By Jeff Swindoll Nov 3, 2009, 11:26 GMT
Come with us once again into the world of the Mighty Boosh! Truly back again as this set gathers up all of the separate releases and adds another disc of special features. If only Boosh fans would’ve known it was coming or weren’t annoyed by the navigation of that new disc.
The Mighty Boosh is the brainchild of stars Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. They brought their mad brand of mod comedy to BBC Three in 2004 and even airs on Adult Swim on Cartoon Network. The show had a successful three series with possibly more on the horizon. The popularity of the show is certainly on display in the new documentary found on this set.
The show has a surreal bent with just a dash of mod cool that feature a song or two or three. I thoroughly enjoyed the first three series and this new set seemingly recreates that enjoyment. What might be annoying to some Boosh fans is I’m not sure it was made clear that this set was coming some three months after the release of those three series.
Some might feel a bit cheated to have to outlay some economic crunch cash if they want to upgrade to get that bonus disc. Especially if you bought each series and the cost totaled up to more than this set costs.
The Mighty Boosh is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Series one has a creators/cast commentary on Bollo, Tundra, Electro, and Hitcher. There’s also the 28 minute “Inside the Zooniverse,” the 9 minute “Mighty Boosh: A History” detailing how the troupe got together, 12 minutes of “Boosh Music” from the series, 6 minutes of outtakes, and a photo gallery. Series two has commentaries on all episodes. You also get the 28 minute pilot episode of Tundra, the 19 minute “Boosh Publicity” promotions, the 28 minute “Making of Series 2,” 5 minutes of outtakes, 14 minutes of deleted scenes, the 10 minute short film “Sweet,” 15 minutes of “Boosh Music,” and a photo gallery. Series three has commentaries on Eels, Journey to the Centre of Punk, and the Strange Tale of the Crack Fox. Other goodies include the 27 minute “Making of Boosh 3,” 22 minutes of deleted scenes, the 3 minute “Mint Royale Promo,” 9 minutes of “Boosh Music,” 5 minutes of outtakes, and a 48 second Boosh promo that aired on telly. This new set also contains a bonus disc with the new 57 minute documentary “A Journey through Time and Space.”
The link to the new documentary is obvious, but other stuff is a bit harder to find. It’s hidden within some annoying menus, most are obvious but some are harder to find. What I did find was the 45 minute “ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts) Q&A,” 4 minutes of delete pilot scenes, 15 minutes of behind-the-scenes for Boosh Night Live, 4 minutes of “Live Night Links,” 14 minutes of zookeeper sketches from (Un)Natural Acts, 2 minutes of Bob Fossil zoo announcements.
What I couldn’t find was Royal Television Society Awards, the Dave Stewart Interview, Making Sammy the Crab, pilot episode outtakes, cinema trailer, and crimping collection. Maybe I didn’t look hard enough (those menus were getting to me, I hate hunting and pecking), but one section of menus were like a puzzle that I didn’t want to take the time to figure out.
Annoying menus aside, I like the show and I liked the bonuses that I could find on the new disc. This set does offer a bit of a discount to get all three series and the bonus disc. That might not do you any good if you already bought them though. If you haven’t bought them you’re in for a treat though.
The Mighty Boosh Special Edition DVD (Seasons 1-3) is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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