Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2199 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-09-15
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 296 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
To quote Bad Day at Black Rock, a man is as big as what'll make him mad. By this criteria, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are giants. Fanaticism of any stripe, steroids, vapid pop culture icons marketed as role models for impressionable youth, and mass merchants encroaching on small town life are just some of the hot button issues tackled in South Park's eighth season. Of course, South Park is not above (or beneath) stooping to conquer, as witness "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset," which climaxes in a "whore-off" featuring--you guessed it--Paris Hilton. Sure, Paris is an easy target, as is Michael Jackson (portrayed in the episode "The Jeffersons" not as a child molester, but as an infantile parent who needs to grow up). But just as a segment of the population tunes in to The Daily Show to get Jon Stewart and company's satirical take on the day's news, so do South Park fans eagerly await Parker and Stone's perspective on the zeitgeist. Which brings us to the season's most infamous episode, "The Passion of the Jew," in which Kyle is devastated by Mel Gibson's brutalising epic, Cartman is transformed into Gibson's Hitlerian apostle, and an unimpressed Stan and Kenny try in vain to get their money back from Gibson himself, a loony toon with a penchant for torture. And while Janet Jackson's Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction is old news, South Park's response, "Good Times with Weapons," remains a relevant satire of misplaced parental priorities, not to mention an anime-stylised tour-de-force in which the boys purchase martial arts weapons at a county fair and imagine themselves as ninja warriors.

In one of Stone and Parker's candid mini-commentaries, available as a listening option on each episode, the duo grade this season a B+. Give them extra credit, then, for such seriously (or hilariously) twisted episodes as the one (whose title cannot be printed here) that sends up the film You Got Served, and the instant holiday classic "Woodland Critter Christmas," with its Satan-worshiping forest creatures, and a brilliant surprise ending that echoes Chuck Jones's classic cartoon Duck Amuck, in which the unseen animator tormenting poor Daffy is revealed to be none other than Bugs "Ain't I a stinker?" Bunny. --Donald Liebenson

Synopsis
What began as a construction-paper film short evolved into a veritable pop-culture phenomenon for Trey Parker and Matt Stone's outrageous animated comedy series SOUTH PARK. Centred on the hilarious misadventures of four potty-mouthed primary-schoolers in the perpetually wintry environs of South Park, Colorado, the series skewers the vagaries of the modern American cultural landscape with politically incorrect humour and satirical plotlines ranging from homophobia and terrorism to boy bands and talking poo. This collection presents every episode from the show's eighth series.

Customer Reviews

A peak season with great episodes
This is a cartoon, but in case anyone looking at this is not sure what South Park is, I'll be helpful; it is a very adult cartoon, crudely drawn but vivid in its satire of mainly America, but also just people. It has a lot of crude action and language too, so if you're looking for kid's cartoons, go back to the search page.

This season of the show is arguably one of the best; the best laughs are had from the boys being boys.

For anyone who is new to more recent episodes, Butters and Cartman are a new kinetic force in the series, and produce some of the best material of late. Previous seasons gave us 'Casa Bonita' and 'Jared had Aides' as tasters. This season has 'Awesom-O', which ranks among the best episodes for non-political yet brilliant humour that milks the duo for everything they're worth. Other classics include 'The Passion of the Jew' which looks at the impact of Gibson's Passion movie as a potential cause of anti-Semitism (classic Kyle vs. Cartman), and 'Good Times with Weapons', the season opener, which is... well, it's a manga homage and again, it's a winner.

'The Jeffersons', 'Goobacks' (a clever immigration satire) and the um, P.Hilton episode with its hilarious ending featuring Mr Slave at his best, the no-politics 'Pre-School' (another great) and Cartman as a feux psychic in 'Cartman's Incredible Gift' all make this a great set.

South Park is, sadly, misunderstood; it takes free speech to non-violent extremes, agreed, but the guys have a lot of interesting things to say, and episodes like 'Up the Down Steroid' get incorrect labelling as making fun of people with disabilities. I say 'look again'; don't turn off as soon as something _appears_ to be crossing the line, because their humour often relies on open-mindedness, objectivity and patience. They are irreverant, and such people are necessary to test the strength of the things they criticise.

it's back
I brought this season not long after buying the fith and i must say that this season is a must have in any south park fans collection, episodes like "F'd in the A","Quest for ratings","Awesomo" and "The jeffersons" are probably the best episodes on the season but don't get me wrong there are plenty more disturbing and fantastic episodes on this season if you loved the rest you'll love this the best.

It just gets better
A strong contender for the best ever season of South Park. Almost every episode is very good, with the vast majority being fantastic. I think there are more 'classic' episodes on season 8 than on any other.

Simply awesome. Simply buy it!