South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (25th Anniversary 4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
Do you ever see an anniversary of a film or album you have seen a lot and think of how old you are now that those films are celebrating that milestone? It came with some utter shock when I learned that South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut was celebrating it’s 25th year. The show came out a mere 2 years before the film, and like wildfire had taken TV audiences by storm. Sophomoric, gross and totally inappropriate for kids, the controversary and the praise has kept South Park going ever since. But now, 25 years after my first viewing, how does the film hold up? Read more about the 25th Anniversary 4K Blu-ray edition of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut below and be sure to order yourself a copy by clicking the cover art at the end!
Film 
Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman sneak into an R-rated movie to see their favorite Canadian superstars. When their parents find out, they declare war on Canada. Now the boys have to stand up to their parents, stop World War III, and get Satan back to Hell before he destroys the world. It’s all part of a young boy’s life in this quiet little mountain town.
On June 30, 1999, creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker unleashed their wildly popular South Park characters on the big screen for the first time, holding up a mirror to society with their razor-sharp wit and asking the all-important question: “What would Brian Boitano do?” Twenty-five years later, SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER & UNCUT remains as irreverent, insightful, and hilarious as when it first premiered.
As I went into the newest viewing of the film, I was transported to my youth. I was just entering Jr. High and I like most kids my age watched South Park and I had an older brother and sister to watch with. Refreshingly, my mother was also a fan, finding the humor to be of the variety that would make her howl. We would watch as a family and crack up and those memories for me are special! We even did the same with the movie, although I think I was the only one who enjoyed it at that time. I made a video tape of it from a Pay-Per-View purchase my brother made and watched it a lot throughout my time in Jr. High.
Now, here I am, in my late 30’s and out of my transported state, I can safely say that while I appreciate the humor for it being a time capsule in my life, the film does not hold up well to me. From the annoying voice work to the dated jokes, I was put to task for the entire 81 minutes. What used to fly by for me as a kid, dragged on for me as an adult. I didn’t laugh, I didn’t even crack a smile, and a few times over I even said “gross…” to myself. I wish I could just say I’ve become prudish in my old age, but I can’t say that. In most instances, silly humor and grossout stuff never bothers me. In fact, I welcome it. I am also not so stuffy that I am easily offended. The same can be said for my viewing of this film. It’s been about 20 years since I last saw it, and I think even now, I may just have grown out of South Park as a property. I could just as well be getting old.
But no matter, as we all know, movies are subjective. Some things stay with you forever and some things fade in your life. This is just something that’s faded from my good graces. There is hope for fans of the film though. It still looks fantastic, and Marc Shaiman has made a score that is biting and funny and also totally engaging. Even if my tastes have changed, I can say it was still a very savvy move for Trey Parker and Matt Stone to pair up with Shaiman, an out gay man for a movie featuring a gay Saddam Hussein and Satan as its centerpiece villains. The trip had the fortune of having tons of homophobes singing these tuneful and silly songs not knowing they were created in part by a member of the LGBTQ+ community. For me, this provides the ultimate laugh and may be the saving grace of the film for me.
Video
NOTE: Stills in review are provided for promotional purposes only and not from the actual 4K Disc.
- Encoding: HEVC/H.265
- Resolution: 4K
- Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
- HDR: Dolby Vision
- Clarity/Detail: South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut celebrates 25 years with a surprisingly great looking Dolby Vision HDR presentation. It’s colorful, clean and overall excellent looking. Detail is ever present and although the animation style Is intentionally flat, it looks pretty remarkable!
- Depth: The animation is flat by design, and therefore that means the focus is sharp throughout. There won’t be any shots where you see things in or out of focus, and for that reason, I can say depth is strong throughout.
- Black Levels: Nice black levels leave nothing crushed in darkness. There aren’t a lot of distinct dark scenes, but there are no greying blacks or anything out of place in this department.
- Color Reproduction: Primary colors pop and the scenes in Hell have a nice fiery glow too!
- Flesh Tones: N/A
- Noise/Artifacts: None
Audio
- Audio Format(s): English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish
- Dynamics: South Park’s sound design isn’t one that will set the surround setup afire, and that’s OK. This is the same mix that accompanied the other Blu-ray edtions of the film. Dynamically it sounds like 2009, with not much going on besides some stereo separation and light surround usage.
- Height: N/A
- Low Frequency Extension: Music and some sound effects lightly pound in the subwoofer channel. Nothing special, but nothing terrible either.
- Surround Sound Presentation: Surrounds carry out sound effects and music but nothing much else.
- Dialogue Reproduction: Clear dialogue prevails for the duration of the film.
Extras
Frustratingly, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut celebrates its 25th anniversary with little to no special features. There is an archival commentary with the filmmakers, a video for “What Would Brian Boitano Do?” and a sing-along version of the film, with the words to the songs on-screen so you can watch it. These items don’t show up on the 4K disc, but on the bundled Blu-ray. Sort of frustrating, really.
Summary
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut arriving on the 4K Blu-ray market is interesting. It’s cool to have something like this out for fans and collectors, and it’s also cool to see that these major studios are still trying to put out physical product despite new and social media declaring the death of physical media. I can wholeheartedly recommend this new 4K UHD Blu-ray to fans, but I can’t really say to do so without watching it if you haven’t seen it for a while. The film may be less appealing to you after a long time away from it, so proceed with a little caution.
