Olsen Twins-Winning London (2001) (NTSC) |
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General | Extras | ||
Category | Romantic Comedy |
Main Menu Audio Listing-Cast & Crew Featurette-Fashion Close-Up Featurette-Behind The Scenes Discography-Mary-Kate and Ashley Video Highlights Trailer-Mary-Kate and Ashley Videocassette/DVD Collection Trailer |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2001 | ||
Running Time | 93:22 | ||
RSDL / Flipper | No/No | Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 1,4 | Directed By | Craig Shapiro |
Studio
Distributor |
Warner Home Video |
Starring |
Mary-Kate Olsen Ashley Olsen Eric Jungmann Brandon Tyler Jesse Spencer Rachel Roth |
Case | Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip | ||
RPI | $29.95 | Music | Brahm Wenger |
Video (NTSC) | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame |
English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
Video Format | 480i (NTSC) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles |
English French Spanish |
Smoking | No |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | Yes, Outtakes |
Winning London is a film about a group of American high school students that travel to London to participate in a Model United Nations competition.
A group of Californian high school students, led by Chloe Lawrence (Mary-Kate Olsen), are selected to represent their country at the Model United Nations competition held in London. When one of their team members is unable to attend, Chloe's sister Riley (Ashley Olsen) takes their place and the group of five students and one teacher head across to England. While in London, their team faces numerous unforeseen hurdles as they battle it out with other teams from around the world. Along the way Chloe falls for James (Jesse Spencer), a student from one of the other front-running teams and she must balance her attraction with her competitive spirit.
This teen romantic comedy holds no real surprises for viewers with its predictable script and average performances. While most mature viewers will feel let down by this film, its intended target audience of young teen girls should find that it has enough to hold their attention.
The NTSC transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Throughout the feature a number of segments originating from one of the main character's video camera are displayed. These video segments are presented with a black window box border at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
The transfer is quite soft throughout but during the short video segments the image is notably sharper. During the occasional dark scene the shadow detail displayed is average but is adequate and never annoying. No low-level noise was detected during the transfer.
During the video sequences, the colours displayed are vibrant and well saturated but for the majority of the transfer the colour palette appears slightly muted. Luckily, these changes in saturation are not distracting.
No notable MPEG artefacts were detected during the transfer but the image always appears to be on the verge of macro-blocking. Luckily this problem with the transfer is only minimally annoying due to the presence of heavy film grain throughout the transfer.
Numerous aliasing artefacts may be seen throughout the transfer. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 0:48, 1:18, 3:27, 4:42 and 11:05. Due to their frequency these artefacts are moderately disturbing.
As previously mentioned, the transfer displays obvious grain throughout and this is moderately irritating. A number of slightly distracting film artefacts may be seen throughout the transfer with examples visible at 1:40, 3:11, 6:09 and 15:33.
Three sets of white subtitles are included on this disc in addition to a set of English closed captions. I extensively sampled the English stream and found them to be consistently accurate.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
The dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times. No dropouts or problems with audio sync were detected at any time during the transfer.
The score by Brahm Wenger always suits the on-screen action but never draws attention to itself. It is supplemented by numerous pop tracks.
The surround channel was used throughout to support the score and occasional effects but never draws attention to itself.
The LFE channel was not utilized during the transfer.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
All of the video segments in the collection of extras display numerous compression artefacts and are generally of quite low quality.
The non-animated menu is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.
This is a single page listing the roles for Mary-Kate and Ashley and major crew members.
This short featurette highlights some of the fashions worn by Mary-Kate and Ashley throughout the film. This featurette is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.
This featurette provides a short summary of the film and a small amount of behind the scenes footage. This featurette is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.
This is a five-page filmography for Mary-Kate and Ashley.
This is a collection of short previews for the various DVD and VHS titles that are available in Region 1 staring Mary-Kate and Ashley.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
This version is the same disc as previously released in Region 1.
Winning London is a predictable film that should appeal to its target audience of young female teens.
The NTSC transfer is adequate but it does display a number of artefacts.
The 2.0 surround soundtrack is adequate for the material presented.
The collection of extras contains little real information about the film but the fashion highlights will appeal to some viewers.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Toshiba 2109, using S-Video output |
Display | Sony KP-E41SN11. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Front left/right: ME75b; Center: DA50ES; rear left/right: DA50ES; subwoofer: NAD 2600 (Bridged) |
Speakers | Front left/right: VAF DC-X; Center: VAF DC-6; rear left/right: VAF DC-7; subwoofer: Custom NHT-1259 |