Blu-ray Movie Reviews

South Park: The Complete Fourteenth Season (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn  |  May 2, 2011

Join the boys as they publish award winning novels, struggle with a ban of fried chicken, fight off an invasion from New Jersey, and reveal the true identity of Mysterion. For them, it's all part of growing up in South Park!

Despite its crude writing, sophomoric behavior, and over-the-top potty humor, you have to hand it to Trey Parker and Matt Stone for catering to their audience and giving them what they want. I'm well outside the intended demographic, but still find myself laughing occasionally despite the low-brow one liners.

Video Highlights

  • AVC/1080p encode on a BD-50 discs
  • Vivid color palette
  • Occasional banding
  • Intermittent aliasing

Audio Highlights

  • Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack
  • Pedestrian sound design
  • Front-loaded presentation
  • Tepid dynamics

I'm not sure this show screams for a HD presentation, but its vivid color palette certainly leaps off the screen. There are occasional video issues such as banding and aliasing, but I doubt the intended audience will care much.

Bonus Materials

  • Mini-commentaries on all 14 episodes
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Bonus season 13 episode "The Coon"

Season 15 landed on Comedy Central last week and given the show's popularity with the younger demographic, I can see it staying on the air as long as Parker and Stone want. While the show isn't a must-have on Blu-ray, I'm sure its dedicated fans will want the best audio and video they can get and they'll be pleased with the presentation.

Release Date: April 26, 2011
Studio: Paramount/Comedy Central

Movie: 6/10
Picture: 8/10
Sound: 8/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-93 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS40 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Integra DTC-80.2 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Belkin PVA-PF60 power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics

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