2020 World Series Champions: Los Angeles Dodgers Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

2020 World Series Champions: Los Angeles Dodgers Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 30, 2020

The story of the 2020 Los Angele Dodgers has already been told, but the history of the 2020 Major League Baseball season, which ended with the Dodgers winning the Commissioner's Trophy, has yet to be fully explored. Will the shortened season, empty seats, lengthened playoffs, expanded rosters, and the National League designated hitter, amongst other seasonal oddities, impact the accomplishment's place in history? Will an asterisk, or asterisks, ultimately appear next to the team name? Probably not, but 2020 was no "regular season" for Los Angeles or for any Major League club. Once again the prohibitive favorites in the National League, the Dodgers ultimately triumphed through the truncated season with a full arsenal of offensive firepower and pitching prowess paving the way to the club's first World Series title since 1988, ending years of recent postseason failure in the most unusual, frustrating, and fascinating of baseball seasons.

The Dodgers entered spring training 2020 as, once again, a favorite to win the National League West. The club won a league high 106 games in 2019, one game below MLB's top club Houston Astros, and appeared poised to once again dominate MLB, particularly with the addition of four-time all-star and 2018 American League MVP Mookie Betts bolstering an already potent lineup. Los Angeles' World Series hopes were put on hold when, weeks into spring training and only weeks away from the start of the regular season, MLB announced spring training cancellations and a delay to the start of the regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A short delay morphed into an extended hold on the regular season which ultimately began in front of empty stadiums in late July; the Dodgers beat the Giants 8-1 on "opening day" on July 23, setting the pace for a sprint to the finish in which the Dodgers would set the pace with a 43-17 record, by far the best mark in the National League and three games better than the AL's top club, the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Dodgers held off a surge from the up-and-coming San Diego Padres (which recently traded for Tampa Bay ace Blake Snell) which acquired Cleveland Indians all-Star Mike Clevinger at the deadline. San Diego would win 37 games, more than any other NL club not from Los Angeles, but it was not enough outpace Dave Roberts' team which finally seemed poised to take that next step following years of frustrating playoff losses. With the expanded format in play, the Dodgers met the Milwaukee Brewers in the best-of-three wild card round, winning the series two-games-to-none. Los Angeles would sweep rival San Diego in three games in the divisional round but would meet heavy resistance in the National League Championship Series, ultimately defeating the young and talented Atlanta Braves in a hard-fought seven game set. The Dodgers faced American League champion Tampa Bay in a matchup of the top team in each league. The teams, playing on neutral territory in Arlington, Texas in front of a sparse live crowd, would trade wins through the first four games, with the Dodgers winning games one and three and the Rays two and four before Los Angeles would win games five and six to secure a place in history in one of baseball's most historic seasons.

Just as interesting as the games, and perhaps even more so, are the film's opening minutes showing the players interviewing virtually. Masks are everywhere: put on taken off, adjusted for comfort and fit. Surfaces are disinfected and signs asking people to social distance are prominently seen everywhere. As the film continues, it explores, by way of Vin Scully narration and player interviews, the process of the season shutting down in spring. But it takes only minutes for the program to reach its stride, exploring the games, and the players, largely away from the altered realities surrounding the games and the season, though certainly the differences in routine and tradition are intrinsically interwoven throughout the film. But baseball, Ray, is why the people come, and the film does a fine job of spinning each game's individual storylines and revealing their impact on the larger collective series. It's not so dramatic as a classic NFL Films production but there's an unmistakable depth and plenty of dramatic detail at work, allowing the audience to become captivated not so much by each pitch -- that's saved for the full game collection -- but rather by each game's rhythm as well as both the big plays and the subtle ebbs and flows that ultimately determined 2020's World Series champion.

2020 World Series Champions: Los Angeles Dodgers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

2020 World Series Champions: Los Angeles Dodgers swings onto Blu-ray with a proficient if not imperfect 1080i, 1.78:1-framed Blu-ray presentation. The image is generally of sound construction, even at 1080i, yielding a well rounded assortment of core textures. Close-ups reveal ballplayer skin details with impressive ease and efficiency, showing pores and moles and hairs and other intimate elements with pleasing depth and clarity. Uniform textures are likewise sharp and allow for fine-point exploration of lettering and patches. The ballfield is capably detailed, too, whether the turf and dirt or the cardboard cutout fans in the stands. Clarity extends rather far, too, allowing in-focus elements to shine even at distance. Colors are appropriately bold; both teams feature blue as a primary color, though the Rays colors are a bit more pastel than the well saturated Dodger blue. Green grass offers a nice contrast. The image shows some flaws, chiefly a severe barrage of aliasing during a spring training ballpark montage early in the film and some dense noise in various slow-motion shots. Overall, however, this is a quality presentation that brings the material to the screen quite nicely.

2020 World Series Champions: Los Angeles Dodgers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

2020 World Series Champions: Los Angeles Dodgers features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is unremarkable for depth or spacing or detail but holds firm in all elements. Music and narration are the chief sonic drivers, the former presenting with honest front end spacing and modest surround support. Low end extension is utilized in balance and the clarity is quite good throughout the range. Background ballpark sounds -- some of the canned noise or bat hitting ball -- are pleasantly defined. Dialogue is clear and center focused whether narration, player and coach interviews, or various examples of broadcast play-by-play and pregame chatter. There's nothing extraordinary here but the track is perfectly proficient in all required areas.

2020 World Series Champions: Los Angeles Dodgers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

2020 World Series Champions: Los Angeles Dodgers includes a sparse selection of extra content. A DVD copy of the program is included with purchase. No digital code is included. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

• "How They Got There" Featurette (720p, 5:09): Looking back at the team's fortunes over the past few years, the club's regular season highlights, and journey through the postseason.
• Season Highlights (720p, 8:12): A Mookie Betts contract signing interview followed by highlights from opening day, Betts' 3-home run game against the Padres, a Cody Bellinger walk-off homer against the Padres, and a double header vs. the Giants.
• Clinching Moments (720p, 9:16): A highlight reel featuring the moments the team clinched a playoff appearance against the Padres and the the division against the A's, followed by highlights from the team's wild card win over the Brewers, the division series victory over the Padres, and the win over the Braves in the NLCS.
• World Series Postgame Interviews (720p, 14:02): On-field interviews with Dodgers players following the World Series victory in game six.

2020 World Series Champions: Los Angeles Dodgers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

2020 World Series Champions: Los Angeles Dodgers boils down to baseball but the season's story is an inescapable sidebar, a steady shadow under which the games were played. But beyond the masks, the bubble, and all of the peculiarities is the same old game here played at its highest level. The film is well versed in narrative detail and capturing the essence of what makes each game, every pitch, and all of the at-bats so special. It's nothing new in terms of technical construction -- it's a rinse-and-repeat of last year's World Series recap -- but it's very well done as it is and well worth a buy for Dodgers fans.