Complete Unrated

Ben 10 - The Complete Season 1
$19.98
My 6 year-old son recently started watching Ben 10 on television. I'm not a huge TV fan - with all the commercials and all, so I decided to get him the DVD so he could watch the shows without the interruption and also so he could see the show from the very beginning.

Need I say he LOVES it. He's watched it over and over again. I also just picked up Season 2. BTW, the price can't be beat.

Senior Skip Day
$2.99
The premise of this movie is pretty straightforward: every year, according to a tradition, the senior class takes a day off. The Principal of the school is determined to wreck the plans of the senior class. A geeky dude is caught in the middle of it all.

One of the "innovations" of this film is to feature 2 alumni of party movies & teen flicks - this time as the adult figures. Lea Thompson (Some Kind of Wonderful (Special Collector's Edition), All the Right Moves and Casual Sex?) stars as the mother of the geek. As she's about my age, this film made me feel kind of old!

Meanwhile, Tara Reid (American Pie - Unrated (Widescreen Collector's Edition) and National Lampoon's Van Wilder - Unrated (Two-Disc Special Edition)) is the geek's older sister. Obviously, the inside joke is that Thompson & Reid used to be in these very sorts of films starring as the teens-running-amock.

Ultimately, while the nostalgia of Thompson & Reid was nice, I found this film on the lame side. There are a comical parts, but nothing that made me have a guffaw of a laugh. The funeral that supposedly lasts the whole day is well beyond the realm of believablity. Also, for a film that advertises itself as "unrated and uncut," it's on the tame side. It's a far cry from crazy flicks such as National Lampoon's Animal House and Old School (Widescreen Unrated Edition).

So, if you're in the market for a party movie, I would pass this one over as there are plenty of other PM flicks that are much more worthwhile. This one isn't terrible (perhaps just a shade shy of 3 stars), but isn't noteworthy, either. Perhaps the one thing that might draw the curious to this film is Lea Thompson playing the mother in a party flick. Of course, that's pretty much just out of nostalgia alone.

Fraggle Rock: Complete Series Collection
$99.98
Here is how I would rate this product:

- Packaging......: 8 / 10
- Video Quality..: 10 / 10
- Arrangement....: 10 / 10
- Overall........: 9.5 / 10

For anyone who purchased the previous Complete Series which was released in 2008, you know how horrible it was arranged and packaged. Most people who ordered the old version received it in shambles. The discs were scattered throughout the box and many people reported scratched or damaged discs.

The packaging for this new product is much better. Each season is packaged in its own rigid plastic case (same style as most DVDs come in). Each case has an individual cardboard sleeve, and all 4 seasons fit into a simple cardboard cover.

I purchased my copy off a store shelf (I didn't have it shipped). At the store, there were 3 copies on the shelf, and unfortunately, all three copies "rattled" when I tipped them over, which indicated to me that there were probably loose discs inside. I chose the copy which had the smallest "rattle" to it. When I opened the product, I found that Seasons 1 and 2 were packaged with a foam cushion which prevented them from moving around. Seasons 3 and 4 had no cushion, and 3 of these discs had come loose. There was no damage to any of the discs.

I found the packaging to be satisfactory, but if I needed to buy a 2nd copy, I would most likely purchase it from a store where I can "shake" the product before buying.

In regard to extra features, I personally will not rate this. I don't usually watch the extras, nor do I care about the table of contents and other inserts that come with these kinds of products. I was only sharing my experience with the packaging of the product. I hope this information is helpful to anyone who may be hesitant after the horrible quality of the 2008 product.

The Wire: The Complete Series
$249.99
Stay *away* from this set. These discs are packaged in the worst way that I've ever seen any disc set packaged.

Shame on HBO for putting out such a horrible package.

Your discs *WILL BE DAMAGED* when you get them. Mine were individually wrapped in plastic in the cardboard sleeves and many discs were scratched.

And to HBO : What's wrong with packaging the discs in normal DVD cases, or in CD cases, or any any of the proven disc storage technology developed over the last 25+ years??