World Series 2015 Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

World Series 2015 Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Show Me the games.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 19, 2015

As was the case last year, Major League Baseball's World Series champions have earned two separate releases. The Royals World Series games are overviewed in the 2015 World Series Champions release, a single-disc recap of the Fall Classic with a handful of neat little extras that help better shape the season and the celebrations. This eight-disc bad boy is instead seven full games presented in their entirety, minus commercials, and with no less than four broadcast audio options. The set includes all five games of the 2015 World Series featuring the American League champion Kansas City Royals and the National League champion New York Mets. Also included are two key Royals postseason games, one from the ALDS vs. the Houston Astros and the other from the ALCS vs. the Toronto Blue Jays. An eighth disc adds a few fluffy bonuses that are strictly for Royals fans. And that's it. It's a very nuts-and-bolts release but a necessary one that is sure to be a treasured centerpiece of every Royals fan's Blu-ray collection. For lack of anything more to say on the set, below is a brief recap of each of the seven games presented in this set.

Disc One: World Series Game One, New York Mets (Harvey) at Kansas City Royals (Volquez), October 27, 2015.

The Royals got off to a fast start. Literally. Kansas City leadoff hitter Alcides Escobar began the bottom of the first inning with an inside-the-park home run, only the 14th in World Series history and the first since 1929. The Mets would respond in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, tallying a single run in each -- including a Curtis Granderson homer in the fifth -- to take a 3-1 lead. The Royals would answer in the bottom of the sixth, plating two on an Eric Hosmer sacrifice fly and a Mike Moustakas single. The seesaw affair continued when the Mets scored on an error in the eighth, but the Royals would time the game in the ninth on an Alex Gordon home run. The game would extend for several extra innings until, in the 14th, Mets reliever and longtime starter Bartolo Colon would surrender an Eric Hosmer sacrifice fly, his second of the game, to secure the Royals the walk off win.

Disc Two: World Series Game Two, New York Mets (deGrom) at Kansas City Royals (Cueto), October 28, 2015.

Game two would be the Johnny Cueto show. The Royals' marquee midseason addition struggled at times for his new team, but his World Series game two start was not one of them and was, in fact, exactly the kind of pitching the Royals hoped he would deliver in the clutch. The former Cincinnati Red surrendered only a single run on two hits while walking three and whiffing four. The Mets actually took a 1-0 lead in the fourth but a four-run outburst in the Kansas City fifth, which included a two-run single off the bat of Eric Hosmer, sealed the deal. The Royals would tack on three additional insurance runs in the eighth en route to a dominant 7-1 win.

Disc Three: World Series Game Three, Kansas City Royals (Ventura) at New York Mets (Syndergaard), October 30, 2015.

The Mets couldn't afford to go down 3-0 to the Royals, making game three all but a must-win. Emerging Ace Noah Syndergaard gave his team a quality start, going six innings and surrendering three runs (all in the first two innings) on seven hits and two walks while striking out six. His performance was followed by three no-hit innings from the Met bullpen. The Royals' starter Yordano Ventura also struggled out of the gate but couldn't get through four, giving up five earned, including home runs to David Wright and Curtis Granderson, en route to the loss. The Mets would tack on some insurance with a four-run sixth to take game three, 9-3.

Disc Four: World Series Game Four, Kansas City Royals (Young) at New York Mets (Matz), October 31, 2015.

With the Mets ensured of at least some breathing room, game four turned from "do or die" to "like to win." The Metropolitans would get off to a good start, plating two runs in bottom of the third on a Michael Conforto home run and a Curtis Granderson sacrifice fly. With the Mets lead cut to 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Conforto would blast his second dinger of the game to propel the Mets back to a two-run lead and well on their way to evening the best-of-seven series at two games apiece. But the resilient Royals were not about to let the game slip away. Ned Yost's ball club cut the Met lead to one in the top of the sixth when Ben Zobrist scored on a Lorenzo Cain single, and the club rallied for three in the eighth, which included Mike Moustakas and Salvador Pérez singles, to take a 3-1 series lead and draw to within a win of a World Series title.

Disc Five: World Series Game Five, Kansas City Royals (Volquez) at New York Mets (Harvey), November 1, 2015.

The game one starters reunited as mound opponents once again for game five. Both were sharp. Volquez, still no doubt reeling from his father's death only days earlier, pitched six strong innings, surrendering only two runs (one earned) on two hits while walking five and striking out five. Harvey pitched eight-plus, giving up two earned runs on five hits and two walks while punching out nine. For Harvey, however, the damage came in the ninth inning. Rather than pitch his closer, Jeurys Familia, to start the frame, Mets manager Terry Collins kept his ace starter on the mound. The Royals rallied against both Harvey and Familia, and it was Hosmer and Pérez again in the middle of the action. The game would continue at a 2-2 tie into extra innings. In the top of the 12th, the Royals exploded for five runs to secure a 7-2 win and the franchise's first World Series title in three decades.

Disc Six: American League Division Series Game Five, Houston Astros (McHugh) at Kansas City Royals (Cueto), October 14, 2015.

Royals' trade deadline addition Johnny Cueto pitched eight strong innings, striking out eight and surrendering only two runs to the Astros, both coming in the second on a Luis Valbuena two-run homer, in the pivotal game five. The Royals broke through with a run in the bottom of the fourth on an Eric Hosmer single and scored three times in the fifth, keyed by a two-run double off the bat of Alex Rios. Cueto would hold and the Royals would add three more insurance runs in the eighth to secure a trip to the ALCS with a 7-2 victory.

Disc Seven: American League Division Series Game Six, Toronto Blue Jays (Price) at Kansas City Royals (Ventura), October 23, 2015.

Kansas City didn't show any intimidation against either the American League's top hitting team or its recently acquired ace starter. The Royals pushed across runs in both the first and second innings on Ben Zobrist and Mike Moustakas home runs. The Blue Jays' Jose Bautista would homer in the fourth and eighth innings -- the latter a two-run shot -- sandwiched around a third Royals run. But Kansas City would answer with another tally in the bottom of the eighth on an Eric Hosmer single. Wade Davis would pick up the save to ensure the Royals a second consecrative trip to the World Series.

World Series 2015 Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

World Series 2015 Collection looks, more or less, like the TV broadcast. Compression artifacts remain but are not particularly intrusive; macroblocking is often the most severe offender but it never really dominates, though some of the on-field camera work can reduce the infield grass to a smeary glob. The HD video quality presents well. Detailed uniform seams and lettering are sharp. Facial features -- pores, beards -- are well defined. Wood grains on dugout benches are easy to spot. Background crowd and stadium details are sharp and clear even at some distance. Additional artifacts creep into specialty shots, like ultra slow motion. Colors are strong. Royals and Mets blue are the clear standouts, with infield and outfield grass taking on a natural shading.

World Series 2015 Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

World Series 2015 Collection offers four audio options:

• Fox TV Broadcast: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Home Radio: Dolby Digital 2.0
• Away Radio: Dolby Digital 2.0
• Spanish-Language Broadcast: Dolby Digital 2.0

The primary DTS-HD Master Audio track is fine, recreating the TV experience well enough. Dialogue can be a little sharp but it's clear and presented straight up the middle. Crowd noise is a bit muffled but basic chants are clear and general din always audible. The lack of surround is disappointing; crowd ambience could have been more enjoyable with some drift into the back channels of a 5.1 track. Stadium music fares similarly to crowd noise. Cracks of the bat and other baseball sounds are occasionally more pronounced in some spots and less so in others. The radio tracks push to the center and there's no real sense of space to the sides.

World Series 2015 Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

World Series 2015 Collection contains no traditional on disc supplements on discs one through seven. Each disc includes only audio selections and half-inning "chapter selections" allowing the user to skip to, say, the top of the third or the bottom of the eighth. Brief post game materials follow each game. There is a color booklet inside the case. Each World Series game and the final games of the ALDS and ALCS earn two pages of box scores, trivia, and statistics, including everything form game time temperature to the number of first strike pitches. Disc eight, despite being labeled as a "Bonus DVD," is a Blu-ray disc that offers the following:

• Season Highlights (720p):
• Walk-Off Wins (8:59): A compilation of footage from games the Royals won in their last at-bat.
• Season Moments (4:08): A look at Paulo Orlando's first MLB hit and a three-homer and one triple game for Kendrys Morales on September 20th in Detroit.
• Royals Clinch AL Central (2:00): A short clip of the team's division clinching home win from September 24.
• Postseason Highlights (720p): Big moments from ALDS Game 2 (5:22), ALDS Game 4 (7:49), ALCS Game 1 (6:36), ALCS Game 2 (6:10), and ALCS Game 4 (5:07).
• MLB DVDs: Previews for The Official Major League Baseball World Series Film Collection (480i, 0:32) and Baseball's Greatest Games Collector's Edition (1080i, 0:31).

World Series 2015 Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The games, the whole games, and (almost) nothing but the games. World Series 2015 Collection features all five World Series games, in their entirety (minus commercials), and two key postseason games. A few minutes of post game discussion is included at the end. An eighth disc adds some light bonus material. The set is almost strictly for Royals fans, but hardcore baseball fans should enjoy it, too, provided they don't root for the Mets, Jays, or Astros. Technical details of this set are fine and not radically different from broadcast TV. A few supplements make this an attractive package. This is a must-own for Royals fans but casual baseball fans will probably be better off with the one-disc recap release.