...a bittersweet atmosphere develops as the characters reach a certain stage of realization about growing older.
Video:
The fifth season of "Friends" arrives on DVD with a 1.33:1 (full-frame on 4:3 monitors) video image. The video quality is still not as great as, say, the quality of the video of the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" DVDs. Most episodes are rather soft, and that softness can lead to the occasional blurring. Sometimes, the footage sports a digital sheen rather than appearing film-like, possibly due to overzealous edge-enhancement. However, colors and lighting schemes have been reproduced well.
Audio:
Warner Bros. re-mixed the show´s soundtracks into Dolby Digital 5.0 English presentations. Since "Friends" is a sitcom, there´s not much that requires the use of dazzling sonic effects. Therefore, while the 5.0 mixes help to "widen" the depth of the soundstage, there´s nothing on these DVDs that will compel you to pop them into your DVD player to impress your friends. Dialogue and music are well-balanced. Low-end frequencies are scarce, but they´re not necessarily suitable for something like "Friends" anyway.
Optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles as well as English closed captions support the audio.
Extras:
Despite the fact that there are four discs in this box set, there aren´t many extras to accompany the Fifth Season of "Friends". Where are the bloopers? Where are the retrospective interviews with the cast members looking back at their costumes and their hairstyles from the early seasons? Sigh.
Disc 1: Audio commentary by executive producers Kevin S. Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane for "The One Hundredth".
Disc 2: Audio commentary by Bright, Kauffman, and Crane for "The One With All the Thanksgivings".
Disc 3: Audio commentary by Bright, Kauffman, and Crane for "The One Where Everybody Finds Out".
The other "big" extras are also found on Disc 4. There´s a documentary that aired on the Discovery Channel called "The One That Goes Behind the Scenes" that shows you how the series goes from scripts to final edits. There´s a featurette that covers the location shooting that was done in London for the Ross-Emily thread, though I wonder why this featurette wasn´t included with the Season Four set. Finally, there´s "Gunther Spills the Beans", a featurette that has the Gunther character giving away some of the plot developments of Year Six (it´s actually a promo for the next box set).
--Miscellaneous--
On each disc, the menu screen that allows you to pick an episode to watch also has "coffee cup" icons in front of each episode´s name. These icons access previews of the episodes. Each disc also has a list of the show´s leads as well as executive producers. There are some weblinks if you use a DVD-ROM drive to view the discs.
The cardboard gatefold packaging provides information about the episodes´ writers, directors, original airdates, and guest stars.
Film Value:
The fifth season of "Friends" establishes the major story arcs that take place during the course of the rest of the show. Therefore, the fifth year is important in terms of plot mechanics. However, it´s also filled with great laughs generated from the writers´ ability to prolong the Monica-Chandler secret, especially when the two have to wriggle their way out of revealing the truth. This is great television, folks.
The fifth season of "Friends" arrives on DVD with a 1.33:1 (full-frame on 4:3 monitors) video image. The video quality is still not as great as, say, the quality of the video of the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" DVDs. Most episodes are rather soft, and that softness can lead to the occasional blurring. Sometimes, the footage sports a digital sheen rather than appearing film-like, possibly due to overzealous edge-enhancement. However, colors and lighting schemes have been reproduced well.
Audio:
Warner Bros. re-mixed the show´s soundtracks into Dolby Digital 5.0 English presentations. Since "Friends" is a sitcom, there´s not much that requires the use of dazzling sonic effects. Therefore, while the 5.0 mixes help to "widen" the depth of the soundstage, there´s nothing on these DVDs that will compel you to pop them into your DVD player to impress your friends. Dialogue and music are well-balanced. Low-end frequencies are scarce, but they´re not necessarily suitable for something like "Friends" anyway.
Optional English, French, and Spanish subtitles as well as English closed captions support the audio.
Extras:
Despite the fact that there are four discs in this box set, there aren´t many extras to accompany the Fifth Season of "Friends". Where are the bloopers? Where are the retrospective interviews with the cast members looking back at their costumes and their hairstyles from the early seasons? Sigh.
Disc 1: Audio commentary by executive producers Kevin S. Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane for "The One Hundredth".
Disc 2: Audio commentary by Bright, Kauffman, and Crane for "The One With All the Thanksgivings".
Disc 3: Audio commentary by Bright, Kauffman, and Crane for "The One Where Everybody Finds Out".
The other "big" extras are also found on Disc 4. There´s a documentary that aired on the Discovery Channel called "The One That Goes Behind the Scenes" that shows you how the series goes from scripts to final edits. There´s a featurette that covers the location shooting that was done in London for the Ross-Emily thread, though I wonder why this featurette wasn´t included with the Season Four set. Finally, there´s "Gunther Spills the Beans", a featurette that has the Gunther character giving away some of the plot developments of Year Six (it´s actually a promo for the next box set).
--Miscellaneous--
On each disc, the menu screen that allows you to pick an episode to watch also has "coffee cup" icons in front of each episode´s name. These icons access previews of the episodes. Each disc also has a list of the show´s leads as well as executive producers. There are some weblinks if you use a DVD-ROM drive to view the discs.
The cardboard gatefold packaging provides information about the episodes´ writers, directors, original airdates, and guest stars.
Film Value:
The fifth season of "Friends" establishes the major story arcs that take place during the course of the rest of the show. Therefore, the fifth year is important in terms of plot mechanics. However, it´s also filled with great laughs generated from the writers´ ability to prolong the Monica-Chandler secret, especially when the two have to wriggle their way out of revealing the truth. This is great television, folks.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]11164[/release]