AFL-St Kilda: Wall to Wall (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Sports	Main Menu Audio & Animation
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	101:16 (Case: 100)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	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	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	None Given

    St. Kilda - Wall to Wall will likely have a narrow (although on recent form expanding) appeal. It is, unsurprisingly, particularly for anyone who has encountered any of the other Wall to Wall DVD releases, a retrospective on the St. Kilda Football Club. Founded in 1873 and thus one of the original teams to join the Victorian Football League in the final years of the 19th century, the club has had its fair share of success, failure, inspirational moments and truly great players.

    For those new to AFL, with only this year's performance by the Saints to base an appreciation of the club on, it may be surprising to note that St. Kilda has been without success for most of its long years as a football club. In fact, only in 1966 did they bear aloft that 'holy grail' of football - the Premiership Cup. Cynics may be tempted to quip then that the makers of this DVD of highlights have done a remarkable job in fleshing out the documentary to a respectable 100 or so minutes considering the club's dearth of success. However, punctuated by flashing red screens and block lettering of such titles as 'The Sharpshooters', 'The Heroes' and 'The Screamers' this is a well-paced, well-edited collection of some genuinely great moments in the history of the club.

    Showcasing some of the greatest talent the game has ever seen - the likes of Barker, Lockett (before his move to the Sydney Swans), Burke and dual Brownlow medallist Robert Harvey, along with the emerging new talent that so far this year has carried the club to great success this is a must buy for any diehard enthusiast for the team from Moorabbin. I for one, as a staunch Hawthorn supporter bemoaning their stumble now to the very bottom of the ladder, found viewing a little difficult at times, but one cannot deny that they've been the form side of 2004 thus far.

Video

    This is a 1.33:1 transfer, not 16x9 enhanced, obviously drawing on the extensive archives of the television broadcasters in this country for a variety of footage that ranges from early black and white to digitally shot footage from the past couple of years. For this reason there is an obvious fluctuation in picture quality. What must be said, however, is that the transfer itself is excellent.

    Sharpness and shadow detail are as good as one would expect.

    Colours were excellently rendered, and improved markedly the later the footage.

    Grain was only existent in some of the older footage, but the eye adjusts very quickly because it is, after all, archival footage. Some MPEG artefacts were noticeable on occasion, but again, nothing serious. As for aliasing - the grass shimmers a little on occasion but it isn't really a problem.

    Film artefacts are almost non-existent.

    No subtitles are offered.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    We are presented with a clear and precise English Dolby Stereo 2.0 track that does its job well.

    Audio dropouts and distortions are negligible.

    Dialogue, whether the well articulated voiceovers or the myriad of commentators' exhortations, was easy to hear and understand. The older material was a little tinnier and harsher to the ear - but added an authentic 'golden age' flavour.

    The surrounds get nothing to do at all, and the subwoofer does even less.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    There are no extras.

    This is an all region DVD so as long as you have a PAL compatible set this is the first and only choice.

    St. Kilda - Wall to Wall is a professionally presented feature on one of the oldest of our AFL clubs.

    The video presentation is uniformly excellent.

    The audio suits its purpose admirably.

    There are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall