Tour de France 2007: The Complete Highlights (2007) |
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Tour de France 2007: The Complete Highlights (2007) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Sports | Interviews-Cast | |
| Rating | ? | ||
| Year Of Production | 2007 | ||
| Running Time | 488:57 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (3) |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | None Given |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Madman Entertainment |
Starring | None Given |
| Case | ? | ||
| RPI | ? | 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 | 1.78:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | None | Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Similar to 2006, this race was again full of controversy and allegations of doping leading to some major disqualifications during the race. Also like 2006 this was a wide open race with many riders in with a chance of winning including Cadel Evans in his third race.
The race itself is made up of 21 stages spread over 3 weeks which this year kicked off in London for the first time. Each stage is very different and they include hard slogs up mountains, time trials, 200Km+ flat out racing and all sorts of combinations. Each stage has its own winner and for many riders this is an achievement of a lifetime, in fact some riders try for years just to get accepted into one of the teams and start in the great race. In total the riders cover over 3500 kilometres and it is only when you sit down and watch these DVDs that you start to realise how far that really is.
In terms of the overall race, there are four main categories, overall, climbs, sprints and youth. The overall classification is won by the person with the lowest total time over the 21 stages. The person leading this competition each day gets to wear a yellow jersey signifying they are in the lead, but at the end of the day if they are no longer in the lead they must relinquish it. The climb classification is a prize for the best mountain climber in the tour and points are awarded in the various climbs included in most stages. The leader here gets to wear a red polka dot jersey. The sprint stage is similar except that points are awarded for pre-designated sprint portions of each stage. The best sprinter in each of these gets points which go toward the final classification win. In this case a green jersey is worn by the leader.
As mentioned above, the coverage is expanded in this set compared to previous (about 8 hours in total) with more race highlights, more interviews and more magnificent photography of the beautiful scenery. The quality of the photography is improved in this coverage and for the first time the vision is widescreen...but more on that below. Disappointingly the menus are not as interesting and do not feature stage maps or text versions of the results as they have in previous years. Robbie McEwen provides an intro to many stages.
Overall, this set features more footage than previous sets and the coverage is enhanced accordingly. A quality set providing excellent coverage of a competitive race.
The video quality is very good, an improvement on previous years.
The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which would be the original aspect ratio or close to it. For the first time the race is 16x9 enhanced widescreen.
The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout, despite some graininess. Shadow detail is fairly irrelevant as most shots are in strong daylight.
The colour was very good with no colour artefacts.
From an artefacts perspective, there was quite a bit of minor aliasing especially during helicopter shots and some macro-blocking in backgrounds.
There are no subtitles.
The layer changes were not noticeable and must have been placed between stages.
| Sharpness |  |
| Shadow Detail |  |
| Colour | |
| Grain/Pixelization |  |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
The audio quality is good.
This DVDs contain one audio option, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s.
Commentary was clear and easy to understand.The music was funky never overpowered the action.I did notice some minor audio sync issues in some interviews.
The surround speakers added some atmosphere when played using Dolby ProLogic II.
The subwoofer was not used.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
| Surround Channel Use |  |
| Subwoofer | |
| Overall | |
The menu was simpler than previous efforts with a still picture and the ability to either play all or choose stages and bonus interviews.
Quick intro to the race.
Two extra short interviews with Cadel Evans, Erik Zabel. Zabel is funny...'I am too old for this sheet'.
A short featurette on the condition of the three crashed Aussie riders plus an interview with Cadel.
An interview with Michael Rasmussen and two more with Cadel.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This set is only available in Region 4.
The video quality is very good.
The audio quality is good.
The set has a small collection of 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 | Monitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer |