Mythbusters-Christmas Special (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-Mythbusters Revealed
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	98:58 (Case: 100)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Various
Studio Distributor	SBS Beyond Home Entertainment	Starring	Jamie Hyneman Adam Savage Tory Belleci Scottie Chapman Kari Byron Christine Chamberlain Heather Joseph-Witham Robert Lee
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$24.95	Music	Neil Sutherland Bill Aiers Dana Hughes

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

    I said in my review late last year of Mythbusters Box 1, that hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage had just about the best jobs in the world. I mean where else would you get to mess around with fancy gadgets and really cool toys in addition to having the chance to create some really big explosions? Welcome to the world of the Mythbusters where no myth goes unbusted and no explosion can be deemed too big.

    With more than 30 years experience in the world of special effects between them, hosts Hyneman and Savage know a lot about building things, improvising with all manner of materials they have on hand in their large storage facility and making the biggest explosion they possibly can. The pair bring an entertaining and zany, yet almost always informative vibe to the show which relies on the banter and ribbing between the two hosts for laughs. There's no need for any bikini-clad bimbos such as the Brainiac Babes in the English television show Brainiac which is closely related to Mythbusters.

    Screening on SBS in Australia (and as a segment on Beyond Tomorrow I believe), each Mythbusters episode sees our intrepid hosts enthusiastically setting out to prove or debunk some of the more well known (and I must admit some I have never heard of) urban myths that abound in every day life. Calling on the resources of their special effects storage facility, which houses a virtual cornucopia of building material, gadgets, toys and tools the two set about building various rigs and dummies needed to test out these various myths with the aim of finally proving or disproving them for good. Along the way they have all manner of funny experiences which often involve copious amounts of fire and explosives.

    This special Christmas episode screened on SBS just prior to Christmas 2006 and sees the guys trying to debunk a few festive season-style myths. We get to discover if a clothed snowman will melt faster than an uncovered one. Whether a falling icicle can cause death (I alway wanted to know that), whether a silver spoon placed in an open bottle of champagne will keep it bubbling longer, and whether it is possible to make a turkey explode if placed in boiling oil. Interspersed in the episode is a top ten countdown of the all-time favourite myths as voted by the viewers. Here you'll see highlights of all the really good stuff since the show began such as the famous tree cannon and the dead pig in the car.

    This is a really fun and almost always informative show that provides some excellent entertainment. Highly recommended for fans of the show and those yet to catch it on free-to-air television.

Video

    This is a lovely video transfer, obviously benefiting from modern digital cameras. It is presented in the widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is also 16x9 enhanced.

    All the vision is incredibly sharp and detailed, and is consistently good throughout. There isn't a trace of edge enhancement and there are absolutely no problems with shadow detail. There is little grain.

    The colours are excellent, with deep saturation and even and consistent shading.

    There are no compression artefacts and video artefacts are also absent. All up, this is a very clean image with no problems to report.

    Unfortunately, there are no subtitles available at all on this disc. This is disappointing.

    The disc is dual layered with the layer change placed between episodes.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
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Film Artefacts
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Audio

    There is only one audio soundtrack on the disc, that being an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at the bitrate of 192 Kb/s. Despite the surround flag not being embedded in the bitstream, there is certainly enough separation across the front and rear left/right channels to suggest it is surround encoded. It is quite a decent soundtrack that is as clear and precise as you could hope for.

    Dialogue is extremely important here. The odd word or two is a little muffled, more than likely a result of the poor surroundings in which they were recorded. I noticed no obvious audio sync issues.

    The theme tune for the show features at the beginning of each episode and is incredibly catchy.

    There is only minimal surround and subwoofer use.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu Audio & Animation

Featurette - Mythbusters Revealed (49:31)

    A bonus episode that screened on SBS just before Christmas, this is dedicated to all manner of behind the scenes stuff from the show. There are bloopers, accidents and plenty of laughs as the cast discuss each other and why they think the show is a success. Worth a look, especially for the seeing the number of times Adam manages to injure himself.

     Mythbusters episodes are available in Region 1, though the actual episodes contained in each volume are different. I couldn't find any reference to this actual title in Region 1.

    Mythbusters is still a dead-set classic television show, combining laughs with some real educational facts to produce something that is fun, informative and best of all, entertaining. Hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman have a rare chemistry with each other that adds so much to the success of each episode.

    The video quality is excellent while the two channel audio is more than up to the job.

    There is one substantial extra which is effectively another whole episode.

    This comes wholeheartedly recommended for a great night's entertainment. You might even learn something.

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