Paper Giants: Magazine Wars (2011)

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General		Extras
Category	Docudrama	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2011
Running Time	179
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Daina Reid
Studio Distributor	ABC Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Rachel Griffiths Mandy McElhinney Rob Carlton Angus Sampson
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Stephen Rae

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
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

     The original Paper Giants mini-series, The Birth of Cleo was a critical and ratings success, paving the way for this next instalment in the history of publishing in Australia. This show's time span runs from 1987 to 1997 and dramatises the war between New Idea and Women's Day to be the top selling magazine in Australia.

     The story opens with New Idea being the biggest magazine for women, run with an iron hand by Dulcie Boling (Rachel Griffiths) for News Limited. Her assistant editor, Nene King (Mandy McElhinney) is driven and sometimes more than a little wild. Nene wants to progress in her career and is pushing Dulcie to make her the editor of TV Week, a subsidiary magazine to New Idea. When Dulcie turns her down and appoints someone else, Nene flies into a rage and resigns, orchestrated by Dulcie. Soon, the unemployed Nene is being wooed by Kerry Packer (Rob Carlton) who has just bought a number of magazines from Fairfax including Women's Day, a rival magazine of New Idea. She is appointed as the editor of Women's Day and she sets out to destroy Dulcie and New Idea, looking for the most sensational stories to publish and willing to pay big bucks to get them. She moves to Sydney with her boyfriend/partner/later husband Patrick Bowring (Angus Sampson) who has some problems with alcohol and life motivation. The show follows the battle between the two rivals as they fight for supremacy in readership over the years, also covering personal challenges and tragedies along the way.

     This is high quality television drama based on what really happened, but not as a documentary. The acting is very high quality with Mandy McElhinney the standout as the slightly unhinged Nene King. This is an interesting story which is made more poignant by the fact that in 2013 magazines are in significant decline as a publishing medium due to the rise of digital. The story is well written and keeps the viewer engaged throughout the two movie length episodes. The two episodes combined run for just a tick under three hours and are presented here on one DVD.

     Recommended.

Video

     The video quality is very good.

     The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout.

     The colour was very good without being stunning.

     There were no major artefacts.

     There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired which are clear and easy to read.

     There are no obvious layer changes during playback.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     The audio quality is good.

    This disc contains a English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0.

     Dialogue was generally clear and easy to hear and understand.

     The music was incidental mostly.

     The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu was a one page affair which just listed the episodes and allowed you to choose from them.

    This series is not available in other regions.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall