Aftermass (2014/CARTS DVD)/The Definitive WWI & WWII Collection (2001 - 2014/Lionsgate DVD Box Set)/Walking The Camino: Six Ways To Santiago (2014/Smith Blu-ray)/World Series Fall Classic 2014: San Francisco Giants (MLB/Lionsgate Blu-ray)

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

PLEASE NOTE: The Walking The Camino Blu-ray is directly available from the producers of the program at the link below.

Here's our latest documentary selections we have looked at, mostly sports, but some politics and a huge volume on war are included this time around.

Aftermass (2014) is a story of how Portland, Oregon became a center for bicycle use after the rise and fall of an organization called Critical Mass that was doing nothing wrong, but still insanely became the target of the local city police who wanted to break them up. Whether it was some prejudice or maybe some oil company people influencing certain police officers, this shows the massive waste of taxpayer money just to stop a non-political movement based on people who wanted to get exercise and have fun. No kidding. This is not a slanted work and even shows some of the police in a good light, but the hostility towards even families riding around is bizarre.

It also shows that the city just did not drift into bike use and are a too-laid-back city with some kind of retro-hippie thing going. Some of this is funny, other moments are sad, but it took some serious nonsense for bikes to get accepted and it is spreading as you read this. It also by default shows what a fine city Portland is. A pleasant surprise.

Extras include three sections of extended footage, including many moments used in the main program, plus 1,000+ still documents.

The Definitive WWI & WWII Collection (2001 - 2014) is a heavy, 20 DVD set of quality programs A&E, The History Channel & now Lionsgate has issued over the years. We have covered most of them before, so you can go to the following links to see what you get here:

The World Wars (from the Blu-ray edition)

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12987/The+World+Wars+(2014/History+Channel/Lionsgat

75 Years Of WWII

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13008/75+Years+of+WWII+(2014/A&E/Lionsgate/History

WWII In HD (from the Blu-ray edition)

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11263/Band+Of+Brothers/The+Pacific+(2001

Patton 360-degrees (from the Blu-ray edition)

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10385/Battle+360

New to us are WWII From Space is a single-DVD release and the most unusual entry here as this 88-minutes single special (with no extras) shows that this documentary genre of war became so hot for cable TV that they even came up with this one. The perspective is at least different and could cause new interest in the subject, but this is never boring. 100 Years Of WWI is a companion to 75 Years Of WWII to make sure they had a major epic mini-series that also runs 2 DVDs here, but with less footage, they still somehow manage to find more than enough to make this a comprehensive work of a war that is disturbingly not being remembered as it needs to be. There's not even enough of it on this set when you think about it, but what is here is good. And Color Of War (a 1.33 X 1 presentation, as is the film footage as shot) is a 5-DVD collection of excellent collection of film shot on (usually 16mm) color film stocks (like Kodachrome) put together in episodes that bring common denominators together with a voiceover, quotes and facts throughout. It is never boring, always interesting and great the footage has survived as well as it has, rounding out a set of winners brought together nicely in this gift-worthy set.

These new-to-us entries have no extras, while a few of the DVD sets here we covered on Blu-ray repeat those extras. Some may want a Blu-ray version of this set, but these DVDs (re-pressings of the previous DVD issues) will more than do for many.

Lydia B. Smith's Walking The Camino: Six Ways To Santiago (2014) is also about traveling, but this is about literally walking 500 miles (I thank the makers for not licensing the annoying song with those droned-out lyrics) of what turns out to be a road that is sacred to many, has great historical significance and all who walk the thing get dubbed pilgrims. It has its own built-in culture, fans, supporters and can be a fun experience for those who want to take the journey. At least, even if you are not religious, it can be a nice (if tiring) break from the monotony of boredom and being trapped in a formula life. This runs a tight 84 minutes and takes us somewhere we have nor been before. Good show!

Extras include an on camera interview and feature length audio commentary by Director Smith and Sneak Peaks of the bonus DVD as there was somehow not enough room for them here.

World Series Fall Classic 2014: San Francisco Giants is yet another winning Major League Baseball release that is made for fans of the specific team, yet is journalistically sound chronicle of how the team made it though the season to win the pennant and the major joy that followed. MLB is obviously competing with the NFL to deliver these programs with the highest amount of quality and content around and they are top rate, even though the main program here is not long at 86 minutes and the HD is not full 1080p, but more on that in a moment. This works well enough and even non-Giant fans will be impressed.

Extras include seven featurettes with additional, enhancing highlights to the Giant's victory including their parade and one on the National Baseball Hall Of Fame.

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Aftermass can be a bit rough in combining old analog and standard definition digital video with new digital video that has aliasing errors. Editing the the subject matter still make it very watchable and the flaws more excusable than usual. The same frame on most of the War DVDs are going to look better by being produced under more comfortable circumstances, but not by as much as you might think, the 1.33 X 1 programs can more than hold their own and of course, the ones on Blu-ray look better that way.

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Camino should loo the best of all here being the only fill HD presentation on the list, but it has some footage that is also a bit rough at times, but its roughness makes perfect sense. Therefore, the somewhat cleaner 720p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Champions could have outdone it if it were 1080p, but it is a rare Blu-ray picking the lower HD definition. Older footage from vintage games can absolutely show their age, but this is is not bad for what it is and is consistent enough. It is a shame it was not more defined. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on it is the best sound here, so that is a plus.

The rest of the discs have lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound with some rough vintage audio, but play just fine, though don't expect much in the way of Pro Logic surrounds. They all tie for second place sonically just the same.

You can order the Walking The Camino Blu-ray (or even DVD if you wish) at this link...

http://caminodocumentary.org/product/walking-the-camino-six-ways-to-santiago-blu-ray/

- Nicholas Sheffo