Reviewed by Stuart O'Connor
Stars the voices of Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Isaac Hayes,
Mona Marshall, Eliza Schneider, Jennifer Howell,
Pam Brady, Adrien Beard, Kyle McCulloch
Written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone & others
UK certification 18 | UK RRP £24.99
DVD Region 2 | Runtime 317 minutes
Directed by Trey Parker
Things are finally looking up for UK South Park fans. Less than a month after the release of Season 6 on DVD comes Season 7, all freshly packaged in a shiny new boxset. But it's still 6 years after the show was made ...
Yep, Season 7 of South Park hails from way back in 2003, probably best remembered as the year the Iraq War began. Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker consider this one their "war season" (and they also believe the season after this one, the 8th, was the year that the show really hit its stride). So as you'd expect, there's plenty of anti-war commentary to be found, from the early episode I'm a Little Bit Country (in which the town is divided over the Iraq War issue) to the season finale, It's Christmas in Canada (in which Sadaam Hussein is finally found — masquerading as Canada's new prime minister).
Along with those two are 13 more terrific episodes, in which Stone and Parker carefully aim their barbs at Mormons, Rob Reiner, reality TV shows, Christopher Reeve, Hooters restaurants, the Queer Eye guys, old people, Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck and Christian rock bands. What's most noticable in this season, though, is how Eric Cartman — the fat, foul-mouthed, selfish little ignorant redneck — was starting to come to the front as the main character. Easily half the episodes revolve around Cartman and his nasty schemes to come out on top, even going as far in one episode as plotting Kyle's murder. Thanks to Stone and Parker constantly retooling the show — bringing in new characters, messing with the format — South Park remains as fresh, relevant as funny as ever.
EXTRAS * A commentary track on each episode from Matt and Trey. And again, each runs for just 3-5 minutes. Don't you guys have anything more to say?