Customer Reviews

Saturday Night Live - The Best of Will Ferrell - Volumes 1& 2

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I purchased volumes 1 and 2 as a package, and I must say that I don't recall ever being so disappointed in a DVD purchase.

Will Ferrell, in my opinion, is one of the funniest actors to hit the set of SNL. There were mountains of classic sketches from which to choose when compiling these this set, yet these releases are terrible. Volume 1 has one Jeopardy sketch (quite funny, of course) and a very, VERY small snippet of Ferrell doing his Bush thing. Everything else is pretty much trash on Volume 1. Scattered throughout volume 1 are a bunch of three- or four second clips from "C+/C" sketches. I kept getting pissed when one would start and I'd think to myself "finally, one that I can force myself to laugh at", and it would get cut off. Well, in volume 2, some of these sketches are shown in their entirety. You can't but feel double-charged for SNL's double-dip on these clips. Volume 2 is just as empty as volume 1 in that it really doesn't contain Ferrell's best material. Where are the presidential debates? Where are the other jeopardy sketches (remember: out of BOTH releases, we only get ONE)? Where are the sketches of the angry father who lashes out at his kids in sudden bursts of rage? I'm not exaggerating when I say that the entire collection seems like the producers ordered all of Ferrell's sketches from "most hysterical" to "barely made the cut", and then started at the wrong end.

I won't be surprised when volume 3 is released: "Best of Will Ferrell: No, seriously."

This entire collection is just dreadful. I'm a big fan of Ferrell's and this collection is a disgrace. I wouldn't recommend either release to even the most loyal of fans. I'm giving it two stars instead of just one only because it's Ferrell.

If you are a fan of Will Ferrell, you should get this collection. While some of the recent SNL releases have been pretty lackluster, resulting from the fairly lackluster performers that have graced SNL in recent years, Will Ferrell is truly a character actor that deserves his own set. In fact, my only real complaint of these two DVD's is that they don't provide us with more footage. There is a ton of material that they left out--easily enough for another two DVDs. I'm not holding my breath for volumes three and four, but if you ask me, they ought to be on the way.

VOLUME 1 provides you with some of Will's best sketches, including the Blue Oyster Cult scene, Harry Carey, Jeopardy, Robert Goulet, Inside the Actor's Studio with Charles Nelson Riley, and more. Even more impressive are the extra features. This disc provides us with a glimpse of Will's audition to SNL, two of his hilarious appearances on Conan O'Brian, and the best sketch ever: the Old Prospector. It was a sketch that was cut from one of the aired shows, but it is hilarious. Simply hilarious.

VOLUME 2 fails, in some ways, to keep up the pace. I do not think that the disc is an overwhelming disaster, as others have stated. Often times the second volume of any compilation will lack punch, but I was pretty pleased with this one, due to the depth of Will's career. While not as good as the first disc, this volume picks up several of Will's one-time characters and shorts.

Overall, as I said, I feel that there was a wealth of material that did not make these discs. Of course, that is bound to happen in any compilation. But if these discs are going to be some of the flagships of the SNL series (and I believe they are), why not give us more than 70 minutes of action per disc? Why choose some of his mediocre sketches when you can throw in his better ones? It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

My recommendation: if you are a moderate fan of Will Ferrell and SNL, you can buy VOLUME ONE without any worries that you are missing something by passing over VOLUME 2. If you are a true fan, buy the double pack. But don't say I didn't warn you.

All of the best of from the SNL collection, seem to be terrible. This one is bad as well. Who ever selects the clips and skits that go on these DVD's must be the same people that are destroying the currnt show of today, as that is awful too.

This DVD misses many, many classic and great Will Ferrell skits, like "Get off the shed", which is probably one of his most famous bits.

Very poor compilation of the last funny person from SNL.

I have to agree that these are not the best moments of Will Farrell from his career on Saturday Night Live. The segment selection here leaves much to be desired. This man is one of the most gifted comedians of our day but I almost felt as if the producers of this DVD were intentionally leaving some of his best stuff out. For one thing, there's nothing here from the 2000 Presidential Debates in which he masterfully lampooned George W. Bush so I was left somewhat disappointed by these two volumes. The bottom line, however, is that, in what remains, a good bit of it is absolutely hilarious. The skit on the dog trainer was something that I replayed three times in a row and only then could stop convulsing with laughter. This DVD could have been much better but it was still worthwhile.

There were a lot of good skits on these two DVDs but also many that were only mediocre. The Conan O'Brien segments really added a lot and I would've rated this three stars if not for them.

Will Ferrell is in my oppinion the best cast member SNL has ever had. Vol. 1 of this collection includes pretty much all you need. All his famous characters: Marty Culp, Gene Frenkle in the famous "More Cowbell" sketch, Alex Trebek in the "Turd Ferguson" Celebrity Jeopardy sketch, The Spartans are on there of course, Robert Goulet, James Lipton, Harry Carry, The Lovers... The only thing it lacks is a really good Bush. There is a short Bush segment, but not the finest. Vol. 2 opens with the "Access of Evil" Bush sketch, but unless you are a die hard Ferrell as Bush fan, don't waste your time with vol. 2. The only things Vol. 1 really lacks is a "Morning Latte" or "GET OFF THE SHED!" I would have loved to see that on there, but alas, one can't camplain too much. Plus, Vol. 1 has a hilarious blooper reel and Will's apperance on Conan as Robert Goulet. Bottom line, don't bother with vol. 2, there's nothing on it you can't live without. I give this collection 3 stars just because vol. 2 isn't worth it. You can buy them seperatly, and had I known ahead of time, I would have rather than buying the set. I give vol. 1 5 stars. It is simply "scrumtrelescent"

I should have listened to the reviews here warning about this one. Do you like Will Ferrell's Bush skits? Congraulations, this dvd will give you one 20 second cut from one skit. And a lot of other 20 second clips taken out of context. (I'm guessing you're supposed to go "oh yeah, I remember that one" and fill in the rest yourself.) The full length skits they do have are a mixed bag - Cowbell is probably the most well known, but it does not carry the rest of the set.

I don't get why SNL is so protective of their footage - like how they won't allow it on Youtube, but then only host a thin selection of content on their own site. My kids started being interested in politics this year, and I really wanted to show them past election skits, including the Will Ferrell Mack North ones where he does the campaign commercials continuing to attack his opponent after the election is over because he genuinely hates him. These moments are a part of our culture, and it's a shame there's no way to see them again.

I bought this dvd for the cowbell skit. I love Will Ferrell for his betrayal of Alex Trebek from Jeopardy. This dvd was well worth what I paid. I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of SNL.

will ferrell is great. unfortunately, these sketches were poorly selected. not among his funniest, necessarily, though a few are great.

It is worth the money to buy these DVDs (being they are 9 bucks each and in this case 2 for 17.99) but yes they could have added many great other skits. I wonder about the people who are compiling the SNL material for DVD. Have they seen the shows? Maybe they should watch them before they decide what skits to compile for eternal DVD collections. I gave it 4 stars because the DVDs are not expensive so for the price you got what you paid for but it could have been better.