Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

2016 World Series Champions: Chicago Cubs Blu-ray Movie Review

Bartman, Billy Goats, and the end of a 108 year drought.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 5, 2016

Sometimes a team of destiny comes around, shocks the world, and wins the whole thing, defying expectations and defining the reason why people love sports so much. Those make for the best stories, the proverbial "cinderella" squad pulling off the impossible against some statistically superior team. That wasn't the case in Major League Baseball's 2016 season. The Chicago Cubs -- yes, those Cubs, cursed by the Billy Goat and Bartman and without a World Series title since 1908 -- entered the season as the on-paper favorite, cruised to the best record in baseball, and despite a couple of scares in the postseason went on to capture the title and leave their opponents -- The Cleveland Indians -- as baseball's new "lovable losers." The season, for once, played out as all the pundits and prognosticators predicted, making things a little boring (or infuriating for fans of competing teams like the Pirates and Cardinals) but proving that, every now and then, "On-Paper" and those fellas who make all the preseason predictions occasionally get one right, even if getting it right is only acknowledging the blue and red elephant in the room.

Actor Vince Vaughn (not former hard-throwing Indians Ace Ricky Vaughn) narrates the film, which isn't cut from quite the same cloth as most other championship season recap home videos. It forgoes the usual regurgitation of the offseason prior and highlights from either the regular season or league playoffs, choosing to, instead, dive right into game one of the World Series in Cleveland (for raw full game footage of each game in the series, check out the larger companion release). In the process, it pieces together what fans need to know about the Cubs' run through the season and playoffs, hitting on topics like Kyle Schwarber's early season injury and return to play in, and contribute to, the team's seven-game triumph in the Fall Classic.

The film is expertly put together, right in line with previous World Series winner videos. But it's not a recap; it's a story, a compelling narrative of love, pain, hopes, and dreams, a.k.a. life. It sounds cliché, but it's true. The passion in the fans, evident even in seconds-long clips, brings it together, defines it, tells the story more than any hit or pitch or catch. The joy in voices. The streams of tears. The flag flown high. The film isn't just about the games. That's what the other release is for. It's about a city, a way of life, families coming together over a shared passion and generations of ups and downs and heartache, together and in memory, finally shedding tears of joy rather than tears of sorrow and again proclaiming "wait until next year." While the film does spend most of its time recapping the seven World Series games in dramatic and enticing fashion, it's in those brief moments of unbridled joy, of big dreams, endless hopes, and a lifetime of pain being washed away with every 90 feet, each fastball, each inning closer to realizing what seemed like the impossible for generations of fans who could barely ever even taste it, let alone expect it and savor it and, even down three games to one, somehow know that, finally, next year was now.

The World Series itself was exciting in the lead-up to the cathartic euphoria for the fans. The individual games will be looked at a little more closely in the review of the release containing all seven games, but between Cleveland's hot start, the Cubs' fight back to game seven, and mother nature's theatrics putting a brief hold on the end of a classic, it couldn't have been any more touch-and-go and gut-wrenching for fans worked into a frenzy and even brilliant television for casual observers and followers of other clubs. The series had it all, including two long overdue franchises hoping to end one drought and keep another going (imagine what would have happened had the Cubs and Red Sox made it to the World Series back in 2003, the year of the Bartman, and a year before the Red Sox would break their own curse...game seven might still be in progress in some Iowa Baseball Confederacy-like dream state). It was what baseball's postseason is all about, and the Indians nearly followed up on the Cavs' magic to bring Cleveland its second title in a single calendar year.

2016 World Series Champions: Chicago Cubs Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

2016 World Series Film arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080i, 1.78:1-framed transfer. The presentation is very good, boasting superb clarity and attention to detail. Slow motion shots are particularly pleasing, allowing the viewer to make out all sorts of fine little bits on uniforms, bats, the ball, gloves, or the field and stadium. Shots of fans out on the streets find plenty of enticing textures on the stadium and surrounding buildings, as well as all of the various examples of baseball attire and paraphernalia. Colors are rich and accurate, with special attention to the bright Cub blue and red and, to a lesser, but no less pleasing, extent, Indian red and navy. Source noise is little and no serious encode flaws are apparent. This is a very nice looking presentation, even considering the 1080i handicap.

2016 World Series Champions: Chicago Cubs Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

2016 World Series Film's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is a bit front heavy but otherwise easy to hold in high regard. It's certainly not shy, presenting its score with plenty of aggression and width. Clarity and detail remain high even in the most demanding moments of high tension. Surrounds don't pick up a large amount of the information, but the low end nicely supports the potent elements. Various little baseball sounds come through well, and crowd din out on street level energetically fills the stage. Narration, interview soundbites, and play-by-play highlights are well prioritized, lifelike, and front-center positioned.

2016 World Series Champions: Chicago Cubs Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

2016 World Series Film contains several extras Cubs fans will love. A DVD copy of the film and an iTunes digital copy code are included with purchase.

• Regular Season Highlights (1080i, 5:25): A collection of key moments from throughout the regular season, including blowout wins, a Jake Arrieta no-hitter, walk-off hits, and career milestones.
• Clinching Moments (1080i, 2:44): A quick montage of the moments when the Cubs won the division, the NLDS, and the NLCS.
• World Series Highlights (1080i, 9:02): Some key moments from the Series, with audio play-by-play coverage atop.
• World Series Parade (1080i, 2:12): As usual for championship home video releases, this is a short highlight reel, not coverage of the entire parade.
• Cubs on David Ross (1080i, 1:35): Teammates talk up the now-retired catcher's contributions to the team and World Series win.

2016 World Series Champions: Chicago Cubs Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite some aging pieces on the pitching staff and the retirement of David Ross, the Cubs look to be a team not of destiny, but of dynasty. With tons of cash to spend, a smart general manager, and some enviable young pieces around the diamond, it sure does look like there's precious little standing in the Cubs' way for the next several years. The Nationals might come close, the Dodgers are in some debt, the Mets have all that pitching, the Cardinals are the Cardinals, and the Pirates could be contenders if their owner wasn't pinching pennies, but the North Siders seem to have a clear path through the National League over the next few years. Shout! Factory's Blu-ray release of 2016 World Series Film delivers quality video and audio to go along with a few good little extras. Cubs fans obviously need to buy it -- maybe even twice, one to watch, one to cherish -- while baseball fans owe it to themselves to pick up a little piece of MLB history.