Customer Reviews

Mr. Bean - The Whole Bean (Complete Set)

5 star:		(128)
4 star:		(50)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This DVD set which proclaims itself to be the "whole" Bean isn't quite what it appears to be. While it does contain, in essence, all 14 episodes of the classic series, many of the episodes are slightly or even significantly EDITED. Two glaring examples are: in "Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean," the scene of Mr. Bean winning the turkey by guessing it's weight, then throwing it in the back of his car has been CUT. It is NOT here. In "Do-it-Yourself, Mr. Bean," the entire 4-5 minute scene of Bean inside Harrod's trying to take the sale chair away from the old people who get there first has also been CUT. He goes inside... and comes back out with the chair. There is NO scene inside. I would hardly call this the WHOLE Bean. Many other minor segments of him driving have also been cut. All in all, each episode now runs 24-25 minutes instead of the general 27 to 30 minutes. It's a real shame that this set couldn't have been done right, even if it took a fourth disc to do it. I will miss those little moments that are now apparently lost forever. However, what we are left with, edited or not, is still a nice collection... thus, I have to at least give it 3 stars despite my disappointment at it not being truly COMPLETE. I really doubt we will ever see a special "uncut" release, so go ahead and add this set to your collection. The picture's better than ever and the special features are nice but a wee bit minimal. Enough complaining, it's still the best show around... even with his bits and pieces removed.

When I heard that all the classic Mr. Bean episodes were going to be released on DVD finally, I was excited. However, after receiving it, I noticed, as did many others here who have submitted reviews, that certain key scenes were missing from some of the episodes.Two glaring omissions on disc 2 include the "Turkey Weigh-In" scene from "Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean", and, the "Chair Sabotage" scene from "Do It Yourself, Mr. Bean". Discs 1 and 3 appear to have no missing scenes that I have noticed.Fortunately I still have my VHS "Box of Bean" collection, which I will keep, in order to preserve the episodes in their original entirety.The bonus features are wonderful, and am glad to see their inclusion. However, I was a bit dismayed by the omission of the live Boston performances of the classic "In The Church" sketch.I support the other reviewer's sentiments in the hope that a COMPLETE Whole Bean will become available some time in the future. I also hope the live Boston performance will become available on DVD as well. I would have otherwise rated this a 5-star collection, had everything been intact

Unfortunately, the producers of this DVD set decided to refry (edit) classic television in order to save a few pennies - to keep this set down to three DVDs, rather than four. Yet, they included a promo for the animated series? Shameless. For this reason, I can give the set no more than four stars.

Curiously, I must also mention that the labeling on the DVDs is incorrect. The last episode listed on the back of the case for Disc 1 is actually the first episode on Disc 2. Also, what the case says should be Disc 2's first episode is actually Disc 1's last. Shoddy production work - but not necessarily worth a rating reduction.

But, that said, Mr. Bean is still wonderfully funny, and I have found the DVDs to be wildly entertaining. My six year old daughter is now a big fan, and I was amazed at how much my three year old enjoyed Rowan Atkinson's physical comedy. Mr. Bean is good, clean "G" rated fun that the whole family can enjoy. This set is a far better alternative to the single disc "highlights" DVD that had been available before.

Having watched the entire set, I do feel satisfied with my purchase. However, I would have been very willing to pay more for a fourth DVD in the set, so that ALL of Mr. Bean's priceless routines could be enjoyed in their original state.

I think I've found the reason why some of you believe there are scenes missing. As I understand it, when the series was shown on PBS, the episodes were too short to fill the required half hour, since in the UK, it was shown WITH commercials (hence the shorter length of the episodes). PBS apparently asked them to ADD scenes to fill the time. These "fillers" were seen as "throw away" scenes by the producers, and not what Mr. Atkinson originally envisioned for the series. Therefore, when the dvd came out, the "filler scenes" were cut. Only those who originally saw it on PBS will notice the difference. But rest assured, you ARE seeing the episodes as Rowan Atkinson originally intended, in all it's brilliantly zany splendor!

These are NOT edited..let me explain. The only fans who will notice bits missing are USA fans because the MR BEANS when shown in the USA were done on a tv station without commercials, opposed to in the UK where they were shown with ad breaks. Because of this the USA tv station requested extra material to be put in to pad them out to the required length. The production company obliged, put in little bits n bobs to stretch them and so when this release came out, comprising of the official versions..shown everywhere else in the world they thought they were edited. Essentially although slightly different to the USA broadcast versions, these ARE the way Rowan Atkinson intended them to be viewed, the oddments which were added to the USA episodes as a necessity were considered surplus to requiremenrs, inferior in many cases and left on the cutting room floor. OK, so perhaps these scenes could have been included as extras..outtakes for example..or even the extended episodes used for this release BUT I dont think its any major crime, Rowan Atkinson decided these were what he wanted broadcast in the UK/Europe etc and thats good enough for me. Basically only USA fans will notice any change, and even then just slight changes...all in all this is a great set, cheap and VERY funny.

How can A&E call this "The Whole Bean" when the episodes are all butchered down by about three minutes each? And what possible justification can they have for this? Surely there wasn't a problem getting the full versions from the BBC. Surely the extra minutes would have fit on these three discs. So why oh why did A&E screw up this long, long awaited Mr. Bean release? Incompetence is the only logical explanation. I'll wait until the BBC's own PAL discs show up on Amazon.co.uk and figure out how to play them then. A&E: Three jeers for this release; you've lost my faith in you.

Taking the line from the South Beach reviewer, I too am disappointed with this expurgated edition of the so-called "Whole Bean". No, I am outraged. I've been cheated! This is NOT a complete set of the Mr. Bean series.

The South Beach reviewer claims many minutes are missing throughout the set. Well, I can specifically state that in the episode entitled "Do It Yourself, Mr. Bean" where Bean buys the chair, the entire section inside the store has been deleted. In that scene Mr. Bean harasses an elderly woman in the chair he wants to buy for himself.

The A&E production people might have decided in their godlike wisdom that the scene should be kept from their viewing customers, probably to prevent a negative reaction against A&E. When are the providers of entertainment going to realize that we are capable of deciding for ourselves what we will or will not watch? We don't need pop police censoring our choice of material. Now A&E has at least two negative reactions from its viewing customers. I too have lost all faith in that organization.

Finally, I consider this to be false advertising. And I warn all potential buyers to beware of this chopped edition that can only be called "The Partial Bean".

I was never so appalled by a DVD product as I am with The Whole Bean! Obviously these were the episodes which were shown on commercial television (A&E) which needed to be cut in order to accomodate the commercials. This would not have been an issue had the BBC produced this series on their own. Luckily I was forwarned by reviews here and then received the proof when my friend purchased them. I am a big fan of Mr.Bean, but I will not compromise my standards just to satisfy a need. Companies need to realize that producing a sub standard product will not be tolerated. If Mr. Bean sells well (which it probably will) then this only enboldens such companies to release further truncated versions of films and television series. Wait for Mr. Bean to come on your local PBS station instead of catering to a company that does not care about the consumer.

Mr. Bean The Whole Bean DVD set is a great complete DVD collection of all 14 Mr. Bean episodes. When I first heard that there were only 14 episodes, I thought 'That's not very many...' But you have to keep in mind that for EACH episode, there are 3-4 skits. So do not fear, there is PLENTY to watch in this DVD set.
There are 3 discs, with episodes on each one and the last disc has episodes and special features. There are 2 additional skits, and 2 Comic relief specials that are hysterical.

Perhaps the best feature is the 40 minute 'The Story of Bean' Documentary. Rowan Atkinson talks as himself about being Mr. Bean, and there is A LOT of footage of him performing prior to being 'Bean'. This gives many people who may only know him as Mr. Bean a great look at how funny of an actor he is when he's talking too. It also gives a look at who Mr. Bean progressed through some of his other skits, and a look at the planning of each episode with the writers.
This DVD set was worth every penny and is an outstanding collection of every 'Bean' skit. Highly reccomended!

I, like many, was worried after hearing a lot of buzz that there were cuts in the DVD set of the Mr. Bean series. I emailed A&E to ask them whether the rumors were true and received this reply:

"We have received numerous emails from viewers like you who believe that our recent release of Mr. Bean: The Whole Bean is missing footage. We discussed these concerns with Rowan Atkinson's team. According to the executive producer of the show, the masters that we received were the official complete versions approved by Rowan Atkinson. The "missing" scenes referred to by fans were extra footage shown on television outside of the United States. We have released this complete series as Rowan Atkinson himself intended it to be viewed."

This still leaves some questions unanswered, such as: since the series is not in fact American at all, how is footage shown "outside of the United States" 'extra,' and not, rather, the original version? However, since they state that the A&E tranfers were approved by Rowan Atkinson, one can only speculate that they can indeed be considered legit; perhaps these are effectively a new cut from the producers of the show. At any rate, my own concerns were largely quashed after reading this, so hopefully this will put things to rest for others as well.