|
|
The Movie:
I like sports. Or more specifically, I like watching sports, as playing them would require running and that's not something I'm really into. The whole watching thing was able to be done recently as I sat down to watch two of three basketball highlight DVDs that arrived out of nowhere a few days ago.
"Upsets and Underdogs" talks about some of the more inspirational stories in NBA history. Hosted by Bill Walton, the DVD features stars like Kevin Garnett, Scottie Pippen, and teams like the 1999 New York Knicks. "100 Greatest Plays" shows the greatest plays in 10 different areas: Dunks, Alley-oops, Assists, Steals, Blocks, Teamwork, the Clutch Shot, Moves, Hustle, and Buzzer-Beaters.
The DVD
VIDEO/AUDIO: "100 Greatest Plays" actually looked quite good. Although the different ages of some of the footage contributed to some varying degrees of wear on the image, the presentation at least seemed consistently sharp & well defined. There were a few minor instances of shimmering, but no pixelation and only some minor wear on the oldest footage. Colors appeared rich and vibrant throughout, and very pleasing. "Upsets and Underdogs" appeared much the same, with good sharpness and detail, although some irritating instances of shimmering were visible a few times throughout the presentation.
Both of the documentaries presented audio in Dolby Digital 5.1. I was curious as to how this would be done with this kind of footage, but the end result is actually just the footage audio in the center channel and music distributed to the other speakers. It's not a bad way to go about things for material like this, and the end result is enjoyable.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus with film images as backgrounds for sub-menus & the cover for the main menu.
EXTRAS: "Upsets and Underdogs" features profiles of Bill Walton, Dikembe Mutombo and Allan Huston; "100 Greatest Plays" features 30 additional "greatest plays" from today's stars.
Final Thoughts: Intense fans of basketball will likely find these highlight tapes very enjoyable, as they provide a fine presentation and quality material (the plays chosen on the "100 greatest plays" edition were chosen by a "panel of basketball experts", for example). The price is nice, as well, at $19.99 or less.
Both programs are available separately.
|