The McCartney Years
by Dick Carruthers
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DVD details
Actor: Paul McCartneyDirector: Dick Carruthers
Brand: Alfred
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Original recording remastered
Running Time: 180 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-11-13
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: 17-285628
Studio: Rhino Records
Product features:
- 3 DVDs
- Paul McCartney
- Format 3 DVDs
DVD Reviews of The McCartney Years
DVD Review: Videos: Audio, image and misses...
Summary: 3 Stars
THE SOUND.
The great advantage of this pack of videos is that the sound is enhanced for 5.1. You basically have 2 sound options: LPCM stereo, and 5.1 DTS. There's an additional track, which is Dolby Digital stereo, but you will be able to enjoy the music in this one only in those videos in which Paul is not commenting on the video (there are a few of them).
The DTS audio track has been remixed (not only enhanced) for 5.1 systems, to basically put the voice in the center and most of the instruments in the front left and right, with some surround in the back speakers. The result is that you will hear the voice clearer than ever, while the instrumentation will be all around you without altering the original sound mix a great deal.
A minus is that the videos included as "extras", ("Junior's Farm", "Mull of Kyntire 2" "So bad" among others), are only in LPCM stereo, not DTS. I don't see any good reason for this.
Finally, talking about the commentary track, this is a good addition to know great and small details about each video and the music. It's like watching the videos with Paul by your side, telling you stories about them. If you don't want to stop listening to the music, just change to the regular audio tracks and activate the commentaries in the subtitle option (contrary to what the box reads, my dvd player only identified 4 subtitles: English, Spanish, French and Portuguese, not deutsch, Italian or nederlands).
THE IMAGE
I read beforehand the complaints about the way most of the videos were "chopped" up and down to make them "widescreen", basically meaning that originally "square" videos were made "rectangular", of course to make them more "suitable" to the new generation of screens. I was a little bit sckeptical about how much this was an issue. Sure, I thought, it would be more noticeable for those watching the videos in full screen or "square" TV's, but for widescreen Tv's, it would be an advantage.
I'm sorry to say that the result is not good. Those with regular Tv's will wonder why they have to miss the superior and inferior areas of the original videos, while those with widescreen Tv's will be bother with a persistent perception of watching the images "zoomed in", that is, artificially closer. To put it in simple words, it's like being standing too close to the TV all the while.
This is only natural: Old TV material (and for that matter, some old movies) is not meant to be watched that way. When you cut up and down and bring the image forth to fit the screen, you are losing the natural look of focus and detail. As a result, if we are watching a face that was supposed to be the center of a take, this kind of treatment eliminates the images in the background, and you have an unnatural close up. You no longer have the intended object as part of an image composition, but in your face, filling all the screen. And most of the videos look blurry, with lack of details.
You cannot trick the brain into thinking that this is natural, and the lack of focus will be headache-inducing after a while (this is even more noticeable in "Goodnight tonight " -a "new version" included in the main playlist of the first DVD, which was enhanced to (ironically) make it look older. Somebody thought that along with some scratches and saturation, it would be even better to add a little up-and-down movement during all the video. Big mistake, as you are watching too close!. Luckily, you can find the "original version" if you play the song from the "chronological" playlist, an additional option included). At least this problem won't be an issue in non-widescreen Tv's or if you're standing very far from your widescreen set.
The problem is, the very Tv's that this treatment is supposed to help, are not greatly benefited.
It would have been better to leave this material alone. I guess, as movies are not supposed to be reduced to a square screens, so Full Frame or 4:3 material is not supposed to fit wide screens. Go figure !
THE MISSES.
Paul McCartneys discography is so wide, and the production of videos likewise, that there should have been an additional DVD. Titles like Young boy, The world tonight, Getting closer, Arrow through me (in fact, all the Back to the Egg special), Uncle Albert, Ebony and Ivory (solo version), Live and let die, Mary had a little lamb, Jet, and many others are not here, so they will still be circulating in bootleg DVD versions...
Note: I really give this DVD 3 and 1/2 stars, but half a star is not allowed.
Description of The McCartney Years
MCCARTNEY YEARS - DVD MovieRock Music CDs
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