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Overall | Brum-Airport and Other Stories (1992) | Brum-Snow Thieves and Other Stories (2002) | Brum-Kitten Rescue and Other Stories (1992)

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Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Brum-Airport Adventures/Snow Thieves/Kitten Rescue (1992)

Brum-Airport Adventures/Snow Thieves/Kitten Rescue (1992)

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Released 3-Oct-2007

Cover Art

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Overall Package

    A great set of 3 DVDs packed with no less than a total of 16 complete episodes of this wonderful, slightly old-fashioned kids show. Each episode runs for about 10 minutes so there's plenty here to keep children entertained. I'm sure they'd enjoy the bright colours, the happy music and the over-the-top antics of Brum and the many people he encounters in his adventures in Big Town! 

    There are also numerous extras on the 3 disks.

    The picture quality is good, with occasional traces of aliasing, though I'm sure the target audience isn't going to lose sleep over that. The audio is clear at all times and the music is bound to please viewers.

    My only criticism is that the packaging itself is of the type that threatens to break the DVD when you're removing it. It hasn't happened to me yet, but it really does grip the disk very securely!

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Satish Rajah (don't read my bio!)
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Other Reviews NONE
Overall | Brum-Airport and Other Stories (1992) | Brum-Snow Thieves and Other Stories (2002) | Brum-Kitten Rescue and Other Stories (1992)

PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Brum-Airport and Other Stories (1992)

Brum-Airport and Other Stories (1992)

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Released 4-Nov-2002

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Childrens Main Menu Audio & Animation
Featurette-Bags Of Gags (3)
Game-Quiz
Featurette-Top Secret Files (3)
Rating Rated G
Year Of Production 1992
Running Time 52:41
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Vic Finch
Emma Lindley
Nigel P Harris
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring None Given
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $24.95 Music Paul Honey
Howard McGill


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

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Brum is an English show about a small car (called Brum) , about one quarter scale. He is a reproduction of a vintage car and is alive in the same sense as Herby The Love Bug. He resides in a garage with a number of real vintage cars that show no signs of life, and escapes on a daily basis to go out into Big Town and have a series of adventures. In reality he is a remote-controlled little car with an amazing number of moving parts; the doors, starter handle, bonnet, and suspension all move.

    Fame appears to have gone to Brum's head. I have some of his earlier shows on tape and they were much more story-based and the opening and closing credits were much lower key. The whole show has become much more slapstick, in fact, really over-the-top. Despite this, my three and a half year old does like this show and will sit riveted when it is on.

    Each show only runs for just over ten minutes, including the standard opening and dance routine closing.

Brum and the Airport Adventure (10:42)

    A couple of very bumbling crooks attempt to steal a case full of jewels. Brum and a number of characters are off on the chase around the airport. This very much has the feel of a very old Keystone Cops routine.

Brum and the Naughty Dog (10:44)

    A very well-trained dog is off after a flying hot-dog. During the chase he ends up in deep trouble...really deep. In fact, down a hole and it is up to a very resourceful Brum to save the day.

Brum and the Pizzeria (10:36)

    The same two crooks as seen in our first episode try this time to make off with the daily takings from a pizza shop. After a food fight and a chase the crooks get their just deserts...

Brum and the Gymnast (10:13)

    A very cute little gymnast loses the hoop that she uses in her routine. The hoop makes a break for it out the door and through the streets of Big Town with Brum following close behind. Can he retrieve the wayward hoop before the gymnastic competition is finished?

Brum and the King of Thieves (10:12)

    Brum takes a trip to the local Big Town museum. While there, the Big Town baddie tries to steal the Big Town crown. Another Keystone Cops routine ensues to bring about the return of the crown.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     There is an unfortunate amount of compression used on this disc that shows up in particular on moving objects.

    The transfer is presented at 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    Non-moving parts of the image are quite sharp, but the minute they move they degrade very quickly. The robber making his getaway at 3:55 is a very good example of this, though even the slightest moment is a problem. For example, when Brum rocks from side to side, the word 'Brum' on his radiator blurs significantly. Shadow detail is good and there is no low level noise. In some scenes the white levels are very high and are just at the level where you start to lose white detail.

    There are lots of very bright primary colours in Brum and they are reproduced quite well - this is probably one of the reasons the little ones like this show.

    MPEG artefacts occur mostly in moving objects. The same example quoted above (3:55) that shows a loss of sharpness also contains examples of the pixelization that occurs in moving objects. I suspect that this show was shot on video and contains a lot of aliasing - every line staircases and shimmers its way through the show. Even hair is not exempt, such as at 3:47. Backgrounds also suffer from all the above. The fairly complex background at 4:17 is a very interesting example.

    There are no subtitles on this single layered disc.

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

Audio

     The majority of the soundtrack for Brum is either sound effects or music, with a young girl doing an occasional voice-over.

    There is a single English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack on this disc.

    The small amount of dialogue present is easy to understand at all times. The audio sync is difficult to judge, but appears correct.

    The music is very over-the-top and consists of clear chase themes, bad guy themes and so on. It seems to work very well for the target age group.

    The surrounds and the subwoofer had little, if anything, to do.

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

Extras

     The extras are all aimed at the kiddies and consist of the following:

Menu

    Presented at 1.78:1 and 16x9 enhanced the main menu is a stylised picture of Big Town with Brum driving in and out of shot and making a fair amount of noise, particularly with his horn. Parents will not want to have this running for too long. It is accompanied by a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Bags of Gags

    A series of three short clips involving funny situations centred around Brum. Brum and the Grapefruit Grab (1:47), Brum and the Knicker Grab (1:30) and Brum and the Camera Caper (1:51). While the kids will enjoy the slapstick humour, adults will get tired of reaching for the remote. All are presented at 1.78:1 and are 16x9 enhanced with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Brum Quiz

    For some reason, the volume seems a bit higher in this section than the others. A series of ten questions appear. They are multiple choice with three possible answers. You select the answer with the up/down arrows on your remote and hit Enter to select. A correct answer shows a picture of a happy Brum. An incorrect answer, an unhappy Brum. The questions may be a bit hard for the target age group but with help they will get through. At the end, another menu is presented. On this there are a selection of ten different sound effects that you can play. Each sound effect is associated with one of the questions - if you got that question correct, then the effect can be played, if not, then the sound effect is greyed-out and not available.

Top Secret Files

    Information on three of the residents of Big Town; Scruffy (the dog), Visiting Man and Granny Slippers. When selected, a short clip including the character plays followed by a small amount of text information.

R4 vs R1

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

    There does not appear to be a Region 1 version of this disc. There is a Region 2 version which appears to be identical.

Summary

    Parents may be driven a little nuts trying to get the questions right to let the kids hear all the sound effects, but other than that this is a very good disc for the kids. I still can't get the image of the Keystone Cops, or any other slapstick from that era out of my mind when I watch these episodes - the music, the over-the-top acting and expressions on the faces all add up to that.

    The video is a little disappointing.

    The audio is serviceable.

    The extras are short but not bad.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Terry McCracken (read my bio)
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
Review Equipment
DVDSkyworth 1050p progressive scan, using RGB output
DisplaySony 1252q CRT Projector, Screen Technics matte white screen 16:9 (223cm). Calibrated with AVIA Guide To Home Theatre. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with AVIA Guide To Home Theatre.
AmplificationSony STR-DB1070
SpeakersB&W DM305 (mains); CC3 (centre); S100 (surrounds); custom Adire Audio Tempest with Redgum plate amp (subwoofer)

Other Reviews
The DVD Bits - Dean B
DVD Net - Gavin T

Overall | Brum-Airport and Other Stories (1992) | Brum-Snow Thieves and Other Stories (2002) | Brum-Kitten Rescue and Other Stories (1992)

PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Brum-Snow Thieves and Other Stories (2002)

Brum-Snow Thieves and Other Stories (2002)

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Released 27-Feb-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Childrens Menu Animation & Audio
Featurette-Bag Of Gags (3)
Featurette-Top Secret Files (3)
Rating Rated G
Year Of Production 2002
Running Time 60:36
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Vic Finch
Chris Bernhard
Paul Leather
Brian Simmons
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Paul Jackson
John Woodford
Norma Cohen
Rochi Rampal
Tom Wright
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $29.95 Music Paul Honey
Howard McGill


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

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    I have seen quite a few episodes of Brum on Pay TV. My normal reaction is along the lines of "I'm glad that only went for 10 minutes". This is definitely made for kids only.

    To more accurately assess a title of this importance (I am not joking - being a kids DVD it will get watched more than anything else in your collection), I assembled a team of expert reviewers to assist me. The team consisted of Emily (5), Kate (2 1/2), Dominic (4) and Sebastian (3). We all sat down and the fun began.

    Brum-Snow Thieves and Other Stories is a collection of six episodes of the children's series. For those of you who are not familiar with Brum let me fill you in. Brum is a superhero. He is a small yellow classic car that has headlights for eyes and is constantly beeping his horn. He is always out cruising the town, ready to lend a helping hand or, in this case, lend a helping wheel. This usually entails chasing some baddies and retrieving some stolen property for the grateful townspeople. The stories are short, simple and highly repetitive. Each episode is only about 10 minutes long and therefore usually holds the child's attention for the entire episode. Warning: Adults with prolonged exposure to this DVD may need to seek medical advice.

    More importantly, how did my reviewing team react? After all, these DVDs are purchased to keep the kids quite and give parents a break. After announcing we were going to watch Brum there was an initial period of running around, screaming and cheers of excitement. When at last all review members had found a seat and Brum began, the house was eerily quiet and remained this way for the entire first episode. When the episode finished, the team demanded more or there would be a riot. We watched the entire six episodes in one sitting and, except for minor scuffles over who was sitting in the red chair first, hardly a sound was made. This was a minor miracle. It was not until the last episode that the team became restless and the noise level started to increase once again.

Brief Episode Summary:

Episode 1- Brum and the Snow Thieves (10:07)

    Thieves steal money from the Ski Store. Brum chases after them and during the course of the chase goes skiing. Brum saves the day in the end.

Episode 2- Brum and the Golden Loo (10:11)

    A neighbour's toilet is broken and spraying water into the street. Brum, always ready to lend a hand, goes looking for a new loo for the neighbour. He finds the perfect loo. It is gold and diamond encrusted. Two baddies steal the loo and a chase ensues.

Episode 3- Brum and the Runaway Ball (9:49)

    Brum is out cruising the town while workmen are placing decorative big stone balls around a public square. One of the stone balls comes loose and rolls away. Brum chases it, trying to stop it from causing too much damage.

Episode 4- Brum and the Music Box (10:04)

    Brum is at ballet school and the dancers are practising to the music from a music box. There is a baddie disguised as a dancer who steals the music box. Brum comes to the rescue and a chase begins.

Episode 5- Brum and the Bowling Alley (10:02)

    Brum helps a girl carry her heavy bag and ends up at the bowling alley. There is a baddie lurking about who steals a man's wallet, full of money. Brum comes to the rescue and a chase begins.

Episode 6- Brum and the Pantomime Cow (10:23)

    Brum is watching a busker while two baddies steal the busker's money. The baddies disguise themselves in a cow costume. Brum once again comes to the rescue and another chase begins.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

    The video transfer is excellent and of near reference quality.

    The transfer is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced.

    There is no difference in transfer quality between the episodes. The transfer is clear and sharp from beginning to end. The amount of depth perception in the shadows is excellent. There is no hint of low level noise at any stage.

    The colours are clear and constant with no untoward variations evident. The colours used throughout the episodes are predominantly bright primary colours so as to grab and hold the attention of the target audience, kids.

    There were no MPEG artefacts to be seen. Film-to-video artefacts were also non-existent. Film artefacts are usually the most common and noticeable flaw in any transfer, but in this case there were none present.

    There are no subtitles available on this disc.

    This is a single layered disc and therefore there is no layer change.

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

Audio

    The audio transfer is acceptable but not of the same quality as the video.

    There is only one audio track present on the disc, being stereo English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s).

    What little dialogue there is is clear and easily understood at all times. All of the dialogue in Brum episodes is performed by a narrator - at no time do any of the actor speak. Audio sync was not an issue with this disc.

    The music is by Paul Honey and Howard McGill and is very unusual. The music throughout the episodes is simple and standardised, but after a while it does become a bit repetitive. The music matches exactly the on-screen action; when Brum is chasing the baddies, the chase music always plays. This aids in the understanding process for small children.

    As the only audio offering on the disc is a 2.0 stereo track the surround speakers and subwoofer remain silent.

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

Extras

    There is a small selection of extras available.

Menu

    The menu system has an animated scene with the sound of Brum driving around a snowy field while snow is falling and a static picture of a town in the background. The menu system is clear and easily understood. All options are well labelled.

Bag of Gags

    These featurettes show Brum helping out small groups of the townspeople in some humorous situations. In total there are three different scenes on offer. These are; Moving Box, Sticky Poster and Candyfloss.

Top Secret Files

    This feature provides a biography for some of the characters in the story episodes. In all there are three character biographies; the Traffic Policeman, Bubble & Squeak, and Mr Brilo.

R4 vs R1

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

    Brum- Snow Thieves and Other Stories is not available in Region 1. However, it is available in Region 2 and that version appears to be identical to this release.

Summary

    Brum- Snow Thieves and Other Stories is a kid's-only DVD release. Adults - watch at your own risk. However, the kids love it, the stories are short and simple, and Brum always saves the day. The DVD has been given an excellent video transfer that would put most Hollywood movies to shame. The audio is acceptable and the extras minimal.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Geoff Greer (read my bio)
Thursday, July 31, 2003
Review Equipment
DVDSony DVP-S525, using S-Video output
DisplayBang & Olufsen BeoVision Avante 82cm 16:9 Widescreen. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderDenon AVR-1803. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationDenon AVR 1803
SpeakersParadigm: Phantom Version 3 Front, Jensen SPX-13 Centre, Jensen SPX-5 Rear, Jensen SPX-17 Sub

Other Reviews
The DVD Bits - Dean B

Overall | Brum-Airport and Other Stories (1992) | Brum-Snow Thieves and Other Stories (2002) | Brum-Kitten Rescue and Other Stories (1992)

PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Brum-Kitten Rescue and Other Stories (1992)

Brum-Kitten Rescue and Other Stories (1992)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 10-Feb-2004

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Childrens Menu Animation & Audio
Rating Rated G
Year Of Production 1992
Running Time 49:41
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By John Dahl
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Nicolas Cage
Craig Reay
Vance Johnson
Robert Apel
Bobby Joe McFadden
J.T. Walsh
Lara Flynn Boyle
Dale Gibson
Ted Parks
Babs Bram
Robert Guajardo
Sarah Sullivan
Timothy Carhart
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $19.95 Music William Olvis


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
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 Yes

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    Brum: Kitten Rescue & Other Stories is a collection of five episodes from the ever-popular Brum children's show. Each episode runs about ten minutes and is aimed squarely at the preschooler. The stories are all slapstick fun, and are designed in a way that harks back to the silent film era. The stories contain the required ingredients that parents should look for in a worthy children's show. Each episode teaches right from wrong, the value of friendship and possesses enough light humour to entertain the little darlings while the grown-ups attend to other things. Like Bob The Builder and Postman Pat, Brum is another winner from the ever-reliable Children's Programming division at the BBC.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    Brum is presented in an aspect ratio of 1:78:1 and is 16x9 enhanced for widescreen television.

    Sharpness levels are flawless with no edge enhancement or aliasing present. Shadow detail is of equal quality with strong blacks and well rendered background detail. There are no grain or low level noise problems.

    Colours are bright and natural.

    No specific video artefacts were noticeable during the transfer.

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

Audio

    The show has been given a solitary English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround audio soundtrack.

    Dialogue is always clear, but as the show's only voice is a narrator you would expect nothing less. Audio sync is not applicable.

    The show's music by Paul Honey and Howard McGill is lively and propels the stories in the right direction.

    Surround channel usage is minimal at best. There are no directional effects found in the track. Only the show's music can be heard from the rear channels.

    The subwoofer adds the required bass if needed.

Extras

Menu Animation & Audio

    Clips from the show mixed with the score.

R4 vs R1

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

    The R4 and R2 versions of this DVD are identical.

Summary

    Brum: Kitten Rescue & Other Stories is an enjoyable and educational diversion for the pre-schooler or toddler. The disc has no extras, but the show has been given a fine looking audio visual presentation.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Greg Morfoot (if interested here is my bio)
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV-535, using S-Video output
DisplayLG 76cm Widescreen Flatron Television. Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderSony HT-K215. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationSony HT-K215
Speakers fronts-paradigm titans, centre &rear Sony - radio parts subbie

Other Reviews NONE