Beavis And Butt-Head: The Mike Judge Collection, Vol. 2

Mike Judge, if you are listening, lets see what "Beavis and Butt-Head" can do with a "Mystery Science Theater 3000" format. It´s time to dust these two off.

Video:

There is really not too much to say in regards to the video quality. The "Beavis and Butt-Head" episodes are framed in their original 1.33:1 full-screen aspect ratio. The quality of each episode varies slightly from one episode to the next. Mostly, they are clean and do not show too many effects of aging. Colors are well saturated and though they are not as vivid as much more recent cartoons, they are passable. "Beavis and Butt-Head" was nowhere near cutting-edge animation and it was purposely made simple and basic. Because of the rough nature of the original cartoon, "Beavis and Butt-Head: The Mike Judge Collection Volume 2" is difficult to grade for video quality. It gets a low score, but that isn´t necessarily because it is a bad transfer. There just wasn´t much to work with in regards to the original materials.

Sound:

Sound is presented in basic Dolby Digital Stereo. The low-tech soundtrack works well with the low-budget animation and since most of the episodes are simply the two boys sitting on the couch and doing their best at conversation or walking around town and working on their mastery of the English language, there are not a lot of dynamic sound effects or even ambient sounds to enjoy. Additionally, with the music videos preened from the episodes, "Beavis and Butt-Head" lack the music that was predominantly featured in their original run on MTV. The transfer faithfully reproduces the dialogue and B & B-H are as intelligible as possible. However, that isn´t saying much. Again, the low score in the technical areas is not because of a poor transfer, but very limited source materials.

Extras:

"Beavis and Butt-Head: The Mike Judge Collection Volume 2" is presented on three discs. The first two discs share twenty episodes a piece from the collection. The third disc contains the supplemental materials. The third disc is a bit light when you look at the overall length of the materials, but they are valuable additions to the collection and will certainly be enjoyed by the moronic twosome´s fan-base. The first and most important set of extras are 13 Music Videos Inter-Cut with Classic Beavis and Butt-Head Commentaries. They can be played individually or together through a Play All menu selection. The length of them in their entirety is twenty two and a half minutes. Each video is a segment of the full video, as "Beavis and Butt-Head" did not showcase entire music videos. The list of music videos is as follows:

Beastie Boys: Sabotage
Seaweed: Kid Candy
Pantera: I´m Broken
Mercyful Fate: The Bell Witch
Compulsion: Delivery
Madonna: Secret
Six Finger Satellite: Parlour Games
Pizzicato 5: Twiggy, Twiggy
Rush: Stick It Out
Radiohead: Fake Plastic Trees
Extreme: Hole Hearted
Helium: Pat´s Trick
MC 900 Ft. Jesus: If I Only Had A Brain

Continuing on, the second supplement is part two of the featurette Taint of Greatness: The Journey of Beavis and Butt-Head. This twenty minute addition features more discussion with creator Mike Judge, as well as guests such as "South Park" creator Matt Stone and rapper Snoop Dogg. This edition is more about the social craze that was "Beavis and Butt-Head." The Special Appearances section of the DVD contains "Butt-Bowl" segments from ´94, ´95 and ´96, pieces from MTV´s 20th Anniversary Special, some Calvin Klein ad parodies, a handful of "Moron-a-Thon" clips featuring Snoop Dogg and part of an unaired VH-1 "I Love the 90s" segment. Among these special features there can also be found a Letterman award show appearance with Beavis and Butt-Head. These can be played separated or together and runs for thirteen minutes. Three Promos are tossed in, as well as two Previews and two funny Montages. The best part of these promotional materials is the "Brokeback Mountain" themed preview for Volume 3. All together, these supplements run for less than an hour.

Closing Thoughts:

I admit it, I have always enjoyed the idiotic and moronic humor of "Beavis and Butt-Head." For as juvenile, perverted and potty-mouthed these episodes are, they are oddly enough, intelligently done by Mike Judge and his team. Sure, it takes a certain kind of person to fully appreciate "Beavis and Butt-Head" and there are certainly more people that hate the show than enjoy it. It is refreshing to see the episodes continue to see a release onto DVD. A third volume is forthcoming and it appears it may be the final volume. This would not fully complete the series, so hopefully, a fourth edition may one day find a release. Sadly, "Beavis and Butt-Head" have been neutered of the music videos and their wonderful assault on pop culture may be forever lost. Fans will certainly enjoy the large number of laughs that can be found on these three discs. Overall, it is a disappointing three disc release, as the entire set runs for just over four hours. No commentary tracks or other supplements add onto that running time.

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