- Aspect Ratio: 1:78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English 5.1, English Stereo
- Subtitles: English SDH
- Region: A (B? C?)
- Rating: Not Rated
- Run Time: 308 Mins.
- Discs: 2 ( 2 x Blu-ray)
- Studio: Paramount Home Media Distribution
- Blu-ray Release Date: March 27th, 2012
- List Price: $32.99
[amazon-product]B006W93EM4[/amazon-product]
Purchase South Park The Complete Fifteenth Season on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for More Blu-ray Titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Series
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Series
[Rating:4/5]
South Park, in its 15th season, tells varying tales of four South Park, Colorado boys in Stan, Kyle, Eric, and Kenny (all voiced by Matt Stone or Trey Parker, the series’ creators). Originally started as a sort of sketch with the now infamous Spirit of Christmas during their college years, the series certainly has had its fair share of media attention, thanks in part to some of the topics Stone and Parker have tackled. Whether the late Michael Jackson, President Obama, Britney Spears all the way down to Broadway shows, the two simply have a formula that works. It’s no real wonder why the series has gone on to become one of the most critically acclaimed animated creations ever. Such is the case with the episodes featured in this 15th Season.
As per the previous seasons, the four find themselves in a wide range of situations, most of them lambasting current headlines. Be it a spoof on Apple’s iPad meets gross out horror (“HumancentiPad”) or spoofing reality TV (“The Poor Kid'”), South Park is just funny. The sole reason why South Park has remained relevant where other series like The Simpsons have begun to falter is because Matt and Trey criticize modern culture, usually topics that are fresh. The two just don’t introduce a topic and briefly cover it. They present their views on it in a manner that will get you talking, will create debate and, ultimately, will make the episode be remembered.
Simply put, Matt and Trey leave no stone unturned in this 15th season. Witty, funny and topical, here’s hoping that the upcoming 16th season of South Park continues the winning ways the previous 15 years have had.
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
The 1:78:1 framed, AVC/MPEG-4 encoded transfer is just as good as the previous 3 seasons’ Blu-ray releases. The series has always featured a rather vibrant color palette. The reds of Cartman’s shirt, the whites of the snow, and the greens of Kyle’s hat all add to the series animation. There’s no real evidence of damage to the show’s print or any other real anomalies, outside of a slight blip here and there, present. This isn’t the top tier of animated efforts on Blu-ray, but is consistent throughout each episode. All in all, this is a solid effort from Paramount.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The series’ provided English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is more than suitable for the material at hand. Dialogue is well reproduced throughout with no instance of drop out or muddled dialogue. The series atmosphere has always tended to focus on more of a front heavy mix. The theme by Primus does offer a little bit of LFE response, but outside of that, there really isn’t much low-end to speak of. Dynamics are mostly quiet, except for during some of the brief action moments during some of the season’s latter episodes. This isn’t a demo worthy track, but is one that is helps define the show.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]
The included supplements are presented in HD.
- 6 Days to Air: The Making of South Park – This is a behind-the-scenes making of the episode “HumancentiPad” that runs 42:05 in length. This is a great look into just how much effort goes into making ONE episode of the series.
- 6 Days to Air: Behind the Scenes of “City Sushi” – This runs 3:29 and is shorter look into making an episode, this time “City Sushi”. It’s aways fun to see how talented the two are, in particular the side-by-side animated scene with Trey/Matt doing the voice acting.
- Mini-Commentaries by the Matt Stone and Trey Parker – Here both Matt and Trey offer up their known ‘mini’ commentaries (roughly 3-4 minutes) on each episode.
- Deleted Scenes – 7 deleted scenes, totaling 5:09 in length, are presented. Scenes from the following episodes are shown. “HumancentiPad” (3), “Royal Pudding” (1), “Crack Baby Athletic Association” (1), “1%” (1), “A History Channel Thanksgiving” (1). Some of the scenes are fully animated (like that of the “HumancentiPad” scenes), while others (like that of “Royal Pudding”) are storyboard animatics.
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
Paramount has brought this 15th season of South Park to Blu-ray with fine V/A, a few solid extras and, as per Matt and Trey, a ton of laughs. Well Recommended to fans of the series.
Additional Screen Captures
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[amazon-product]B006W93EM4[/amazon-product]
Purchase South Park The Complete Fifteenth Season on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for More Blu-ray Titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Series
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]
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