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The Office - The Complete Collection BBC Edition (First And Second Series Plus Special) | 
 enlarge | Directors: Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
Actors: Ricky Gervais, Martin Freeman, Mackenzie Crook, Lucy Davis (ii)
Studio: BBC Warner
Category: DVD
List Price: $59.98
Buy New: $42.50
You Save: $17.48 (29%)
New (39) Used (13) from $39.03
Rating:  228 reviews
Sales Rank: 920
Format: Box Set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Number Of Items: 4
Running Time: 450
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.7 x 1.2
MPN: DE2085D
UPC: 794051208521
EAN: 0794051208521
ASIN: B0002W4P98
Theatrical Release Date: January 23, 2003
Release Date: November 16, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW! (BOX IS TORN UNDER WRAP.) ORIGINAL PRICE STICKER ON IT!
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 09/27/2005 Run time: 450 minutes
Amazon.com
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 watched with a discomfortingly thrilling combination of identification and mortification. The paradox is that its best moments are almost physically unwatchable. Set in the offices of a fictional British paper merchant, IThe Office/I 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. I--Andrew Mueller/Ip p The second series exceeded even the sky-high standards of the first. Indeed, it ventured beyond caricature and satire, touching on the very edge of darkness. Ricky Gervais is once again excruciatingly superb as David Brent, but in this series, Brent's to-the-camera assertions concerning his management qualities and executive capabilities are seriously challenged when the Slough and Swindon branches are merged and his former Swindon equivalent Neil (Patrick Baladi) takes over as area manager. To compensate, Brent cultivates his pathologically mistaken image of himself as an entertainer-motivator-comedian whose stage happens to be the workplace. Meanwhile, Tim, who can only maintain his sanity by teasing the priggish Gareth, continues to wrestle with his yearning for receptionist Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis), a sympathetic character persisting in a relationship with a man about whom she still maintains unspoken reservations. As ever, it's the awkward, reality TV-style pauses and silences, the furtive, meaningful and unmet glances across the emotional gulf of the open-plan office, that say it all here. As for Brent, his own breakdown is prefaced by a moment of hideous hilarity--an impromptu office dance, a mixture of "IFlashdance/I and MC Hammer" as Brent describes it, but in reality bad beyond description. Then, when his fate is sealed, he at last reveals himself in a memorable finale to perhaps the greatest British sitcom, besides IFawlty Towers/I, ever made. I--David Stubbs/I p p The brilliant and devastating comedy of IThe Office/I is brought to a satisfying conclusion in IThe Office Special/I, originally a two-part Christmas special on the BBC, set three years after the end of the faux-documentary's second season. The former office manager David (Ricky Gervais) now ekes out a desperate existence as an oblivious quasi-celebrity, making awkward, humiliating visits back to the office staff he still believes loves him. Gawky Gareth (Mackenzie Crook) has risen to manager and become a petty tyrant, while the sweet but snide Tim (Martin Freeman) continues to pine for former receptionist Dawn (Lucy Davis), who fled to Florida with her fiance. When the documentary crew pays for Dawn to return for the holiday party, an unpredictable reunion looms ahead. IThe Office/I fuses scathing humor and genuine empathy, turning excruciating social discomfort into inspired satire. Fans will find this special rewarding in all respects. I--Bret Fetzer/I
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| Customer Reviews: Read 223 more reviews...
 BBC "The Office" January 6, 2009
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
It arrived in a timely manner and was brand new.br /Would use this vendor again.
great December 29, 2008
this series is so hilarious and I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the American office. The first two seasons are almost exactly mirroring the British version. You will love it.
 Ricky Gervais's "Extras" December 13, 2008
Fine piece of work, but bear in mind it's very dark and, at times, cringeworthy.
Xmas present for my parents November 30, 2008
My husband and I fell in love with this show long before the U.S. version (which we also enjoy). We got my parents to love the U.S. version - now we've decided to introduce them to the BBC version. As much as I enjoy the U.S. version, nothing compares to Ricky Gervais' version. Thanks Vicky!
 dont watch November 23, 2008
0 out of 19 found this review helpful
if you have seen the american version dont buy this one, same diolouge and jokes but with a english accent
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2008 - HDDVDBoxsets.com | |
