

The Venture Bros.: Season 5 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Where as Adventure Time hobbles into view with a lowly Dolby Digital stereo mix, The Venture Bros: The Fifth Season stands tall and proud with a solid -- albeit somewhat flat -- Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track. The series' sound design leaves a lot to be desired, especially when action isn't unfurling or chaos isn't erupting, but so goes the show. Dialogue is clean and clear at all times, sound effects have decent kick, and LFE output is reasonably brawny, with several deep, defining booms and thooms in its arsenal. Rear speaker activity is rather sparse and erratic, meaning immersion isn't priority one. But a few, fun directional flashbangs make up for it, at least in part. Will Venture's audio track impress? Not quite. Will it satisfy? Yep, so long as your expectations aren't set too high.

The Venture Bros.: Season 5 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries: F-bombing creators Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer deliver a candid, uncensored commentary track for all eight fifth season episodes, as well as the "Very Venture Halloween" special. No celebrity, pop culture icon, trend, genre, classic show, movie, artist, musician or fad (The Venture Bros. included) is safe from Publick and Hammer, whose tangential commentaries are even sharper and funnier than the series. I laughed out loud on more than one occasion.
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 6 minutes): A surprisingly small collection of incomplete deleted scenes.
• Fax My Grandson (HD, 3 minutes): AKA "The Further Audio Adventures of Diamond Backdraft!"

The Venture Bros.: Season 5 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans will find The Venture Bros.' fifth season and Adventure Time's third season Blu-ray releases are well worth picking up. Are they perfect? Nah, but then neither is either series. The shows' latest seasons are funny, though, and those who've been with the Ventures or Jake and Finn from the beginning will have a blast with each crew's newest adventures. The Fifth Season also happens to feature striking video, solid Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround and a generous supplemental package (at least in terms of audio commentaries). Good enough to add to your collection? You bet.