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Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
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.
8 Seconds (1994)

8 Seconds (1994)

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Released 10-Feb-2004

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama Dolby Digital Trailer
Theatrical Trailer
Rating Rated M
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
16x9 Enhanced
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

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

Plot Synopsis

   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.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    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.

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

Audio

    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.

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

Extras

    There is one extra.

Menu

    A very simple menu.

Theatrical Trailer

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, non 16x9 enhanced, with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.

R4 vs R1

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.

Summary

   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.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Brandon Robert Vogt (warning: bio hazard)
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-535, using S-Video output
DisplayGrundig Elegance 82-2101 (82cm, 16x9). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationSony STR DE-545
SpeakersSony SS-V315 x5; Sony SA-WMS315 subwoofer

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