Baseball's
Seasons: The 1980s
(2013/MLB/A&E/Lionsgate DVD Set)/Los
Angeles Kings: Stanley Cup 2014 Champions
(NHL/Cinedigm Blu-ray)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C/B- Extras: D/B- Main Programs: B/B-
Here
are some more sports releases...
Baseball's
Seasons: The 1980s (2013)
is a new documentary mini-series from A&E and Lionsgate on DVD
covering all 10 years of the 1980s staring with who will win after
the dynasty of the Pittsburgh Pirates is about to be succeeded and
what turned out to be the last years of the game in its purer form
before big money slowly crept into the picture. Needless to say
there is also more than a bit of nostalgia from the era from the
haircuts to the advertising to the personalities to fans memories.
This is a solid set up there with the best MLB DVDs we've covered
over the years and it is a series worth your time, even if you are
not a fan of the sport.
There
are sadly no extras.
Los
Angeles Kings: Stanley Cup 2014 Champions
has the great hockey team taking home Lord Stanley again (see the
2012 program elsewhere on this site) in a collection that (with
extras) runs 150 minutes, all of which should more than please any
fan of the team and be considered a treasury of the event and the
whole season in content. Technically, this could have been better,
but better to go with the Blu-ray than any DVD version if you can.
Extras
include Top 10 Highlights, Wireless Recap, NHL Network Interviews,
Behind The Scenes with The Stanley Cup and three Extended segments:
On Ice Celebration, Los Angeles Parade Celebration and Locker
Room Celebration.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the Baseball set is
decent throughout, featuring 16mm footage in the early shows before
MLB like most sports switched to all analog videotape presentations
and broadcasts. The 1080i 1.78 X 1
digital High Definition image transfer on Kings
has some good shots and good color, but someone allowed some of the
footage to be transferred in a tampered, flattened way, so this is on
the inconsistent side when it should have been transferred as is.
The
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on Baseball
sadly sticks way too much of its audio in the center channel
throughout its 10 episodes, which is a big mistake. The DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo lossless mix on Kings
has some Pro Logic surrounds to it and is warmer and richer than the
DVD set.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
