Plot: What’s it about?
Even the most ordinary people can achieve greatness. The sun can shine for a moment on anyone, no matter their social status, intelligence, or accomplishments. Even Beavis and Butt-Head have touched greatness, although in their case, greatness was when their elbows brushed up against a woman’s breasts. These two guys live a lifestyle unlike any other, as teenagers who wander around town and on occasion, attend school. When they do show up for classes, they’re always in trouble for using bad language, hitting on the female students, or driving their instructors to the brink of insanity. Their home life isn’t much more productive, as they waste hours upon hours in front of the television, despite rarely finding anything cool to watch. They thrive on music videos, documentaries that show tribal women topless, and any shows that use the word “butt.” The two do have jobs at Burger World, but spend more time trying to deep fry their hands or karate chopping frozen patties than serving customers, though they don’t know how to help the clients anyway. In this final collection, the last batch of Beavis and Butt-Head arrives, so hold back the tears and enjoy…
This is one of my favorite shows, a simple, childish series that never fails to entertain. I know a lot of people doubted how well the show would work without the music video interludes and while those were humorous, the show works quite well without those segments. As always, intelligence isn’t in great supply, but flashes of genius can be found from time to time. If you pay close attention, you’ll find subtle references to all kinds of pop culture and yes, even literature. I’d imagine most people have seen an episode or two by now and you’ll know right away if this one clicks with you. Some episodes are better than others, but they all share a lot of common bonds, so if you like one, you’ll probably like most of the episodes. Sometimes the premise is as simple as can be, such as Beavis’ scorched buttocks and others, there is actually some depth to the tale, but the pace is brisk and the show never approaches dull status. This third collection includes some great episodes, such as when Butt-Head orders a mail-order bride, the duo learns about alcoholism, and in a personal favorite episode, the boys finally earn Todd’s friendship, even if only for one short night. This is probably the weakest of the three volumes, but still has a lot of fun episodes, so Beavis and Butt-Head: Volume 3 is well recommended.
Video: How does it look?
The episodes are presented in full frame, as intended. The show’s visuals are quite basic and the animation is well, crude in most instances. But the simple visual design is perfect for the material and let’s be honest, would a refined, polished style really suit these characters? The episodes look good here, as good as I ever remember the show, if not better. Its hard to believe, but its been ten years since the show left the airwaves, but the visuals still hold up. There isn’t much debris or grain, at least not much more than there ever was, while softness is never a real concern. The colors remain bright and never bleed, while black levels seem solid. So for what it is, the show looks terrific here.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio is on the same level as the video, as it is solid and sounds as good as ever, but isn’t going to win any performance awards. Aside from the occasional hard rock music, this is all dialogue and basic sound effects, so not really reference level material. The music has good presence and is loud, while sound effects are just as they should be, some loud and harsh, others just background elements. The real driving force here is dialogue and every grunt, laugh, and “cool” or “sucks” is crystal clear in this soundtrack. Not much else we can talk about here, as this material doesn’t demand much in this department.
Supplements: What are the extras?
In addition to the third and final installment in the cool Taint of Greatness series, we also have the uncut version of the one that started it all, Frog Baseball. You can also check out various promos and special visits by the boys to assorted MTV shows, but the main draw here are the music videos. Fifteen of them too, from artists like Tripping Daisy, Rollins Band, and of course, Poison.
