The Documentary

The 2006 FIFA World Cup Film: Grand Finale is a documentary highlighting key moments from the 2006 FIFA World Cup championship, leading up to the final match. At the end of 2003, one-hundred and ninety-eight national football (soccer) teams representing all of the six major continents started the qualification process for the most anticipated international sporting events. In the summer of 2006, thirty-two of those teams remained to compete for the cup.

This documentary runs for approximately one hour and fifty-two minutes. It contains select highlights from the tournament and significant coverage of the quarter finals, semi finals, and the final match. Pierce Brosnan narrates and provides informative commentary, albeit his presentation could have used some work. Here is chapter breakdown for the documentary, which has the highlights of the games covered.

1. Introduction
2. Germany v Costa Rica
3. Australia v Japan
4. Spain v Ukraine
5. England v Trinidad and Tobago
6. Argentina v Serbia and Montenegro
7. Nederlands v Cote D'ivoire
8. Czech Republic v Italy
9. Ghana v USA
10. Croatia v Australia
11. Togo v France
12. Portugal v Nederlands
13. Brazil v Ghana
14. Quarter Finals: England v Portugal
15. Quarter Finals: Germany v Argentina
16. Semi Final: Portugal v France
17. Semi Final: Germany v Italy
18. Final: Italy v France (opening)
19. Final: 1st Half
20. Final: 2nd Half
21. Final: Extra Time, 1st Period
22. Final: Extra Time, 2nd Period
23. Final: The Shoot Out
24. FIFA 2006 World Champions: Italy

The first twenty-three or so minutes of the documentary focuses on key events throughout the early stages of the tournament. There are clips of some very intense highlights with teams like Australia wiping Japan 3 to 1, Spain shutting out the Ukraine 4 to nil, and the Portugal v Nederlands game that ended with 16 yellow and 4 red cards (wow!). However, while the highlights had some of the tournament's most impressive moments, there were a couple games I was hoping to see that were not included. For instance, the South Korea v Togo game got pretty intense with Korea putting in a massive come back to win the game.

After the various highlights, the focus moves into the quarter finals, focusing on two of the four matches. The first is the England v Portugal game, which was a draw throughout. Part of the problem was that England lost one of their best players, Rooney, early in the game. It ended with a devastating shoot out for England. The other match from the quarter finals was Germany v Argentina. This game was big simply because of the teams involved. It was an awesome match.

Next were the semi finals with Portugal v France. Portugal was in a bad spot, having lost a few of their better players in Portugal v Nederlands match. Yet, Portugal still held its ground and managed to keep up with France. They had several close calls, but could not deliver. France scored in the first half on a penalty kick. Afterwards, both teams continued without scoring. The Germany v Italy semi finals game was another match with two strong teams. The game was scoreless at the end of the first and second halves. The game went into two periods of overtime, with Italy putting in two goals for the win.

In the final match, Italy and France advanced. Joining them were sixty-nine thousand fans and millions watching world-wide. The documentary spends approximately thirty-two minutes on the final match, including an introduction, the pre-game opening, two periods of regular play time, overtime, and the final shoot out. As for the game, it was impressive. Neither team was able to score during regular and extra play time. There were many close calls, which made the game even more fun to watch. With the game nil/nil, Italy and France faced off in a shoot out. The final moments were intense and Italy taking the win.

Overall, The 2006 FIFA World Cup Film: Grand Finale is a comprehensive review of last year's most intense sporting event. There were exciting and dull moments, of which the former is captured in this documentary. What I liked about the documentary was getting to see some of the incredible goals and impressive moments (e.g., the Portugal v Nederlands match).

However, while it was entertaining, the documentary felt slightly dull after a while. Brosnan, while great as James Bond, fails to really inspire with his commentary. He provides an almost monotonic and dull narration that makes it hard to keep interested in what he says. And when he's not speaking, the audio is filled with the crowd cheering, which gets old fast. In the end, The 2006 FIFA World Cup Film: Grand Finale is a nice watch for those who are big fans of the sport and event, as well as casual sports fans who never had the chance to watch the cup. It will make for a nice rental.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in anamorphic 1.78:1 ratio widescreen color. The picture quality is very good with a clean and crisp image.

Audio:
The audio is given in English 2.0 stereo sound. There are also dubbed tracks in French, Spanish, Thai, and Portuguese. The sound quality is decent. The track sounds clean, but there are a few trouble areas with Pierce Brosnan's narration and background noise. Occasionally, the background noise (crowd) overpowers his voice.

There are subtitles in English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, Thai, and Korea.

Extras:
For extras there are interviews with Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Horacio Elizondo (Referee, opening and final match), Thierry Henry (France), Jens Lehmann (Germany), Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan), and Fabio Pannavaro (Italy, Captain).

Final Thoughts:
The 2006 FIFA World Cup Film: Grand Finale is a survey of selected key moments from the 2006 FIFA World Cup championship, which is one of the world's most popular sporting events. It occurs every four years and thirty-two national football teams compete for the cup. This documentary provides a decent review of the overall championship, with a strong focus on the final moments of the game. It is a nice watch for those who are big fans of the sport and event, as well as casual sports fans who never had the chance to watch the cup. It will make for a nice rental.