Most people are familiar with the hit television series Friends, which recently ended its ten year run in May of 2004. The series was about a group of close thirty something friends played by actors David Schwimmer, Courtney Cox, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, Lisa Kudrow, and Jennifer Aniston going through the ins and outs of that odd thing we call life. For more details about this series, please refer to DVD Talk's reviews of season one, season two, season three, season four, season five, season six, season seven, season eight, season nine, season ten, and the series finale

In March of 2006, the Friends Collection was introduced to DVD, which consist of three themed collections of "best of" episodes. The themes include Babies, Birthdays, and Weddings. These best of releases contain absolutely NO new material when compared to the season sets. If you happen to own the season sets on DVD, then you do not need to purchase the best of releases. The advertised "unaired footage" and episode commentaries are included in the season sets.

So unless you are a casual viewer of Friends and are interested in having several funny episodes highlighted in the themes of babies, birthdays, or weddings, then these sets are not worth the investment. Of course, if you are one of those casual viewers who is not interested in forking out two hundred bucks (give or take) for all ten seasons, the themed collection is a great way to go.

This review covers The One With All the Weddings. It contains four episodes with an approximate runtime of three hours. The episodes include "The One with Ross's Wedding" from season 4, "The One in Vegas" from season 5, "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding" from season 7, and "The One With Phoebe's Wedding" from season 10.

The first of the four episodes included is the two part episode "The One with Ross's Wedding". In this episode the entire cast, except the reluctant Rachel and the pregnant Phoebe, travel to London for Ross and Emily's wedding. This is a great episode because a lot of fun things happen in the show. Joey annoys the heck out of Chandler with his goofy tourist antics (and a big ugly hat), Ross and Emily's parents fight about the finances behind the wedding to no end, Monica and Chandler find themselves in an awkward situation, and Ross's marriage ends minutes after.

"The One in Vegas" is a two part episode that touches on the romantic sparks between Ross and Rachel. After Monica, Chandler, Ross, Phoebe, and Rachel go to Las Vegas to visit Joey, Ross and Rachel have a wild night together and they end up in wedlock. And when they come to their senses, Rachel demands an annulment. Of course, Ross's pride gets the best of him when he refuses to end the marriage, which turns out to be a hilarious undertaking to watch. Monica and Chandler also consider getting married at one of the local chapels.

"The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding" is another two part episode where the cast gets into a lot of wild situations. For those who have seen Chandler in the earlier seasons, you know how scared he is of commitment. Despite all his love for Monica, his fears resurface and he disappears. Of course, the dramatic nature of this episode is turned into a lot of laughs and ends with a happy tone. This is also the episode where Rachel's secret becomes public knowledge.

The last episode in the compilation is "The One with Phoebe's Wedding". In this episode Phoebe gets stuck in another situation where nothing goes right. She hires Monica to be the wedding planner and her bossy, neurotic behavior drives Phoebe insane, but makes for a lot of great laughs. Chandler and Ross also get pretty upset when they find out they have no role in the wedding and even more unhappy when Phoebe picks Rachel to be a groomsman.

Overall the episodes included in this addition of the Friends Collection were nicely selected. These wedding episodes include some great moments in the world of Friends. Rachel and Ross's wedding in Vegas is a lot of fun, although it is too bad the season two wedding episodes "The One with the Lesbian Wedding" and "The One with Barry and Mindy's Wedding" weren't included. For the casual viewer this DVD release is a great purchase.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. The picture is clean and crisp with a few traces of edge enhancements, a minor grain, and occasional ghosting.

Audio:
The audio in this DVD release is given in English 5.0 Dolby digital surround sound. The majority of the audio in this release is dialogue driven, which sounds very good with no noticeable distortions. It comes off flat and takes very little advantage of the multiple channels. There are subtitles included in English, Spanish, and French. The release is also closed caption enabled

Extras:
For extras there is a single audio commentary for the episode "The One with Monica and Chandler's Wedding". The commentary includes executive producers Kevin S. Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane. It is also important to note it is the same commentary included with the season set.

Final Thoughts:
I have always been a big fan of Friends. The show is deliriously funny. All of the characters are covered well and they interact great together and turn some somewhat normal situations into a riot. This set includes some hilarious episodes and should make a great for purchase for the casual viewer. However if you own the season sets, then this best of compilation DVD is not worth the money. The episodes and extras are the same as what you find on the season sets.