South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Ahh, 1999. Maybe it’s my own personal nostalgia, but that was probably one of the most fun years of my pre-adulthood in a nutshell. It was back before we were involved in a gigantic 20 year war on terror, it was before the TSA, before this crazy political climate, and I was having a ball in my Jr. year of high school. That was the year The Matrix came out, we were all HYPED for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (seriously, the first Star Wars film since Return of the Jedi?) and everyone was watching something even edgier, more satirical, and something that frustrated our parents even more than The Simpsons. Yes, I’m talking about South Park, that magical “kids” animated show that poked fun of everything and everyone, while skating the line between TV friendly and being as vulgar and disgusting as Matt Stone and Trey Parker could get away with.

Back before South Park stopped doing full length seasons and started focusing on “event” shows, having a full length R-Rated South Park film was a BIG deal. This was the way that Matt and Trey could get around TV censors, and push the boundaries as hard as they could, and that’s exactly what they did. Matt and Trey took South Park from the world of TV and literally pushed every boundary they could think of. And to be fair, it’s actually not AS bad as it could have been. Sure, back in 1999 they weren’t allowed to get away with what they can on a cable TV channel, and the jokes they told back then were edgier and more “crude” than what the audience had seen, but the two jokemeisters have easily surpassed the film in both crudity AND creativity in later seasons.

That being, said South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut was a massive deal back then, It mocked the MPAA, a culture obsessed on going to war, American’s weird dichotomy on allowing kids to see some of the most violent things on earth, but getting shocked and appalled at some nudity or some foul language. The film starts out in pure South Park fashion, with the kids breaking out in a musical number about living in their sleepy little podunk town, only to shift over to the boys sneaking in to see the latest Terrence and Phillip film, filled with all sorts of debauchery and crudity that their parents don’t want them to hear (seriously, like every over little kid since the beginning of film). When the boys head out to school they’re only too happy to repeat all of the language that they heard in the flick, which sadly draws the attention of the adults who want to know just where the children heard such filth.

Upon finding out that they got it from watching the Canadian duo Terrence and Phillip the mothers form a coalition to protest against not only Terrence and Phillip, but all of Canada. As tensions rise and things escalate, soon the United States is set on going to war with Canada unless our northern neighbors hand over Terrence and Phillip. As you guessed it, Canada isn’t about to just hand over their best comedians for the USA to execute, so war it is. Simultaneously Kenny (who was of course killed at the beginning of film, as he did in the first few seasons of the show every other episode) has gone to hell where he finds himself face to face with the prince of darkness himself. However, not all all is happy down in the lair of Beelzebub, as Satan is having romance problems with his partner Saddam Hussein. However, to tie things together with what’s happening on the surface, it turns out that all that Satan needs to rule earth is for an ancient prophecy to come true. One that states that once Terrence and Phillips blood is spilt, the prince of darkness will ascend to the surface to rule for two million years.

South Park: Bigger, Longer Uncut is exactly what you would expect from early South Park, just ruder, cruder and just as hilarious as ever. The film works as a feature length episode of the show, with Matt and Trey poking fun at everything from racism, the Military, and of course RELENTLESSLY mocking the strange double standard that exists in America when it comes to what content is “appropriate” and what’s not in society. Does it hold up 25 years later? I think it does. Fans of the show will get exactly what they wanted, and those who are offended…...well, best to stay away.




Rating:

Rated R for pervasive vulgar language and crude sexual humor, and for some violent images




4K Video: Video:

Being that South Park was essentially animated construction paper cutouts that moved on screen, I wasn’t expecting a ton from the 4K UHD disc. The Blu-ray looked good back in 2009, but the simplistic animation style and modern day encoding methods have relegated it to being just “satisfactory”. Due to the simplistic nature of the animation (as I mentioned) wasn’t expecting a ton of upgrades, but I ended up being rather wrong. The new 4K master looks fantastic, eliminating the telecine issues from the Blu-ray and DVD, as well as some boosted colors with the Dolby Vision. The animation detail levels themselves aren’t really enhanced THAT much, but I did notice more of that “construction paper texture” popping a bit more than I remembered, as well a dark tone to the mother thanks to the HDR application. Overall, it’s a healthy upgrade from my trusty Blu-ray disc that I’ve kept for the better part of 15 years, and is probably the most striking part of this entire package.








Audio:

Paramount has foregone a DTS:X or Atmos track, but instead ported over the 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track from the 2009 Blu-ray disc. Which while not super expansive, is still a very solid listening experience. It’s decidedly front heavy, with a massive emphasis on dialog, but the surrounds and mains light up a good bit with all of the musical numbers. All of the tunes sound awesome, with great imaging and a strong bass response when needed. LFE throughout the rest of the track is a bit sparse though, with only some of the battles near the end of the film adding any real rumble on the low end past the music. That being said, this is still a very solidly performing track, with good dialog, strong songs and a very clean sound to it. It may not exactly be Dolby Atmos, but it fits the simple motif of the show that Matt and Trey leveraged during the early seasons of the show.







Extras:

• Sing A-Long Edition
• Audio Commentary with Matt Stone and Trey Parker
• "What Would Brian Boitano Do" Music Video
• Teaser Trailer
• Theatrical Trailers•

Final Score: ​

Maybe it’s just that I grew up with South Park (at least in High school and college), but I still have a soft spot for the long running series’ first giant event project. It was big, nasty, and did exactly what they were expecting. Teens went to see the film in droves and it was one of their biggest contributions to the end of the 90s. Paramount has done a bang up job with the new master and 4K encode, but also been a bit lazy in other upgrades. The 5.1 audio track is a direct clone of the old Blu-ray, as is the extras, leaving the 4K disc barebones. That being said, it’s a big hit for fans and the new encode is what we’re really after, so well worth the grab for fans of the show.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Mark Kay Bergman, Isaac Hayes, Jesse Howell
Directed by: Trey Parker
Written by: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Pam Brady
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French, Spanish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Paramount
Rated: R
Runtime: 81 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: July 25th, 2024

Recommendation: Fun Watch