8 Seconds (1994) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Drama |
Dolby Digital Trailer Theatrical Trailer |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 1994 | ||
Running Time | 100:07 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | John G. Avildsen |
Studio
Distributor |
Roadshow Home Entertainment |
Starring |
James Rebhorn Cameron Finley Carrie Snodgress Dustin Mayfield Clyde Frost Elsie Frost Luke Perry Stephen Baldwin Red Mitchell Gabriel Folse Joe Stevens Clint Burkey Cynthia Geary |
Case | Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip | ||
RPI | $24.95 | Music |
Bill Conti Reba McEntire |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) | |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | ||
16x9 Enhancement |
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Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | English for the Hearing Impaired | Smoking | Yes |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | Yes, footage of real Lane Frost |
8 Seconds is an enjoyable movie that tells the story of former World Champion Bull Rider, Lane Frost.
Frost competed in rodeo events for most of his life, starting as a child. Some of his many career highlights include winning the 1987 Bull Riding World Championship, being the only bull rider to ever ride the famous bull, Red Rock, for 8 seconds (a bull that had been considered impossible to ride after over 300 other cowboys had previously tried and failed), and in 1988, Frost competed in the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada, winning a bronze medal. Sadly, while still in his twenties, Frost was killed during a rodeo in Wyoming in 1989.
Directed by John G. Avildsen (Rocky, The Karate Kid, The Power Of One), 8 Seconds unashamedly paints Frost as the all-American hero. Interestingly, while Frost’s affairs are included, the fact that he was a committed Christian is not. Luke Perry does a great job in presenting Frost as the simple and likeable cowboy who dreams of being a champion, and who desperately yearns for the love and respect of his father. Stephen Baldwin also turns in a good performance as Frost’s friend, and a later World Champion himself, Tuff Hedeman.
I found that the romantic scenes dragged, as there was little chemistry between Perry and his on-screen love interest, Kellie (Cynthia Geary); but overall this is a pleasant rainy day movie.
Overall, the transfer is quite good.
The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, 16x9 enhanced.
The sharpness and shadow detail are both good, although the picture is a little grainy at times. The colour is mostly very good, and the skin tones are usually accurate.
There are no problem with MPEG artefacts, but film-to-video artefacts appear as aliasing throughout, such as the shimmer on the car grille at 22:51. Tiny film artefacts appear from time to time, but they were never distracting.
Only English for the Hearing Impaired subtitles are present, and they are accurate. This is a single-sided, single layered disc.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
Despite what the DVD's back cover promises, there is only one audio option on this DVD: English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s).
Despite the heavy accents, the dialogue quality and audio sync are excellent.
The musical score is credited to Bill Conti, and it contributes enormously to the emotion of the film. There are also a number of country flavoured tunes throughout.
The surround mix is quite reasonable most of the time, but I sometimes found that the score, through the rears, drowned out the dialogue. The LFE track kicked in occasionally as required, especially to add an extra thump or two during the rodeo scenes.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
There is one extra.
A very simple menu.
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, non 16x9 enhanced, with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
8 Seconds was released on DVD in Region 1 in February this year. From what I can tell our versions are much the same, except that the R1 consumers also get the choice of watching a "full frame" version.
While a little slow at times, I found 8 Seconds quite enjoyable. The rodeo and bull riding scenes are excellent and very exciting.
The video quality is good.
The audio quality is also good.
The extras are slim.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Pioneer DV-535, using S-Video output |
Display | Grundig Elegance 82-2101 (82cm, 16x9). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Sony STR DE-545 |
Speakers | Sony SS-V315 x5; Sony SA-WMS315 subwoofer |