Getaway-Volume 3: Viva Italia (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	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	Yes, well, what did you expect?
		Action In or After Credits	No

    This is Volume 3 of a compilation of segments from the popular Getaway TV series focusing on travel at home and abroad, as shown on the Channel Nine network every week.

    This volume - entitled Viva Italia - naturally focuses on Italy, and contains segments from programmes originally aired between 5 October 2000 and 1 May 2003.

    The presenters in this compilation are:

• Ben Dark
• David Reyne
• Catriona Rowntree
• Sorrell Wilby

    The following segments are featured:

Rome - narrated by Catriona and David

This covers the Vatican and the Pope, the Colosseum, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Suore di Nostra Signora (accommodation run by nuns), and the Spanish steps.

Lombardy - narrated by Ben

This covers Bergamo, Cittą Alta, playing botte, Lake Como, Lake Orta, and the Island of St Guilio.

Stromboli - narrated by Sorrel

Stromboli is one of the Aeolian Islands and features an active volcano.

Pisa - narrated by Ben

Ben climbs the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and talks about Galileo Galilei.

Touring Italy - narrated by Catriona

Catriona joins a Con Tiki bus tour.

Tuscany - narrated by David

David visits the town of Lucca and a villa on the estate of Fattoria di Fubbiano. He also talks about Giacomo Puccini.

Calabria - narrated by Ben

Ben travels by train to Calabria, and samples the local chillies and sausages at Tropea.

Umbria - narrated by Catriona

Catriona visits the medieval university town of Umbria, and does some shopping and catches up on the nightlife. She also stays at a farmhouse.

Sicily - narrated by Sorrel

Sorrel hikes across Sicily from Enna to Cefalu, and encounters some wonderful food along the way.

Naples - narrated by David

David braves the streets, the traffic and the cafes of Naples.

Rome To Florence - narrated by Ben

Ben jumps on the Busabout from Rome to Florence, stopping at Siena, and visits the Piazza del Campo and the Torre del Mangia. At Florence, Ben stays at the Camping Internationale and explores the city.

Puglia - narrated by Catriona

Catriona drives around in Puglia, and visits the towns of Alberobello and Ostuni.

Gladiator School - narrated by Ben

Ben attends gladiator school in Rome.

Siena - narrated by Catriona

Catriona visits the Piazza del Campo, has coffee at a cafe, and talks about the annual horse race and the origin of banking. She also visits San Gimignano.

Turin - narrated by Ben

Ben rides around in a scooter, and talks about the Shroud of Turin. He also samples the local food and coffee, and visits the motor and cinema museums.

Video

    The transfer is in widescreen at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. The show was originally broadcast in 1.33:1 so many of the segments are mail-slotted into the widescreen frame, although some segments are in widescreen (notably the opening titles and introduction, as well as transition frames).

    This is only a single sided single layered disc, and the transfer seem to be rife with compression artefacts, namely Gibbs effect and pixelization. I'm not sure why Gibbs effect is so pronounced, since the average bitrate is 6.18Mb/s (although this ranges from 3-10Mb/s).

    Other than that though the transfer is fine, and the picture quality is reminiscent of broadcast digital TV. Colour saturation is good, although detail levels are muddied by Gibbs effect.

    There are no subtitle tracks.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There is only one audio track on this disc: English Dolby Digital 2.0 (384Kb/s).

    This is strictly a 2.0 track, although engaging Dolby Pro Logic II in cinema mode steered some background music ambience into the surround speakers. I also noticed some panning of sound effects (eg. bus engine) across the front speakers, so this is definitely not a monaural soundtrack.

    The overall sound quality was good, comparable to TV broadcast quality. Obviously, the sound has been compressed somewhat and extreme low and high frequencies filtered off, but what remains is pleasant enough.

    Dialogue quality is good, and there are no issues with audio synchronization.

    The background music is light instrumental pop. The theme song was written by Georgie Fame and sung by Katya Winspear and Dan Markavina.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    There are not too many extras, since this is a single sided single layered disc.

Menu

    The menus are 16x9 enhanced, animated and include background audio. There is also an animated introduction and animated menu transitions.

Interviews-Cast-Catriona Rowntree (7:13)

    This is presented in 1.78:1 (16x9 enhanced) and with Dolby Digital 2.0 (384Kb/s) audio. Catriona talks about life as a Getaway reporter, the ups and downs, the crew, the time commitment, favourite places, and travel tips.

Outtakes

    This is presented in a mixture of 1.33:1 (mail slotted) and 1.78:1 (16x9 enhanced) and with Dolby Digital 2.0 (384Kb/s) audio.

    This title is not currently available in R1.

    Volume 3 of the Getaway series is entitled Viva Italia and features the Getaway team visiting various places in Italy.

    The video quality is average.

    The audio quality is okay.

    Extras are limited to two featurettes.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall