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Ali G in da Usaiii
R2 - United Kingdom - VCI Review written by and copyright: Cori Gonzalez-Macuer & Noor Razzak (2nd November 2005). |
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The Show
 When word first got out that Channel 4’s “Da Ali G Show” would try to conquer the illusive U.S television market, UK and US critics scratched their heads. Sure, the show is funny, but Americans find it hard if not impossible to take in British humour. In recent years, apart from BBC’s The Office, British comedy shows have not fared well in the US. Frowned upon by Catholics, hated by right wing radicals and loathed by the bourgoise, “Ali G In Da USAiii” beat the odds to become a runaway success in Television’s hardest nut to crack. In my eyes, most American TV shows follow the same generic structure. Hire young beautiful people, make them hangout in a café, give them cheesy dialogue, an obstacle or two to get over by the end of the episode and maybe throw in a predictable love story. This series of “Da Ali G Show” breaks the norm and in the process shows Americans that comedy doesn’t have to be comfortable. Ali G, Borat and Bruno (all played by Sacha Baron Cohen) are anything but the typical characters you would expect to see on TV. Ali G, Cohen’s most famous creation, is racist, stupid and sexist. In this series, interviews with some of the world’s greatest minds and leaders such as Newt Gingrich, Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Buzz Aldrin, showcase Ali G’s awkwardness and stupidity to a greater extent than the British series (ironically, Cohen is a History graduate from the prestigious Cambridge University). Most of the interviews are so cringe worthy, they almost become unbearable to watch asking stupid questions which more often than not, deserve a punch in the head. This, as we all know, is where great comedy comes from. Cohen has been trained well in this department as one of the stars of Channel 4’s “The 11 o’clock show” during the late 90’s where he worked alongside another Brit making waves in the U.S, Ricky Gervais, perhaps the most awkward person on TV these days. The first episode sees Ali G in Philadelphia attending a police training course where, much to his surprise, finds out he cannot keep the stolen goods he might find on criminals where he a cop. You can take the boy out of Staines but you can never, uh, you know how it goes…….. After this first encounter you realise this series will be totally different to the British one. There’s something much funnier about a wannabe gangsta from Staines poking fun at America than his home country. His group discussions, as with his British series, are a great laugh too. In particular the group discussion about sex involving a virgin, a porn star, a church goer and a youth councillor. You can see the disgusted look on the church goer’s face as issues such as penis size and penetration are brought up by Ali G. More than anything, Ali G serves as a hilarious backdrop in this series as oppose to the “star” of the show as seen in the British series. There is no doubt that Ali G is a great character. However, it is Cohen’s other character’s that really shine in this series especially Borat, Khazakstan Television’s correspondent. His segment “Borat’s guide to America” is absolutely brilliant. Cohen showcases his talent as not only a great comedian but as a great actor. As oppose to Ali G, Borat is vulnerable, even cute. You sympathize with him as do the people he interviews. There is something great about this Khazakstani reporter being totally out of his element in America. One of the most notable excursions taken by Borat in this series is his visit to a minor league baseball game. Borat speaks about the American past time being very similar to Khazkastan’s national sport “Zurech”, where they shoot dogs and then have a party. He later walks in to the winning team’s dressing rooms asking the naked men in the shower whether he can touch their “hams”. I can only imagine Borat getting away with something like this. The players lap it up and really take to him. If Ali G where to walk in to the shower, that would be another story. Another great Borat adventure, is his dating escapades. We see him at a speed dating event, telling the women they remind him of his dead wife. He also happens to mention to his dating coach that his “ham” is as big as a can of Pepsi. Every Borat segment in this series is hilarious. You have to wonder whether the upcoming Borat feature film will do this great character justice. Let’s hope it’s not another Ali G “Indahouse”. Cohen’s last and more recent character creation is Bruno, a gay Austrian fashion reporter. He spends the majority of the series in New York and L.A during their fashion weeks chatting to designers and fashionistas alike. There are a few funny interviews where you can see Cohen’s inner love for taking the piss out of the materialistic world that is fashion, however, it’s when Bruno is out of his element that the laughs really come. The last few Bruno segments have him in hick town America where he attends football games and pro-American rallies. A highlight is his trip to an Alabama University football game where he joins the cheerleaders for a dance amidst the disgust of beer drinking hillbillies telling him to get the f*** of the field. He later interviews one of the team’s star players Shaud Williams in perhaps one of the most awkward moments in the entire series. You expect to see a swing from the sportsman as Bruno asks him whether he has a message for Austria’s gay community who happen to be big fans of him. The very last Bruno clip in this series is in episode 6’s visit to a pro-American rally where he blatantly hits on the event organiser who looks like he’s just got out of prison for stabbing someone with his Chopper motorbike. All in all, this is a great DVD. It’s great to see British humour at its best being loved by American audiences (“Ali G In Da USAiii” received 3 Emmy Nominations this year). Sacha Baron Cohen is a brilliant comedian and actor who knows exactly how far to take things even though the viewer might sweat a few kilos off worrying about his safety. His characters are great, the people he interviews are clueless and the writing is top notch. If you love to see people behave like hilarious idiots in uncomfortable situations, this is the DVD for you. The DVD includes six episodes spread out over two discs (three per disc), the episodes are: Episode 1: “Law” In this episode Ali G visits the Police Academy, and talks to Richard Thornburgh and Edwin Meese. Borat goes on the dating scene and Bruno chats with some models on the Catwalk. Episode 2: “War” Ali G visits the United Nations and chats with Boutros Boutros-Ghali, he has a religious roundtable discussion and chats with General Brent Scowcroft and Borat takes us through a guide to etiquette. Episode 3: ‘Politics” Ali G meets with former speaker of the house Newt Gingrich, tries to sell the concept of the Ice Cream Glove to Donald Trump, and he talks about drugs. Borat takes us through a guide to hobbies and Bruno visits the NY Fashion Week. Episode 4: “Art” Ali G visits with “Inside the Actor’s Studio” James Lipton, holds a Media Roundtable and chats with Buzz Aldrin. Meanwhile Borat takes a look at Acting and Bruno checks out the fashion scene in Los Angeles. Episode 5: “Science” Ali G holds a Science Roundtable and talks with Ralph Nader and C. Everett Coop. Ali G visits some Nuclear Protestors in Arizona and Borat checks out a Minor League baseball game. Episode 6: “Belief” Ali G goes to Hollywood, he holds a Sex Roundtable, and talks with former chief of staff James Baker and , former presidential press secretary Marlon Fitzwater. Borat takes us through a guide to the South and Bruno visits Alabama.
Video
The show is presented in 1.33:1 full screen ratio, this is the show’s original broadcast ratio. The quality is generally very good, a touch better than broadcast quality. The image is usually quite sharp however I did notice minor pixilation around edges. Colours are well represented especially skin tones. I could not find any traces of shimmering that the R1 release seems to suffer from. Otherwise this is a solid transfer although not entirely perfect.
Audio
Only one audio track is present here, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track. Since this show is predominantly a dialogue based comedy show there is no need for an elaborate 5.1 set up, so what we get here is more than adequate. The dialogue is clear and distortion free which is the most important thing, depth is limited and overall the track isn’t as punchy during the short music clips that highlight the different characters as I’d like it to be, perhaps a 2.0 Surround track would have been a better choice. Otherwise this Stereo track will do. The DVD also includes optional subtitles in English.
Extras
All of the extras are presented on the second disc and include nearly an hour of unseen footage, a short film clip some trailers and a photo gallery. Below is a closer look at each of the extras: First up we have a series of unseen footage, there are ten clips presented here and they are: - “Borat’s Guide to Animals” that runs for 11 minutes 1 second. Here Borat visits a dog show as well as the Hampton’s Classic Horse Show. - “Ali G’s Science Guide” runs for 5 minutes 49 seconds, here Ali G talks to Nobel Prize Winning Physicist Jerome Friedman, he also talks with Primate expert Dr James Else as well as Chemistry Professor T. Ross Kelly from Boston College. - “Bruno: Music” runs for 13 minutes 47 seconds, here Bruno gets a chance to be cast in a Missy Elliot video, talks with new a couple of new metal bands and goes to a Christian music festival. - “Ali G’s Human Rights Discussion” runs for 7 minutes 43 seconds. Here we focus on what are human rights?, the concept of ‘Big Brother’ and women’s rights among other things. - A “Borat’s Guide to Acting” runs for 6 minutes 11 seconds, here Borat visits an acting workshop and also learns how to stage fight. - An “Ali G Media Discussion” run for 5 minutes 5 seconds, in this clip Ali uncovers what is ‘Media’? Are book media and who really reads them anyway? As well as violence in entertainment and censorship. - “Borat’s Guide to Patriotism” runs for 4 minutes 59 seconds, and in this clip Borat finds out which is the #1 country, the USA or Kazakhstan? He also talks to a Vietnam Vet, covering issues such as communist and anti-American gays. - “Bruno’s Pro-America Expo” runs for 1 minute 1 second and in this clip Bruno talks with ‘The Truth’ newspaper founder R.W Moore. - “Borat’s Guide to Gun Clubs” runs for 2 minutes 19 seconds, here Borat visits a popular gun club and shooting range and discusses a few gun related issues with the club’s owner including the use of criminals as target practice. - Finally there are “credits” for the unseen footage that runs for 36 seconds. The unseen footage is just as funny as the material used for the shows, there’s enough in here to cut together a few more episodes. The Borat and Bruno clips are sheer genius and will leave you in stitches. Up next is the short film "Da Spyz Movie" which runs for 8 minutes 14 seconds. This is a cheesy badly done short film about Ali G as a spy who saves the world but ends up having sex most of the time, first with a female thug then with two lesbians that eventually turns into a foursome when a third woman enters the picture. Oh and somewhere in there Ali has to save the world from a bomb. A series of 7 trailers are also included on this disc: - “Teaser Trailer” is a sort promo spot for the series and runs for 31 seconds. - “Three Faces Promo” is a spot that showcases the three personalities of Sacha Baron Cohen and runs for 46 seconds. - “TV Pitch” is a promo that asks the question ‘Who is Ali G?’ and runs for 32 seconds. - “Bruno Fashion Show” is a promo that introduces the character of Bruno and runs for 38 seconds. - “Borat Dating Service” is a promo that introduces the character of Borat and runs for 37 seconds. - “Critic’s Spot” a promo that boasts the show’s good reviews from US critics and runs for 39 seconds. - “Conversation with Ali G” is a spot where Ali G tells America why they should watch the show and runs for 1 minute 33 seconds. Rounding out the disc’s extras is a photo gallery with a series of 18 images taken during the production of the series.
Overall
“Ali G In Da USAiii” is an exceptionally funny series that carries on the tradition of the original Channel 4 UK series. I hope that the second series becomes available soon. This DVD edition presents all six episodes with fairly decent image and sound quality, the unseen footage is the highlight of the extras, however the rest leaves a lot to be desired, for example why was the audio commentary from the R1 release not carried over on this one? If you’re an Ali G fan then you should look into picking this one up.
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