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Rating: 
Summary: Not as "complete" as I'd prefer
Review: Although I always enjoyed his appearances on the Howard Stern radio show (his on-air tiffs with Jessica Hahn are the stuff of legend), and I love his rendition of 'Wild Thing' that I'll occasionally hear on my fave classic rock station, I never watched or listened to any of Sam Kinison's standup acts until I got this set last Christmas. And after takin' a look at both of the HBO specials he did, I couldn't believe what I'd missed out on all those years. His riotous observations on relationships gone horribly wrong (such as the ol' "Loaded-.38-in-the-carry-on-luggage" gag), his shots at televangelists, his blasphemously funny array of Jesus jokes, and his ability to get me laughing at the deepest, darkest aspects about his own eff'd-up life (drugs, alcohol, woman troubles, etc.) had me watchin' both specials repeatedly, with each viewing just as funny as the one before. I mean, how can ya NOT enjoy his little "IT NEVER ENDS!!!" piece in 'Breaking The Rules' before he breaks into his rousing 'love song' on piano?While the stand-up acts themselves are unbelievably riotous, I also found the secondary commentary tracks on both discs-- featuring Bill Kinison (Sam's brother & manager) and Bill's wife-- surprisingly entertaining. In these tracks, Bill tells the viewer about Sam's life growing up a child of preachers, the real-life broken relationships and personal pitfalls that inspired his stand-up pieces, his struggle to make a name for himself in the stand-up comedy scene, his spontaneity when it came to whipping up a good stand-up spiel right on the spot, and other interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits. Probably the most notable-- and saddest-- bit of commentary occurs in the 'Family Entertainment Hour' platter, where Bill gives his account of his brother's death, which he witnessed first-hand. And just when I was gettin' my laugh-on over Sam's contempt for rap music... Also thrown in with each HBO special platter are bonus Kinison stand-up performances, most of which run no longer than two to ten minutes. The only exception is a forty-five minute long performance on the 'Family Entertainment Hour' platter, whose highlights include disgustingly hilarious takes on the state of Dr. Ruth's private parts, as well as the private parts of lepers. The other bonus piece on this disc is the infamous 'U-Hauls to Ethiopia' bit, which suffers a bit from not having very good sound quality. And where the #ell is the 'Wild Thing' video?! They DID call this box set "The COMPLETE Sam Kinison", did they not?! I'd be really honked off by this omission, had I actually paid for it... Finally, there's the bonus disc, which features home videos of the man and/or by the man as he goes through life and on vacation much like the regular folk do. At first, I wasn't all that interested in watching this particular platter. I can't stand watching my family's home videos, let alone some one else's'. But, my curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to take a look... whilst keepin' my clicker finger poised over the fast-forward button. They were pretty much what I expected-rather mundane and dull slices from Kinison's life. THIS is the best "bonus" stuff they could come up with?! I mean, could it really have been that hard to include his rendition of 'Wild Thing' instead?! Or a version of 'U-Hauls to Ethiopia' with decent sound quality?! OH, O-O-O-O-O-H!!! 'Late
Rating:
Summary: Not as "complete" as I'd prefer
Review: Although I always enjoyed his appearances on the Howard Stern radio show (his on-air tiffs with Jessica Hahn are the stuff of legend), and I love his rendition of `Wild Thing' that I'll occasionally hear on my fave classic rock station, I never watched or listened to any of Sam Kinison's standup acts until I got this set last Christmas. And after takin' a look at both of the HBO specials he did, I couldn't believe what I'd missed out on all those years. His riotous observations on relationships gone horribly wrong (such as the ol' "Loaded-.38-in-the-carry-on-luggage" gag), his shots at televangelists, his blasphemously funny array of Jesus jokes, and his ability to get me laughing at the deepest, darkest moments of his own eff'd-up life (drugs, alcohol, woman troubles, etc.) had me watchin' both specials repeatedly, with each viewing just as funny as the one before. I mean, how can ya NOT enjoy his little "IT NEVER ENDS!!!" piece in `Breaking The Rules' before he breaks into his rousing `love song' on piano?
While the stand-up acts themselves are unbelievably riotous, I also found the secondary commentary tracks on both discs-- featuring Bill Kinison (Sam's brother & manager) and Bill's wife-- surprisingly entertaining. In these tracks, Bill tells the viewer about Sam's life growing up a child of preachers, the real-life broken relationships and personal pitfalls that inspired his stand-up pieces, his struggle to make a name for himself in the stand-up comedy scene, his spontaneity when it came to whipping up a good stand-up spiel right on the spot, and other interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits. Probably the most notable-- and saddest-- bit of commentary occurs in the `Family Entertainment Hour' platter, where Bill gives his account of his brother's death, which he witnessed first-hand. And just when I was gettin' my laugh-on over Sam's contempt for rap music...
Also thrown in with each HBO special platter are bonus Kinison stand-up performances, most of which run no longer than two to ten minutes. The only exception is a forty-five minute long performance on the `Family Entertainment Hour' platter, whose highlights include disgustingly hilarious takes on the state of Dr. Ruth's private parts, as well as the private parts of lepers. The other bonus piece on this disc is the infamous `U-Hauls to Ethiopia' bit, which suffers a bit from not having very good sound quality. And where the #ell is the `Wild Thing' video?! They DID call this box set "The COMPLETE Sam Kinison", did they not?! I'd be really honked off by this omission, had I actually paid for it...
Finally, there's the bonus disc, which features home videos of the man and/or by the man as he goes through life and on vacation much like the regular folk do. At first, I wasn't all that interested in watching this particular platter. I can't stand watching my family's home videos, let alone some one else's'. But, my curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to take a look... whilst keepin' my clicker finger poised over the fast-forward button. They were pretty much what I expected: rather mundane and dull slices from Kinison's life. THIS is the best "bonus" stuff they could come up with?! I mean, could it really have been that hard to include his rendition of `Wild Thing' instead?! Or a version of `U-Hauls to Ethiopia' with decent sound quality?! OH, O-O-O-O-O-H!!!
`Late
Rating:
Summary: If you are a Kinison fan, buy this!
Review: Any Sam Kinison fan needs to own this DVD or video. You get 2 of Sam's HBO specials plus many special stand up features and Sam's home movies. The only reason I did not give this box set a 5 star rating is the fact that in the first special feature called: rare stand up(I love the special features on DVDs), Sam told many jokes that were already on the HBO special. Other than that, Sam's comedy is unlike anything you will see today. He will really be thought of as a comedy legend. These DVD's will crack you up. I would recomend buying the Sam Kinison CDs, Live From Hell, and Have you seen me lately? The Cd's(just listen to them in your car or at home) will give you the complementary material you need(plus the HBO specials) to truely love Sam Kinison. He is one of the best, and you will be satisfied with with any purchase. Just buy 1 CD or DVD and you will be hooked.
Rating:
Summary: If you are a Kinison fan, buy this!
Review: Any Sam Kinison fan needs to own this DVD or video. You get 2 of Sam's HBO specials plus many special stand up features and Sam's home movies. The only reason I did not give this box set a 5 star rating is the fact that in the first special feature called: rare stand up(I love the special features on DVDs), Sam told many jokes that were already on the HBO special. Other than that, Sam's comedy is unlike anything you will see today. He will really be thought of as a comedy legend. These DVD's will crack you up. I would recomend buying the Sam Kinison CDs, Live From Hell, and Have you seen me lately? The Cd's(just listen to them in your car or at home) will give you the complementary material you need(plus the HBO specials) to truely love Sam Kinison. He is one of the best, and you will be satisfied with with any purchase. Just buy 1 CD or DVD and you will be hooked.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: In brief, there are 3 DVD's here that, if redundant material were eliminated and efficient use were made of the DVD capacity, could probably fit onto 1 DVD but certainly no more than 2. Each of the 2 main DVD's includes a 40-50 minute show with some 'Special Features', much of which was redundant material. If the redundancies weren't disappointing enough, there was some material that I was hoping to see that did not make it onto either of the 2 main DVD's (though I have yet to view the 'BONUS DVD!' which says it includes Sam's home movies and Sam's trip to Hawaii ... maybe the material is there ... but I doubt it). The first time I saw Sam he was doing his 'send the Ethiopians U-Hauls' routine and it absolutely cracked me up ... this routine DID make it on the Family Entertainment Hour disk, but in the Special Features as a 2-minute home movie clip of one of his early stand-up acts -- not in either of the 2 shows -- and very poor quality. Overall I'm disappointed and don't feel the package is worth the money I paid for it. I do like Sam's work; if I had to do it over again, I'd probably just get the 'Breaking the Rules' DVD -- I think it's the better of the 2 -- and sacrifice the extra material that's in 'Family Entertainment Hour', as much of this overlaps the Special Features on 'Breaking the Rules'.
Rating: 
Summary: Sam Kinison is great
Review: Sam Kinison was one of the funniest comics around and its great to see two of his specials come out on this DVD. Sam Kinison is loud, outrageous, out-spoken but most of all funny!
Rating:
Summary: Sam Kinison is great
Review: Sam Kinison was one of the funniest comics around and its great to see two of his specials come out on this DVD. Sam Kinison is loud, outrageous, out-spoken but most of all funny!
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