Susan Powter-Burn Fat & Get Fit (1995)

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General		Extras
Category	Sports	Main Menu Audio & Animation
Rating
Year Of Production	1995
Running Time	53:37
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Mary Lambert
Studio Distributor	A Vision Entertainme Warner Vision	Starring	Susan Powter
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$34.95	Music	Nic Tenbroek

    This is the third in a series of Susan Powter fitness videos now released on DVD. Susan is an "author, businesswoman, outstanding champion of women's issues, and wellness expert" (according to her biography). Her main claim to fame is that she used to be really fat and lost 133 pounds so if she can do it so can you, and she is determined to show how - through books, audio tapes, videos, seminars, ...

    This time, the programme is shot in warm and earthy colours of Susan Powter's home, in her living room, instead of in a nondescript studio with pastel coloured walls. The exercises are very similar to that in Lean, Strong & Healthy - a previous video that I reviewed, but there is more variety - both in terms of equipment required and types of exercises.

    For this programme, you need:

• a step platform
• straight backed chair
• hand weights
• exercise mat

    The step platform is "optional" and you can just do the routines on a flat floor if you wish. Obviously, the exercises are a lot less strenuous on a flat floor. In my case, I didn't have a step platform (these things cost $$$ - I noticed a Reebok on "on sale" at the local sports store for A$159.95!) so I took the "easy way out."

    The high backed chair is also "optional" and seems to be mainly used for balancing and for less strenuous squats. In my case, I found out I didn't really need one.

    The weights are also optional, but in my case I used 2kg padded hand bars.

    The exercise mat is probably a necessity if your living room has a hard floor - if you have soft carpets you might not need one but it's good idea anyway as a rubber mat will significantly soften the impact of the exercises and reduce the risk of injury.

    As usual, there is only 1 programme on the disc. Susan does a quick introduction, then we get warm ups, followed by a sequence of 3 minute sets consisting of 1 minute of interval training followed by 2 minutes of cardiovascular activity. The cardiovascular stuff is very similar to those in Lean, Strong & Healthy - the interval training exercises include weights, squats and arm lifts.

    Towards the end, there is a cool down followed by a short segment of abdominal exercises, stretching and relaxation therapy (where Susan does her motivational end-of-video speech).

    This is a more rounded set of exercises and should be suitable for mainly beginners to those with intermediate fitness levels. As with the previous video, Susan has a good sense of rhythm and pace, and provide plenty of warnings/cues when she is about to change her movements. She is accompanied by two other exercisers - Sally (who is also featured in previous videos) and Eric (who is new).

Video

    This is a full frame transfer, taken from an analogue video source intended for duplication onto VHS tapes.

    The quality of the composite video source is pretty much as you would expect - rather soft, with smeary colours.

    The quality of the video is probably acceptable if you are watching this on a small screen display, but will be somewhat painful on a projector.

    Given that the duration of the feature is less than 1 hour, I did not expect significant compression artefacts. In any event, the only artefact I noticed is an occasional Gibb's effect ringing.

    There is no subtitle track on this single-sided single-layered disc but you don't need one.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There are two audio tracks present: English and German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192kb/s). The default audio track is English, I'm not sure how you would select the German audio track without using the DVD player controls since there is no audio selection menu.

    The quality of the audio transfer is pretty average for an analogue video source.

    I did not notice any problems with the audio, and there were no audio synchronization issues.

    I found the dialogue relatively clear and easy to understand. Background music is not obtrusive.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    There is absolutely no extras on this disc, however the menu is animated and includes background audio. There is a short intro prior to displaying the menu.

    This title has yet to be released in Region 1.

    Susan Powter - Burn Fat & Get Fit is another fitness video from Susan Powter. This one alternates interval training and cardiovascular exercises, plus a bit of abdominal exercises towards the end.

    The video quality is rather soft and based on a analogue composite video source.

    The audio quality is average.

    There are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall