Brum-Stunt Bike Rescue (1992)

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Menu Animation & Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	1992
Running Time	49
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Toyah Willcox Robert Berk Steve Murphy Merlyn Rice
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$19.95	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Brum is an English TV production aimed at the children's market. It' is shown in Australia regularly as part of ABC Kids programming and is one of the more enjoyable shows in that diet. In fact, this disc is released here under the ABC logo.

    Just who is Brum? He's a little car (perhaps all of 1.5m in length) that is alive!  He (it?) drives himself around and helps to solve an almost endless variety of problems that occur in the Big Town. Why is he called 'Brum'? Perhaps it's just a reference to the engine sound, or perhaps he's from Birmingham?

    The combination of exciting stories, slapstick humour, bright visuals and nice music make Brum a favourite in our family (and not just with the little ones...)

    This disc, which is the 5th Brum released to date, contains five stories, each of about 10 minutes duration:

    1. Stunt Bike Rescue (9:48)

    Granny Slippers gets into some strife when trying to ride a stunt motorbike at the Big Town fair. Brum saves the day...

    2. Chasing Balloons (10:06)

    Brum chases a thief who's scarpered with the Balloon Seller's wares.

    3. Runaway Train (10:16)

    Oh no, the mini train at the Big Town Fair suddenly runs out of control...and it's carrying the Mayor and his wife!  Will Brum be able to save the train and its doomed passengers?

    4. Gorilla Caper (9:49)

    The villainous Shadow, dressed as a gorilla (yes...the animal), makes off with a coin collection box. Will Brum be able to track him down and recover the booty?

    5. Splash and Grab (10:19)

    A couple of cads steal a trophy and the medals from the Big Town swimming competition. Brum gets his tyres wet chasing them. I thought the river chase sequence was pretty exciting stuff!

Video

    The video transfer is presented in 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. This appears to be consistent with its original recorded format.

    The picture is a really lovely, sharp one at all times, not surprising given that it's probably recorded on digital video.

    There is no problem with shadow detail. Come to think of it, there was very little shadow to speak of anyway!

    There is no evidence of grain or low-level noise.

    Colour is lovely and vibrant with all colours standing out wonderfully without ever being oversaturated or exhibiting any colour bleed. Flesh tones are very lifelike.

    There are no film artefacts, nor any film-to-video artefacts, perhaps again due to the the source material being digital video.

    Surprisingly there are no subtitles at all on this disc.

    I could not spot the layer change and surmise that it was placed between episodes.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The only audio track on this disc is Dolby Digital 2.0 surround.

    Dialogue, which doesn't really make up that much of each story, is nevertheless clear at all times. None of the on-screen characters really say much, the main voices being 'narrators'.

    The music is acoustic based and seems to be a small band with piano, drums, and other instruments. It's wonderful to hear this somewhat old-fashioned style of music which is constant throughout each episode. The music lends a great deal to the on-screen entertainment as it changes rapidly between being dramatic, comical or frantic.

    The rear surround channels are brought to life only occasionally with some support of ambient sound effects. There is some front-to-rear and rear-to-front panning during the opening titles.

    Depending on individual system setups, the subwoofer is only called in to support the music as there is, of course, no discrete subwoofer channel in this audio track.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu Audio

    The main menu and submenu feature Brum driving around accompanied by his various sounds.

    This disc appears to have been released in R1 and R2 as well as locally in R4. All versions appear to have the same content, with only the cover varying between regions.

    Consequently, the R4 version is the recommended one.

    A highly enjoyable series that looks and sounds fresh and is thankfully free from animation or the violence that many so-called children's TV shows have. Brum seems to hark back to an earlier age of TV programmes, which doesn't make it old-fashioned by any means, just good fun.

    These episodes are sure to keep young kids (and the not-so-young) entertained, even after repeat viewings, as there is plenty happening on screen at all times.

    Good video and audio presentation, although perhaps surprisingly lacking in subtitles.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall