WWE: Diamond Dallas Page - Positively Living! Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

WWE: Diamond Dallas Page - Positively Living! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 7, 2017

There are certainly more prominent and more accomplished Superstars scattered all over the professional wrestling landscape, but few, if any, of them are as inspirational as Diamond Dallas Page. Defying the odds at every turn, morphing himself into a star, a champion, a fitness guru, and a Hall-of-Famer, the boy from Point Pleasant, New Jersey has left an indelible mark on sports entertainment, turned himself into a brand, and, most important, has become known as a man who lives his life in the service of others. Diamond Dallas Page: Positively Living chronicles his life, ascension into professional wrestling, and development and success of his DDP Yoga fitness program.

Page Joseph Falkinburg grew up in New Jersey under less-than-ideal conditions. His father an alcoholic, his family broken, and struggling through learning disorders such as ADD and dyslexia, the would-be champ turned to sports as an outlet for his naturally gifted size and strength. But a car accident took much of his ability and prohibited him from participating in contact sports. He turned to basketball and through perseverance developed his talent for it. But Page wasn't content with that success. He wanted more. His love of professional wrestling and understanding of the management business led him into the sports entertainment industry. The film explores his relationship with Dusty Rhodes, his transition from manager and mic performer to in-ring talent (despite his age), evolution as a superstar, championship run, and transition to the WWE. The film also explores his development of his signature DDP Yoga fitness regimen and its success both in the wrestling industry and around the world.

The film follows the tried-and-true WWE Home Video Documentary/Biography structure, recounting Page's early life, draw to wrestling, and career arc, culminating in what he's been doing in the time since he retired from the ring, in this case building his second career as a yoga instructor. Quick-fire interview clips from a number of individuals, both fellow wrestlers and friends and family, as well as DDP in his own words, tell his story from injured athlete to manager, from superstar to entrepreneur. That's structurally standard stuff, but as is the case with the vast majority of WWE's Biographies, it's the subject that matters and makes the film and no doubt most will find DDP's story agreeable and inspiring at the same time.

On a quick personal note, I've been on DDP's yoga program since I first heard about it on the Scott Hall Blu-ray. I know it's cliché to say "it changed my life," but it's certainly been a major factor (along with diet, additional exercise including strength training, and chiropractic care) in recovering from sciatic nerve issues, feeling better, sleeping better, and losing weight, all important for a job that essentially has me sitting on a couch and an office chair all day long. The quick "Wake Up" stretching workout is particularly amazing as a jump-start to the day and it's an essential part of my daily routine. I'm not at any advanced level in the program, and don't know if I ever will be, but the sense of well-being while on the program is undeniable. I highly recommend it.

WWE: Diamond Dallas Page - Positively Living! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Diamond Dallas Page: Positively Living features the WWE Home Video-Standard 1080i image framed at 1.78:1. Vintage clips are stretched to fill the HD frame, but the bonus matches retain their original 4:3 aspect ratio. The picture quality comes exactly as expected. It's very crisp and neat, revealing strong detailing across the board, particularly in some of the New Jersey exteriors that Page visits throughout the program. Colors are well balanced and supportively vibrant in good light, again in many of those exterior locations. Source noise and a little aliasing are present but rarely in distracting quantities. The vintage material, as always, "is what it is." Beyond being reformatted to fill the screen, there's no complaint with the quality.

WWE: Diamond Dallas Page - Positively Living! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Diamond Dallas Page: Positively Living's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack delivers a solid enough baseline listening experience. As a predominantly interview-driven film with sporadic vintage clips thrown in, there's not much range or intensity, as one would expect. Music enjoys positive front-side spacing and impressive clarity. A few little ambient effects seep through as DDP speaks while walking around outdoors. Dialogue is clear and lifelike, center focused and well prioritized, whether controlled interviews or those scenes of DDP strolling around the old New Jersey stomping grounds.

WWE: Diamond Dallas Page - Positively Living! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Diamond Dallas Page: Positively Living contains matches on both discs while disc one also offers Stories, which is essentially a collection of deleted scenes. All extras are presented in 1080i. Older matches retain their original 4x3 aspect ratio.

Disc One:

Stories (22:44 total runtime):

• The Shore Town: DDP revisits his old childhood home.
• Dallas' Girls: DDP opens up about his adoptive daughters.
• Jay Leno: Dallas discusses the comedian's work in pro wrestling.
• Goldberg: DDP recalls a title match with Goldberg.
• Emotional Gravity: How Tony Robbins and the power of positive energy helped DDP's career.
• Giving Back the Money: Booker T discusses DDP's generosity.
• Malone's Mom: DDP remembers chatting with former NBA superstar Karl Malone's mom.
• Getting in Touch: DDP calls some of his fans out of the blue.
• Train Hopping: Dallas recalls some of his youthful indiscretions.
• Don't Mess with Sally: A story of how DDP protected his sister.
• High Stakes: DDP wins a card game.
• DDP Tryout Reel: A vintage reel featuring DDP the manager cutting promos.

Matches:

• Career Match: The Diamond Exchange vs. Brian Lee & Chris Sullivan. World Championship Wrestling -- December 7, 1991.
• Career Match: Diamond Dallas Page & Mike Graham vs. Justin "Thunder" Liger & Bill Kazmaier. Starrcade -- December 29, 1991.
• Career Match: Diamond Dallas Page & Cactus Jack vs. Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham. World Championship Wrestling -- March 14, 1992.
• Career Match: Diamond Dallas Page, Vinne Vegas & Scotty Flamingo vs. Marcus Bagwell, Brad Armstrong & Johnny B. Badd. WCW Saturday Night -- December 5, 1992.
• Career Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Johnny B. Badd. Spring Stampede -- April 17, 1994.
• United States Championship Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Eddie Guerrero. Starrcade -- December 29, 1996.
• Career Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Mark Starr. Nitro -- January 12, 1997.
• Career Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Spring Stampede -- April 6, 1997.
• Career Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan. Nitro -- October 27, 1997.
• United States Championship Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Curt Hennig. Starrcade -- December 28, 1997.
• United States Championship Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Chris Jericho. Nitro -- January 5, 1998.
• Raven's Rules Match for the United States Championship: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Raven. Spring Stampede -- April 19, 1998.

Disc Two Matches:

• Career Match: Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan & Dennis Rodman. Bash at the Beach -- July 12, 1998.
• Career Match: Diamond Dallas Page & Jay Leno vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan & Eric Bischoff. Road Wild -- August 8, 1998.
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Goldberg. Halloween Havoc -- October 25, 1998.
• United States Championship Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Bret "Hit Man" Hart. Nitro -- October 26, 1998.
• Four Corners Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship : Diamond Dallas Page vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs. "Nature Boy" Ric Flair vs. Sting. Spring Stampede -- April 11, 1999.
• WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Sting. Nitro -- April 26, 1999.
• No Disqualification Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Kevin Nash vs. Goldberg vs. Sting. Nitro -- April 26, 1999.
• WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Diamond Dallas Page & Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Raven & Saturn. Nitro -- May 31, 1999.
• WWE European Championship Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Christian. WrestleMania X8 -- March 17, 2002.

Disc Two Blu-ray Exclusives:

• WCW Television Title Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. The Renegade. Fall Brawl -- September 17, 1995.
• Battlebowl Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. The Barbarian vs. Earl Robert Eaton vs. Ice Train vs. Scott Norton vs. Rocco Rock vs. Johnny Grunge vs. Dick Slater. Slamboree -- May 19, 1996.
• United States Championship Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Bret "Hit Man" Hart. World War 3 -- November 22, 1998.
• Career Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. The Giant. Starrcade -- December 27, 1998.
• Steel Cage Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Jeff Jarrett. Nitro -- April 24, 2000.
• Career Moment: The Stalker Is Revealed: Diamond Dallas Page's WWE Debut. RAW -- June 18, 2001.

WWE: Diamond Dallas Page - Positively Living! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As with most WWE Biography releases, Diamond Dallas Page: Positively Living follows a simple formula but works because its subjects transcend basic video structure. This is another to-notch release: its subject is amazing and the two-disc set comes packed with some of DDP's great career matches. Video and audio are typical of a WWE Home Video release. Very highly recommended, and SteelBook fans can buy it in that exclusive packaging from Best Buy.