AFL-Essendon: Wall to Wall (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Sports	Main Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	100:48
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	Graham Moss Gavin Wanganeen Jack Clarke Barry Davis John Birt Neale Daniher Terry Daniher Anthony Daniher Leon Baker Paul Vanderhaar James Hird Tim Watson Simon Madden
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	?	Music	None Given

    Essendon - Wall to Wall is another in the series of Australian Rules Football DVDs released by the Visual Entertainment Group. Like the other titles in the Wall to Wall series, it dedicates its entire running time to highlights of the one club - and this one is obviously dedicated to the highly successful club from Windy Hill - the Essendon Bombers.

    Supporters of the Bombers certainly have plenty of reason to smile with the club being one of the most successful in the history of the VFL/AFL. A record-equalling 16 premierships, countless finals appearances, a host of Brownlow medallists, and a swag of champion players and there isn't much that players from Essendon haven't done. Led by current coach Kevin Sheedy who is a master of the game and always eager to try new things and promote the game to its limits, the Bombers are one the most widely followed teams in the league.

    This disc contains highlights of some of the true champions produced by the Bombers, with the likes of Brownlow medallists Graham Moss, Gavin Wanganeen, and James Hird, goal kicking machine Matthew Lloyd, high flyers like Paul Vanderhaar and inspirational skippers Tim Watson and Gary O'Donnell featured among several others.

    There are also segments dedicated to some of the special matches played over the last forty years, with five minute highlight compilations of the 1993 Round 3 game against Sydney when Matthew Lloyd booted 13 goals, the 'Baby Bomber' grand final of 1993 against Carlton, the rare black and white footage of the 1965 premiership win over St Kilda, and the tough encounter that was the 1984 premiership win over Hawthorn.

    For those that like the tough stuff there is also plenty of action, with footage of 'Fabulous' Phil Carman's notorious head butt of umpire Graham Carbery in 1980, and plenty of biff and bash in some truly bruising encounters in the early 1980s (mostly against Hawthorn it would seem).

    All up, there is more than 100 minutes of some great nostalgic highlights here that will bring back many memories and provide a chance for any Essendon fan to relive some of the club's most famous moments all over again.

Video

    Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, the transfer is not 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is comprised entirely of material sourced from television over a period starting around 1962.

   The footage is of extremely variable quality, with the early 1960s black and white material suffering from all manner of artefacts, noise, tracking lines, distortion, and snow. Things improve for the 70s and early 80s highlights which appear in colour but are also a fair bit fuzzier than the 90s material. There are no problems with shadow detail.

    The colours are variable though well rendered and there are no problems to contend with despite some of the material certainly looking its age.

    No MPEG artefacts are evident, and aside from some obvious analogue tape problems in the older footage, it is mostly clear of other imperfections.

    There are no subtitles.

    This is a single layered disc so there is no layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    Seeing as the disc is comprised exclusively of television highlights, we get television quality audio. This is not to say it is bad. It does its job and that's all that can be expected.

    There is only one audio track available, this being an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

    Dialogue is clear and concise at all times, if perhaps a little harsh when the commentators get carried away with excitement and the roar of the crowd tries to drown them out. The early 1960s material is really quite lacking in fidelity and the two 1962 games contain a fair amount of background hiss.

    There is no surround or subwoofer use.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu Audio

    This disc is not available in Region 1.

    Essendon - Wall to Wall is a great disc for Bombers fans who cannot get enough of their incredibly successful club. It contains stacks of highlights and memories of some of the best moments in the club's history between 1962 and 2002.

    The video is average, but based on the source material is more than acceptable.

    The audio is functional without being outstanding.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall