Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: Mr. Bean, Rowan Atkinson
Likes: Silent comedy
Dislikes:
Hates: Incomplete sets, non-OAR transfers

The Story So Far...
Mr. Bean, played by well-known British comic actor Rowan Atkinson, is a worldwide icon following a short, but successful TV series depicting the manchild's struggles with everyday life and bizarre solutions to relatively simple problems. The seven hours of TV were followed by a pair of movies and an animated series, all of which have since been released on DVD, and several have been reviewed by DVDTalk:
The Whole Bean | The Best Of: Vol 1 & Vol 2 | Animated Series: Vol 1/2 & Vol 3/4 | Mr. Bean's Holiday

The Collection
Great comedy tends to be either hyperverbal, working almost solely in its original tongue, or language-free, making it universally accessible. Though the era of silent films passed long ago, the comedy developed by the genre's stars, including Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, lives on in slapstick and a select few performers, like Rowan Atkinson, whose Mr. Bean carried the art's torch in the '90s, with a relatively small body of work that indelibly placed a mark on the world of comedy.

Mr. Bean - The Series
If all we had of Mr. Bean was the 14 episodes of his TV series (and to many that is all we have) it would still be more than enough to make him a beloved character, because those 7 hours are so brilliantly constructed and incredibly hilarious that they deserve to be considered right alongside the comic classics. As Mr. Bean tries to navigate simple tasks like going for a swim or watching TV, he manages to turn himself into a living, breathing Rube Golberg device, finding complex solutions for minor issues.

Part of what makes Mr. Bean so unique is the fact that he's just as funny if he's winning or losing in life, because he blends a child-like innocence and naivety with an egotistical, conniving side that's oblivious to the feelings of others. More often than not, he's a pitiable goofball, but its always funny to see his deviousness when he goes after things he wants or tries to get revenge. For him, there is no extreme, as his efforts to complete a mini-golf hole on "Tee Off, Mr. Bean" goes to prove.

Of these episodes, they are pretty much all classics, whether you're talking about the hysterical first episode, and Bean's struggles with a math test, "Mind the Baby, Mr. Bean," which shows he won't allow a little thing like kidnapping a baby ruin his day at the festival, or "Mr. Bean in Room 426," which lets him loose on an unsuspecting hotel, to naked results. Of them all, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean" is probably the funniest from top to bottom, including his efforts to get an armchair home from the store, a manger scene that is ridiculous and hilarious, a turn as the conductor of a Salvation Army quartet and an unfortunate battle with a giant turkey. If any episode represents what Mr. Bean is all about, sweet and sour, it's this one.

Unfortunately, as many have noted online, these episodes are not the original versions, as they are missing some scenes, as they represent the syndicated versions of the show. Most viewers won't notice the difference, but the VHS tapes had them, so it all depends upon your frame of reference.

Bean
Part of what makes the Mr. Bean series so enjoyable is the brevity of the bits. You're in, you laugh, you're out and on to the next segment. So when you take those delicious 10-minute morsels and try to turn them into a feature-length film, you run the risk of SNL Syndrome, puffing up a sketch well past its natural limits of quality. Fortunately, Mr. Bean is hilarious in any situation, and the ridiculously contrived plot here, where Bean is sent to America to escort the recently-sold Whistler's Mother to its new home in America, serves mainly to put the malleable foreigner into uncomfortable situations in order to see him (and Peter MacNicol, his American host) squirm.

The majority of these moments work, including Bean's reaction to his actions regarding the painting (a painful one to watch,) Peter MacNicol's reaction (over-the-top fantastic) and the speech Bean must give in introducing the painting (the most dialogue the character ever delivered,) but then there's the bits taken from the original series. Bean struggling with a turkey for Christmas was hysterical. The second go-round, not so much. Add in the moments needed to link the set pieces together, which are mainly focused on the crumbling homelife of MacNicol's character, and the movie drags too frequently (even with the very talented Pamela Reed playing MacNicol's wife.)

There's a lot about this film that points to a construction by committee, including a soundtrack loaded with covers of pop hits (to draw the kids), an amusing, but underplayed theme about commerciallizing the arts, and a serious subplot that dominates the final 20 minutes of the film that makes for a downer for a character who's normally all about the funny. Of course, there are also small curiosities that make it worth a look, including the first American feature performance by Sandra Oh (as a ditzy PR woman) and an amusing, if type-cast role for Burt Reynolds. Bean fans will find themselves bored frequently, especially toward the end, as there's not enough bite and not enough laughs for the character.

Mr. Bean's Holiday
Anyone with any knowledge of the excellent M. Hulot films from Jacques Tati, has to think of M. Hulot's Holiday when they see this film. It's not that there's any portion of Tati that's ripped-off, and there's only one real homage, but the title just cries for comparisons. After all, they both take a mostly-silent comic genius and send them on vacation to hilarious results. Bean and Hulot aren't even very similar characters, as Hulot floated through life, and Bean actively causes disasters. Thus, when Atkinson's scamp wins a trip to France (and a video camera to record the trip) in a local church giveaway, you know immediately to have pity for the country in his crosshairs.

Right off the bat he's trouble, as he causes a young boy (Max Baldry) to be separated from his family, and generally gets himself lost in the land of wine and cheese. Eventally, he ends up crossing paths with an adorable actress named Sabine (Emma de Caunes) and her egomaniacal director Carson (Willem Dafoe, playing his role to the hilt), and, as only happens in the movies, they end up on a French road trip that bonds them. But, of course, it doesn't go quite well, thanks to Bean and the wacky ideas he gets.

Is this movie funny? Absolutely. There are many laugh-out-loud moments that are not quite moments of genius, but instead pure silliness. It's amazing how many times a laugh would be followed by a tinge of guilt, but this is hardly high art. It's simply a good time that will appeal to almost anyone, and with another masterful performance by Atkinson, supported by fine turns by Baldry, de Caunes and Dafoe. The only thing that's bothersome about the film is once again, bits from the series find themselves repeated in this film, which seems unnecessary for a comic of Atkinson's originality and talent.

The DVDs
The seven DVDs in this set (three for the series, one per film and two for the "extras") each get a ThinPak case, which are held in a sturdy cardboard slipcase. Though the series is represented by new pressings of the original "Whole Bean" discs, the two films are the exact same discs originally released, with Bean being a flipper disc and Mr. Bean's Holiday represented by the full-frame version of the movie. Guess it's an easy way for the studio to ditch excess stock, rather than offer something good to the fans. The series discs include animated full-frame menus, with options to select an episode and the scenes in an episode, or check out the extras (there are no languages options.) Bean is such an old-school DVD it starts without going first to the menu, which is static and full-frame, offering options to play the film, select scenes, adjust languages (including English and French Dolby Digital 5.1, and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 track, along with Spanish subtitles and and closed captioning), and check out the extras. Mr. Bean's Holiday features an animated full-frame menu with options to watch the film, select scenes, adjust languages (including English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and English SDH, Spanish and French subtitles) and check out special features.

The Quality
The full-frame episodes of the series look good, but not great, with in-studio footage looking dramatically better than any segments shot on-location, though all the video has noticeable grain or noise (an excessive amount on the external material.) Scenes shot outdoors exhibits some noticeable dirt and damage as well, though digital artifacts are not an issue. On Bean, the anamorphic widescreen transfer actually looks pretty good, thanks to a rather sharp image that features a decent amount of detail and some very bright, vivid color. On the downside, there's quite a bit of obvious grain, edge enhancement and some minor dirt throughout, though there are no noticeable compression problems. The much more recent Mr. Bean's Holiday is the unfortunate recipient of a full-frame transfer, when it was originally released in both widescreen and full-frame, but despite that, the poorly framed film looks great in terms of the video quality, with some minor grain during interior scenes, but otherwise solid, without any problems with dirt, damage or digital artifacts.

The original series didn't offer much aurally, and the Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks on this collection present them in fine quality, though since there's so little dialogue, there's not much work to do. Bean features a similar presentation, and similarly, it fits the film, though it does feature much more dialogue than the show. Mr. Bean's Holiday, on the hand, sports a Dolby Digital 5.1 track that uses the side and rear speakers to pump up the occasional bits of source music, while keeping the sound effects and dialogue nicely clean. A good job overall.

The Extras
The main series offers a handful of extras, starting with "The Story of Bean," a healthy 40-minute featurette covering the character from his origins in Atkinson's childhood through to the development of the first Mr. Bean film. This is no fluff piece, as it's tackled like any good biographical documentary, complete with archival material and interviews with good sources.

A quartet of additional sketches are also available, including two funny scenes cut from the show, and two Comic Relief sketches (that would be British version.) One includes a very young Alan Cummings, on a Dating Game-type show with Mr. Bean, while the other sees Bean on a date at a Torville & Dean ice-skating show, which leads him to get involved on the rink. There's a reason why they aren't in the show, but as extras, they are enjoyable.

Also found here are a text bio and filmography of Atkinson, and a trailer for the animated series.

For Bean, there's a small spread of extras, including text bios and filmographies for the main cast and crew, three trailers for the film, including a pair of amusing teasers, and a music video for OMC's version of "I Love L.A.," a song I have never heard before. Like I said, it's a small group of extras.

Mr. Bean's Holiday provides the most substantial extras in the set, starting with 17 deleted scenes, which run a total of 24 minutes, and which can be viewed separately or in one big bunch. There's nothing that would have changed the film in any significant way, and nothing included is any funnier than what you get in the movie, so it was all rather wisely excised.

The deletions are followed by a trio of featurettes, starting with the 11:25 "French Beans," a making-of overview with on-set footage and interviews Atkinson and company, talking about the hows and whys of the film, covering many aspects of the production. "Beans in Cannes" is a 5:49 look at the end of the movie, which takes place in the legendary home of the film festival, focusing on both the storyline and the shooting of the scenes. The final extra is "The Human Bean," which centers on Atkinson as an actor and person, which is an appreciated inclusion, considering how overshadowing the personalities of his characters are.

In what could be considered the biggest extra, this set contains the first two volumes of the animated Mr. Bean series. I say could be, because it's weak to not include the series in this "Ultimate Collection," but by putting "live action" in the fine print, these shows don't qualify for the set, and you can apparently get away with only including a small portion of the show's run. Anyway...considering his somewhat bizarre look, fantastical reality and childlike demeanor, adapting the already cartoonish Mr. Bean into an animated show was a natural, especially if you tone down the more malicious and mature parts of the show and open up the world of Bean to younger viewers, who could certainly enjoy his silly comedy. The two volumes of the series included in this set deliver 18 short Bean adventures, which expand Bean's world, introducing a mean old landlord (with an evil cat) and plot more commonly found in cartoons or sitcoms, than Mr. Bean's traditionally in-the-moment sketches. The art design on the show is quite unique, with a truly memorable style, marked by bright colors and very thick black outlines, while the look of Mr. Bean himself attempts to mimic Atkinson's wild-eyes, rubber-faced persona, and comes up with something just this side of creepy goblin (with disconnected feet.) It's extremely difficult to replicate someone as physical expressive as Atkinson in animation, but they gave it a good shot, aided by Atkinson, who acted out the episodes on video for the animators to use for reference.

I'm certainly a fan of Mr. Bean, but unfortunately, these shows just don't feel as entertaining as the live-action shows. Perhaps they are aimed at younger viewers, but removed from "reality," they don't have the same impact. It's not that impressive to see a cartoon go to extreme lengths to secure him home, because a cartoon can do just about anything. So much of what works about Mr. Bean is how unreal he is, and that's not doable for a cartoon.

The second disc features an excellent 20-minute featurette that goes behind the scenes of "Bean in Love," an episode not included in this set. The piece follows from the writing/storyboarding of the episode, through to the voicing and animating, showing how one particular scene came about. It's a great opportunity to see the way hand-drawn animation is made outside the big studios.

The first disc has some minor bonus material, repeating the text and trailer content from the Whole Bean collection, as well as a trailer for The Whole Bean and a manual gallery of stills from the series.

The Bottom Line
You have to be pretty hard-hearted to not get a kick from Mr. Bean, as the anti-hero is easily laughed at or laughed with, while Atkinson's act is accessible in any time or language. Sure, you could be annoyed with repeated exposure to him, like the people he interacts with, but at his core, he's simply hilarious. Gathering the same old discs, this set doesn't offer anything new to those who already have some Bean in their lives, and though it's not in the name, it's far from complete for that matter, missing content and including sub-standard versions. If you need to get caught up in a hurry, this is a decent way to do it, but picking up the Whole Bean collection instead should satisfy the curious at a much lower price.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.