Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends-Twin Trouble

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Main Menu Audio & Animation Scene Selection Anim & Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	?
Running Time	45:32
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	David Milton
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Michael Angelis
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$24.95	Music	Mike O'Donnell Junior Campbell

   For this review I am going to dispense with the standard plot synopsis and review for Thomas & Friends-Twin Trouble. Now as I see it there are two tests any good children's show should be able to pass. Firstly, the enjoyment factor. Now for us adults, spending forty five minutes with Thomas The Tank Engine might seem painful, but millions of children throughout the world would disagree. So, to test the enjoyment factor, I played the disc to my three year old son and then sought his opinion. Now the first pleasant surprise came when I noticed that he was captivated for the entire 45 minute running time of the show. This for a parent is worthy of a purchase in itself. Then to my delight he wanted to watch it again. I was most impressed. At the completion of the second viewing I asked him what he thought, to which he replied, "It's my favourite, Daddy". This was great - the first test was passed with flying colours.

    The second crucial test is obviously education. This is not necessarily the standard Maths and English education, but life lessons. Teaching a child right from wrong, friendship, forgiveness, and so on. All these thing are extremely important to a toddler and I'm happy to say that the eight mini stories on Thomas & Friends-Twin Trouble have them in abundance. I would have no trouble recommending Thomas & Friends to any parent. Not only does it keep the little ones occupied for a short period, but the time spent watching the show is educational in the best way possible.

Video

    Thomas & Friends-Twin Trouble is presented in 1.33:1 full frame as it was broadcast on television and it is not 16x9 enhanced.

    Sharpness levels were strong with no signs of aliasing. Shadow detail was pleasing with strong black levels. There were no grain or low level noise problems.

    Colours were natural and well defined. There were no bleeding issues detected.

    There were little to no video artefacts apparent.

    All-in-all, Twin Trouble had a very good transfer, but I wouldn't expect anything else from the ABC.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    Twin Trouble has a solitary English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround audio track.

    Dialogue is always clear and strong and there are absolutely no audio sync problems.

    The music by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell nicely adds to each story and never distracts.

    Surround channel usage is minimal at best. Other than the theme music which can be heard in the rear speakers, I couldn't detect any directional effects.

    The subwoofer helps were it can, but strong bass is not really needed by this title.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu Audio & Animation

Scene Selection Animation & Audio

    From what I could find, both the R4 and R2 versions of this disc are the same.

    Thomas & Friends-Twin Trouble is a fine selection of eight stories from the island of Sodor. It keeps the kids entertained and educates at the same time. A great children's show. The disc has a fine audio and video presentation with no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall