Customer Reviews

Flight of the Conchords: The Complete First and Second Seasons w/CD

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Flight of the Conchords is a fantastically humorous tale of two dimwits from New Zealend who come to NYC to hit it big with their band.

Anyone who has watched HBO's Tenacious D will feel instantly at home with this show. However, this show is slightly different humor and the main characters seem to be the exact opposite of Jack Black. The show itself is better produced and higher quality, with more episodes and characters, it does a great job of crafting an interesting and fun universe for the viewer to grow comfortable with.

As with Tenacious D, the show is very music-based. Each episode has at least two songs w/ 'music videos' of varying catchy-ness and quality (but generally speaking, all are great). The music ranges from all genres but generally falls in the soft-rock category, even so, the show is definitely acting/comedy first and 'musical' second.

While the two dvd seasons are fantastic, the soundtrack is not complete (its actually their 'distant future' EP) and only has 5 tracks from the show. while it is a cool inclusion, but generally useless as a soundtrack itself and can be had for a couple dollars on other sites.

Personally, i love the show, however just want to warn everyone that this set, currently priced at 45, can be had cheaper if bought separately and was 20 on Black Friday Week of 2009.

Jermaine and Bret are a pair of New Zealand musicians, living in New York City and hoping to hit it big. Yeah, "Flight of the Conchords: The Complete Collection" sounds like a terrible generic sitcom, but instead this series is one of the most hilarious comedies of the last decade -- a quirky, weird, tongue-in-cheek little show with hilarious dialogue. Think a musical version of "The Office."

Folk-pop group Flight of the Conchords is Jermaine Clement and Bret McKenzie (played by themselves), who came all the way from New Zealand to New York. They are being managed by the ineffectual New Zealand Consulate official Murray (Rhys Darby), and they have exactly one fan/stalker, Mel (Kristen Schaal). They don't have many gigs, and even fewer successful ones.

As they chase elusive fame'n'fortune, the guys have to deal with girlfriend woes (dating the same girl, a "Yoko", a girl who just wants to use Bret for sex), financial difficulties (Bret bought a cup!), jobs, muggings, anti-Kiwi racism, a problematic rock'n'roll tour, two new fans with impure intentions, a semi-professional actor/compulsive liar who makes Murray think they've got a multimillion-dollar deal, the Crazy Doggz, Australians, epileptic terriers, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, hair gel, and a stage musical based on their misadventures.

If I had to come up with a description for "Flight of the Conchords," it would be that they're the folky New Zealand love child of Spinal Tap and "The Office." No laugh track, rambling dialogue, and the main characters tend to spontaneously break into song-and-dance at pivotal parts of the plot. And it's brilliant.

The writing is brimming over with effortless weirdness, as the guys encounter everyday problems (threesomes, girlfriend woes, weird dreams) which soon turn into hilariously surreal situations (the disturbing children's show, "Albi the Racist Dragon"). The dialogue is amazing ("When I first met you you tried to have me deported from New Zealand because you thought I was an Australian"), and full of rambling conversations that just get stranger with every line ("Have you ever had a threesome?" "Nearly." "What do you mean, nearly?" "I've had a twosome").

The songs are gutsplitting as well, since they're all about homicidal robots, mermaids, toothpaste, hip-hop spoofs, hermaphrodites ("Oh you sexy hermaphrodite lady-man-ladies"), rappers, cannibalism, and the hiphop-potamus. Not to mention "Frodo, Don't Wear the Ring" and its accompanying music video, which are a nod to McKenzie's role as the elf Figwit.

But none of this would be even half as funny if it weren't for the actors -- Clement's self-named chatacter is stoic and kind of weird (he writes a song about putting a wig on Bret), while McKenzie's is more childlike, naive and likes to sit in a cardboard box. Darby rounds out the cast as their harried, rather pathetic manager (who isn't even supposed to be managing a band), and Schaal is also quite funny as a woman who has a creepy sexual fixation on the guys.

This edition also comes with the "Distant Future" EP, which is a nice addition if not a full soundtrack -- it has the hilariously faux-seductive "Business Time," the equally hysterical "If You're Into It" ("Is that what you're into/him and you, in the nude?"), the sad "Not Crying," and live versions of "The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room", "Banter," and "Robots."

"Flight of the Conchords: The Complete Series" is one of the rarest kind of comedy out there -- steady, hysterical, and only gets better with repeated viewings. And boy, are you sorry when it's over.

Seriously. This is one of the funniest series ever produced. Makes me want to move to New Zealand and live like a hobbit. Brilliantly written, hilarious story lines, quirky songs. If HBO is smart they would do whatever it takes to get them to do a third season. It's business time!

These guys are funny. Kind of pricey at the time to purchase the complete series plus CD. The CD only has 6 songs. To save money I should have purchased the complete series without CD. The 6 songs are:

Business Time
If You're Into It
I'm Not Crying
The Most Beautiful Girl In The Room (Live)
Banter (Live)
Robots (Live)

I see the price for the complete series with CD is drastically reduced compared to what I paid. Whether you buy the complete series with or without the CD doesn't matter. You still get a good deal and looks like free shipping.

This show delivers each and every episode. With their unique blend of dry humor and surprisingly pleasant "novelty band" songs, it's hard not to keep a grin above your chin. I first saw their stand-up, and then had the privilege of stumbling across these DVDs after the show was all ready off the air(by the choice of Brett and Jermaine). I really enjoy all aspects of this show, and I wish they had signed on for additional seasons. Who knows, maybe they come back for more seasons like I think Larry David has done with Curb Your Enthusiasm. Splurge on yourself, you can't go wrong with this package.(Note:Limited Tracks on included Soundtrack)

A bit grotesque comedy of things common is an Australian/NZ TV show of a Kiwi boy band attempting to woo Broadway but finished as traditional shearers in native New Zealand.

Really nice musical performing and funny in general.

The movies/cd were in brand new condition and arrived very quickly. The movies/cd themselves were amazing and had no flaws. Thanks,

Ash

Come on FOC purists! Time to get this right. There is no 'Jermaine Clement,' in FOC, the actor's name is actually 'Jemaine' Clement.

If you haven't watched this show yet, drop everything and do it right now. If you don't like it, then we can't be friends.

Flight of the Conchords is one of those things most people either love or hate: it's very quirky, which leaves little room for lukewarm feelings. I can understand how the odd combination of dry humor and goofy musical numbers would be annoying, but if you've seen a couple episodes and enjoyed them I'd have to recommend the complete series. If not, then... I wouldn't!

The CD that comes with this set contains several very funny tracks, including some live stuff that might be interesting to fans who already own the band's full length CDs. If you haven't seen the series, keep in mind this was an HBO show - there aren't all that many episodes.