Reviews & Columns |
Reviews DVD TV on DVD Blu-ray 4K UHD International DVDs In Theaters Reviews by Studio Video Games Features Collector Series DVDs Easter Egg Database Interviews DVD Talk Radio Feature Articles Columns Anime Talk DVD Savant Horror DVDs The M.O.D. Squad Art House HD Talk Silent DVD
|
DVD Talk Forum |
|
Resources |
DVD Price Search Customer Service #'s RCE Info Links |
Columns
|
|
Fifa Fever
Bold words? Maybe. But compare it to a home run in baseball, a dunk in basketball, even a touchdown in football. Which happens the most frequently? Which is plastered all over SportsCenter, all over the local television news? It's why even ardent soccer-haters can usually admit that highlights of a good soccer match are exciting to sit down and watch.
FIFA Fever, though, is more than just highlights from the World Cup, the biggest sporting event in the world. With profiles on some of the top players and teams in the event's history, packages on the top games and even reports on uniform fashion, this two-disc DVD set is an incredible source of information and entertainment.
You want great teams? There are profiles of the 1954 Hungary, 1958 Brazil, 1970 Brazil and the 1970s Holland squads. Each of these segments would not look too out of place on a SportsCenter or even SportsCentury-style program – well edited, well researched and with interesting interviews.
You want minutia? How about bloopers, fashion and controversy. Everything from the length of uniform shorts to Diego Maradonna's drug habits fall into frame here.
How about top games? Take a look at North Korea's upset of England in the 1966 cup, or maybe Maradonna's "Hand of God" goal to help bring Argentina the world championship.
And then, there are the highlights. Presented as somewhat-cliché "top 10" lists, there are categories for saves, individual goals, team goals, free kicks, headers and "blasters" (hard struck shots). Each list is preceded by minutes of honorable mentions, which gives the viewer other clips to argue for inclusion in the list.
The drawback to FIFA Fever is also it's best feature: This is certainly a collection not meant to be viewed in one sitting. There's over three hours of material in the main feature, and it is very much an episodic viewing. The chapters menu is well labeled to allow viewers to skip to exactly the highlights or report that (s)he wants to view.
The DVD
Video/Audio:
The 1.78:1 widescreen presentation of FIFA Fever varies greatly depending on the age of the source materials, as any highlight show packaging clips from various areas should. Importantly, there are few to no noticeable digital defects.
FIFA Fever is presented in 5.1 surround sound, which is mostly unnecessary. The only real use for the surround speakers comes from the score – a nice touch, but certainly not the reason to watch a soccer highlight video.
Extras:
With more than three hours of highlights crammed into the feature, there isn't many highlights or clips left to show. The first disc gives us the official film of the first ever World Cup, Uruguay 1930, along with more highlights of hard-struck goals. Disc two adds some more bloopers and a review of France 1998, a curious choice considering that the 2002 cup had already been played when this disc was made; maybe the France victory in the country of FIFA's headquarters helped get this clip on the disc.
Final Thoughts:
If a soccer fan combines FIFA Fever with Andres Cantor's excellent and entertaining book Goooal!, it's hard to imagine any question about arguably the world's biggest sporting event being left unanswered. This is a tremendous collection and a must own for not just soccer fans, but true sports fans of all kinds.
|
Popular Reviews |
Sponsored Links |
|
Sponsored Links |
|
Release List | Reviews | Shop | Newsletter | Forum | DVD Giveaways | Blu-Ray | Advertise |
Copyright 2024 DVDTalk.com All Rights Reserved. Legal Info, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use,
Manage Preferences,
Your Privacy Choices
|