Premier League-Goals of the Decade/A Decade of Great Matches (2003)

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Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Ten Seasons-Goals of the Decade (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Sports	Main Menu Audio & Animation
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	103:38 (Case: 100)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Visual Entertainment Group	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	None Given

    Ten Seasons-Goals of the Decade is a well presented compilation of goals scored in the English Premier League since its inception for the 1992-93 season up until the end of the 2001-02 season. All of the great goal scorers of this period are included such as Alan Shearer, Jurgen Klinsmann, Eric Cantona, Ian Wright, Matt Le Tissier, Andy Cole, Tony Yeboah, Dennis Bergkamp, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, David Beckham, Thierry Henry and even 'Our' Harry Kewell and 'Aussie' Mark Viduka. Many goals are also included from lesser known players due to the high quality of a particular goal they scored. The footage of goals is interspersed with interview footage with some of the players mentioned above and others, discussing how they scored a particular goal or commenting on other players in the premiership.

    In addition to this, also included (mostly in separate chapters) are features on the best goals from headers, best free kick goals, best saves, the 100 club (players who have scored 100 or more goals in the league), the Ten Seasons Awards (Best overseas player and Best English player of the decade) and a countdown of the Top 10 goals of the decade as chosen by a panel of experts and voted for by the public. The program also covers who won the Premier League in each season.

    Personally, I found some of the goals on here fantastic to watch, many of which reminded me of when I saw them for the first time while watching the match in question. I would have preferred it if more time had been spent on a smaller number of goals, explaining how the goal was scored and showing more of the lead up work. This disc has a very 'Blink and you'll miss it' approach to showing the goals with each one only being allocated a few seconds of footage and usually only from one angle. This problem was exacerbated by a very brief appearance of a close up of a part of the Premier League trophy between most goals. I found that this caused my eyes to change focus due to the close up and then not get back to the right focus in time for the lead up to the goal. Over 100 minutes this became annoying.

    Something else which I found a bit annoying was that some goals were presented with the original commentary, others were silent except for crowd noise and some had Martin Tyler (the narrator) talking over the top. Martin Tyler is an excellent commentator at a live soccer match but here I found his comments distracting rather than helpful. I assume this issue is a result of different ownership of the commentary tracks. I am guessing that the League would own the actual footage but the original transmitting network would own the commentary.

    Despite the issues mentioned above, this disc contains some excellent footage and is a great souvenir of the first ten years of the Premier League. This disc might be more enjoyable as a disc to dip in and out of rather than to watch all in one sitting.

Video

    The video quality is generally very good.

    The show is presented in 1.33:1 and is obviously not 16x9 enhanced. This is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was generally clear, however, some of the goals were a bit grainy especially earlier on the disc. Shadow detail was not an issue. There was no low level noise.

    The colour was bright and well saturated getting better towards the end, but was never a problem.

    The only artefact I noticed was that during one small section of the transfer (at 37:10) there were obviously some problems with the original videotape as there are some tracking marks. The logos of the Premier League which appear between chapters were quite grainy but this may have been by design.

    There are no subtitles.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is good.

    This DVD contains one audio option, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.    

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand throughout except for one or two non-English players such as Kanu. There were no problems with audio sync.    

    The theme music was fine and any fan of English soccer has heard it many times.

    The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu includes footage of some goals and music. It allows for chapter selection.

    This disc is available in Region 2 under a different title but seems to be exactly the same. It is also available in Region 1 as one disc of a 2-disc set.

    This disc is a great souvenir of the first 10 years of the English Premier League and is recommended for fans.

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is good.

    There are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Ten Seasons-A Decade of Great Matches (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Sports	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	165:53 (Case: 160)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Visual Entertainment Group	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	None Given

    If you are a fan of English soccer then you will no doubt have been following the English Premier League since its inception just over ten years ago. This disc brings together 18 of the best games from the first ten years, as selected by a panel of experts (I have no idea who they were, but they have put together a pretty good collection of matches). There is a companion disc to this one which looks at the Greatest Goals from those same ten years which has already been reviewed here at Michael D's. The Great Matches were first shown as a series of 3 TV shows which were aired here in Australia last year on SBS, and they are presented the same way on this DVD. I won't list every game on the discs, but some of the highlights are:

    Part 1:

• Liverpool vs Newcastle from 1996. This epic 7 goal encounter was voted best match of the decade by the panel, and has plenty of goals and excitement to justify that tag.
• Manchester United v Sheffield Wednesday from 1993. The first title to go to Old Trafford in 26 years, and this amazing finish helped it on its way.
• Leeds United vs Liverpool from 2000. Lots of local interest here as Mark Viduka gets 4 goals against the Liver boys.

    Part 2:

• West Ham vs Bradford City from 2000. Its not often you score 4 goals away from home and still lose.
• Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United from 1999. The original super sub comes on with 16 minutes to go and scores 4 goals as United finish with 8 during their famous treble season.

    Part 3:

• Liverpool v Newcastle from 1997. Amazingly this one finishes with 7 goals as well, and the same final score as their epic 1996 encounter.
• Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United from 2001. At half time the score is 3-0 to Spurs. Match over? Hardly! This one was voted 2nd best match of the decade by the panel and you won't see many better comebacks in major sports.

    Well, I have focused a little on my favourite team, but there is a great selection of classic matches on offer here which will please fans of the game generally. The presentation is a little strange, as there is no "Play All" option (you have to choose each part separately from its scene selection menu), but this is a minor niggle. The flow is also a little stilted, as the matches are not in chronological (or any logical) order. I also found the interview segments a little lengthy, and would have liked a little more action, but each match gets a reasonable run (segments vary from 7-13 minutes) and this is a pretty good overview of the Premier League up to the end of the 2001 season.

Video

    The matches on show here vary in age and the picture reflects this and their TV source to some extent, but the video transfer is not too bad overall.

    The aspect ratio is 1.33:1, non 16x9 enhanced, which is the original ratio as first shown on television.

    The sharpness of the picture varies, with the interviews looking very sharp (see 3:54 in Part 1) and most of the matches acceptable. There is the occasional older match, or night game, where sharpness is diminished (as at 39:27 in Part 2), but this is as good as this material ever looked on TV. There is no low level noise.

    The colours are generally vibrant, though at times the picture struggles to cope when part of the pitch is in sunshine and part in shade, but this happens on most football broadcasts.

    There is very little damage on show, apart from occasional minor aliasing in crowd scenes and on goal nets. This is a fairly recent show and the source looks to have been in pretty good condition.

    There are no subtitles. The layer change is at 28:22 in Part 2. It is between matches and so is not too disruptive.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio transfer is about what you would expect of a television sports show - it does the job but is naturally not the sort of thing you would use to demonstrate your new sound system to a friend.

    There is only the one audio track on offer, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track encoded at a bitrate of 192 Kb/s.

    The dialogue is clear at all times, and consists of either original match commentary, interview segments with players and managers, or voice-over introducing each of the matches. Audio sync is fine during the interview segments though there is some variation in volume between matches.

    The music is purely background and as such does its job well enough, with the volume nicely matched to the other sound elements..

    There is very little surround activity in this stereo transfer, though crowd atmosphere is nicely rendered across the front of the sound stage. The subwoofer is not engaged.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    There are no extras on the disc, but the generous selection of matches on offer here means that this is not really an issue.

Menu

    The menu is static with no audio. It allows you to go to Parts 1-3 of the main show. From the sub-menu for each Part you can select one of the 6 matches in each episode. To play an entire Part, just choose the first match on offer. There is no way to play all 3 episodes in sequence.

    The Region 2 release of this DVD has the same features as the Region 4. In Region 1 it is available as part of a two-disc set with the companion Great Goals DVD. I will give the local version the nod on grounds of availability, though pricing may play a part if you have access to better discounts overseas.

    This is an enjoyable disc which will please fans of English soccer. There really have been some great matches in the Premier League, and it was nice to see highlights of some of them again. The video and audio transfers do the job, and the lack of extras is not really an issue for once given the generous selection of matches on offer here.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall