Baseball’s Greatest Games: 2011 World’s Series Game 6 – St. Louis Cardinals (A&E Blu-ray w/DVD)/Super Bowl Champions XLVI: New York Giants (Vivendi DVD)

 

Picture: B- & C+/C+     Sound: B- & C+/C+     Extras: D/C+     Main Programs: B

 

 

The year in two major sports for 2011 had championship conclusions that lived up to the franchises involved.  Two new home video releases do a fine job of showing the results of what happened.

 

 

Baseball’s Greatest Games: 2011 World’s Series Game 6 – St. Louis Cardinals is a new Blu-ray/DVD set from A&E that is as good as a set of such releases we just covered of the same game at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11337/Packers+Road+To+XLV:+Post-Season

 

 

However, the quality here is terrific and with its clarity in playback, is as good as any HD broadcast of you could find of the Cardinals beating the ever obnoxious Texas Rangers.  Too bad this has no extras, but belongs on the same shelf as the other two previous releases.

 

 

Though it is only a DVD, Super Bowl Champions XLVI: New York Giants is the first time we have seen any video release of that amazing game where the great team beat the also obnoxious (and once great and respectable) New England Patriots who really went on the field and acted like they were entitled to win, all the way to their quarterback (we’ll skip his wife’s antics) in a game that was about how hard work and justice trumps and should always trump attitude, ignorance and an unsportsmanlike, pompous attitude that is the antithesis of what the NFL should be.

 

Extras include The Eli Manning Conversation, Catching Up With David Tyree and four additional featurettes (Super Bowl Media Day, Super Bowl Post Game Ceremonies, Super Bowl XLII recap and The Receiving Giants).

 

 

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on the Series Blu-ray is as good as I have ever seen on an MLB Blu-ray and the color and detail is almost better than all previous such entries.  The anamorphically enhanced DVD version is just fine, but no match for the Blu-rays consistent performance.  Some shots on both still have flaws and motion blur, but that is early HD and the 1.78 X 1 anamorphically enhanced DVD of Giants also has quality equal to the Series DVD.  The Series Blu-ray valiantly offers a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix, but location audio limits and a lack of surrounds hamper the effort.  Still, this is as good as this program will ever sound and be a surprise improvement versus what fans with home theater systems watching the game live would encounter.  Lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD version is weaker and similar to the same lossy Dolby 5.1 on the Giants DVD.

 

Both programs are also nicely edited and recommended.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo