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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Lonely Planet: Stressbuster (2011)

Lonely Planet: Stressbuster (2011)

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Released 7-Nov-2012

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Travel None
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 2011
Running Time 185:04 (Case: 187)
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Multi Disc Set (4)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Ads Then Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Various
Studio
Distributor
Beach House Pictures
Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Anita Kapoor
Dominic Bonuccelli
Case ?
RPI $29.95 Music None credited


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English for the Hearing Impaired Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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Plot Synopsis

     Lonely Planet Stressbuster offers sixteen possible suggestions for you to rejuvenate and revitalise from the stresses of modern city living. The series consists of 8 episodes of approximately 23 minutes each, with two activities / adventures in each episode. The episodes are a mixed bag and your interest level value will depend upon the location and the type of activity. Yet, the series is always entertaining, the reporters, Anita Kapoor and Dominic Bonuccelli, good fun to be with, each episode is short and the activities so varied that there is certainly something of interest to most travellers.

     The summary of the episodes is:

     Across theses 8 episodes Lonely Planet Stressbuster is always entertaining, the reporters good fun to be with and the activities so varied that there is certainly something of interest to relieve the stress of modern living for most travellers.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     Lonely Planet Stressbuster is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 which I suspect is the original ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     There are 8 episodes with different directors of photography and a lot of the series was shot on the go with hand held cameras. This means that the sharpness, colour, contrast and brightness do vary. For example, the footage of marine turtles laying eggs in the sand in Sri Lanka at night is as dark and grainy as one might expect. This is not to say that most of the images are poor, they’re not and most of the footage good. Colours are generally natural, blacks good, skin tones accurate and there are some stunningly beautiful images of jungle, gorges, mist covered mountains, people, the desert and rivers. Other than slight ghosting with motion against some backgrounds, I did not see any obvious artefacts.

     Lip synchronisation is fine.

     English subtitles for the hearing impaired are available in an easy to read white font that follows the narration almost word for word in the portion I sampled. When non-English is spoken, English subtitles automatically translate the words. They also come on for hard to understand accents.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded at 192 Kbps. It was perfectly adequate for a television series.

     The episodes are mostly voice over narration with a bit of extra dialogue. This narration was always clear and easy to understand, and when English was spoken by some non-native speakers the subtitles appeared. I noticed some music and effects in the rear speakers but no sub-woofer use. Not that the series needed either.

     Music was minimal, and no composer was credited.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

     There are no extras.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     I cannot find a release of Lonely Planet Stressbuster available in any other region.

Summary

     Across 8 episodes Lonely Planet Stressbuster is always entertaining, the reporters good fun to be with and the activities varied. Whether you want to spoil yourself, have an adrenalin rush, visit some beautiful scenery, partake in a Bollywood musical or cooking lesson, Lonely Planet Stressbuster has an idea just right for you!

     The video and audio are fine. There are no extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S580, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderNAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationNAD T737
SpeakersStudio Acoustics 5.1

Other Reviews NONE