2019 CFP National Championship Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

2019 CFP National Championship Blu-ray Movie Review

The Tigers Roll the Tide.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 19, 2019

Apparently there's not much of a market for full-game college football on Blu-ray. Once upon a time back in 2015-2016 Team Marketing released several key bowl games -- the 2015 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, the 2015 Allstate Sugar Bowl, the 2015 Northwestern Mutual Rose Bowl, the 2016 BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl, the 2016 Goodyear Cotton Bowl -- but such releases have since dried up in favor of releasing only the National Championship game. And, really, who can blame Team Marketing? It's not as if there's a compelling reason for most to buy these discs, save for the regional fans of the winning team wanting to relive the glory and a few die-hard football fanatics looking for an HD football fix in the offseason. Perhaps if there was more effort put into the releases they would draw more attention, but as nothing more than the (edited) game dropped onto a Blu-ray disc it's difficult to, in all honesty, find the value. But Clemson fans, rejoice, this one's for all of Tigers Nation still in celebration mode after the school trounced Alabama to win its second championship in the past three seasons and its third in school history. (that second one is also available on Blu-ray).

It's been a steady diet of the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Clemson Tigers in the National Championship game over the last four years. Clemson has appeared in three and Alabama all four. Since the 2016 game, the schools have alternated wins and losses. That year, Alabama beat Clemson. The next year, Clemson beat Alabama. The following year, Alabama defeated the Georgia Bulldogs. This year, it was Clemson taking home the title over 'Bama. Debate will always rage over whether title game dominance is good for the sport or not. These last few years have had the look of Lakers-Celtics or, more recently, Warriors-Cavaliers. At least the schools' first two match-ups where classics. On January 11, 2016, Alabama beat Clemson 45-40. The following year, Clemson defeated Alabama 35-31. This year? A different story.

The first quarter saw the teams trading points. Clemson scored a touchdown. Alabama scored a touchdown. Clemson answered with another. And so did Alabama. But a missed extra point meant that the Tide trailed at the end of the first quarter, 14-13. Alabama would open the second quarter with another score, a field goal, to take a briefly held 16-14 lead. The Tide would roll into the end zone no more. Clemson dominated the game from that point forward. Travis Etienne would run one in and catch another one to give Alabama a 28-16 lead. The Tigers would tack on a field goal late in the quarter to enter the half ahead 31-16. In the third, Trevor Lawrence threw two touchdown passes to cement the lead, even with a missed extra point. The fourth quarter was scoreless, but the game was pretty much over at the end of the third. Final score: Clemson 44, Alabama 16.

This is the game broadcast and the game broadcast only (mostly) as it was seen on ESPN. Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit call the action up in the booth. There are some obvious cuts beyond removing commercials. The action jumps here and there, not during play or the time in between plays during drives up and down the field, but viewers will note some jarring transitions that will leave them wondering what was happening when the action moves forward. For example, after Clemson's first 3-and-out, there's a fade from the end of the punt return play to the beginning of the first possession at the 20 yard line. It's not a huge deal but it is worth noting. The trophy presentation is tacked on to the end of the release, which might be considered a "supplement."

2019 CFP National Championship Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

2019 CFP National Championship is presented at its broadcast original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 at a resolution of 720p. The image is not particularly good. Macroblocking is abundant, usually not to a severely distracting level (especially for anyone who watched the game on television and saw similar artifacts) but the problem is pervasive throughout the presentation. Even at the 720p resolution, detailing is adequate, but there's a clear lack of high end texturing where it might have been found, such as on jerseys and the turf, both of which look fairly smooth and flat. Colors are decent, with 'Bama red, Clemson orange, and the green turf holding fairly true. Watch for some white blooming on the numbers on the Alabama jerseys. There's some ringing around the on-screen graphics and clarity is not super-sharp. This is very watchable, and it reflects the quality some may have seen on television, but Blu-ray does nothing to improve the presentation.

2019 CFP National Championship Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The included DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack offers nothing of note, but it's more than adequate enough to carry the program's minimalist sonic needs. The presentation opens with some healthy front-end reverb as the PA announcer introduces the teams and the referee assembles the team captains for the coin toss ceremony. There's almost a faux sense of surround implementation in these scenes, and the added stretch is welcome. During the game, crowd cheers and din spread well to the sides, though definition is left wanting. Whistles, hits, and other on-field effects are capably delivered, usually with a front-center phantom location. The game commentary is likewise pushed to the center and convincingly so. Clarity is fine, certainly not to the level of a major Hollywood production but it's always intelligible.

2019 CFP National Championship Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The main menu screen offers users the opportunity to play the entire game, select any one of the four quarters, or jump directly to the trophy presentation, which comprises the final few minutes of the program's 127 minute runtime. There are no extras. The release does ship with a DVD copy of the program, but no digital code is included. It's worth noting that, as is the case with all Team Marketing releases, this release ships in a DVD case rather than a Blu-ray case.

2019 CFP National Championship Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is a very spartan release. For those who want to watch the game, sans commercials, and with a few edits along the way, it's a good value. The video and audio presentations are adequate but never excel beyond. No extras are included, unless one counts the trophy presentation at the end, which plays as part of the main program. Obviously recommended to Clemson fans, but there's not much to recommended to anyone else.