The appeal of Monkey! is easier to experience than explain. It's an occasionally surreal blend of Oriental fable, knock-about martial arts, pop Buddhism and slapstick comedy. The frequent comic fight scenes are accompanied by a 70s disco-fusion soundtrack, and a narrator (English voice: Frank Duncan) uses gaps in the action to deliver inscrutable snippets of wisdom ("Even a starving camel is still bigger than a horse", "Does love mean labour even for the carp-hearted?"). Best of all, though, is the dialogue: without regard to any lip-synch niceties the English script (by David Weir) is full of idiomatic delights, jokes and double entendres. All are delivered by British actors in hilarious cod-Japanese accents (distinguished thesp Miriam Margolyes is the voice of Tripitaka). Bad special effects crown the show's cheesy, retro appeal.

On the DVD: Monkey! volume 2 on DVD features the same three episodes as the VHS incarnation--"Monkey Swallows the Universe", "The Power of Youth" and "Even Monsters Can Be People"--but also a bonus previously unseen episode from the second season, "Pigsy Learns a Lesson", which is subtitled not dubbed, so if nothing else is an opportunity to hear the actors' real voices. Extra features are a stills gallery, text pieces on the principal cast, characters and episodes, Weblinks, trailers for The Water Margin and Blake's Seven and a pop-video version of the show's irrepressible main title song.--Mark Walker

Synopsis
In 'Monkey Swallows The Universe' Monkey, Pigsy, Sandy, Tripitaka and the horse enter a land ruled by the Golden Horn and his wife, Silver Horn. 'The Power Of Youth' sees the King Of Youth dictating that everything old is useless and 'Even Monsters Can be People' sees Monkey killing a girl and her elderly parents.