Getaway-Volume 4 Winter Wonderlands (2003)

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Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (384Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	Varies	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The Nine Network's Getaway program is one of the mainstays of the travel and leisure genre on television, having been aired each year since 1992.

    To further promote the show while it is in summer recess, a series of four DVDs have been released all revolving around a different theme. Titles focusing on New Zealand, Italy, and sunny destinations have been released in the first three volumes. This is volume four in the series and is entitled Winter Wonderlands. Like the title suggests, it has the Getaway crew travelling to the far-flung reaches of the northern hemisphere during the northern winter. As a result, there is plenty of snow, ice, and lots and lots of white things.

    Included in this near 80 minute show (which I have to say is really funny to watch without commercial breaks) are glimpses of such exotic locations as Aspen Colorado and the hideous prices of everything in that celebrity town, Spitsbergen (an archipelago to the north of Norway and known as Svalbard to the Norwegians), where Sorrell Wilby has a fantastic encounter with a polar bear, Nagano in Japan where David Reyne meets some monkeys, and several stories in Canada, including an absolutely stunning drive around Jasper and Banff National Parks.

    I've always wondered about these sorts of shows as true travel guides. Does anyone actually get any real value out of them and actually use them as a means to plan a trip? I mean, they never seem to go anywhere bad or have really dodgy experiences which is all part of overseas travel. What the crew actually go through and is presented on screen is not really a reflection of reality and I find these sorts of shows (of which there are many) to be nothing more than slickly packaged entertainment. I think if I want real travel information I'll read a Lonely Planet book thanks. Still, for the RRP price of only $19.95, they make a good Christmas present for someone keen on the areas visited.

Video

    The video quality on offer here is a bit of a mixed bag.

    Obviously taken from several episodes of the programme from several different years, there is a mix of material in the conventional aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and some in the new widescreen digital television aspect of 1.78:1. The content is probably split about 60-40 in favour of the newer style. With the whole program 16x9 enhanced, the older 1.33:1 material is shown in the 16x9 frame with light coloured bars on the left and right.

    All of the material is of a consistent sharpness, with the newer images just that bit sharper and more detailed. There is no sign of any edge enhancement and I saw no low level noise. Grain is also mostly absent.

    The colours are well rendered and there are no problems to contend with other than the overseas material looking a bit more washed out.

    No MPEG artefacts are evident, but some of the older 1.33:1 sourced material suffers from a little annoying aliasing and shimmer on several surfaces, with the many tall and slender trees being the main culprit.

    There are no subtitles.

    This is a single layered disc only.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There is only one audio track available, this being an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at a bitrate of 384 Kb/s.

    There isn't a whole lot for this soundtrack to do with most of the sound being dialogue based. Said dialogue is clear and concise at all times. Audio sync isn't an issue during any of the segments.

    There is no surround nor subwoofer use.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu Introduction

Menu Animation & Audio

Interviews-Cast

    A 5:59 minute interview with cast member David Reyne. He explains the perils of his job (like we believe him) and he gives some tips to those thinking of travelling to cool climates.

    This disc is not available in Region 1.

    Getaway - Winter Wonderlands is one of four released in the series showing some of the cooler locations that the show has travelled to.

    The video is a strange mix of conventional 1.33:1 and 1.78:1 aspect ratios all within a 16x9 enhanced frame. The older material suffers marginally from a bit of aliasing.

    The audio is perfectly functional for the job it is required to do.

    The extra is pretty light.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall