Red Obsession (2013)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	75:11
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Russell Crowe
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.70:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.70:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Good red wine is one of life's great pleasures and this documentary focuses on the production and global marketing of some of the best red wine in the world in the Bordeaux region of France. The documentary covers the history of wine production in the region, what it is about the region that produces great wine and the various Chateaux which are the most famous including Lafite and Latour. These things are covered quite quickly as background and the thrust of the documentary is about the recent great vintages in 2009/2010 and how those wines have fueled massive price spikes despite the traditional customers of the wines in the US and UK not spending as much as previously due to the GFC. The reason behind this is the strong entry of China's newly rich upper classes into buying and wanting great red wines as status symbols and also for investment.

     The documentary explores the impact of this change on the wine industry and whether this will have any long term impacts on the industry, which has enjoyed a windfall of profits in those years.

     The film is well shot with some great footage of the magnificent chateaux in France and has a quality narration by Russell Crowe in his distinctive growly voice. There are also interesting interviews with representatives of the great chateaux. This is a compelling and interesting documentary despite probably trying to pack a little too much into its running time.

     Red Obsession is certainly worth seeing for those interested in the subject matter.

Video

     The video quality is decent but restricted by what I would guess is a digital video origin.

     The feature is presented in an approximately 1.70:1 aspect ratio which I would guess is the original aspect ratio or close to it. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout without being really crisp. The picture has a general harshness to it probably due to being shot on digital video.

     The colour is quite good but is somewhat overbright at times.

     There was some quite bad regular aliasing.

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

     A layer change is not noticeable.

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 5.1 plus an Audio Descriptive track in Dolby Digital 2.0.

     Dialogue was generally clear and easy to understand although accents made some lines difficult.

     The music was quite good with two songs at the beginning and end setting the scene well, I Put a Spell on You by Joss Stone and Fever by Peggy Lee.

     The surround speakers were used for music especially during the songs mentioned above.

     The subwoofer was used to support the music.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu featured music.

    As far as I can tell the Region 1 release is the same. Buy local

    The video quality is good but restricted by its digital video origins.

    The audio quality is good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall