Wrecks to Riches-Volume 2 (2005)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	87:04
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Nomad Distribution	Starring	Barry White
Case	Amaray-Transparent
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

    From the makers of Mythbusters comes this Discovery channel programme that sees a rusting car wreck turned into a gleaming piece of automotive excellence. Barry White is one of America's foremost experts on customised hot rods and street machines. Using his car restoration business Barry's Speed Shop as a base, he takes on the challenge each week to find a wreck of an old car - preferably a classic and in a condition that will allow it to be restored. He then has four weeks to turn it into a fully restored classic that can be auctioned for a profit. He will regularly sink more than $US40K into the restoration, so the job needs to be good and the right buyer needs to be found.

    Volume Two of Wrecks to Riches features two episodes with Barry and his team tackling tricky rebuilds of two cars.

    Episode 1 - Dad Stole My Car (43:34)

    Barry needs a car to start a new rebuild, but after scouring the wrecking yards and the internet can't find anything suitable. All seems lost, until he remembers a partially restored wreck sitting in one corner of his yard - collecting dust and cobwebs. The only problem is this half-finished Chevelle doesn't belong to Barry, but his daughter Jen. With a bit of pleading Barry convinces Jen to part with the car, though she is obviously quite reluctant. It looks like the family relationship will be stretched to the limit as Barry races against time to get the car finished.

    Episode 2 - The Apprentices (43:33)

    Barry engages the help of five students from the local hot rod university. The guys eagerly pitch in to help restore a clapped out 1970 Pontiac le Mans with the aim of turning it into a super muscle car Pontiac GTO. The prize for the top student - a job at Barry's Speed Shop.

    Wrecks To Riches Volume Two continues the fun show that will appeal to all motoring enthusiasts even if you're not quite into the whole muscle car thing. Seeing the process the team goes through to restore a car to its former glory is an interesting experience.

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Video

    Just like volume one, this is once again 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. The repainted cars look an absolute treat here.

    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 single layered so there is no layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video 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 excellent with no obvious audio sync issues.

    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

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    As at the time of writing this review Wrecks to Riches does not appear to have been released on Region 1 DVD.

    Just like Volume One, Wrecks to Riches Volume Two will appeal to all car enthusiasts. The process the team goes through to restore a complete wreck to something shiny and beautiful is truly amazing. Host Barry White doesn't have quite the charisma of the two zany guys from Mythbusters, but he knows his stuff with the cars and his enthusiasm for the machinery shines through even if the laughs are few and far between. Volume Two sees his team tackle a Chevelle and a Pontiac.

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

     There are no extras.

Video
Audio
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Plot
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