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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.
Brum-Snow Thieves and Other Stories (2002)

Brum-Snow Thieves and Other Stories (2002)

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Released 27-Feb-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Childrens Menu Animation & Audio
Featurette-Bag Of Gags (3)
Featurette-Top Secret Files (3)
Rating Rated G
Year Of Production 2002
Running Time 60:36
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Vic Finch
Chris Bernhard
Paul Leather
Brian Simmons
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Paul Jackson
John Woodford
Norma Cohen
Rochi Rampal
Tom Wright
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $29.95 Music Paul Honey
Howard McGill


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 Yes
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    I have seen quite a few episodes of Brum on Pay TV. My normal reaction is along the lines of "I'm glad that only went for 10 minutes". This is definitely made for kids only.

    To more accurately assess a title of this importance (I am not joking - being a kids DVD it will get watched more than anything else in your collection), I assembled a team of expert reviewers to assist me. The team consisted of Emily (5), Kate (2 1/2), Dominic (4) and Sebastian (3). We all sat down and the fun began.

    Brum-Snow Thieves and Other Stories is a collection of six episodes of the children's series. For those of you who are not familiar with Brum let me fill you in. Brum is a superhero. He is a small yellow classic car that has headlights for eyes and is constantly beeping his horn. He is always out cruising the town, ready to lend a helping hand or, in this case, lend a helping wheel. This usually entails chasing some baddies and retrieving some stolen property for the grateful townspeople. The stories are short, simple and highly repetitive. Each episode is only about 10 minutes long and therefore usually holds the child's attention for the entire episode. Warning: Adults with prolonged exposure to this DVD may need to seek medical advice.

    More importantly, how did my reviewing team react? After all, these DVDs are purchased to keep the kids quite and give parents a break. After announcing we were going to watch Brum there was an initial period of running around, screaming and cheers of excitement. When at last all review members had found a seat and Brum began, the house was eerily quiet and remained this way for the entire first episode. When the episode finished, the team demanded more or there would be a riot. We watched the entire six episodes in one sitting and, except for minor scuffles over who was sitting in the red chair first, hardly a sound was made. This was a minor miracle. It was not until the last episode that the team became restless and the noise level started to increase once again.

Brief Episode Summary:

Episode 1- Brum and the Snow Thieves (10:07)

    Thieves steal money from the Ski Store. Brum chases after them and during the course of the chase goes skiing. Brum saves the day in the end.

Episode 2- Brum and the Golden Loo (10:11)

    A neighbour's toilet is broken and spraying water into the street. Brum, always ready to lend a hand, goes looking for a new loo for the neighbour. He finds the perfect loo. It is gold and diamond encrusted. Two baddies steal the loo and a chase ensues.

Episode 3- Brum and the Runaway Ball (9:49)

    Brum is out cruising the town while workmen are placing decorative big stone balls around a public square. One of the stone balls comes loose and rolls away. Brum chases it, trying to stop it from causing too much damage.

Episode 4- Brum and the Music Box (10:04)

    Brum is at ballet school and the dancers are practising to the music from a music box. There is a baddie disguised as a dancer who steals the music box. Brum comes to the rescue and a chase begins.

Episode 5- Brum and the Bowling Alley (10:02)

    Brum helps a girl carry her heavy bag and ends up at the bowling alley. There is a baddie lurking about who steals a man's wallet, full of money. Brum comes to the rescue and a chase begins.

Episode 6- Brum and the Pantomime Cow (10:23)

    Brum is watching a busker while two baddies steal the busker's money. The baddies disguise themselves in a cow costume. Brum once again comes to the rescue and another chase begins.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video transfer is excellent and of near reference quality.

    The transfer is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    There is no difference in transfer quality between the episodes. The transfer is clear and sharp from beginning to end. The amount of depth perception in the shadows is excellent. There is no hint of low level noise at any stage.

    The colours are clear and constant with no untoward variations evident. The colours used throughout the episodes are predominantly bright primary colours so as to grab and hold the attention of the target audience, kids.

    There were no MPEG artefacts to be seen. Film-to-video artefacts were also non-existent. Film artefacts are usually the most common and noticeable flaw in any transfer, but in this case there were none present.

    There are no subtitles available on this disc.

    This is a single layered disc and therefore there is no layer change.

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

Audio

    The audio transfer is acceptable but not of the same quality as the video.

    There is only one audio track present on the disc, being stereo English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s).

    What little dialogue there is is clear and easily understood at all times. All of the dialogue in Brum episodes is performed by a narrator - at no time do any of the actor speak. Audio sync was not an issue with this disc.

    The music is by Paul Honey and Howard McGill and is very unusual. The music throughout the episodes is simple and standardised, but after a while it does become a bit repetitive. The music matches exactly the on-screen action; when Brum is chasing the baddies, the chase music always plays. This aids in the understanding process for small children.

    As the only audio offering on the disc is a 2.0 stereo track the surround speakers and subwoofer remain silent.

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

Extras

    There is a small selection of extras available.

Menu

    The menu system has an animated scene with the sound of Brum driving around a snowy field while snow is falling and a static picture of a town in the background. The menu system is clear and easily understood. All options are well labelled.

Bag of Gags

    These featurettes show Brum helping out small groups of the townspeople in some humorous situations. In total there are three different scenes on offer. These are; Moving Box, Sticky Poster and Candyfloss.

Top Secret Files

    This feature provides a biography for some of the characters in the story episodes. In all there are three character biographies; the Traffic Policeman, Bubble & Squeak, and Mr Brilo.

R4 vs R1

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

    Brum- Snow Thieves and Other Stories is not available in Region 1. However, it is available in Region 2 and that version appears to be identical to this release.

Summary

    Brum- Snow Thieves and Other Stories is a kid's-only DVD release. Adults - watch at your own risk. However, the kids love it, the stories are short and simple, and Brum always saves the day. The DVD has been given an excellent video transfer that would put most Hollywood movies to shame. The audio is acceptable and the extras minimal.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Geoff Greer (read my bio)
Thursday, July 31, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDSony DVP-S525, using S-Video output
DisplayBang & Olufsen BeoVision Avante 82cm 16:9 Widescreen. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderDenon AVR-1803. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationDenon AVR 1803
SpeakersParadigm: Phantom Version 3 Front, Jensen SPX-13 Centre, Jensen SPX-5 Rear, Jensen SPX-17 Sub

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