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History of Soccer: The Beautiful Game 7-disc 10/7/03 (1 Viewer)

Chris_Morris

Screenwriter
Joined
Jan 4, 2002
Messages
1,887
From Shout Factory, and narrated by Terence Stamp looks excellent.
List price: $99.98
Best price (so far): $59.99 at DDD
http://www.shoutfactory.com/hos/

7-DVD BOX SET, HISTORY OF SOCCER: THE BEAUTIFUL GAME,
SET FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 7TH BY SHOUT! FACTORY


Alisse Kingsley/Rachel Dierks
Muse Media
(818) 506-7905
email: [email protected]


“Some people believe Soccer is a matter of life and death…I can assure
you that it’s far more important than that!” -- Bill Shankly, Former
Manager of Liverpool FC

Exceptional team of producers led by Series Producer and author of Guinness Book of World Soccer Guy Oliver traveled around the world interviewing players, officials, celebrities and fans.


Los Angeles, California. HISTORY OF SOCCER: THE BEAUTIFUL GAME,
the definitive 7-DVD box set documenting the international story of the game which generates more excitement, passion and wealth across the world than any other sport, is set for release from Shout! Factory October 7th. Following the success of the prime-time television event produced by FremantleMedia International Distribution, HISTORY OF SOCCER: THE BEAUTIFUL GAME features seven volumes on DVD comprised of 13 one-hour episodes with over 3.5 hours of DVD extras.

Narrated by acclaimed actor Terence Stamp and filmed in over 50 countries across the globe, the series explores the tremendous influence soccer holds throughout the world including the United States. With the U.S. making an unbelievable showing in last year’s World Cup and David Beckham figuring prominently in the mass media, soccer, more than ever, has been dominating the sporting news. HISTORY OF SOCCER: THE BEAUTIFUL GAME investigates the factors that have enabled soccer players to become cultural icons and millionaires, and includes some of the last interviews ever given by some late greats of the game including Sir Walter Winterbottom, Herbert Burdenski, Pepi Bican, Zizinho, and Pele. Each episode contains significant DVD-exclusive footage such as additional interview highlights, player and team biographies, in-depth World Cup finals footage, European Championship finals footage and more.

A complete breakdown of each disc is as follows:

DISC ONE: ORIGINS & FOOTBAL CULTURES – Traces the early history of football, from the influences that led to the formation of the Football Association in 1863 to how it spread in Britain and the rest of the world. Explores football’s role within international cultures.

DISC TWO: EVOLUTION & EUROPEAN SUPERPOWERS - Charts the major trends that helped shape the development of European football into the game it is today and profiles teams that have changed the history of the game.

DISC THREE: BRAZIL & SOUTH AMERICAN SUPERPOWERS – Explores Brazil’s dominance as a footballing nation in the global game, as well as the ominous more violent and racist side of Brazilian football. Also focuses on the South American teams that have changed the course of football history.

DISC FOUR: FOR CLUB AND COUNTRY & THE DARK SIDE – Charts the trials and tribulations of French football and Manchester United. Draws together events and stories that have made headline news and tragedies that have brought communities together.

DISC FIVE: SUPERSTARS & THE MEDIA – A look at the careers of players who have risen above the rest and the battleground that has become the sports rights business.

DISC SIX AND SEVEN: AFRICA, A GAME FOR ALL & FUTURES - Focuses on the history of FIFA and other powerbrokers that influence the spread of the game culturally as well as commercially. Looks to the past to learn the lessons that will help shape the future of soccer.

Shout! Factory is a multi-platform integrated entertainment company that was started by Richard Foos-co-founder of Rhino Records, Bob Emmer-former Warner Music Group and Rhino executive and Garson Foos-former Rhino executive. It focuses on audio music catalog development and pop-culture home video/DVD projects and television properties. Conceived as a broad-based entertainment label, Shout! Factory video and DVD projects range from live music and music documentary programs to offbeat special interest titles ranging from animation to sports content.
www.shoutfactory.com

Chris
 

Chris_Morris

Screenwriter
Joined
Jan 4, 2002
Messages
1,887
Of course this should really be called "History of Football"
Yep, but as great as this set looks, and the bonus features added (including the first ever moving pictures of football), I wouldn't care if they called it "History of Kicking Some Ball Around in the Dirt" :D


Chris
 

Jeff Wilson

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jun 17, 2001
Messages
153
As an owner of the UK edition of this set, I can say it's quite good. Surprised but happy it's getting released here.
 

BrianB

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2000
Messages
5,205
“Some people believe Soccer is a matter of life and death…I can assure
you that it’s far more important than that!” -- Bill Shankly, Former
Manager of Liverpool FC
Just because Americans call football soccer, it doesn't give them the right to change that famous Shankly quote to suit North America. Bah.
 

Chris Atkins

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 9, 2002
Messages
3,885
As if dang-blasted Merchandise United doesn't get enough already courtesy of it's shareholder Sky TV...
Well, if it's any consolation, more than half their games have been on PPV this year.

But when you are one of the best clubs in the world, I guess you can get away with it. :)
 

Chris_Morris

Screenwriter
Joined
Jan 4, 2002
Messages
1,887
Andy, you won't be disappointed. My set arrived today and it is well worth the money. The packaging is great, a black box that is semi-embossed with pictures (including Pele), 6 cases (a double case holds discs 6 & 7). Each case is clear,no inserts but the chapter lists and extras list are on the back of the cover art and shows through, very nice touch. On the back of the cases for discs 1, 4, and 7 it tells you to look out for the easter egg on that disc*. I haven't had too much time to look at all of it yet, but I played around with the first disc. The archival footage is great, quite amazing how good the footage from 1897 looks, though the 1898 footage looks like it has been through the washing machine. As for the shows themselves, they are anamorphic widescreen, 5.1 DD sound in English and a 2.0 track in Spanish, and look great. It has two subtitle tracks, track one has the english translations of other languages spoken, track two is the spanish translations. On entering the disc, you choose from English or Spanish, but this refers to the language of the menus, you have to manual change the audio track to track 2 if you would like Spanish audio.

Some observations:
The text in the extras is yellow, and makes it hard to read. Each early footage clip has a brief description, and it is hard to read (at least on my TV) but with a HDTV I'm sure it will be easier to read.

In a move that more discs should adopt, all menus and extras are also anamorphic widescreen, though there could be some debate as to whether or not the archival footage should be widescreen.

Even though the box, disc cases, and even the menus all say History of Soccer, they did not change the titles in the programs, they still say History of Football :emoji_thumbsup:

I will post more observations once I get into the set, if any one would like them.

Chris

*Easter Egg on disc 1: Found this by accident. On the Extras menu for the first program (Origins) press the right arrow, you will get an old black and white commercial for a training product that seems to combine American Football tackling dummies with a baseball or tennis ball launcher (for practicing headers off a cross).
 

Chris_Morris

Screenwriter
Joined
Jan 4, 2002
Messages
1,887
Andy, I went back and edited my post. Everything (including the early footage) is anamorphic so they should be fine on your TV.


Chris
 

Andy_Bu

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jun 2, 2002
Messages
928
I will post more observations once I get into the set, if any one would like them.
I would love to hear them!

I cut and pasted your mini review into bigsoccer.com in the thread there about the set.

I can't wait for the set to arrive.

Andy
 

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