Backstreet Boys-Homecoming: Live in Orlando (2001)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Menu Animation & Audio-Concert Footage and Music Scene Selection Anim & Audio-Concert Footage and Music Web Links DVD Credits
Rating
Year Of Production	2001
Running Time	88:16
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Michael James
Studio Distributor	Zomba Records	Starring	Kevin Richardson Howard "Howie D." Dorough Alexander James "A.J." McLean Brian "B-Rok" Littrell Nick Carter
Case	Soft Brackley-Transp
RPI	$34.95	Music	The Backstreet Boys

    Let me first establish that I am not a die-hard Backstreet Boys (BSB) fan. I have never actually purchased a BSB CD.  However, I’m well aware of the singles released throughout the years, and if I were surfing the airwaves on the car stereo, I would cease the media surf, and sit back and enjoy a BSB song.

    I sat down to watch this concert not knowing quite what to expect. 17 songs, 5 solos, persistent showers of stuffed animal gifts, and 5 costume changes later, I can honestly say that I enjoyed this concert.

    Homecoming: Live in Orlando looks to be a compilation of one or more of the concerts that took place in the Backstreet Boys hometown of Orlando. You won’t forget what town they are performing in because each of the boys feels the need to include this fact in nearly every song by addressing the crowd directly. I have read that this concert was originally aired as a New Years Eve Showtime special.

    It’s interesting to observe how growing up has affected each of these boys. Kevin and Brian seem to be growing into adulthood gracefully, but what are Howie D. and A. J. thinking with that facial hair? Of all the boys, Nick has to be the one that’s changed the most. Feel free to play the “has Nick gained weight or simply bulked up from his trip through puberty?” game. I couldn’t decide. He’s obviously gained weight, but when he takes off his loose concealing jacket (at 39:23), he doesn’t look like he’s flabby in just a T-shirt, just bulky. You decide.

    The songs varied nicely in style, mood, and pace. The dancing was lively and fun to watch, and each Boy gets ample opportunity to demonstrate their talent. With fun, solid pop content, what else could you ask for from a successful boy band?

Video

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (Full Frame) and is not 16x9 enhanced.

    The quality of the source material used for this transfer is absolutely appalling.

    The most pervasive problem with the source material is the unpredictable level of sharpness and focus from one shot to another. Close-ups are consistently sharp, but it’s a grab bag of quality when it comes to long shots. It appears that the cameramen have concentrated on setting their focus on the audience in the foreground rather than the performers on stage!  The best place to spot this varying focus problem is to view the song Just To Be Close To You.  I stopped counting all the blurry takes, but you can find specific examples at 5:51 and 10:55. This shortfall is substantial and invasive enough for me to advise caution if considering this disc.

    Another annoying source material problem is the consistent presence of a curious lens flare that appears as a blue dot in at least half the close-ups.  It seems that the stage camera was positioned at just the right distance to catch an extremely distracting blue dot near the centre of the image. Examples can be found at 5:41, 19:01, and 20:52.

    There is no observable loss of shadow detail or low level noise problems.

    The colours are of good quality. Skin tones and stage lighting appear accurate, vibrant, and lively. 

    There are minimal film-to-video artefacts. Minor aliasing artefacts can be observed in Brian’s Fox racing cap at 50:51, and the stage railing at 55:08, but I can’t say it was overly distracting. There was no noticeable edge enhancement.

    Surprisingly, there are 6 subtitle tracks on this disc. All subtitles seem to display the chorus of each song only the first time it is sung. Since I haven’t reviewed other subtitled music discs, I’m unsure if this is common practice. The English subtitles appeared to be extremely accurate to the spoken and sung words.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    This DVD has both Dolby Surround 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtracks. The default track is Dolby 5.1. I listened to both tracks in their entirety.

    The Dolby 5.1 track is a textbook lesson on what not to do when mixing surround tracks. The lead vocals have minimal bass and have had an aggressive stadium echo effect added that makes it very hard to understand the words to songs being sung. Most of the echo has been routed to the rear speakers. They have drastically reduced the volume of the backing vocals and then added additional backing vocals recorded at a later date in a sound studio. I suspected this during my first viewing of this disc, and confirmed it while watching the closing credits where additional vocals and a recording studio are credited.  These additional vocals come from the rear speakers. All of these problems are readily apparent by listening to the 5.1 track during the song Anywhere For You. The overall quality of this mix is so bad that I had to put on another concert disc (Savage Garden-Superstars and Cannonballs) just to make sure that none of the settings on my amp had been accidentally changed. Unfortunately, this confirmed my original assessment of the track. Surprisingly, the music fills the whole sound stage quite acceptably. Lip sync is occasionally a problem, and can be observed as Nick sings at 54:08 and 54:34.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    There are no significant extras to speak of.

Menu

    The Menus are bright, colourful, and employ concert clips playing in windows with accompanying Backstreet Boys music. There are chapter (song) search menus, audio and subtitle selection menus, and two Internet links in submenus.

    Several sources differed on the number and type of audio tracks and the existence of subtitles on the R1 disc. 

    Since the sharpness of the source material is so poor, I find it hard to believe anyone would be able to detect a difference in the transfer quality between the R1 and R4 discs.  However, since the R4 disc is PAL, and R4 may have additional subtitles, I would have to recommend the R4 disc, but it is honestly almost too close to call.

    Backstreet Boys - Homecoming:  Live in Orlando is an enjoyable concert from a talented boy band. 

    The quality of the source material limits the quality of the video transfer.

    This DVD offers a decidedly unlistenable 5.1 mix. The 2.0 track is trouble free. 

    There are no significant extras. 

    Overall, I would suggest that even BSB fans rent this before buying. 

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall