Faszination Series: Hummer/Modern Classic
Cars/Porsche/Supercars (MotorVision/Inakustik/Music
Video Distributors DVDs)
Picture:
B- (C+ Hummer) Sound: B- (C+ Hummer) Extras: C- Main Programs: B- (C+ Hummer)
I have
said often that sports are one of the biggest beneficiaries of the use of High
Definition, but little did I expect it to extent to sports, luxury and
superexoticars. Though they have been
the subject of TV shows for decades, there are been a sort of boom that has
included much material for HDTV channels, earlier hits (MotorWeek, Top Gear)
going HD very nicely, independent productions and new TV series. On German TV, Faszination has arrived as an all-HD car affair and four volumes of
this impressive, near-excellent series that deserves to be a big hit worldwide.
Any
serious fan is going to enjoy these and for those who like technology
documentary programming, will be very impressed with the following:
Hummer is a surprise entry just by its
choice, but the angle chosen to cover it is funny. You have a European show trying to understand
why these vehicles are even being made for the public and as impractical as
they are in the U.S., are even more so in Europe since they are too big for so
many of their streets. Currently a
subdivision of General Motors, they hoped the subdivision would be their way to
compete with Chrysler’s Jeep brand, but it instead helped cave in the
company. Sold as “tough Americana”, the fact that the Chinese may buy
it adds to the irony of this installment.
Modern Classic Cars presumes that the autos it is
covering are more enduring than I would, though its section on convertibles is
the most inarguable. Other autos covered
include the Datsun 240Z, Volkswagen Golf 1 GTi and Lancia Delta Integrale. The BMW 02 Series is also discussed as one is
restored and a race between an Alpina BMW 3.0 CSi and Mercedes SLC AMG (both
professionally upgraded versions of their models) is held.
Porsche does a decent job of looking at
the marque as no one show could possibly cover it all, but the history side is
one of the best with Ferdinand and son Ferry (even seen in archive footage)
building the company and its rise to greatness.
This includes several classic black and white (and a few color) filmed
commercials (of German origin) pushing the models, examining the 911, comparing
a Turbo and GT-3 model (both 911 based), Porsche on the racing track and their
productions since the 1960s. To get more
customers, the company teamed with Volkswagen to create the 914. The 916, 924, 944, 928 and 968 all followed
as what is known as the transaxle cycle.
Current and future models are also discussed.
Supercars look sat some of the many rare
and expensive exotics that are rarely seen, few can buy and some that are
independent productions from companies that don’t always make it. The show opens with the all carbon-fibre
Lamborghini Reventon, an amazing limited model that will impress all fans of
Lambos (including Countach fans) as it races on an airway strip in Italy
against a Tiger fighter plane. Then we
see a BMW M3 vs. a Mercedes C63 AMG, a Ferrari Enzo, Pagani Zonda, distinct
Carlsson CK65 Eau Rouge, Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale, Audi Quattro S1 with
Stig Blomqvist, Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, Audi R56 and “Supercar Junkyard”
featuring a business built around recycling and salvaging parts of the most
expensive cars in the world to fix others.
Besides
more track racing and a general discussion of superexotics, we also get to see
the KTM X-Bow (that is pronounced crossbow) in action. This is a car that is barely a car, with
little shell to it that is something like combining a motorcycle, a dune buggy,
a bumper car and a Marx Big Wheel toy (maybe even its more dangerous variant,
the glorious Green Machines) into one street legal vehicle that may never make
it to the U.S.
legally. With that, it barely edges out
the Porsche disc as my favorite here, but all four are terrific and we should
hope this is only the very beginning of this series.
For
serious fans, these are must-have programs!
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Hummer
has some noise and Video Black limits because of all the location and rough
condition shooting, but its better shots are closer to the really good shooting
throughout the other volumes. Color and
detail are consistent throughout, while motion blur is rarely a problem if it
is there at all. All shot on what looks
like 1080i HD video, these cars looks great and the result can compete with any
automotive series today.
The Dolby
Digital 5.1 mixes (in both its original German and dubbed English versions) are
always better than the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo in all cases, though the Hummer volume is more restrictive since
it involves more rough location audio.
Otherwise, the sound there is as good as expected. On the rest of the releases, the sound is
surprisingly good as the video with smart sound-design, excellent location
audio (especially of the cars) and (along with some scoring) impressive sound
fields worthy of the best in the Victory
By Design DVD series (reviewed on this site; see below). If only this was also available in DTS 5.1
like the first six DVDs in that series.
With that combination so good here, we can easily imagine Blu-ray
versions being even better, but these DVDs are impressive considering we are in
the HD era.
Extras
include POV (point-of-view) ride footage on each DVD, with Modern having two. This is
amusing, but I hoped for more in the only weak point of the collection.
For more
sports car action, try these links:
Victory By Design series:
Alfa Romeo
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1153/Alfa+Romeo+-+Victory+By+Design+(D
Aston Martin
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/920/Aston+Martin+-+Victory+By+Design+(D
Ferrari
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/981/Ferrari+-+Victory+By+Design+(DTS)
Jaguar
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/982/Jaguar+-+Victory+By+Design+(DTS)
Porsche
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/983/Porsche+-+Victory+By+Design+(DTS)
Maserati
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1145/Maserati+-+Victory+By+Design+(DTS)
plus
Top Gear – Season Ten
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8537/Top+Gear+10+%E2%80%93+The+Co
Death Race/Death Sport (1975/1978 Import Set)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7996/Death+Race+2000+(1975)/Death+Spo
- Nicholas Sheffo