6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
For decades, Superstars have sought allies and banded together for strength in numbers. From the Four Horsemen to the n.W.o., DX, The Nexus, The Shield, and everyone in between, factions are as women into the fabric of sports-entertainment as the rules they tend to ignore. Now, WWE celebratest the biggest, baddest and coolest factions in history. From those who influenced generations of Superstars to those who just ran roughshod over the competition, this 3-disc DVD / 2-disc Blu-Ray presents a brief history of the top factions from all eras and collects several of the greatest matches and moments that made each one a household name. Also featuring The Fabulous Freebirds, The Nation of Domination, Evolution, The Heenan Family, Straight Edge Society and much more!
Starring: Paul Levesque, Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Phil Brooks, Stu BennettSport | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1, 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1, 1.33:1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
In numbers, there is strength.
When one considers the wider world of professional wrestling, it's oftentimes individuals and individual rivalries that immediately spring to mind.
Whether The Rock or Randy Savage, whether Steve Austin vs. Mr. McMahon, whether Mankind or The Miz, whether Hulk Hogan vs. André the Giant,
whether Randy Orton or Rey Mysterio, whether Undertaker vs. Kane, there are plenty of huge names and bigger rivalries to take center stage,
dominate headlines, sell toys, print on trading cards, and move tickets and Pay-Per-View orders. Yet sometimes it's the collective that can make the
largest impact, a gaggle of wrestlers joined together for the common goal of obliterating opponents and seizing control of the entire wrestling
landscape, not simply dominating a single corner of it. Greatest Wrestling Factions examines, and pays tribute to, some of professional
wrestling's most interesting, longest-lasting, and most dominant factions. From The Four Horsemen to the Straight Edge Society, many of the biggest
factions are included in this action-packed retrospective.
WWE: Greatest Wrestling Factions features the same sort of basic WWE transfer that frequent WWE Home Video viewers will expect. The image is comprised of both 1.78:1 high definition and up-converted 1.33:1 standard definition footage, with the latter dominating the two-disc content. There are two parts to the SD footage. One is the material interspersed with interviews that tell the story behind each faction. Here, the material has been reformatted to fit a 1.78:1 frame and match the accompanying natural 1.78:1 interview footage. Next are the matches themselves, which are preserved in their original broadcast 1.33:1 ratio. The material varies greatly in quality, from the fuzzy, poorly defined Blue World Order match to more polished WWE content from late in the SD era. The HD footage in the modern matches looks fine, with good, vibrant colors and stable details. The interviews, however, vary wildly in quality, from stable and sharp to fuzzy and poorly defined. Moderate background blocking, particularly across darker backdrops, plagues most every HD sequence, but most of the time viewers will have to look hard to see it. In essence, this is every other WWE Blu-ray release that's a mix of materials. It satisfies but doesn't push the format to its limits.
WWE: Greatest Wrestling Factions features, like the video, the basic WWE effort. The included Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack satisfies base requirements. The new interview footage is sonically put together well enough, yielding clear, accurate dialogue. In-match ringside commentary likewise plays nicely enough, though the accuracy varies between eras and formats. Likewise, in-ring crashes, screams, and other sounds of wrestling mayhem are suitably produced for the given origin. Crowd ambience and intro music grow increasingly clearer and fuller the closer the matches come to the modern era, with the HD matches offering the widest range and greatest sense of immersion.
WWE: Greatest Wrestling Factions contains the following, marked as "Blu-ray Exclusives," on disc two. The supplements are sort of like
"deleted scenes" from the main program, featuring an overview of the faction followed by a single highlight match.
WWE: Greatest Wrestling Factions is bound to cause a bit of controversy, considering both the inclusion and exclusion list as well as the absence of any sort of order to the presentation chaos. Yet it's also bound to entertain. Anyway one slices it, this represents a fairly solid cross-section of WWE entertainment, spanning several eras including some of the biggest stars the wrestling universe has ever seen banded together for a common goal of domination. Most of the matches are fun and the presentation finds a good balance between narrative and action. WWE Home Video's Blu-ray release of Greatest Wrestling Factions features the average WWE video and audio presentations. A few more factions and matches are presented on disc two as bonus features. Recommended.
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