Customer Reviews

The Venture Bros.: Season Three [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Venture Bros. is without a doubt my favorite TV show, and has been for a while. There is so much to enjoy about this show it's hard to know where to start. The writers (Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer, also the voices of many of the characters) have taken the Jonny Quest concept and warped it beyond recognition into a tremendously enjoyable viewing experience. One thing I love about this show is Doc and Jackson's absolute refusal to dumb down the material in any way, shape or form. If you don't get a joke or a reference, you just have to rewind the DVD and watch again, or go online, or watch earlier shows (shows often refer back to tiny details in past shows, which you're expected to just know). Sometimes the jokes come from so far out of left field I end up shaking my head in amazement, as with an episode where two Men In Black-style government agents identify themselves as lepidopterists (as opposed to philatelists -- it'll make sense in context). Season 3 offers the same great writing as the first two seasons, but the look of the show has been dramatically improved with the 16x9 aspect ratio. The DVDs are also completely uncensored (I was amazed at how many swear words were in the episodes). This show can be enjoyed on many levels: the crazy comedy, the characters (who are endearing despite, or perhaps because of, their many foibles), the terrific over-the-top action sequences, the satire, the references, the amazingly convoluted backstory, and just the utter out-and-out insanity of every episode. The one negative thing is that the story has gotten sufficiently involved that it would be hard for a new viewer to really get what was going on by watching these episodes; you really need to buy the first two box sets (you can thank me later). Actually, there's another negative thing: after watching The Venture Bros., other TV shows seem depressingly stupid and boring by comparison.

While you might expect a lot of laughs and a great time while watching Season 3, you might NOT expect the level of F-bombs, S-bombs, and full-frontal nudity included in the home version. This is as uncensored as it gets.

Having said that, this is a must-own set. The show truly hit its stride in Season 3, and the Blu-ray release does not disappoint. No stretched images, everything is crystal clear, and there's a Dolby True-HD soundtrack (curiously not mentioned on the box art specs). The entire season of the Blu-ray version is on a single disc, so you can sit back and watch the whole thing without changing discs.

The bonus CD soundtrack is excellent too.

The third season of The Venture Brothers is a big departure from the earlier seasons, and so too, this DVD set. It is pared down, including just the episodes (with/without commentary) and a few deleted scene storyboards. I was a little disappointed that there are no behind the scenes or interview bonus features as there are on the season one and two DVDs.

But that is not to say that I don't enjoy the set: as always, the packaging is hilarious in all its retro details and artwork (this season features an Atari theme).

All in all, I would welcome more bonuses, but the show is so good by itself, I hardly need more than that.

All the characters we've met before are back in Volume 3 to build a very complete and very strange world. It develops the characters' various back stories and references previous volumes to provide long time fans a satisfying new chapter.

It's difficult to know where to start with a series like this, but I can tell you that my GF and I were still quoting lines from it for almost two hours after we finished watching the entire set.

The only downside is that there are only 13 episodes and deleted scenes as extras. Even so, it was well worth the wait for this latest installment.

I've been a fan of Venture Bros. since the pilot aired close to 5 years back. I've come to expect excellence out of the show from episode to episode, and season 3 delivers. As funny as ever, it fills in a lot of the back-story behind existing characters, and puts faces to names we've heard before, including the original Team Venture.

If you liked either of the last 2 seasons, you'll love this one too.

Word of caution: The unedited parts of the season seem to have blurred out mostly just nudity, and by nudity I mean male dudeness... So yeah, you probably don't want to watch it with kids.

Overall, great -- go buy it!

From packaging to menus to the video quality, this is a great collection of a great season. (Be forewarned, though, it is completely uncensored. That means swearing and no black boxes.)

First off let me say you CANT WATCH THIS WITH THE KIDS! It is %100 uncensored, but to be honest it only adds to some of the comedy in this season. (Episode 2 when Rusty sees his dad had me rolling on the floor.) The animation is flawless, and the show builds on the characters from the previous seasons, even ones who where just background characters in the first place. My only compliant is that you only get the soundtrack with the Blu-ray version which in my opinion is like a slap in the face to some of the fans of the show, especially a musician like me that can really appreciate the music used. On word of advice though, if you have not seen the other seasons you will want to watch those first.

First off, I'm a huge fan of the show, and Season 3 is a blast. Many great episodes. Overall, perhaps a tad weaker than Season 1&2, but still awesome and better than 99.9% of the dreck out there.

I had previously rented season 3 on DVD. Really enjoyed the Atari 2600 video game theme on the menus. Recently, I purchased the Blu-Ray version and was surprised to see all the episodes condensed to one disk. I don't recall if there were any additional special features on the DVD that have been dropped from the Blu-Ray, however, the menu structures is certainly different between the two releases. The menu on the Blu-Ray is much simplified, and I miss those animations and great retro-sound effects. Worse still, the text on the Blu-Ray menu is tiny, so much so to be unreadable on my 24" tv. Presumably, it was assumed that anyone ordering the Blu-Ray would have a 60" screen.

On the plus side, the Blu-Ray does include the JG Thirwell music CD.

I am a complete newbie to the Venture Brothers. I've heard so much about the show over the years, but never really gave it a shot...simply because I'd heard a lot about ATHF and just didn't get it. However, several weeks ago I set the DVR to record a rerun on Adult Swim and "The Family That Slays Together" aired. I have to admit that, despite being somewhat lost not knowing the backstory, I was hooked. I then proceeded to get season one through Netflix on DVD. After watching the first disc of season one, I felt compelled to buy all four seasons...and have not been able to stop watching these episodes again and again ad infinitum.

This is, without a doubt, one of the funniest shows ever on television. The characters, unlike most TV shows, are fleshed out well and allowed to grow. The Monarch is the most lovable villan ever and I find myself rooting for him with each and every episode.

I decided to add my comments to Season Three simply because it has some of my favorite episodes. This, to me, was also the season where each character REALLY started to come into their own. The whole Guild Of Calamitous Intent plotline intrigues me..and knowing the Sovereign is David Bowie (I'm a huge Bowie fan) really threw me for a loop.

These are extremely FLAWED characters, but not at all one dimensional. Dean seems to be unappreciative of his father's quest to turn him into his heir apparent...and Hank's rebellious attitude is really coming to the forefront this season. Here we also see the beginnings of Sgt. Hatred's relationship with the Ventures...and how his overwhelming doting of them is strictly to get on Monarch's nerves. Despite the fact that it's a "cartoon" and a parody of a specific genre (sixties Saturday Morning adventure shows), it is incredibly well written and smart. The writers obviously have a lot of love for these characters and they seem every bit as excited to see where their lives take them as WE are.

This is one of those rare occasions where I gave a TV show a shot and it surpassed my expectations and then some!!

I love the Venture Brothers. The third season is well worth buying; it's every bit as funny as seasons 1 and 2.