Madonna-Ciao Italia (1988)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1988
Running Time	100:57
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Programme
Region Coding	2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Egbert Van Hess
Studio Distributor	Warner Vision	Starring	Madonna Pat Leonard Jonathan Moffett David Williams James Harrah Kerry Hatch Luis Conte Donna de Lory Niki Harris Debra Parson Shabba Doo Angel Ferreira Chris Finch
Case	Super Jewel
RPI	$39.95	Music	Madonna

    As you would expect, the entire production betrays its 80s origins. From the 'bop girl' flavour of the songs taken off Madonna's first four albums, to the costumes and dance choreography, Ciao Italia provides a nostalgic look at a decade that Madonna herself epitomized. The concert is adequately directed with plenty of stage and crowd coverage, although I was disappointed that my favourite Madonna song Like a Prayer was not included. Manufactured in Germany, this DVD is a direct port of the VHS sell through catalogue item.

Video

    Sharpness was good throughout, with a wealth of foreground and background detail apparent. The black level was also better than expected and shadow detail was acceptable.

    Colours lacked vibrancy, though again they are satisfactory given the use of video, the age of the footage, lighting conditions, and the subject matter. Low level noise was minimal to the point of being unnoticeable, even when heavy reds or blues appeared. Colour bleed was a problem only in isolated cases when the stage lighting was stronger than normal, for example on a guitarist's red shirt during La Isla Bonita.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    Separation is fairly average across the front stage, with good clarity and decent enough directionality. You have to listen carefully to pick the less obvious stereo imaging, but it's there. Sitting back casually, though, everything sounds centred apart from the occasional (and very dated) ting-ting-ting keyboard riffs, cymbal crashes, and guitar strumming. The snare drum sound is sharp and loud enough to cut through everything else without being overbearing. The bass drum and bass guitar pulses are also prominent and meaty thanks to my subwoofer. Most importantly, Madonna's vocals sat comfortably in the mix, and audio sync was fine.

    Overall the sound is pretty good, doing justice to the material. Turned up beyond normal listening volumes, higher frequency sounds became harsh and fatiguing and the rhythm section turned bombastic - this is no Stop Making Sense. Still, Madonna fans should be happy with this soundtrack.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menus

    This DVD is a solid package from Warner Vision. The video quality is excellent and the sound fidelity is good enough for a recording over ten years old.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall