Benny Hill: Complete & Unadulterated
A&E Home Video
Cast: Benny Hill
Extras: A&E Biography Documentary, Trivia Quiz
Rating:
British comedian Benny Hill has always had a special place in my heart. Always funny and suggestive, often lewd, and as a whole utterly inimitable, Benny Hill has created some great comedy moments over the many years of his career. With the second set of episodes from ’The Benny Hill Show,’ A&E is once again serving up some real treats, many of them in their full length as they were never before presented in the US.
The image quality of the presentation is pretty good. Though the technical limitations of the time create an image that is frequently soft, A&E did an admirable job, making sure the majority of the presentation is sharp and without grain or noise. Color reproduction is good with faithful skin tones and vibrant hues, nicely bringing out the production design of the oftentimes flashy show. Blacks are deep, though the presentation occasionally lacks a bit of shadow definition.
The audio comes as the original stereo track in Dolby Digital. It is clean and without hiss or background noise. Dialogues are well integrated and always understandable, adequately underscoring the visual presentation. Unfortunately no subtitles are included on this release, which I find to be a sore oversight.
As extras the 3-disc DVD set also contain the A&E Biography episode ’Benny Hill: Laughter And Controversy’ which gives viewers a good look at Hill’s career and work. With its suggestive nature, not everyone welcomed the sort of humor Benny Hill was spreading, of course, though quite honestly it is and has always been perfectly harmless. You will also find a Benny Hill Trivia Quiz on this DVD set as a bonus.
Home to some of Britain’s greatest TV productions, A&E Home Entertainment once again provides fans with a great DVD set that you wouldn’t get in this form anywhere else. Great quality, top notch content and a sparkle of extras – just the right mix.
