2015 NBA Championship: Highlights Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

2015 NBA Championship: Highlights Blu-ray Movie Review

The Warriors came out and played.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 13, 2015

What a season it was for the Golden State Warriors. Though a perennially "bad" team by most measures over the past few decades -- with some good seasons thrown into the mix (including an 8th-seeded Warriors team ousting the top-ranked Mavericks in 2007) -- and with a winning percentage of .348 just a few seasons ago, the franchise saw its fortunes turn around since, going 47-35 in the 2012-2013 season, 51-31 in 2013-2014, and jumping to a league-high 67 wins in 2014-2015, good for an insane .817 winning percentage; the only other team to reach even the .700 mark was the Atlanta Hawks. The Warriors, under rookie head coach Steve Kerr, began the season 10-2, reeled off 16 straight wins at one point, won more than 60 games for the first time in franchise history, and were only the tenth team in league history to record as many as 67 wins, putting them in some elite company, including Jordan's Bulls, Bird's Celtics, Chamberlain's Sixers and Lakers, and even that Mavericks team that the Warriors stunned several years back. With that sort of regular season -- which, by the way, included standout performances night after night from league MVP Stephen Curry and a 37 point quarter from Klay Thompson for an NBA record -- expectations were understandably lofty when the club cruised into the postseason, particularly coming off a first-round loss to the Clippers the year before and a second-round ouster at the hands of the eventual Western Conference champion Spurs in the 2012-2013 season. But combine that postseason experience with an out-of-control regular season, and a formula for success seemed in place heading into a first-round matchup with the upstart New Orleans Pelicans.

The champs.

With the top seed in the West, the Warriors opened the playoffs against Anthony Davis and the Pelicans in San Francisco. The Pelicans entered the playoffs a 45-win team and ended the season in last place in the Southwest division, but thanks to the magic of the NBA playoff structure, the team edged in over the Northwest division runner-up Oklahoma City Thunder, one of the preseason favorites in the West. And the Warriors displayed no warts in the series, cursing to a four-game series sweep. Game three went overtime, but the Warriors won the others rather comfortably by margins of seven, ten, and ten again. Stephen Curry dropped 34 in game one, 40 in game three, and 39 in game four to lead the team to the victory. Round two matched the Warriors against the Memphis Grizzlies, a team only two seasons removed from an appearance in the Western Conference finals. The Warriors saw an uptick in the quality of play of their opponent, trailing the series 2-1 after three games but rebounding to win three straight, including the clincher in Memphis, to win it 4-2 and advance to the conference finals. Curry continued to carry the team, leading the club in scoring for five of the six games.

The Warriors would square off against the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference finals, a somewhat surprising opponent considering neither the perennially excellent Spurs nor the favorite Clippers made it so far. Golden State jumped out to a quick 3-0 series lead on the back of, again, Stephen Curry, who led the team in scoring in each of the three wins, rattling off 34, 33, and 40 in games one through three, respectively. The Rockets would hold Curry to a series-low 23 in game four, taking the contest 128-115 in Houston. For the Warriors, however, the loss proved merely a bump in the road; game five saw the series shift back to California. Curry would top the team in scoring for the fourth time in five series games, dropping 26 to lead the team to a 104-90 win and a trip to the NBA finals, the team's first trip to the promised land in four decades. Their opponent: the Cleveland Cavaliers, a loaded Eastern Conference team featuring LeBron James and Kyrie Irving at the top but playing without Kevin Love, who suffered a season-ending injury earlier in the playoffs. The loss would prove harmful to the Cavs. The series started with back-to-back overtime games. Golden State, again behind Stephen Curry's 26, took game one -- despite 44 from LeBron -- but dropped a second OT contest to James and the Cavaliers in game two. In the game, James would lead the team in points, rebounds, and assists. Cleveland would jump out to a 2-1 series lead following a 96-1 win in Cleveland. Yet it wasn't unfamiliar territory for Golden State, a team that previously trailed Memphis in the playoffs but rebounded to win three straight. The Warriors would follow suit, taking the next three by scores of 103-82, 104-91, and 105-97 to earn the ring and close out a storybook season in fitting fashion.

The film follows the typical championship season retrospective structure, beginning with a look back at the foundational construction that helped make the Warriors a championship team, focusing on both on- and off-court personnel, beginning with Stephen Curry's selection in the 2009 draft and moving on to look at key additions like Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, and Draymond Green. It also focuses on the team's hiring of Steve Kerr and the bold move to start Andre Iguodala on the bench rather than as part of the starting five. The film offers a brief overview of the team's regular season, including an early 16-game winning streak and the scorching-hot 21-2 record to start the season. The feature covers some of the basics of the Western Conference playoff rounds but spends nearly half of its runtime on the six-game NBA finals series, delving deep into each contest and exploring the key moments that led the Warriors to the title. The film ends with a glimpse into the victory celebrations. It's a quality film, not at all extraordinary in terms of what it delivers but Warriors fans should find it a more than satisfying retrospective that they will enjoy time and again during the lead-in to the 2015-2016 season, and beyond.

2015 NBA Championship: Highlights Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

2015 NBA Championship: Highlights arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080i, 1.78:1-framed transfer. The general picture quality is largely reflective of a good TV broadcast. The digital image often sports crisply defined details and robust colors -- the Warriors' yellow and blue color scheme tends to pop -- but it shows some warts. Mild softness creeps in at times, playing in rather stark contrast to some of the intricately detailed objects seen throughout, like uniform textures, baseball-style caps, and faces. General image clarity is strong, revealing even background elements with relative ease. The transfer introduces some mild noise, banding, and blocking throughout, though none of it ever rises to the level of "distraction." This is a relatively simple image, healthy and vibrant and showing a few warts right below the surface but on the whole a perfectly acceptable presentation.

2015 NBA Championship: Highlights Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

2015 NBA Championship: Highlights features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack. The track delivers good center imaging, pushing dialogue to the middle but leaving music and effects to breathe off to the sides. Narration, interview clips, court side calls, and other examples of the spoken word come through with healthy clarity and even a hint of reverberation when the situation calls for it. Crowd cheers are a little stymied but the rest of the effects are nicely detailed and placed, including dribbling and tennis shoe squeaks on the court. Music is well defined and nicely spread across the front; the flavorful beats also feature a hefty sense of weight and depth. It's a straightforward track for the most part but effective in carrying the program's sonic needs.

2015 NBA Championship: Highlights Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

2015 NBA Championship: Highlights contains several bonuses. A DVD copy is included. The set comes packaged in a standard DVD case rather than a Blu-ray case.

• Stephen Curry with Ahmad (1080i, 5:07): The NBA MVP sits down with Ahmad Rashad to discuss his, and the team's, season.
• Stephen Curry Handles (1080i, 1:23): A look at Curry's ball handling and shooting skills.
• Draymond Green Highlight Reel (1080i, 1:20): A quick look at some of the power forward's best moments.
• Klay Thompson with Grant Hill (1080i, 4:06): The record-setting Warrior sits down with the NBA legend to discuss the start of the Warrior's season, the evolution of his game, and more.
• Draymond Green with Kristen Ledlow (1080i, 3:21): Green speaks on his versatility and intensity and shares some humorous comments about cooking and dancing.
• Klay Thompson: Quick Take (1080i, 1:31): The Warriors' star discusses his jersey number, music, and motivation.
• Klay Thompson: 37 Point Quarter (1080i, 1:57): Unfortunately, this isn't the entire quarter but instead a rapid-fire highlight reel.
• Andre Iguodala: Spotlight (1080i, 3:22): A look at the veteran's influence on the team.
• Harrison Barnes: Time Out (1080i, 2:18): Barnes discusses the importance of mental and physical stamina.
• Stephen Curry: Hallway 3 Evolution (1080i, 1:20): Curry practices by hitting threes from the tunnel.
• Santa Cruz Warriors NBA D-League Champions (1080i, 4:37): A short look at the D-League title matchup.

2015 NBA Championship: Highlights Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

2015 NBA Championship: Highlights delivers a straightforward narrative of the Warriors' 2014-2015 championship season. It's flashy and well made but nothing special in terms of technical presentation or execution in comparison to most championship videos. While 80 minutes isn't all that long to cover 82 regular season games and 21 postseason games, it's enough to satisfy casual fans in search of a quality look back on the championship season. No doubt hardcore fans will wish for a set featuring all six finals games in their entirety as a companion to this, but as far as these types of videos go it's a solid recap of a tremendous Warriors season. Video and audio qualities satisfy and supplements are limited to primarily fluff. A must-buy for Warriors fans, obviously, but recommended to the greater NBA fan base as well.