FIFA Fever-Episode 2 (2004) |
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FIFA Fever-Episode 2 (2004) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Sports | Menu Animation & Audio | |
| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2004 | ||
| Running Time | 98:38 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | None Given |
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Studio
Distributor |
Cineasta Ent Twentieth Century Fox |
Starring | None Given |
| Case | ? | ||
| RPI | $34.95 | Music | None Given |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None | English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) | |
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | English for the Hearing Impaired | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
This is the second of two discs which focus on the soccer World Cup, including footage from the first world cup in 1930 right through to 2002. Rather than being a history of the World Cup these discs take a more magazine style approach to the subject and each episode is divided up into chapters about different topics. There are also small segments about the history of FIFA between the main chapters. Most of the running time is taken up by action footage of games through the years, although there are also occasional interviews with the personalities involved. I mentioned in my review of Episode 1 that I was annoyed by the cropping of older 1.33:1 footage to 1.78:1 to fit it into a widescreen frame. This problem annoyed me even more on this disc, as I constantly noticed that parts of the action were missing. I know this rant should be in the video section but to my mind it significantly affects the watching of the show. One team goal featured in the greatest team goals countdown had more footage with the ball off the screen than on. I found it significantly annoying.
This episode features the following sections:
I found this program entertaining but I don't really think it's something you would return to again and again. The cropping issue really turned me off. Considering the price of this disc (around $25) I struggle to see value for money. I also believe this would have been better with the two episodes packaged together as a set rather than each disc needing to be bought separately.
The video quality is annoying due to the aspect ratio.
The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is definitely not the original aspect ratio for most (if not all) of this footage. This footage has been cropped top and bottom to make it widescreen which has removed important detail from the action, such as not being able to see the goal when the ball is struck. I find this extremely annoying as much of the action is lost to force a DVD to fit widescreen televisions. This is just as bad as pan & scanning a widescreen movie. I will remove one star from the overall rating for incorrect aspect ratio as per the site's policy.
The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout but obviously varied dependent upon the age of the footage, with no evidence of low level noise. Grain was present on the older footage.
The colour was variable depending upon the age of the footage and as you would expect included a variety of colour issues such as bleeding, colour variation and cross colourisation.
Artefacts in older footage included jagged edges, tape tracking errors and specks and flecks, however, considering the age and source these were not too bad.
There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired. The English subtitles were clear, easy to read and exact to the spoken word.
| Sharpness |  |
| Shadow Detail |  |
| Colour | |
| Grain/Pixelization | |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall |  |
The audio quality is good.
This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s.
Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync. The music by Simon Woodgate was grating on my nerves by the end of the 90 minutes.
The surround speakers added some mild atmosphere when played using Dolby ProLogic II.
The subwoofer was not used.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
| Surround Channel Use | |
| Subwoofer | |
| Overall |  |
None.
The menu included music and the ability to select scenes and subtitles.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This show has been released in Region 1 with both episodes in one set with better features. The differences are as follows:
The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;
The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;
In short, we got well and truly shagged.
The video quality is badly cropped.
The audio quality is good.
The disc has no extras.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras | |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV667A DVD-V DVD-A SACD, using Component output |
| Display | Sony FD Trinitron Wega KV-AR34M36 80cm. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL)/480i (NTSC). |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Pioneer VSX-511 |
| Speakers | Bose 201 Direct Reflecting (Front), Phillips SB680V (Surround), Phillips MX731 (Center), Yamaha YST SW90 (Sub) |