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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.
AFL-Biffs, Bumps and Brawlers: Footy's Wildest Moments (2001)

AFL-Biffs, Bumps and Brawlers: Footy's Wildest Moments (2001)

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Released 21-Aug-2002

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Sports Main Menu Audio
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 2001
Running Time 66:09 (Case: 70)
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By None Given
Studio
Distributor
Aust. Football Video
Visual Entertainment Group
Starring Rex Hunt
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI ? Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits Yes

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

Plot Synopsis

    Rex Hunt presents Biffs, Bumps and Brawlers. In fact, while Biffs, Bumps and Brawlers is the title on the case, the programme is actually entitled Bumps, Biffs and Brawlers. The title tells it all, though it could easily have been called Thugs, Boofheads and Show Ponies.

    The field is AFL and the subject is thuggery. After watching this disc I am grateful that this sort of thing has been virtually stamped out of the game, as I found myself more infuriated than amused by some of the players and their antics. The effect of watching so much violence all at once is numbing. On the other hand, umpires should be forced to watch this before doing their reports for the week, as it will put a lot of the stuff that gets sent to the tribunal these days into perspective.

    This programme originally aired on Channel 7 in 2001. Each segment is introduced by Hunt, who reads a banal, jokey script to camera (written by Stephen Phillips) in characteristic fashion. The bulk of the programme is footage from the 1960s onwards of players punching, kicking, kneeing, pushing, gouging and just plain running into each other. The original commentary is heard.

    Great thugs of yesteryear as well as today feature, including Tony Lockett, Gary Ablett, Leigh Matthews (how he ever was reported only 3 times in his career I'll never understand), Carl Ditterich, Wayne Carey, John Worsfold, David Rhys-Jones, Robbie "Mad Dog" Muir, Neil Balme and Mal Brown. There are the famous incidents, such as the "battle of Windy Hill", Mal Brown taking on the entire Carlton team in a post-season match, and Phil Carman demonstrating how to head-butt an umpire. Great brawls from Grand Finals are also a feature.

    This material is interesting enough to justify watching it once. It is hard to imagine watching this again and again all the way through. Maybe I'll dig it out every few years and fast forward to the best bits, just for a laugh.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video quality is quite good.

    As you would expect from television footage, this is presented in 1.33:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced.

    The video is quite sharp most of the time, particularly the recent footage. Shadow detail is not an issue, and contrast levels are quite good except on  some of the black and white footage, where blacks and whites are often just different shades of grey. The colour sequences are good, with lifelike colours for the most part. Blood is certainly shown accurately.

    Artefacts introduced in the digital transfer are limited to some slight pixelization which occurs throughout most of the footage. This is relatively mild and therefore not distracting. The older footage mainly suffers from various forms of deterioration and the poor quality of the original recording. There are a few instances of video tracking errors which appear to be in the source material. All in all the producers of this disc have done a pretty good job with the material.

    This is a single layered disc without subtitles.

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

Audio

    There is a single audio track, in English Dolby Digital 2.0.

    Dialogue is quite clear and distinct, which is good given the absence of subtitling. Rex Hunt's voice comes across clearly, as does the commentary from days past. A lot of the early stuff consists of Michael Williamson going "Oooooooooh!", or Peter Landy saying something totally at odds with what we see on screen. The latter is of course not due to audio sync problems.

    The only music I noticed was behind the opening and closing credits. The closing credits feature the song "When Footy Ruled The World".

    I did not detect any surround or subwoofer activity.

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

Extras

    Not a single extra biff, bump or brawl.

R4 vs R1

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

    This has only been released in Region 4, for obvious reasons.

Summary

    Interesting and also disturbing archival material from 45 years of violence, sorry, footy on Seven. Worth a look if you follow the game.

    The video quality is quite good given the source material.

    The audio quality is satisfactory.

    There are no extras.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Philip Sawyer (Bio available.)
Thursday, March 04, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-S733A, using Component output
DisplaySony 86CM Trinitron Wega KVHR36M31. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to DVD player, Dolby Digital, dts and DVD-Audio. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationYamaha RX-V596 for surround channels; Yamaha AX-590 as power amp for mains
SpeakersMain: Tannoy Revolution R3; Centre: Richter Harlequin; Rear: Pioneer S-R9; Subwoofer: JBL SUB175

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