Motorsport Musings Ramblings of a racing enthusiast…

14Nov/095

When DVD Reviews Go Bad

2009LeMansDVDThe Le Mans 24 Hours is perhaps the most prestigious racing event currently on the motor sport calendar. The jewel in the motor racing crown, it is steeped in tradition and, as any fan will tell you, almost always delivers in both speed, skill and most importantly of all, excitement. This year’s incident-packed race, whilst not a classic, didn’t fail to deliver as Peugeot vanquished Audi with a dream 1-2 finish.

See, now I managed to make the endurance event sound at least a little bit exciting within the space of a paragraph didn’t I? It’s not that difficult really as the racing sells itself. So you have to wonder quite how Duke Video have managed to commit to DVD one of the most boring, poorly edited and factually incorrect annual racing reviews ever.

Running close to 90 minutes, but featuring about 25 minutes of actual on track footage, the entire review is narrated by someone with as much warmth and passion as a damp squid. An individual who sounds like he has no feeling for the sport at all and is reading from a hastily prepared script. His delivery almost sends you to sleep as he trundles his way through the poorly edited, misaligned, highlights package.

But the biggest disappointment of the lot has to be the continual references that this was to be Tom Kristensen’s last Le Mans 24 Hours event. Problem is, nobody bothered to tell the interim responsible for the research that the Dane had in actual fact announced he would no longer be participating in the DTM series and not Le Mans. For an official review this is completely unacceptable and I am actually astounded that such a gaff could slip through the net.

What amazes me the most is that I actually thought that after last year’s lacklustre effort, Duke Video might have taken onboard some of negative comments they received and put a stop to the deterioration from setting in even further – seems I was completely wrong. A blue riband event like the Le Mans 24 Hours deserves much better than this shambles.

Avoid, unless you’re in the market for overpriced table coasters.

Rating:

Comments (5) Trackbacks (2)
  1. It sounds really quite dissapointing and i know for sure that it’s not just you that has felt this way about it! It’s a right shame and lets hope they pull their finger out for next year but i for one wont be surprised if they dont!

  2. One to be avoided then. Thanks for saving me from wasting 90 mins of my valuable time! :-D

  3. 25 minutes of track action? That’s just wrong.

    • I’m not holding out much hope that they’ll get themselves out of the rut they’re in and stop it from descending into the annual disappointment it has become.

      But hey, I’m willing to be proven wrong!

  4. If my maths is correct, it equates to covering approx. 1.75% of the the entire event. Good darts Duke Video!


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