The Venture Bros. Complete Season 4 (Blu-ray Review)
It’s that time again. What time would that be? The Venture Bros. Complete Season 4 time! [adult swim] has finally released the complete fourth season of The Venture Bros. on Blu-ray. All 16 episodes of season four are available in one volume for your viewing and laughing pleasure. Here’s hoping that [adult swim] release the first two seasons on Blu-ray, but for now, just sit back and get ready to get your laugh on. SPHINX!
Film 
The Venture Bros. follows the weird adventures of the Venture family, which includes world-renowned Dr. Venture, his two “special” sons Hank and Dean, as well as Brock Samson, their bodyguard. That’s about as cohesive a description as your going to get from me, because The Venture Bros. totally shifts in all sorts of different directions after the pleasantries. The Venture Bros. is, was, could have been inspired by the classic “Johnny Quest” cartoon, if it was turned on its head. SPHINX!
To say I watched The Venture Bros. Season 4 and didn’t laugh hysterically at every other thing that happened would be an understatement. Why? Because I did laugh at every other gag in a hysterical fashion. The Venture Bros. is a funny, funny show! I was initially afraid that I wouldn’t “get it,” because I’ve only seen a couple of episodes in their entirety throughout their run. This was not the case. Maybe the first episode of season four starts off where the finale of season three left off, but when the second episode of season four starts, it completely has nothing to do with the episode that just came before it. That’s what’s so cool about The Venture Bros. All of the episodes don’t necessarily have to be watched in any order for the average or casual viewer to get what is going on. It’s a completely random show. SPHINX!
Not having to watch these episodes in particular order is great, especially for us newbies. Besides that, The Venture Bros. Season 4 contains episodes where many characters show up and disappear for no apparent reason. Other things that I should brief the uninitiated viewer of The Venture Bros. is that you will need to keep watching every episode after the credits, because the adventure and laughs keep on going. In addition to the after credits epilogues, The Venture Bros. Complete Season 4 season finale is an hour long (45 minutes without commercials) and had me in stitches. You have the option to play that episode with bad language or censored language. If you’re not sensitive then you owe it to yourself and everyone else to watch it with harsh language. SPHINX!
As I said in my lead in paragraph, with the release of The Venture Bros. Complete Season 4 on Blu-ray, I pray to the heavens that the Gods over at [adult swim] heed my calls and release the first two seasons on Blu-ray real soon. The Venture Bros. are a force to be reckoned with. You better believe it. SPHINX!
Video 
The Venture Bros. Complete Season 4 is presented in 1080p 1.78:1 widescreen. This one is a bit of a heart breaker, because the first 15 episodes are absolutely FLAWLESS! The color palettes is supposed to represent that 60’s pastel throwback look, and they nail it. Banding usually runs rampant when it comes to animation, but not here. This set should be called “absence of banding,” because there isn’t any! DNR and edge enhancement are also nowhere to be found and neither is that pesky contrast boosting or black crush. As I said, that goes for the first 15 episodes. I don’t know what happened with the season finale, but in their haste to complete it on time, the makers must have rushed through it, because everything I described the first 15 episodes not having, the finale had all of those things. It looked really inconsistent. Then again, I cannot penalize this set for one episode, considering all the rest were spot on. SPHINX!
Audio
The Venture Bros. Complete Season 4 is presented in TrueHD 5.1. Here is an exceptional audio track that really takes the viewer and slaps him (or her) around like a rag doll. The voice characterizations all come through the center channel with ease and finesse. There is no clipping or distortion, and you can hear everyone talking without having to ask what was being said. Some of these episodes are action packed, so gunshots, punches, explosions, laser beams, cosmic waves, and so forth, hit you from all sides in a very impressive 3D-like sound barrage. The surround channels get an awesome workout as the directional effects really shine through, and the LFE subwoofer channel rumbles even during the opening intro which is all of 2 seconds sometimes, if that. SPHINX!
Special Features 
The Venture Bros. Complete Season 4 contains commentary tracks for every single episode and a special commentary track for the season finale. There is also an option to play the season finale with censored or uncensored audio track. I heard mixed things about the previous season’s commentary track and how it wasn’t good at all, but can’t comment or compare it to season four. Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick III seem to be having a great time talking through the episodes, like they actually want to be there. That’s your best indication that you’ll get a commentary track worth listening too. The other supplements are minimal and include some on-air promos, comic-con promo, etc. They’re also really short and half are presented in SD an the other half are presented in HD. The on-air promos are hilarious. SPHINX!
- So this is Captain…
- Finale On-Air Promos
- Comic Con Promo
- “Lost” Open
Final Thoughts
I think I’ve already gushed enough about how awesome The Venture Bros. is, so any further gushing would be positively redundant. Your mission, should you wish to accept it, is to get yourself a copy of The Venture Bros. Complete Series 4 on Blu-ray asap. Oh, and I hear that a fifth season will be produced. SPHINX!
Order The Venture Bros. Complete Season 4 on Blu-ray!
If you’ve only watched this season and not the others, yet still laughed, do yourself a favor and watch the other seasons, this is a show that becomes so amazing due to its attention to continuity and character development, along with being one of the funniest shows on television, along with one of the best shows to smartly incorporate pop culture references.
I haven’t seen any of the episodes for this but I want to.
I had to pull the trigger and scooped up the 3rd season of Venture Brothers. It had to be done.
Darn! I think I may have to check this out one day!
this is fabulous!
I will say, one really has to watch the Venture Bros. from the beginning. To anyone out there, don’t make the same mistake I did and jump in somewhere in the middle. It makes a whole lot less sense if you do it that way. Catch it from season 1, and you will be laughing through and through. I forget which season it was, but when they did a mock-up of the 1980’s GI Joe cartoon, I had tears coming out of my eyes from laughing so hard.