|
|
 |
When It Was a Game: The Complete Collection - 20th Anniversary Edition
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: Ethan Stevenson (9th July 2011). |
|
The Film
 Embarrassing confession time: I never made it past t-ball in my youth. I’d like to say that it was because of a disinterest in competitive sports on my part, but the fact is – even if I was an apathetic little bastard when it came to pretty much anything athletic in those early days – I was never any good on the field anyway. Still, like many a red-blooded American child, I associate my formative years with baseball. Maybe it’s because my father raised me on (along with Westerns and James Bond) stuff like “The Natural” (1984), “Field of Dreams” (1989), and “The Sandlot” (1993) when it came time for movies. Or possibly it’s the fact that he was constantly dragging me out of the house to play ‘ball in the yard. Or it could even be because he’s a diehard – painfully superstitious – Padres fan, who took me to games whenever he could. Half-remembered (and even misremembered) as the memories may be, whatever the reason and whenever the season, the “thwunk-crack” of wood meeting leather at that perfect moment, the smell of a well-worn-but-lovingly-oiled glove, and the peculiar deafening silence of a roaring ballpark full of crazed fans, still (and hopefully always will) bring a smile to my face. They call baseball America’s greatest pastime. It’s simply ingrained in our culture. The old saying goes: “as American as baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet.” That saying used to really be a bit of good-natured patriotism. And perhaps it still is for some. But when you really think about it – or at least when I think about it, with my naturally pessimistic skew – the things in that list aren’t exactly something to be proud of, or to use as a cultural benchmark, anymore. People know that hotdogs are awful for you. And that apple pie, although delicious, is nothing but sugar, and fat, and some syrup coated fruit. It isn’t nutritious either. As for Chevrolet… well, I think the bailout of Detroit says more about the (until recently rehabilitated) horrid state of American auto-making than I ever really could. And professional baseball, with all of its steroid scandal and self-centered, overpaid, free agent athletes, is perhaps the worst offender on the list. But, of course, when the saying came into fashion, Chevrolet was building great cars, people knew less about the importance of a healthy diet, and baseball – especially during the Depression era, through the war-torn 1940's, and in the post-war aftermath that was the baby boom, when it was just a game – was America’s foremost form of recreation and sporty entertainment. And so, at least in some time and place, that old saying made sense. Steven Stern and George Roy’s three-part HBO film series “When It Was a Game” puts an emphasis on such a time period, when baseball was just a part-time pursuit and – pardon the brief nationalism – there really was something uniquely, positively American about the aura that surrounded the once-great game. “When It Was a Game” covers the history and the players of the culturally significant sport, focusing on a time in our history when everything was simpler. A time when the stars of the game – some of the biggest names in the game, ever – often worked proper jobs in the off-season and only made hundreds, or, if they were really good (someone like Mickey Mantle), maybe a couple of thousand dollars each year on the field. To a time when stadiums were architectural works of art that had character, baseball didn’t extend West of St. Louis, and there were about a dozen teams across both leagues. The three films turn back the clock, to four turbulent decades (actually, from 1925 to 1969), and look at some of the greatest players, scandals, events and fans the game ever saw. The three film series was groundbreaking for its unique delivery, consisting of no “talking-head” interviews whatsoever, and instead relying entirely on 8mm and 16mm home movies shot by the people who were there. Available for the first time on Blu-ray in “The Complete Collection” from HBO and Warner Brothers, all three films (which run approximately an hour each) are offered on a single disc. Although an option to “play all” is offered in the menu of this release, I’d suggest against using it. Each entity is so uniquely different. This isn’t a mini-series and these aren’t episodes. Each film is its own self-contained piece, with independent arcs and specific, often incompatible, motives. The first film, simply called “When It Was a Game” (1991) was the jumping off point for the writer/producer team, while the last entry “When It Was a Game 3” (2000) was produced some eight years later at the dawn of the millennium. In many ways then the “Game” series is a time capsule in itself of how the two creative partners evolved as storytellers and documentary filmmakers. Narrated by Peter Kessler, with selected readings by Roy Scheider, Jason Robards and James Earl Jones, and archival interviews with the players themselves “When It Was a Game” (1991) is an occasionally clunky, somewhat dated opener that suffers from unnecessarily stilted poetry readings, uneven editing and a lack of focus. Concerned with everything and anything that was baseball from the late 1920's until 1947, when Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, the first film in the series simply wants to accomplish too much, too fast, without the proper narrative framing. Although it unpacks a truckload of information, forcing the dates, details and facts into the hands of the viewer with an at times unmanageable ferocity, the film is also often aimless, with lengthy segments parading seemingly endless montages of events that are given little context. The first documentary also makes sweeping shifts in tone, oddly transitioning between long-winded literary readings and the next historical point – complete with a jarring, dated fade-to-black marking the next chapter. The first “Game” is still a fairly strong documentary mostly because the captivating images that supports it. The incredibly rare 8mm and 16mm home movies shot by the fans and players features the likes of Jackie Robinson, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Mel Ott, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Cy Young, Babe Ruth, and countless others. Still, compared to the vastly improved parts to follow, “Game 1” is a bit rough ‘round the edges. A year later Stern and Roy returned with a more refined feature. Again there are no talking heads; the hour-long documentary relies completely on old home movie footage for its visuals. (All but about five minutes of said footage is in color). “When It Was a Game 2” (1992) is narrated by Kessler, with Scheider and Robards joined by a new cast of celebs and notables. Jack Palance, Joe Mantegna and Ellen Burstyn are on hand to read much better placed, less pompous poems and literary excerpts, while author Robert Creamer – who also features prominently in the first film – is joined by Billy Crystal, Mel Allen, Donald Honig, and Donald Hall (among others) to offer reflective commentary on the history of the game. Roger Maris, Hank Aaron, Yogi Berra, and Willie Mays join the ranks of players. There’s noticeable overlap between “Game 1” and “Game 2”, simply because many of the same players and issues persisted over the two different time periods (“Game 1” ends in 1947; “Game 2” starts at the beginnings of World War II in the late 1930's and continues through the fifties). But where “Game 2” bests its predecessor – and perhaps why the original feels so inferior – is that the focus and tone is more consistent, the editing and visuals more polished, and Stern and Roy begin to lift the rose colored lenses, revealing the latent racism that existed in the leagues before – and after – Robinson changed the game forever. A considerable potion of “Game 2” puts it focus on race relations of the era, which makes sense considering the overall slant of the documentary is more towards the cultural impact of the game. The effect of WWII and the rise of über-fan-loyalty in the late forties and 1950's also fill the runtime (Old Brooklyn and their Dodgers, followed by the Dodgers devastating desertion to L.A. play a huge role in the latter moments of the documentary that focuses on the culture of the God-like teams and their mere-human worshipers). Overall, the second outing improves upon every fault that existed in the first film – with a generally more interesting arc and more sociological, humanistic focus – and introduces none of its own. 2000's “When It Was a Game 3” is worth the price of admission alone. Focusing on the dying days of baseball – set during the 1960's, with the impending threat of free agency looming in the distance and about to change the game for the worse – the third and final hour isn’t just the best documentary on this disc. Its one of the most interesting baseball documentaries I’ve ever seen. Narrated by Liev Schreiber, with commentary from the greatest sportscaster in American television, Bob Costas, and plenty of others – including returning voices like Billy Crystal, and new ones too like Kevin Costner and Andre Braugher – the third film benefits from the eight year gap between it and its predecessors immensely. Stern and Roy hit hard with their final at bat, tackling – again – the tough race relations of the game and era (adding a dash of Latino to the melting pot) and the crushing downfall of some of the all-time greats. Mantle’s waning years, the death of the Babe, Westward expansion of the game, and the rise of the hideous, prefab mega-stadium all foretold the end of an era. But, the 1960's, although a time of great change, also proved to be one of the finest hours in the history of the game. Maris and Mantle’s run in ’61, the domination of (fellow lefty) Sandy Koufax on the pitching mound, followed by 1968’s “Year of the Pitcher” when Bob Gibson broke records set just years earlier, and “Hammerin’” Hank Aaron began his streak of record breaking awesomeness (making his place as the 8th person to hit 500 homeruns before the decade was out; the first in a string of milestones that would solidify him as one of the Gods of Baseball). Although the three films work better apart than they do as a miniseries or three-hour documentary, “When It Was a Game: The Complete Collection” is a strong release. Ultimately well made and utterly fascinating at times, each documentary offers an interesting glimpse at players, stadiums and an era long gone by. Stern and Roy paint a wonderfully nostalgic picture of a special part of U.S. and sports history. And while the first “Game” is easily eclipsed by the later, more polished, films in this boxset, the value that the home movie footage – most of which is unique to the “Game” films – has for fans is impossibly immeasurable. Recommended.
Video
"The following program consists solely of 8mm & 16mm home movie film. It was taken by Major League Baseball players and fans. The color is all original.” Where to begin? Perhaps I should address the disclaimer that precedes each film, but it seems plain enough. There is a bit of controversy surrounding the aspect ratio: some will take issue with the new framing of the 1080p 24/fps 1.78:1 widescreen AVC MPEG-4 encoded transfers accompanying all three films simply because it isn’t original. Honestly, I too would have liked to see the original 1.37:1 ratio untouched, but it makes sense that HBO would reformat the footage when they remastered the series in 2010 for rebroadcast in HD. Also consider that the original footage (although shot in 1.37:1 academy; the standard shape of old consumer-grade film until the advent of Super16 in the late 1960's) was not carefully composed like a professional Hollywood production is, so the reformatting isn’t as damming as it could be. The old DVD's had plenty of useless headroom too, so the new, more 16x9-friendly shape isn’t overly cramped or noticeably cropped. (And all titles and credits that might have been harmed by the ratio change have been recomposed with new digital typeface.) How does the disc look otherwise? Well, a Blu-ray can only be as detailed, colorful, and generally eye catching as the source material on each disc allows. Comprised entirely of forty-to-eighty-year-old black-and-white and color 8mm and 16mm film, shot by fans and the players themselves, “When It Was a Game” simply never was going to rival some modern, CG spectacle. Even with a frame-by-frame restoration it still wouldn’t look all that spectacular (note that 8mm has about the same appreciable resolution as DVD; 16mm is about even with 1080p). And yet I’m sure, even with the simple disclaimer that precedes each film, and my own words of warning here, there will still be those who are disappointed that “When…” looks like it does. On the other hand, I think that HBO and Warner should be commended. The Blu-ray of “When It Was a Game” is an accurate representation of a sometimes dated, occasionally faded, not necessarily consistent source. I can’t imagine the footage looking any better than it does here. Untouched by DNR; grain is rightfully persevered and hasn’t been smoothed over (as a result, some print damage remains in spots). Colors fluctuate, but don’t appear boosted; they’re always natural to the stock on which they were shot. Be warned: antiquated color can be jarring to those unfamiliar with the technology. The 16mm color footage of the 1938 World Series – the oldest footage of its kind – was shot just days after the color stock became available to consumers, and the technology wasn’t quite perfect. In that sequence – and many of the other 16mm color excerpts from the same era – vibrant reds pop, but little else even appears to be in color. Skintones are an unnaturally purplish-pink. Greens are dull; most everything else is brownish, and anything that isn’t brown, green, pink-purple or red looks suspiciously like black-and-white. The footage almost looks colorized, but fear not – Ted Turner’s damned Crayolas haven’t been anywhere near these elements. Compression is excellent. Not a trace of ugly edge enhancement can be found. And there are no encoding flaws to speak of. Any problems with the footage are inherent to the untouched, sometimes unrestored, source. As expected, the films improve with age. “When It Was a Game 1” (1991) is the weakest simply because it relies on the oldest footage – material ca. 1925 to 1947 – which is usually either black-and-white or inferior quality, occasionally damaged, color. “When It Was a Game 2” (1992) is better as it features more material from the later forties and fifties, and generally has less defects inherent to the source (the exception being some of the footage of the various stadiums being razed towards the end of the film). “When It Was a Game 3” (2000) is almost fully color, primarily sourced from top-quality 16mm (and high resolution Super8) and looks, without a doubt, best. The visual upgrade over DVD is a smaller one than most Blu-rays, but there is an improvement and sometimes – especially in “Game 3” – it can be quite surprising.
Audio
Much like the video, the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo track is at the mercy of the sometimes-dated source elements. Narration, readings, commentaries and archival interviews vary in volume, clarity, and prioritization on an almost case-by-case basis. The wistful original score is more consistent, but still buried beneath the voice-over, while crowd chatter and background noise is always, as it should be, just a faint undercurrent of the mix. The period music of the thirties and forties is oft-times victim to harsh hiss and crackle and even the occasional pop, but such is the way of seventy-year-old source material. Warner and HBO have done what they can with an occasionally troublesome source, and overall I have few (if any qualms) that relate to actual authoring and encoding of this disc. What flaws there are, are inherent to the original elements. Fans shouldn’t expect miracles and if they don’t should find “When It Was a Game: The Complete Collection” to sound acceptable. A lossy Spanish DTS 2.0 stereo dub and English, Spanish and French subtitles are also included.
Extras
Although HBO has placed a “20th Anniversary” sicker on the packaging there are no special features to speak of, which is a shame. To be fair the original DVD's were also barebones, so enthusiasts won’t be losing material when upgrading to Blu-ray.
Packaging
“When It Was a Game: The Complete Collection” arrives on Blu-ray from HBO Home Entertainment. The 20th Anniversary Edition is a single disc release that includes all three films – “When It Was a Game” (1991), “When It Was a Game 2” (1992) and “When It Was a Game 3” (2000) – on a dual layered BD-50. The disc is packaged inside an Elite keepcase with a cardboard slipbox in original pressings and is locked to Region A.
Overall
It’s the endless stream of home movie footage, featuring some of baseballs all time greats, that makes “When It Was a Game” such a must for sports fans and history buffs. Due to the condition of the over-forty-year-old 8mm & 16mm source materials, HBO’s 1080p presentation isn’t quite a stunner; likewise the stereo DTS-HD Master Audio track, although lossless, is at the mercy of a dated source. Still the Blu-ray is an improvement – if a decidedly marginal one – over the previous DVD renderings. My recommendation for this title really stems from the films themselves, which are brilliant and wonderfully nostalgic, and not so much the technical merits of the high-def disc. But note the relatively low price point and mild visual upgrade, and consider this: the “Complete Collection” – which includes all three features – is only a few dollars more than buying two of the standard definition DVD's separately.
|
|||||
|