NBA Finals Series: Los Angeles Lakers 2010 Collector’s Edition (Image Blu-ray set)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: C+     Extras: C+     Series: B

 

 

Released as a treasury for basketball fans and fans of the Los Angeles Lakers in particular, the NBA Finals Series: Los Angeles Lakers 2010 Collector’s Edition has been issued on Blu-ray as one of the first complete championships of any kind in the High Definition format.  This was a rematch of a 2008 series between the team and Boston Celtics, who have been two of the best teams and great rivals for years, renewed by the Magic Johnson/Larry Bird games of the 1980s.  Kobe Bryant leads the Lakers to victory this time and here it all is non-stop.

 

Of course, unless you are a big fan, this will not impress you much.  But then who would by an entire series of one match-up unless they were huge fans and intended to have it to look at again and again.  Of course, this is some great ball playing, but even I could only get into it so much, seeing it more as documentary than a game.  Still, this has been a successful approach for DVD and several box sets have sold well, so expect more of the same on Blu-ray… as long as fans are buying.

 

Sports has been the programming that has benefited most from the jump (no pun intended) to HD, but the 1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image here is a little color poor in its range and the result is somewhat mixed viewing.  Why, I do not know, but I have seen HD basketball on HD satellite transmission and this has not been a limit there, so why this comes up a bit short is odd, but this still looks better than if it were on DVD.  The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 7.1 mix pushes the location sound a bit too much and spreads it out more than it should.  The combination is good, but the picture could be better and a 2.0 PCM option should have been included.  The only extras are Mini-Movies (ok…) and a Post-Game Press Conference.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo