FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: The Office - Complete Series One Two [2001] [DVD]

The Office - Complete Series One Two [2001] [DVD]
enlarge	Actors: Ricky Gervais, Martin Freeman, Mackenzie Crook, Lucy Davis, Ewen MacIntosh Studio: 2 Entertain Video Category: DVD List Price: ~~£29.99~~ Buy New: £5.98 as of 22/11/2009 22:56 GMT details You Save: £24.01 (80%) New (15) Used (12) from £4.75 Seller: Amazon.co.uk Rating: 12 reviews Sales Rank: 1185 Format: Box set, PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Discs: 3 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 396 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5 Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 5.6 x 0.8 EAN: 5014503151423 ASIN: B0001DI55S Theatrical Release Date: January 23, 2003 Release Date: April 5, 2004 Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours


Similar Items: The Office - The Christmas Specials [2001] [DVD] The Office: An American Workplace Seasons 1-3 [DVD] Extras - The Collection [DVD] Extras: The Complete Series 1 2 [2005] [DVD] Little Britain - Series 1-3 [DVD]


Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review It feels both inaccurate and inadequate to describe IThe Office/I as a comedy. On a superficial level, it disdains all the conventions of television sitcoms: there are no punch lines, no jokes, no laugh tracks and no cute happy endings. More profoundly, it's not what we're used to thinking of as funny. Most of the fervently devoted fan base that the programme acquired watched with a discomfortingly thrilling combination of identification and mortification. The paradox is that its best moments are almost physically unwatchable. p Set in the offices of a fictional Slough paper merchant, IThe Office/I is filmed in the style of a reality television programme. The writing is subtle and deft, the acting wonderful and the characters beautifully drawn: the cadaverous team leader Gareth, a paradigm of Andy McNab's readership; the monstrous sales rep, Chris Finch; and the decent but long-suffering everyman Tim, whose ambition and imagination have been crushed out of him by the banality of the life he dreams uselessly of escaping. The show is stolen, as it was intended to be, by insufferable office manager David Brent, played by cowriter Ricky Gervais. Brent will become a name as emblematic for a particular kind of British grotesque as Alan Partridge or Basil Fawlty, but he is a deeper character than either. Partridge and Fawlty are exaggerations of reality, and therefore safely comic figures. Brent is as appalling as only reality can be. --IAndrew Mueller/I p BOn the DVD:/B Series 1 is tastefully packaged as a two-disc set appropriately adorned with John Betjeman's poem "Slough". The special features occupy the second disc and consist of a laid-back 39-minute documentary entitled "How I Made IThe Office/I by Ricky Gervais", with cowriter Stephen Merchant and the cast contributing. Here we discover that Gervais spends his time on set "mucking around and annoying people", and that actress Lucy Davis (Dawn) is the daughter of Jasper Carrott; as well as seeing parts of the original short film and the original BBC pilot episode; plus we get to enjoy many examples of the cast corpsing throughout endless retakes. There are also a handful of deleted scenes, none of which were deleted because they weren't funny. p Series 2 is a single-disc release, but the extra features are enjoyable nonetheless. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant feature in a gleefully shambolic video diary--highlights of which include Gervais flicking elastic bands at his cowriter and taping their editor to his swivel chair. The ubiquitous Gervais also mockingly introduces some outtakes (mostly of him corpsing throughout dozens of takes) and a series of deleted scenes, notably of Gareth arriving in his horrendous cycle shorts. I--Mark Walker/I

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 12 1 2 3 Next » It is genius, but is it comedy? August 11, 2004 John K 13 out of 14 found this review helpful ......... The real genius of The Office lies with the characters. Each one is superbly written, excellently cast and perfectly acted. It is filmed in the style of a fly-on-the-wall documentary, the self styled star of which is a tragic character named David Brent (Ricky Gervais). Brent is a wannabe superstar trapped in a middle-manager's body. The Office charts, his desperate struggle for recognition whilst he slowly loses his grip on reality, and his job. Alongside Brent stands Gareth Keenan (Mackenzie Crook), a kind of brown-nosing jobsworth who despite all my better instincts, I can't help feeling sorry for. However, from my perspective the greatest facet of The Office's storyline comes from the other two central characters, namely Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman) and Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis). Their unspoken feelings for one another, played out through little more than furtive glances, form one of the most enthralling and well observed on-screen romances of recent times.pThe Office tracks the lives of the four main characters, but their stories are played out in an environment of superb supporting actors, who bring an air of authenticity to the program. Most notable of these are Chris Finch (Ralph Ineson) as the loud-mouthed bully, and the unsurnamed accountant Keith (Ewen Macintosh) who manages to provide a lot of comedy despite only having about 10 words to say across both series'.pThe DVD includes some pretty good extra material with some deleted scenes, some of which are very funny, and were - according to Ricky Gervais - removed because they were too much like a traditional sitcom. The deleted scene where Gareth squirts lemon juice in a girl's eye could have ranked alongside Only Fools and Horses' funniest moments.pI could happily extol the virtues of the office for hours, but the only way you'll know for sure is by watching it. All I ask is that you give it a chance. I didn't like it when I first saw it, but I was made to watch it again and I haven't looked back. Now I'm just waiting for the two feature length Christmas specials to come out on DVD. If any of you Office fans missed them (shame on you!) they were brilliant and concluded the story perfectly (I nearly shed a tear!). The Work Place Never Sounded So Funny February 24, 2004 21 out of 28 found this review helpful I give this DVD/VHS series 10/10pIt feels both inaccurate and inadequate to describe The Office as a comedy. On a superficial level, it disdains all the conventions of television sitcoms: there are no punch lines, no jokes, no laugh tracks, and no cute happy endings. More profoundly, it's not what we're used to thinking of as funny. Most of the fervently devoted fan base watched with a discomfortingly thrilling combination of identification and mortification. The paradox is that its best moments are almost physically unwatchable. brSet in the offices of a fictional British paper merchant, The Office is filmed in the style of a reality television show. The writing is subtle and deft, the acting wonderful, and the characters beautifully drawn: the cadaverous team leader Gareth (Mackenzie Crook); the monstrous sales rep, Chris Finch (Ralph Ineson); and the decent but long-suffering everyman Tim (Martin Freeman), whose ambition and imagination have been crushed out of him by the banality of the life he dreams uselessly of escaping. The show is stolen, as it was intended to be, by insufferable office manager David Brent, played by codirector-cowriter Ricky Gervais. Brent will become a name as emblematic for a particular kind of British grotesque as Basil Fawlty, but he is a deeper character. Fawlty is an exaggeration of reality, and therefore a safely comic figure. Brent is as appalling as only reality can be. Top British Comedy! July 23, 2004 Mr. A. Privett (Pub) 10 out of 14 found this review helpful Without doubt The Office series 1 and 2 is one of the best British comedies for years.pAll the cast are superb, as is the script. It is simply hillarious. I can't wait for the Christmas Specials to come out.pThe digital transfer is flawless in every way.pI've watched The Office over and over. Best British Comedy in Recent Years - Easily July 26, 2004 R. Dunford (S. London) 11 out of 16 found this review helpful The reason i'm writing this is because of an earlier review. Sarah_Marg must be a joker to give such an amazing piece or work 1 star. Splendid June 19, 2004 Ms. Dm Hughes 5 out of 7 found this review helpful Ok if you do nothing eles in your life do this. Go out and buy this dvd. The series of the office will go down in comedy history as one of the greats. The premise behind this is that it is fimed in the style of a fly on the wall docu soap. In the offices of a paper merchant in Slough. It is here that we are introduced to the infamous David Brent the manager and the motley crew who make up his staff. The reason this type of comedy works for me and so many is that it does not rely on direct comedy but rather upon observation and the nuances of the human psyche. There is no canned laughter it is not required. David Brent is a monster who shares so many traits of bosses we have all encountered at one time or another. He is so cringe worthy and yet so human . You do not know weather to love him or hate him. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Marchant should be applauded in bringing us such a fantastic origional show. Showing reviews 1-5 of 12 1 2 3 Next »

CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON EU S.à.r.l. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME.